Oh, my goodness! I put this interview together with Leslie prior to reading the book. Now that I’ve finished, it makes more excited to bring this to you. I love a good series, and Letters from Lancaster County is a good one for sure. Read on to find out more about the book and the series.
About the Book
When They Met Again by Leslie Gould
Series: Letters from Lancaster County
Publisher: Bethany House
Release Date: March 17, 2026
Genre: Fiction | Romance | Amish | Contemporary
A gently humorous just friends romance from Leslie Gould, threaded with heart-deep characters and the timeless traditions of simple Amish life.
It’s love at first sight for Adam Slaybaugh, yet while Joanna Grebel finds him attractive and is intrigued when he declares his interest, she’s less certain of the potential for a romantic future together. Instead, she proposes they be “just friends,” but Adam’s not willing to settle for anything less than a romantic relationship. In response, he leaves Lancaster County for Florida, and soon after, Joanna begins courting Jacob Byer–someone she deems a much more suitable match.
When Adam returns to Lancaster County years later to pursue a career in his grandparents’ successful home renovation business, he finds Joanna suffering from a broken heart. Misunderstandings and matchmaking schemes begin a tender journey of healing and romance–but is Adam’s love enough to finally win Joanna over?
For readers of Beverly Lewis, Wanda E. Brunstetter, and Shelley Shepard Gray, a sweet Amish romance with matchmaking grandmas and themes of enemies to lovers, he falls first, and love at first sight versus “just friends.”
PURCHASE LINKS:
Goodreads | Baker Publishing Group | Amazon
Barnes & Noble | ChristianBook | Bookshop | BookBub
More in This Series
About the Author
Leslie Gould is a Christy Award-winning and #1 bestselling author of more than fifty novels, including multiple Amish fiction series. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history and an MFA in creative writing. She enjoys church history, research trips, and hiking in the Pacific Northwest. She and her husband live in Portland, Oregon, and have four adult children and two grandchildren. Learn more at LeslieGould.com.
Author Q&A
CB: Leslie, I’m so excited to have you here on the blog! I don’t think it’s any secret that I love Amish romances, and I absolutely loved The Shop Down the Lane. Now here you are with book two of Letters from Lancaster County and I’m so excited.
What part of the writing process brings you the most joy as an author, and why?
LG: I’m so glad you loved The Shop Down the Lane! You made my day! As far as my writing process, I especially enjoy the rewriting stage. I have the foundation of the story done, an editorial letter in front of me, and a clearer idea of what I need to do to tie up all the loose ends. It’s time to increase the stakes, fix the plot holes, and enhance my characters and their conflicts. It’s so much easier to do once that first draft is done—and my editor has weighed in.
CB: You write on your website that you “soaked up stories of redemption in the small-town churches” you attended as a child. How does your faith impact your writing now?
LG: Our childhoods and the lessons we learned about faith and life are always with us, and I feel them acutely now as a grandmother. The older I get, the more I go back to those fundamental stories of faith in those small-town churches—the importance of grace, of caring for each other and others, and wanting what Jesus wanted—to see people fed and healed and given hope. My stories reflect that faith and grace.
CB: As a Christian author, you have many meaningful ways to weave faith into a clean, wholesome romance. What is it about Amish stories in particular that draws you to write within that community and tradition?
LG: I have a degree in history, along with degrees in communications and creative writing, and a strong interest in church history. The fact that Amish have largely preserved their lifestyle over the centuries to avoid the negative influences of the world fascinates me. Other religious groups also came to the New World to escape persecution in Europe, but they didn’t preserve their culture, way of life, and faith practices like the Amish have. I love exploring how members of a community centered around humility, obedience, modesty, and a strong faith in the Lord, interact with each other—and people outside of their community too. I’m also interested in how a simpler lifestyle, combined with a traditional community structure, affects the inner lives of my characters too.
CB: There are no Amish communities in the Pacific Northwest where you live, so how do you do your research for books?
LG: I’ve traveled to Amish communities throughout the US, and continually read books, posts, and articles about whatever Amish community I’m writing about. I’ve also started several of my books in Mennonite communities in the Pacific Northwest and have then “sent” the characters east to Amish communities. Having a friend who left the Amish in her late twenties also gives me confidence in writing my novels—she listens to my early concepts of stories and then reads my manuscripts before they’re published. Interestingly, there were Amish people in the Northwest until the early twentieth century when they joined Mennonite communities, and there continue to be a large number of Mennonite groups in the western states.
CB: Let’s chat about your new release. I really enjoyed the letter writing aspect of The Shop Down the Lane, and I see opportunities for letter writing in this book. Will letters be a central part of When They Met Again?
LG: Yes, letters are definitely a crucial part of the story. I have a group of grandmothers who start a circle letter, plus letters between individuals. For the majority of Americans, being able to text, email, and social media means we write fewer letters. But the Amish still correspond in a pre-technology format through letters, and at the frequency our ancestors did.
CB: Adam is smitten with Joanna the moment he lays eyes on her, but the feelings are not reciprocated. Adam makes a bold step to try and move on by moving to Florida. What about Adam made you feel that he needed a love or flight situation? Is his heart that tender?
LG: Adam has childhood trauma from the death of his father, his mother’s grief over losing her husband, and later the harshness of his step father that’s given him unrealized abandonment issues. When Joanna doesn’t return his interest, he flees—not knowing at the time how to handle rejection. Through the help of a Mennonite counselor, more maturity, and the love of his grandparents he learns to do better.
CB: It seems like Joanna is a more practical woman, possibly having a checklist of criteria for her future husband. How would you describe Joanna?
LG: Joanna is always prepared—she has a plan for courtship, a plan for any emergency, and a plan for her future. She grew up in a chaotic household with a depressed mother and an impulsive father. She’s determined to have an orderly adulthood, but she soon learns she can’t control every aspect of her life. In fact, she ultimately has control over very little.
CB: One thing I enjoy in Amish romance is how community involvement often shapes relationships. How does the idea of matchmaking allow you to highlight the role of community in a love story?
LG: Yes, community involvement does shape relationships—and the futures of the Amish young people. In Amish communities parents, grandparents, and other relatives work with the next generation to help them get set up with a farm or business. And they hope for good matches for the Youngie that will keep them in Amish communities and enhance their relationships with the Lord and the church. The matchmaking thread in When They Met Again shows that loving involvement in a humorous way.
CB: While this is part of a series, what would you say to readers who want to jump in with this book?
LG: All three books in this series truly do stand on their own. The connecting thread is that each book has a circle letter in it—and other letters too. None of the characters or plots overlap. A circle letter is a group letter that usually focuses on a certain theme. For example, in the first book in the series, The Shop Down the Lane, a group of birders write letters about what birds they see, adding them to a packet going around from member to member. In When They Met Again, there’s a circle letter between a group of grandmothers to share prayer requests for their grandchildren—or is it do a little matchmaking? In the third book in the series, A Second Chance to Remember (releases October 2026), there’s a beekeeping circle letter and one for widows and widowers going through grief. So, yes, you can jump right in to any of these books. There’s no need to read them in order.
CB: What do you hope readers carry with them after finishing one of your books?
LG: I’m hoping they’ll carry away a sense of connection and belonging, be encouraged in their faith, and hold grace and redemption in their hearts, along with hope for the future.
CB: Thank you for taking the time for this interview, Leslie. I wish you the best on the release and in your writing ministry.
LG: Thank you for hosting me! And letting readers know about When They Met Again. ☺
Thank you to JustRead Publicity Tours for connecting me with Leslie for this interview.
I really enjoyed this interview with Leslie. In particular, I enjoyed hearing more about the history behind the Amish and why Leslie writes about them. While I had been reading Leslie’s books long before I started a blog and began reviewing them, this just makes me want to read them even more.
Comments are my love language.