Book excerpt: The first installment of Amy Clipston’s bestselling Amish Marketplace series! Cakes, pies, and a tender romance await you in The Bake Shop. Christiana Kurtz loves to bake, but when her bake stand becomes too busy, her mother encourages her to move her business to the local market. Her new bake shop is an instant success, but it becomes so inundated with customers that the line blocks the leather and woodcraft shop next door. The shop’s owner, Jeff Stoltzfus, catches Christiana’s attention at first glance with his dark brown eyes and sad expression, and she longs to know more about him. After a series of mishaps and Jeff’s complaints that her stand is driving away his business due to the lines, their relationship begins rockily. Drawn to each other despite themselves, Jeff and Christiana forge a friendship that begins to deepen, and Jeff slowly begins to trust her with the painful secrets of his past. When Christiana’s father makes a surprise visit to the market, he is upset to find that Jeff uses the building’s electricity to personalize his items. He tells Christiana that Jeff is too modern for her, and she’s forbidden from dating him. Christiana is crushed, but she knows she must obey her father. When Jeff’s shop catches fire one day, he puts the entire market in jeopardy—including Christiana’s bake shop, but she can’t deny how she feels about him despite his mistakes. Though the odds are against them, can the two young people find a way to rebuild both their businesses and their relationship? Sweet, inspirational Amish romance Full-length novel (85,000 words) First book in Amy Clipston’s Amish Marketplace series Includes discussion questions for book clubs