Who knew? A new trend in publishing is Amish romances. They are, according to The Wall Street Journal, G-rated romances about Amish women, also called bonnet books.

The trend was started by novelist Cindy Woodsmall, who is not Amish herself but has done a lot of research into the culture/religion. Her first book When the Heart Cries “revolves around Hannah, a young Amish woman who falls in love with a Mennonite and hides her plans to marry him from her strict parents. The lovers struggle to overcome the cultural divide, and actually kiss a couple of times in 326 pages:

‘His warm, gentle lips moved over hers, and she returned the favor, until Hannah thought they might both take flight right then and there. Finally desperate for air, they parted.’”

These books are selling like hot-cakes to Amish and non-Amish alike, so much so that publishers are expanding looking into Amish thrillers and murder mysteries. Publishers “attribute the books’ popularity to their pastoral settings and forbidden love scenarios à la Romeo and Juliet.”

This is a cute fad. I like it much better than books about falling in love with a sparkly vampire.