Linda Byler has 12 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 6 narrators, with an average listener rating of 5★ across 9 ratings. The most-rated is Running Around (and Such).
Running Around (and Such)
Summary
A romance novel by an Amish writer, based on true experiences! It isn't that Lizzie doesn't want to stay Amish. It's just that there is so much to figure out. Like why can't she let her hair a little looser on top? And why can't she wear shoes with a little bit more of a heel? And will she ever really just know for a fact who she is going to marry, like her next-older sister, Emma, does? And how does it happen that her just-younger sister, Mandy, is going on a date before Lizzie ever has a real one? So does it matter at all if she eats one more whoopie pie? Amos seems to like her a lot when she pounds out the ping-pong games. He even asks her to be his partner in doubles. But then he asks Ruthie if he can take her home! It has been this way Lizzie's whole life. She has too hot a temper. She hates housework and dislikes babies. She loves driving fast horses but is petrified of going away from home for a week to work as a maud (maid). Now that Lizzie is running around, will she scare off the Amish boys with her hijinks manners? She has certainly attracted the attention of the egg-truck driver. A scary thrill runs through her every time the worldly man comes to pick up an order, each time extending his stay a little longer. How long will she keep this a secret from Emma - and from Mamm and Datt? What will become of Lizzie? Is she too spirited, too innocent, and almost too uninhibited for a young Amish woman?
©2010 Linda Byler (P)2015 Audible Inc.
The Disappearances
Summary
Sadie may be married now, but she's as spirited as ever, and her life is no less tame. In fact, soon after she and Mark are settled into the farmhouse Mark is renovating, she's visited by three FBI agents who question her about the two children who mysteriously appeared one day at the ranch. Before the agents leave, they warn Sadie that her beloved horse, Paris, is highly valuable, and that she and Mark may be in grave danger because of Paris. This news, on top of Mark's unexpected black moods, leaves Sadie sometimes wishing she could go home, "lay her head on Mam's shoulder, and ask why she hadn't warned her". But when Sadie is kidnapped at gunpoint by two men in ski masks, her stubborn strength is tested beyond her imagining. Mark disappears emotionally without warning. Now Sadie has disappeared, leaving Mark and her family wracked with worry. And Anna, Sadie's youngest sister, desperate for Neil Hershberger's attention, refuses to eat, plagued by an eating disorder as she fades away. And yet Mark's younger brother, Timothy, appears, bringing unexpected life and hope to the family. Mercifully, healing and courage reappear in unexpected times and places in this concluding volume of the Sadie's Montana series.
©2012 Linda Byler (P)2015 Audible, Inc.
When Strawberries Bloom
Summary
New love and even more questions enter Lizzie Glick's life in When Strawberries Bloom, the second novel in this series written by an Amish writer and based on true-life experiences. Lizzie's dream of teaching school has finally come true. She loves the brand-new school building, the sound of the children singing, and the independence she has in the classroom. Even the occasionally unruly boys can't ruin the excitement she feels each morning when she starts the school day. But at home things are in turmoil again. What do Dat's sudden health problems mean for the future of their farm? And what about Lizzie's future? Emma and Mandy are so certain that Joshua and John are their perfect matches, but Lizzie doesn't know what to think about Stephen and how he might fit into her life. What will Lizzie decide? Will she continue to teach school? Or will she give up that dream so her wish for marriage and a family can come true? Stephen says he loves her, but Lizzie isn't sure he really understands her. Can she hope to find anyone within her Amish community who loves her bright mind, her ever-active imagination, her competitive spirit, and her stormy humor?
©2010 Linda Byler (P)2015 Audible Inc.
The Witnesses
Summary
Who is responsible for setting the barn fires that continue to keep the Amish of eastern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, on edge? Who is responsible for seeing that they are stopped? In this third and final novel in the Lancaster Burning series, author Linda Byler takes us inside the home of Davey Beiler, the leader of this Amish district. He clearly feels the heat in more ways than one. Some of the younger members of his church are ready to testify against the man who has allegedly started at least several of the fires. Davey counsels patience and forgiveness.
©2015 Linda Byler (P)2015 Audible, Inc.
A Second Chance
Summary
How long will Edna have to wait for the love of her life? For years, Edna Miller has found herself drawn to Emery Hoschtettler with an attraction she can explain no better than she can put a stop to it. Other suitors come and go, but none make her feel the way she feels around Emery - that incredible floating feeling, as if she was walking on air, mixed with a painful desperation to be ever nearer to him. Despite the fact that Emery seldom seems to pay her much attention, she decides it would be unfair to marry anyone else when her heart longs only for him. He hasn’t seriously dated anyone else either, so perhaps he’s just waiting for the right time to ask her . . . By the time Edna is twenty-nine, most of her family and friends have given up hope of her ever marrying. Why she didn’t give that nice man Jonathan more of a chance was beyond them. Sure, he had a bit of a limp from the tractor accident, but he was kind as could be, not to mention wealthy. Was she so vain that she could only judge based on outward appearances? Well then, she could go ahead and be a maud for the rest of her life, cooking and cleaning for other families. When Emery finally asks Edna out, she can hardly contain her joy. Everything is coming together - God is rewarding her patience! Her family will understand why she could never settle for anyone else. But what if Emery isn’t the man Edna was so sure he was? Is there something he’s hiding, or is Edna simply unable to accept true love after so many years of waiting? Would God really lead her all this way, just to leave her alone again?
©2019 Linda Byler (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Keeping Secrets
Summary
There's horse trouble in Montana again in this second installment in Amish author Linda Byler's series Sadie's Montana. Someone is shooting horses, and Sadie is determined to find out who it is. That is until she begins to suspect that Mark, her boyfriend, may be involved. Will Sadie discover the truth? Will it be too hard to bear? There's horse trouble in Montana again. Only this time horses aren't being stolen, they're being shot. Snipers are driving a blue pickup and shooting selectively. No hardworking ranch horse or Amish horse and buggy is safe. Still Sadie rides, despite daily warnings from Dorothy down in the kitchen of Aspen East Ranch. But Sadie's getting used to ignoring Dorothy's advice. Sadie's heart is set on Mark even though Dorothy tells her to steer clear after he ditches her in the middle of their first date. Then Daniel appears - a visitor from Lancaster County. With cornflower-blue eyes and a strong, square jaw, he is everything Mark is not. He's funny, well mannered, and completely dedicated to his family. Mark, on the other hand, finds it hard to tell Sadie the secrets of his past. He tells her pieces of the shadowy story and then won't speak to her for weeks. Sadie's troubles continue at home when she discovers that her youngest sister, Anna, is struggling with bulimia. As Sadie's world spins out of control, her palomino, Paris, remains her sole confidant. But does Sadie put Paris in danger every time they go riding? Or, together, can they discover who these mysterious snipers are? Will Mark help her? Or is he one of the horse hunters? Why, Sadie wonders desperately, are there so many secrets? Will the truth surface, or is it too hard to bear?
©2015 Linda Byler (P)2015 Audible, Inc.
Wild Horses
Summary
The Miller family's move from Ohio to Montana was, for the most part, uneventful, except that Sadie Miller had to leave her beloved horse, the palomino named Paris. Still, she likes the Montana snows and her job at Aspen East Ranch, serving the ranch hands. Unexpectedly, Ezra appears, the man who seems to be perfect in every way and fully intends to marry Sadie. But does she love him back? And who is this fascinating Mark who helps to rescue a dying horse and shows up at the Amish hymn-sing though he is English? Why can't she get his dark eyes and tall stature out of her mind? Now Sadie's own close-knit family is falling apart. Mam claims her head is cluttered and unclear, and she no longer trusts herself to make a chocolate cake from scratch or to cut Reuben's hair in a straight line. The worst part is, Dat refuses to acknowledge Mam's struggles. Sadie finds some refuge in Nevaeh, a black and white paint. But when a dreadful accident involving wild horses occurs, Sadie must move forward into the unknown future. Will Dat let Mam seek professional help? Will Mam be willing to go? Will Mark be at the next hymn-sing? Is he Amish or English? Will he like her favorite pink dress? Will she see the wild horses again? Why do these phantomlike animals take her breath away every time they appear on the horizon?
©2011 Linda Byler (P)2015 Audible Inc.
Fire in the Night
Summary
One barn fire might be an accident, the Lancaster County Amish community believes. But two barns burning just weeks apart is suspicious. Sarah Beiler wants to protect her family, even though they don't like Matthew, her new boyfriend. Book one in Amish author Lydia Byler's series Lancaster Burning. The Amish community of Lancaster is being terrorized by barn fires. David and Malinda Beiler's barn was the first to go. The clues are sparse, but Levi, the Beilers' oldest son, happened to be awake in the middle of the night and spotted a white vehicle driving past the house with its lights off. Sarah, David and Malinda's daughter, observes her parents' agony. Not only is she afraid and wishing she could protect her parents, she's entranced by the flirtatious Matthew Stoltzfus. He's dating her friend, Rose, but when he tenderly bandages Sarah's hand after she burned it at the barn raising, she wonders who he's really interested in. When a second Amish barn burns for suspicious reasons, the Amish grow more restless. "We're too quiet too much of the time," a group of Amish men tell David Beiler, their minister. Seriously considering police protection, the increasingly tense community questions their traditional, nonresistant approach to violence. Sarah now finds herself at odds with her mother over her choice of boyfriends and uncertain about how to respond to the attention of Lee, a newcomer to Lancaster. Not only that, she wonders if her dad is a wise enough leader, as her community reels from within and without. Everyone is on edge, as the losses mount and suspicions undo the usual steadiness of these people.
©2013 Good Books (P)2015 Audible, Inc.
Mary's Christmas Goodbye
Summary
Mary Stoltzfus is 30 years old, splashed with freckles, and unmarried. In her Amish world, that qualifies her to be called an old maid. She is living her quiet schoolteacher life in the Lancaster County Amish community when she gets a surprising invitation in the mail one day. Would she come to Montana to teach? Of course not, she decides, fully at home in Eastern Pennsylvania, where she can go out to eat in dozens of restaurants, do her laundry in a newfangled washer that's powered by compressed air, and hire a driver if she wants to go farther than her horse and buggy can comfortably take her. What is there to do in Montana? she sniffs. But soon she becomes annoyed by the cracks in the floor of her one-room schoolhouse, the noise of the nearby road, and the two eighth-grade boys who try to make toilet-paper cigarettes and nearly burn down the privy. Before long, Mary is on Amtrak - "just to take care of her curiosity", she explains to her mother. She arrives at a desolate station and meets Arthur Bontrager, who had signed the invitation and has come to introduce her to Beaver Creek School, dirt roads, and the fancy shed where she would live. When she settles into this world of mountain ranges and pine-tree majesty, her old buried questions - about why no man had ever been her match - have come along to live with her. After she's injured by wild dogs on her walk home from school, Mary faces new questions. Is she weak if she accepts a Bouvier des Flandres dog from Arthur's friend? Who is the young woman in the photo at Arthur's house? And why does Mary suddenly care? Does she really belong back in Lancaster?
©2015 Linda Byler (P)2015 Audible, Inc.
The Little Amish Matchmaker
Summary
Simon can't stop thinking about the pretty Amish teacher at the local one-room school. But he's ignored the sparks between them because he's so shy. So Simon's little brother, Isaac, takes matters into his own hands. He's determined to give his brother the best Christmas present ever - a date with his favorite teacher. Amish novelist Byler brings her tender humor and skillful observation of family relationships to this holiday story. "I love Isaac's self-confidence and scheming as he prods his reluctant older brother," she says, smiling knowingly about the characters she's created. Byler takes her listener straight into the Amish world as Isaac is both charmed and annoyed by his too talkative but quite bright Mam. He can barely tolerate his little nieces and nephews, who substantially outnumber the grown-ups when the whole family gets together. And he loves his humble circumspect Dat, although he isn't always pleased by how well Isaac sweeps the forebay in the barn. As anticipation for the Christmas program at the schoolhouse builds, Isaac cares for troubled Ruthie, who stutters miserably when she practices her poem. And he wonders how much he'll have to help his brother, Sim, act on his growing affection for Teacher Catherine!
©2012 Good Books, Intercourse, PA 17534 (P)2015 Audible, Inc.
The Christmas Visitor
Summary
One moment Ben Miller was high up in the rafters at his neighbor's barn raising. The next his foot slipped, and he plunged to his death, leaving behind a young wife and six children - the youngest born four months after his death. Ruth Miller is not alone. Her Amish neighbors help her to make the difficult transition from wife to widow. But while the community has been generous, raising six growing children, all grieving their father's death, is overwhelming. Devastated by her loss, Ruth isn't sure how she'll make ends meet or restore order to a house full of rambunctious kids. With help from her mother and her energetic but untidy neighbor, Mamie, Ruth finds a way to start over. Preoccupied with the effort to create a new life and manage her shrinking bank account, Ruth barely notices John King, the handsome newcomer to her community. Besides, how could she - if she had a chance - replace Ben? Does one ever replace a husband? As Christmas approaches, Ruth knows she can't afford gifts for her children this year. It's hard enough to find money for groceries each week. But then banana boxes full of food, treats for the children, and even money begin to appear on her front porch. Who is leaving her these generous gifts? Is it a neighbor or a friend? Or, Ruth wonders, could it be John, who keeps unexpectedly appearing when Ruth most needs help?
©2013 Good Books (P)2015 Audible, Inc.
Big Decisions
Summary
Everything has led up to this moment in Lizzie Glick's life. All of her curiosity, concern, and dreams have pointed to this time when she must make some very big decisions. Will she join the Church? Will she continue teaching? Will she marry Stephen? Questions and indecision as well as answers and certainty enter Lizzie's life in Big Decisions, the third and final novel in this series written by an Amish author and based on true-life experiences. Her sisters, Emma and Mandy, seem so certain that Joshua and John are their perfect matches. Does Lizzie really want to get married anyway? Does Stephen? Lizzie loves Stephen, but sometimes they disagree about everything, from their future to how to spend their Saturday afternoons. What happens if they get married? Can Lizzie find a way to respect Stephen's opinions without giving up too much? Lizzie thinks she's ready to join the Amish Church. But she has so many questions. Can she really find happiness within her community?
©2011 Linda Byler (P)2015 Audible, Inc.