Saturday, November 22, 2025

A Daughter’s Choice Tour & Giveaway

About the Book

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 her 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.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

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 goats 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 on-line 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 sort 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 enamored 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 also was able to visit with

Research/Kelly Irvin/2

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 is 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.

MY REVIEW

I appreciate a good story about animals and how important they are to a farm. They are hard work but the rewards out-way the long hours needed to tend to them. Not knowing much about goats, I loved learning more about them and how important it is to care for them. They must be high priority in order for them to produce milk.

Hen became my favorite character because she had determination to see her dream come true. Her love of animals inspires her to continue to at times defy her father who happens to be the Bishop. I didn’t miss the humor in the story such as Hen thinking that manure was a sweet fragrance. Oh my does she need to pay a bit more attention to herself. Her appearance does not set well with her father. There is a definite stubborn streak in Hen when it comes to choosing animals over marriage or house chores.

Nicholas has no idea when he goes to Hen’s farm to care for a sick horse that Hen would argue at every suggestion he has to get the horse feeling better. I liked how he stood his ground and insisted that he knew what he was doing. He has his own battle to deal with that causes him to try even harder.

I did find something very interesting in the story between these two characters. They both battle tradition when it comes to their future. Hen is expected to get married, have a family and be content to stay at home. Long days of household chores, children that need care everyday and staying on top of anything related to the house doesn’t appeal to Hen at all. It may be what her father wants, but Hen is not your typical Amish woman.

Nicholas wants to go to veterinary college but would have to go against his culture. With a deep longing to follow his desire he will have to make hard choices that could hurt how others look at him. Going against how he was raised weighs heavy on his heart. I don’t think he was impressed by Hen at their first meeting either.

With an impressive look at two people who want to follow their dreams, this story gives readers a chance to see how God works in people’s lives. Faith is an important part in their decision and I loved how the author slowly develops a relationship that I was not sure about at first.

Aunt Ginny’s arrival is filled with laughter and family time. Aunt Ginny gives great advice to Hen like, “ it gives me comfort to think God is in charge. We don’t have to understand. We simply have to believe.” Hen knows that her father brought Aunt Ginny here for a very specific reason. Will Hen surrender to God with her whole heart? Can she learn to trust others and allow them to show her how much she is loved?

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.