A Kauffman Amish Christmas Collection

by Amy Clipston

In A Plain and Simple Christmas, from the author of the widely popular Kauffman Amish Bakery Series, shunned Anna Mae doesn't receive the welcome she expects when she pays a visit for Christmas and her world begins to fall apart, leaving her to question her place in her family---and her faith in God.
Set in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Naomi's Gift reintroduces twenty-four-year-old Naomi King, who has given up her dreams of finding true love. But when a young widower stirs surprising feelings in her, Naomi cautiously opens her heart to him and receives an unexpected response that once again turns her world upside-down.
Author Amy Clipston artfully paints a panorama of simple lives full of complex relationships, and she carefully explores cultural differences and human similarities, with inspirational results.

Genres: Amish, Christmas, Amish Fiction, Fiction

369 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 3, 2012

About the author

Hi! I'm a bestselling author of heartwarming romance and happily ever after.

Contemporary Romance (Non-Amish)
The Heart of Splendid Lake (2021)
The View from Coral Cove (2022)
On the Way to Christmas (Anthology) (2022)
Something Old, Something New (2023)
Starstruck (2023)
Finding You (2024)
With This Ring (2025)
Second Chance at Sunshine Inn (7/2025)
The Lighthouse at the Cove (12/2025)

Stand Alone Amish Fiction
Caring for the Amish Family (4/2025)

Guideposts Amish Suspense
A Heart Set Free (9/2025)


An Amish Legacy
1. Foundation of Love (2022)
2. Building a Future (2022)
3. Breaking New Ground (2023)
4. The Hearts of Shelter (2023)

An Amish Marketplace
1. The Bake Shop (2019)
2. The Farm Stand (2020)
3. The Coffee Corner (2020)
4. The Jam and Jelly Nook (2021)

An Amish Homestead
1. A Place at our Table (2017)
2. Room on the Porch Swing (2018)
3. Seat by the Hearth (2018)
4. A Welcome at Our Door (2019)

An Amish Heirloom
1. The Forgotten Recipe (2015)
2. The Courtship Basket (2016)
3. The Cherished Quilt (2017)
4. The Beloved Hope Chest (2017)

Hearts of Lancaster Grand Hotel
1. A Hopeful Heart (2013)
2. A Mother’s Secret (2014)
3. A Dream of Home (2015)
4. A Simple Prayer (2015)

Kauffman Amish Bakery
1. A Gift of Grace (2009)
2. A Promise of Hope (2010)
3. A Place of Peace (2011)
4. A Life of Joy (2012)
5. A Season of Love (2012)

Amish Anthologies
• An Amish Kitchen (2012) – Spoonful of Love (Stand-alone story)
• An Amish Cradle (2015) – A Son for Always (This story complements A Mother’s Secret)
• An Amish Market (2016) – Love Birds (This story complements The Forgotten Recipe)
• An Amish Harvest (2016) – Love & Buggy Rides (This complements The Courtship Basket)
• An Amish Home (2017) – Home Sweet Home (Stand-alone story)
• An Amish Summer (2017) – Summer Storms (Stand-alone story)
• Amish Sweethearts (2018) –Complements The Kauffman Amish Bakery Series and also has a sequel to my story in An Amish Summer
• An Amish Heirloom (2018) – Complements A Place at our Table
• An Amish Homecoming (2018) – Complements A Place at our Table
• Seasons of an Amish Garden (2019) – Complements The Christmas Cat, novella included in An Amish Christmas Love
• An Amish Reunion (2019) – Complements Room on the Porch Swing
• An Amish Christmas Bakery (2019) – Cookies and Cheer (Stand-alone story)
• An Amish Singing (2021) (Collection of four stories by Amy Clipston)
• An Amish Christmas Wedding (2020) –Evergreen Love (Stand-alone story)
• An Amish Barn Raising (2021)
• An Amish Schoolroom (2021)
• An Amish Quilting Bee (2021)

Young Adult
1. Roadside Assistance (2011)
2. Reckless Heart (2012) (Kauffman Amish Bakery young adult book)
3. Destination Unknown (2014)
4. Miles from Nowhere (2015)

Non-Fiction
A Gift of Love (2014)

Seasonal
• A Plain and Simple Christmas (2010) Naomi’s Gift (2011)
• Kauffman Amish Christmas Collection (2012)
• An Amish Christmas Gift (2015) includes Naomi’s Gift
• An Amish Christmas Love (2017) –The Christmas Cat
• An Amish Christmas Bakery (2019)
• An Amish Christmas Wedding (2020)
• On the Way to Christmas (2022)

Reviews

[Kaitlyn Krispense · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars

A Plain & Simple Christmas:

The storyline was pretty good, but Kathryn was driving me slightly insane. xP

Naomi's Gift:

Waaayyyy too much "subtle" romance going on. Seriously, I didn't want to know that the protagonists would lean toward each other and notice each other's smell. Also, the women in this story seemed either perfect, meddling, or coy. Just... please no.

I don't mean for this review to repulse readers. I'm just sharing my own view. Plus, I'm not an Amish, or a romance fan. :P

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked Naomi’s Gift more, but both of these were super sweet reads perfect for the Christmas season. I just love Amy Clipston’s books!

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two Christmas novellas that is filled with family, emotions, and learning to accept life with faith and love. Nice to read a short story with Christmas activities to relax.

[Kathleen E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tuesday, December 18, 2012
A Kauffman Amish Christmas Collection: A Plain and Simple Christmas & Naomi's Gift by Amy Clipston, ©2012

From the Kauffman Amish Bakery Series, two bestselling books A Plain and Simple Christmas and Naomi's Gift are now combined in one ~*~ for new readers and those who are wanting to read them again!
Book Description
From Amy Clipston, the author of the Kauffman Amish Bakery Series, comes two books in one: A Plain and Simple Christmas---in which shunned Anna Mae doesn't receive the welcome she expects when she pays a visit for Christmas; and Naomi's Gift---re-introducing twenty-four-year-old Naomi King, who has been burned twice by love and has all but given up on marriage and children.


A Plain & Simple Christmas by Amy Clipston
A Plain & Simple Christmas is a CBA Bestseller, a Christian Book Distributors Bestseller and received Romantic Times Four Star review!
Book Description
A Plain & Simple Christmas is the tale of Anna Mae McDonough who was shunned by her family three years ago when she left her Amish community in Lancaster County, PA, to marry an "Englisher" (non Amish) man and move with him to Baltimore. Now, eight months pregnant when her first child, she longs to return home for Christmas to reconcile with her family, especially her stern father, who is the religious leader for her former Amish church district.

So Anne Mae writes a letter to Kathryn Beiler, her brother's wife, to enlist her help. Kathryn asks her husband, David, if she should arrange Anna Mae's visit. David cautions her that a visit would cause too much stress in the family and instead suggests they visit Anna Mae and her husband in the spring. However, Kathryn arranges the visit anyway, believing in her heart that it's God's will for the family to heal.

When Anna Mae arrives in Lancaster for Christmas, she doesn't receive the welcome she expects and her world begins to fall apart, leaving her to question her place in her family – and her faith in God.

A book filled with love, the pain of being separated from one's family, and the determination to follow God's will regardless of the outcome, A Plain and Simple Christmas is an inspiring page-turner that will keep you guessing what happens next…right to the very last page.

My Review
It is Thanksgiving, and Kellan and Anna Mae McDonough are excitedly expecting their first child. They met each other at the Kauffman Amish Bakery in Pennsylvania when Kellan was there visiting friends. They married a year later, moving 80 miles away to Maryland, where Kellan is from. Anna Mae is shunned from her Amish community, and it has been three years since she has seen her family.

Kellan, sympathetic to his wife, suggests they visit her family for Christmas and to write to her sister-in-law, Kathryn. Anna Mae's request involves secrecy in her family to have her come. Her sister-in-law combines deception by asking her daughter not to tell, going against what she has been taught. As Kellan and Anna Mae's story unfolds, individual decisions will be made that will affect each life.

"Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand." Proverbs 19:21

I liked how Kellan was so supportive of his wife. It could have been stressful for him but he kept focused on his beloved and child. He is loving to her family and keeps his cool head about him. Love triumphs. Kellan is a keeper and shows wisdom beyond his age. A peacemaker tells truth.


Naomi's Gift: An Amish Christmas Story
Book Description
Naomi's Gift re-introduces twenty-four-year-old Naomi King, who has been burned twice by love and has all but given up on marriage and children. As Christmas approaches - a time of family, faith, and hope for many others - Naomi is more certain than ever her life will be spent as an old maid, helping with the family's quilting business and taking care of her eight siblings.

Then she meets Caleb, a young widower with an eight-year-old daughter, and her world is once again turned upside-down.

My Review
"Jesus looked at them and said, "It is impossible for people [to save themselves], but everything is possible for God." Matthew 19:26
Naomi King is happily tending the quilt stand with her friend in the indoor farmers market as Caleb Schmucker's driver comes near the market. They are on their way to his sister's for Christmas. His young daughter, Susie, asks to stop to take her Aenti Sadie a pie. Amid the English and Amish shoppers, Caleb and his daughter are separated and he frantically searches everywhere for her. Susie is comfortable where she is. She has found a maroon Lone Star quilt like the one her mamm had made in blues and creams, and heads for it. Thankful to be reunited, Caleb, Susie, and their gift pie continue on to his eldest sister's home. Happily content with her cousins, Susie is enjoying the many activities and a chance to interact with her new freind Naomi again. Susie had lost her mamm in an accident two Christmases earlier.

Her aenti is not so excited to have Susie make the connection with Naomi and steers her brother away every time he seems to get too close. She has plans of her own for her widowed younger brother. This includes his returning to their district in Pennsylvania, and leaving his home in Ohio behind. Caleb had plans for visiting as he always had for the holidays. That is, until he talks to Naomi and feels perhaps his life can go on, with new dreams.

I enjoyed this story of Naomi being true to herself and following God when talk and speculation of her motives are going on around her.

"I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD. They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with hope. Then you will call to me. You will come and pray to me, and I will hear you." Jeremiah 29:11-12

The character of Naomi King in A Promise of Hope and A Place of Peace is revisited in a story of her own.

My Amish Books ~*~ Amy Clipston
All of the books in my Kauffman Amish Bakery series have achieved the Christian Fiction bestseller lists, including the CBA (Christian Book Association) bestseller list and the ECPA (Evangelical Christian Publishers Association) bestseller list.

I love writing about the Amish, and an Amish friend in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, reads my manuscripts for accuracy. I was always fascinated with the Amish when I was a child. I remember visiting Lancaster County, and my father, who was a German immigrant, told me that the Amish speak the same dialect of German as my relatives. I was drawn to their simplicity and faith. Due to my German heritage, I feel a loose connection to the Amish and their culture.

My plots come straight from my heart and all involve family issues intertwined with faith.

Author, Amy Clipston holds a degree in communications from Virginia Wesleyan College and works full-time for the City of Charlotte, NC. Amy lives in North Carolina with her husband, two sons, and "four spoiled rotten cats."


***Thank you to Zondervan's Linked to Lit for sending me this copy of A Kauffman Amish Christmas Collection in exchange for a review in my own words.***

Kauffman Amish Bakery Series
A Gift of Grace by Amy Clipston
The first book in the
Kauffman Amish Bakery Series

A Promise of Hope by Amy Clipston
The second book in the
Kauffman Amish Bakery Series

A Place of Peace by Amy Clipston
The third book in the
Kauffman Amish Bakery Series

A Life of Joy by Amy Clipston
The fourth book in the
Kauffman Amish Bakery Series


A Season of Love by Amy Clipston
The fifth and final book in the
Kauffman Amish Bakery Series

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was sweet but predictable. I should be prepared for that when I read romance novels...I never learn.

What I did learn, but from a previous Clipston book, was there is a glossary since she is quite fond of scattering the Pennsylvania Dutch throughout the book. Do yourself a favor. Bookmark the glossary in the back because you'll be flipping to it quite frequently.

There is an added bonus of a novella at the end. I wasn't anticipating but it was a sweet read as well.

[Kourtney]

I really liked this book, but I will be honest, it was a rough start I almost stopped reading it. but I pushed through. i am so glad I did it turned out to be great. The book left a smile on my face.

[⚜️XAR the Bookwyrm · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book did a lot to tie up loose ends in the series. Both stories were heartwarming, touching, and perfect for Christmas, but I much preferred Naomi's Gift to Anna Mae's story.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, especially for this time of year. Heartwarming.

[Mary Daughtry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely book. I still think Christmas is my favorite time of the year.

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Light and very predictable holiday read.

[Mary Lou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both stories were very good, interesting, and entertaining. A real page turner and great to read during the Christmas holidays. Two lively Christian stories. Thank you , Amy.

[Anne Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two delightful Christmas Stories! A Kauffman Amish Christmas Collection is a compilation of two novellas, A Plain and Simple Christmas and Naomi's Gift.

A Plain and Simple Christmas: Anna Mae McDonough is homesick. When she and her husband Kellan married and Anna Mae moved to her husband's home in Baltimore, her Amish family shunned her. She could not go home, but she missed her mother, her brother and sisters, and even her father almost unbearably.

Anna Mae begs Kellan to take her for a visit at Christmas, even though she will be eight months pregnant with their first child. He suggests she write to her sister-in-law, Kathryn.

Kathryn is enthused; Anna Mae's brother and Kathryn's husband, David, is not. He fears an explosion from their father. Kathryn prays about it, and when David's mother comes to her sharing the ache in her heart to see Anna Mae again, Kathryn believes it is a sign from God. She goes behind David's back to bring Anna Mae to Lancaster County.

One angry father, one heartsick mother, and one accident later... Well, read it yourself. You'll love it, I promise!

Naomi's Gift: Naomi has a reputation as a man-chaser in the Amish community, Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania. Two men have come into and gone from her life. When Caleb shows up with his delightful eight-year-old daughter, Susie, she fights to keep her rising interest in him under control.

Caleb's sister has someone else in mind for Caleb, a young woman who has no use for Susie.

Caleb is a widower. His beloved wife died because he hadn't taken proper care of her. There is no room for another woman in his life. He worries that he won't be able to keep Susie safe; finding a mother for her and a wife for himself would only complicate things.

Christmas miracles still happen, but given the stubborn hearts involved, this could be a tough one to pull off.

Available at Christianbook.com, Amazon.com, and Barnes and Nobel.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had read both of these novellas as stand alone works when they first came out but was excited to see the two novellas combined into one book.
"A Plain and Simple Christmas" is the story of Anna Mae McDonough who left her community to marry her husband Kennan. While she doesn't regret her decision the impending birth of her baby has her wanting to reconnect with her family. Thing is she was put under the Bann when she left. Will her Amish family allow her to visit, and will she be welcomed?

"Naomi's Gift" is the story of Naomi King. At the age of twenty-four and two recent heartbreaks Naomi has really given up on the hopes of ever finding love. While visiting Bird-In-Hand Caleb Schmucker and his daughter Susie stop at the farmers market. Susie becomes enamored with the quilts that Naomi is selling and strikes up a conversation with her revealing that her mother had died. Naomi can't quit thinking about Susie and they soon connect and become friends. When she meets Susie's father Caleb, Naomi feels a pull, but does he feel the same way?

I really enjoyed both of these stories but I would easily say that "Naomi's Gift' was my favorite. Ms. Clipston easily pulled me into the story of Naomi, the rumor mill wasn't very kind to her, causing me to easily feel empathy for her. Fans of Amish fiction will enjoy both stories, but anyone looking for a nice Christmasy feel will also enjoy this book. If you have never read anything by Amy Clipston then these short stories will allow you to sample her work, and even though the stories are a continuation of the Kauffman Family Bakery series each novella reads well as a stand alone story. The author includes a family tree at the beginning of the book making it easy to figure out who's who. The Amish recipes included are an added bonus!

A complimentary copy of this book was provided in exchange for an honest review.

[Paula-O · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Kauffman Amish Christmas Collection by Amy Clipston, two stories in this book "A Plain and Simple Christmas & Naomi's Gift"

I had read Naomi's story before but re-read loving this sweet woman and her life.
I enjoyed this Christmas story of Anna who had left the amish community and became shunned when she married an Englisher..They have a wonderful life but she misses home and all her amish family that she has not seen. This Christmas she wants to be with family and hopefully bridge the rift that started when she left. Her father is a Bishop so it seems his upset with Anna is stronger then some of the other family. Anna is due to have a baby (first) in January so she wants to have this visit before the child comes.
I saw some of the amish folks that I have read of before in this journey back to Lancaster County. Come and read about love-romance and forgiveness in a winter wonderland when a blizzard comes before this couple heads home.

[patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Kauffman Amish Christmas Collection is actually two stories. The first one is about Anna Mae who returns with her husband at Christmas to see her family despite the fact that she is being shunned for leaving. The second is a young widower returns home with his young daughter. Does he decide to stay and does he find love.

[Susie Lynch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally one of my favorite characters finds love!

Excellent, excellent! Your stories always deliver; laughter, heartbreak and love. You have moved up to one of my top two favorite authors! Keep the books coming!

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought these books not as a set, they were both very good Amish books.

[Robin Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two books in one! Though I do not have this volume, I do have the individual books. They are both on my annual must-read Christmas list. This edition would make a lovely gift!

[Phyllis Stinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two Fun Reads

Oh, I love Amish books! Some aren't as sweet as these two. These were just charming reads. I loved them.