Kate Lloyd Books in Order
Browse Kate Lloyd's books in order, with short summaries, series background, and straightforward reading guidance for getting started with her fiction.
Last updated: July 14, 2026
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Kate Lloyd books in publication order
14 books
A Portrait of Marguerite
by Kate Lloyd
2006
When her son leaves for college, single mother Marguerite Carr feels unmoored. A drawing class returns her to painting and opens a path toward love, forgiveness, and a more honest reckoning with the secrets she has carried.
Leaving Lancaster
by Kate Lloyd
2012
Holly Fisher discovers that her mother has hidden an entire Amish family from her. A trip to Lancaster County with Esther forces both women to face old wounds, family expectations, and the chance that forgiveness may bring them home.
Pennsylvania Patchwork
by Kate Lloyd
2013
As Holly settles into the family heritage she never knew, she falls for Zach, a Mennonite veterinarian who proposes quickly. Warnings from her mother and Amish grandmother, plus other suitors, turn love and belonging into a difficult choice.
Forever Amish
by Kate Lloyd
2014
A young English woman is drawn into an Amish community as a long-buried secret threatens already fragile relationships. The closing Legacy of Lancaster novel follows a family reckoning with deception, belonging, and the hard work of forgiveness.
A Letter from Lancaster County
by Kate Lloyd
2017
Sisters Angela and Rose travel to Lancaster County after receiving a letter from their Aunt Sylvia. A hoped-for break becomes a test of their strained bond when family secrets surface and Rose's new romance is put at risk.
Starting from Scratch
by Kate Lloyd
2018
Eva Lapp, an Amish woman with a painful reputation, starts over with a job at a plant nursery cafe. When her first love, Jake Miller, returns, they must decide whether the past can lead to a different future.
An Unexpected Christmas Gift
by Kate Lloyd
2020
After learning she was adopted, Maria Romano follows a genealogy clue to Amish country just before Christmas. A near-blizzard leaves her stranded, but an Amish family's kindness may help her find both the truth about her past and a place to belong.
From Rome With Love
by Kate Lloyd
2020
Lucy Goff accompanies her wealthy employers and their difficult teenage daughter to Rome before Christmas. When the parents disappear and a mysterious painting reveals family secrets, Lucy must protect Tabatha while sorting out love, loyalty, and trust.
Stage Fright
by Kate Lloyd
2020
Single mother Jessica Nash loves singing but freezes onstage. During a church choir tour of England, romance, rivalries, and other travelers' secrets force her to face her fears, including an unexpected chance to sing a solo.
A Lancaster Family Christmas
by Kate Lloyd
2021
Lonely Manhattanite Diana accepts a coworker's invitation to spend Christmas with a Mennonite family in Lancaster County. Snow, welcoming kitchens, two possible suitors, and secrets within the community make her rethink the connection she wants.
A Lancaster Family Secret
by Kate Lloyd
2022
A DNA test tells Annette Dupont that the life she knew was built on a lie. Her search for a birth mother in Lancaster County leads to an Amish family, a devastating storm, and an unexpected connection with Mennonite Matt Miller.
Reinventing Ruthie
by Kate Lloyd
2023
After her husband leaves for another woman, Ruthie retreats to a Puget Sound beach cabin. A connection with a troubled neurologist complicates matters when her husband returns asking for forgiveness, leaving Ruthie to decide what trust means now.
Mona Lisa Smiles
by Kate Lloyd
2024
After her father's death, Mona Lisa Buttaro plans to sell the family home and restaurant, but her brother depends on both. Repairs bring a newly sober former classmate back into her life, along with feelings and a startling discovery.
Snowbound on Skye
by Kate Lloyd
2024
With her bookstore failing after her parents' deaths, Denny accepts a trip to the Isle of Skye with her rival sister. A fierce snowstorm traps the group in a dark hotel, where family tensions and secrets can no longer stay hidden.
Where to start with Kate Lloyd
For a multigenerational Amish family saga: Leaving Lancaster → Pennsylvania Patchwork → Forever Amish
For Lancaster County family drama: A Letter from Lancaster County → Starting from Scratch
For contemporary stories of reinvention: A Portrait of Marguerite → Reinventing Ruthie → Mona Lisa Smiles
For travel, romance, and seasonal escapes: From Rome With Love → Stage Fright → Snowbound on Skye
Kate Lloyd sub-series and character series
Lancaster Discovery books in order
Explore this seriesLegacy of Lancaster books in order
Explore this seriesKate Lloyd collections, short stories, and related book types
Standalone Kate Lloyd books
Author bio
Kate Lloyd writes novels about people trying to find their way back to family, faith, and a sense of belonging. A native of Baltimore, she has spent time with family and friends in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, a place that became the setting and inspiration for much of her Amish fiction.
Her route to writing was not a straight line. Lloyd studied painting, photography, and Italian in college, then worked a range of jobs, including selling used cars and running a restaurant. Those experiences gave her plenty of chances to watch how people talk, argue, cope, and connect.
Writing had long been part of her family life. When her two sons were young, she made up stories, songs, and poems for them, while keeping a head full of possible characters and situations.
A morning journaling habit helped turn those ideas into a novel.
That novel became A Portrait of Marguerite, about a single mother whose son leaves for college and who rediscovers painting, love, and unfinished parts of herself. Set in the Pacific Northwest, it introduced interests Lloyd would return to often: women at a crossroads, old hurts, buried secrets, and the possibility of starting again.
Lancaster County gave her another rich setting. In the Legacy of Lancaster trilogy, beginning with Leaving Lancaster and continuing through Pennsylvania Patchwork and Forever Amish, family members must reckon with the consequences of a woman leaving her Amish roots. The books follow several generations as they work through estrangement, romance, difficult truths, and forgiveness. Lloyd is also a member of the Lancaster County Mennonite Historical Society.
Second chances are a constant in her work.
Her later Lancaster novels keep that focus while shifting to new characters. A Letter from Lancaster County follows two sisters whose visit to their Mennonite aunt exposes strains in their relationship and surprises from the past. Starting from Scratch centers on Eva Lapp, an Amish woman trying to rebuild her life when her first love returns.
Lloyd also writes contemporary stories beyond Pennsylvania. From Rome With Love sends a caregiver and a troubled teenager to Italy before Christmas. Stage Fright follows a single mother on a church choir trip through England. In Reinventing Ruthie, Mona Lisa Smiles, and Snowbound on Skye, women facing loss, family pressure, or uncertain romance have to decide what they want their next chapter to look like.
She now lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband. Away from writing, Lloyd has a long-standing soft spot for dogs, has owned and shown several breeds, and describes herself as a cat magnet. She still enjoys travel, photography, and the small observations that can grow into a story.
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