Random Things About Amish Romance Novels (12 items)

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  (#3) They Aren't Really Written By Amish Authors

  Most Amish romances are written by non-Amish authors who have tenuous, if any, ties to Amish culture or community. The authors, like their readers, are largely Evangelical Christians. Given the famously insular societies the Amish build for themselves, it can be difficult for Englishers (the Amish term for the non-Amish) to attain a truly accurate working knowledge of what goes on in daily Amish life. Authors need to rely on their creativity to create their sorta-maybe-Amish settings. Artistic license is most certainly taken, but that hardly matters to the legions of devoted Amish romance readers out there.
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  (#4) Amish Romances Are A Multimillion-Dollar Industry

  Think Amish romances are some tiny little splinter group of mainstream Christian publishing? Think again. Amish romance novels are a stunningly lucrative industry in the United States. Christian (or "Inspirational") publishing generates some $720 million every year, and that astounding figure is due in no small part to the Amish romance. Beverly Lewis and Wanda Brunstetter, the rockstars of the Amish romance genre, have sold some 30 million books combined, and that number continues to grow.
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  (#11) These Aren't The Kids From "Breaking Amish"

  If your only image of the Amish is what you've seen on Breaking Amish, you will be surprised by the characters you find in Amish romance novels. You will be hard-pressed to come across a partying Amish person pulled over for a DUI, buying English clothes in a department store, or getting a tattoo in New York City. Most of the characters in Amish romances are "good," virtuous types who are extremely devoted to their lives, families, communities, and faith. Perhaps this is even part of the fantasy for so many readers: a gentle reminder that yes, there is still plenty of good out there.
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  (#10) Subgenres Of Amish Romance Are An Emerging Market

  With the popularity of Amish romances becoming more and more entrenched in the book-buying public, there have been several subgenres of Amish romance that have popped up. There are now Amish mystery novels that are slowly gaining an audience. Young adult Amish romances are also a burgeoning market, especially with Christian publishers. Amish vampire novels are also a thing, though they are most definitely not with Christian publishers.
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  (#9) Amish Romances Are Fantasies Of A Different Sort

  We can hem and haw all we want that Amish romances are not authentic in their Amishness, and we can crack jokes about their lack of sexual spark and surplus of overturned buggies. But Amish romances are still fantasies for millions of readers. Sure, target-demographic readers are escaping into a fantasy where women are more repressed than they, and that doesn't seem to many of us like much of a fantasy at all, but who are we to debate the merits of fantasy? Or what makes for socially acceptable fantasy and what doesn't? Fantasy is important, plain and simple.
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  (#8) Buggy Crashes Are A Common Plot Device

  Without any sex scenes to heat up an Amish romance, authors have to get creative with ways to ensure their protagonists get thrown together or have a wrench tossed into their plans. As it turns out, buggy crashes are an ideal way to accomplish this. The buggy accident has long been a staple of Amish romance novels. They provide a convenient avenue for two chaste lovers to be jostled into making bodily contact, or they can create some drama that causes daunting-but-not-totally-insurmountable problems for the heroine and her hero.

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