[5] The first commercially successful Amish romance novel, according to writer Valerie Weaver-Zercher, was Beverly Lewis' The Shunning, published in 1997 by Bethany House.
[6] The three most successful authors of Amish romance—Beverly Lewis, Cindy Woodsmall, and Wanda Brunstetter—have sold over 24 million books.
[3] According to a September 2013 Library Journal survey, Amish fiction is the most commonly carried subgenre of Christian fiction in public libraries, although the survey did not distinguish between Amish romance and other Amish-themed literature.
[5] Similar works may also feature other religious minorities, such as Mennonites, Shakers, or Puritans.
[2] Valerie Weaver-Zercher states, "Despite the suggestion by some that the appeal of Amish fiction must lie in the arousal of coverings coming off, or suspenders being suspended—hence the coy industry term 'bonnet rippers'—most Amish novels are as different from Fifty Shades of Grey as a cape dress is from a spiked collar.