Marie E. Bast Books In Order

Publication Order of Marie E. Bast Standalone Novels

Marie E. Bast is a bestselling author of inspirational novels best known for inspirational novels in the Amish genre. She had been writing for more than two decades but her first inspirational novel was “The Amish Baker” that she published in 2019. The novel went on to become a Publishers Weekly bestselling title and also won several awards. She has also won other prizes the most prestigious of which was the “Ignite Flame Contest” award for the contemporary novel The Perfect Client. Bast has said that her novels whisper forgiveness, hope, and healing through twisting plots and complex characters. She has a bachelor’s degree, a master’s in Business Administration and another master’s in General Theology which is probably where she gets her knowledge of the faith-based Amish lifestyle. When she is not writing her novels, she loves to garden, walk, golf, bake homemade bread and rolls and do some golfing. Bast has been married for twenty-seven years and has a daughter and two grown sons to show for it. She currently lives with her husband in Illinois.

Marie has published poetry and short fiction in several book collections. Her short fiction has appeared in The Cup of Salvation: 8 ounces of Jesus, a Lenten Devotional, Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Very Good, Very Bad Dog, On the Golden Wings of Time and Writing So Heaven Will Be Different. She has also published some of her work in pamphlets, magazines and newspapers. While she is now a full-time author, she started out working for the Army, sending supplies to troops in the field. It was during this time that she also started writing during her free time and after three decades working in the army, she retired to write books in 2011.

Marie E. Bast writes some intriguing stories that tug at the heartstrings of her readers. She brings together characters that would never ordinarily end up together but this creates the tension that make the stories even more thrilling. Her first inspirational novel “The Amish Baker” is the story of Sarah Gingerich and Caleb Brenneman. Sarah is a widow working at the family bakery. The bishop wants to get her hitched through she is not interested in any of the prospects he has been bringing around. She is an old order Amish but has been really impressed by a New Order Amish named Caleb who is also a widower. He also likes her but the biggest problem is that they come from two different orders. Moreover, he has his daughter to think of too. Bast’s second novel in the series “The Amish Marriage Bargain” is a story of love, forgiveness and secrets. The lead characters are May Bender and Thad Hochstedler, her widowed brother in law who was once her lover. The bishop insists that they get married since they both lost a spouse and there is a scandalous story going around town. It is an intriguing story that reveals the past layer by layer and shows how the new relationship unfolds.

Marie E. Bast’s “The Amish Baker” opens to Old Order Amish Sarah Gingerich running her father’s bakery. Sarah is widowed and the bakery is her inheritance from her deceased father. The bishop believes that she should remarry as a duty to the community though she does not think she is ready yet. Moreover, she prefers to work in the bakery and does not want any romance to mess up her life. But then a child comes into the picture and introduces a new dynamic. The child is the son to Caleb Brenneman the widower that the bishop has been pressurizing her to get into a relationship with. The child has broken one of her most treasured possessions and this brings him into the bakery to apologize. She feels a strong pull towards the boy and his father but has reservations about him being New Order Amish. Caleb insists the child work in the bakery to make up for the accident and Sarah is soon falling for the boy and his nontraditional Amish father. Jacob is the glue that brings them apart as he misses his mother and sees Sarah as a substitute. Sarah reciprocates and this makes Brenneman fall for her even more. Their views are worlds apart but could they make it work?

Bast’s “The Amish Marriage Bargain” is the story of May Bender and Thad Hochstetler. May had grown up having to do with her elder sister’s hand me downs. Her sister had given her everything from shoes, to dresses and books and she had been grateful for it. However, one thing she is not going to take from her sister is a used husband. Thad had once upon a time been her boyfriend but had woken up one day, broken up with her and married her sister April. She had been jealous, angry and unforgiving as would be expected. But then her sister had died giving birth and she had to agree to take care of the child and become a live-in nanny in their home alongside Thad. Once she is done with her mourning period the bishop insists that she marry Thad. He insists that he is ready to officiate the wedding and that Thad had promised to work hard to win her heart. Thad lives in pain knowing that May can hardly stand the sight of him though he had his own reasons for breaking her heart all those years back. But the problem is he cannot share them. His only hope is that he can manage to convince her that he loves her for real and wants her to stay with them. He is a determined man but things are never so easy when it comes to matters of the heart.