Celebrate Lit / December 4, 2025

A Daughter’s Choice

About the Book A Daughter’s Choice

Book: A Daughter’s Choice (The Heart of the Amish Book Ten)

Author: Kelly Irvin

Genre: Amish/Christian Fiction

Release Date: November 2025

Henrietta Is Set Against Love

Full of faith, hope, and romance, this series takes you into the Heart of Amish Country.

Henrietta Miller loves animals—especially her goats. She wants to marry and have children someday, but right now her goal is to have her own business selling snacks made from goat’s milk and goat’s soaps. Against the wishes of her father, who’s also the bishop, she applies for a job as a veterinary assistant to earn money.

Then newcomer Nicholas Byler snatches the job out from under her—or so it seems to Hen. Now Nicholas is treating Hen’s beloved animals as if he knows more than her. Hen turns her frustrations toward expanding her business to include wool-producing goats, even while her aunt hatches matchmaking plans—with Nicholas Byler, no less.

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My Thoughts on A Daughter’s Choice

I love a good Amish fiction. They’re a great gateway read. Once you grab your first one, you’re hooked and won’t be able to stop reading them.

This book is part of the Heart of the Amish series. There are several books in this series. You can truly read them in any order you want, but you definitely should read them all. You wouldn’t want to miss out on one of them!

Henrietta wants to someday get married and have children. Any good Amish woman wants that. But she also wants to get her own business going. She wants to be a success. Her and her goats and their products.

When Henrietta goes against her father(who is also the Bishop) and applies for a job as a vet assistant, things start to take a turn. Nicholas Byler steals that out from under her. Or at least that’s how she sees it.

Add in a fun aunt who has matmaking plans, and the fun commences. Henrietta is fun as she gets exasperated with Nicholas for treating her animals like he knows more than she does. She’s going to get into wool goats now, and that opens up even more fun!

I loved this novel. So fun. The characters are great, and it’s fun to watch them as they figure out life. Hen definitely reminds me of several of my daughters who would rather be around animals than people.

I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, which I received from Celebrate Lit. All views expressed are only my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC regulations.

About the Author of A Daughter’s Choice

Award-winning author Kelly Irvin has published more than 30 novels and a dozen novellas. The bestselling novelist worked as a newspaper reporter before spending 22 years in public relations. She now writes fiction full-time. She and her husband live in Texas. They are the parents of two kids, four grandkids, and an ornery senior cat.

More from Kelly

**Research for A Daughter’s Choice leads to goat nips and cow cuddles**

By Kelly Irvin

Each time I come up with a new story concept, I’m super excited about it. When a publisher lets me know the “pub” committee has approved a contract for the story, I get even more excited. Then I sit down at my computer, open a document, and zoom, my fingers take off on the keyboard . . . . nope . . . not exactly.

What really happens is that I suddenly realize this fabulous story idea will require a ton of research.

In the case of A Daughter’s Choice, featuring goat lover Henrietta “Hen” Miller, I needed to be an “expert” on raising goats and tending to a horse with colic and making candy from goat’s milk, and delivering a foal that isn’t positioned correctly (and treating a crotchety cat!). The story also required a deep dive into several other kinds of livestock, veterinarians’ clinics and vet assistants, and facets of the Amish faith that I wanted to make sure I addressed properly.

Much of this information is easily available on the Internet and in the many reference books about the Amish I’ve acquired over the years. But online research doesn’t allow me to get up close and personal with key characters in my story—the animals. I especially wanted to hang out with some goats. To my surprise, I had trouble finding a place in the San Antonio area where I could interact with these frolicking creatures.

Then my daughter-in-law came to the rescue.

She found Cavalry Farm, a nonprofit organization that takes in and cares for all sorts of livestock animals in Little Adkins, Texas, just south of San Antonio. They have frequent open houses where—for a nominal fee—the public can visit, pet, feed, and yes, cuddle some of the animals. My response? ROAD TRIP!

The farm is home to a small herd of pygmy goats as well as larger dairy goats. I have never been close to a goat, so I didn’t know what to expect. They were as curious about me as I was about them. They crowded around me, climbed up my rollator, chewed on my purse strap, nibbled at the zipper on my shorts’ pocket, and prodded my hands with their noses.

I had a fabulous time!

The volunteer who stayed with us in the goat pen shared all sorts of tidbits about the care of goats. My grandson, who’s two and a half, chatted with them. I took lots of photos for marketing purposes. Most importantly, I gained an understanding of why Hen is so enamoured of goats. They’re lively, friendly, and determined to learn all about their visitors.

Of course, Hen isn’t simply a “goat whisperer.” She also loves horses, which leads to her first encounter with vet assistant Nicholas Byler, a newcomer to Smicksburg, PA, and many other animals, including cats and dogs. At Cavalry Farm, I was also able to visit with horses, pigs, donkeys, alpacas, chickens, turkeys, and cows.

I’m from Kansas, so I’ve had my share of livestock sightings. However, I’ve never been offered an opportunity to snuggle a cow. Who knew that was a thing? My farmer family members will find it humorous, I’m sure.

The cows lounge on the grass just waiting for a visitor to come along, sit beside them, and snuggle up.

It’s so stinking cute!

No cow snuggling occurs in A Daughter’s Choice.

However, I can assure readers there is plenty of fun with a runaway puppy up for adoption, goats on the loose tearing through a wedding prep tent, and more. The story also moves beyond the humorous as Hen overcomes past losses and grief, allowing her to make important choices about her future. Nicholas, too, has to make hard choices about his occupation and his life as a faithful Amish believer. What they decide will determine if they find their happily-ever-after!

If you’d like to know more about Cavalry Farm and their mission, check out the website at www.cavalryfarms.org.