2025 Carol Award Winner’s “The Quiet Soldier” Tests Amy and Lucas’s Impossible Bond When Crisis Forces Long-Buried Secrets to Surface

MINFORD, Ohio — USA Today bestselling author and 2025 Carol Award winner Serena B. Miller raises the emotional stakes to new heights with “The Quiet Soldier,” the powerful third installment in her acclaimed “Secrets of Sugarcreek” series. When a devastating accident leaves Lucas Hershberger fighting for his life, Amy Stanton must confront not only her deepest fears but also dark secrets that threaten to tear apart the Sugarcreek community she’s grown to love.

A frantic phone call from Ohio shatters Amy’s Manhattan meeting with her editor. Lucas has been critically injured trying to rescue a runaway buggy horse, and doctors are fighting to save his life at Cleveland Clinic. Amy’s seven-hour white-knuckled drive from New York becomes a desperate race against time, forcing her to acknowledge feelings she’s tried to ignore since moving to Sugarcreek. As Lucas hovers between life and death, Amy discovers that his accident has inadvertently unearthed mysteries that some in the community have kept hidden for decades.

“I wanted to explore what Lucas’s accident would do to Amy, and what her immediate reaction to it would be,” Miller explains. “Before now, she was always the one needing something from him. This completely reverses their dynamic and forces Amy to realize what Lucas truly means to her.”

The title itself carries deep significance. “The title needed to reflect the story of a man who’s kept his military background a secret his whole life,” Miller says, hinting at revelations that will challenge readers’ understanding of the peaceful Amish community.

Miller’s inspiration for the book came from an unexpected source. “A reader once told me she met an Amish man who had served in WWII,” Miller recalls. This seemingly simple statement opened doors to research that transformed her entire approach to the novel. “I had a nice tidy plot all outlined until my research into conscientious objectors blew it out of the water. But the more I researched, the more interesting my new plot became.”

Her research revealed troubling chapters of American history that many have forgotten. “I got to read about the prejudice that developed toward the Amish and Mennonite communities during WWI and WWII because of their pacifism,” Miller explains. This historical context adds depth to the contemporary mystery, showing how the past continues to impact present-day communities.

A personal experience with her late husband, a minister, also influenced the story’s direction. “He once was given a piece of WWII memorabilia from a man who refused to keep it, claiming it had brought nothing but evil to his family,” Miller shares. This haunting encounter helped shape the novel’s exploration of how wartime secrets can echo across generations.

For readers who have followed Amy and Lucas’s complicated relationship through the series, “The Quiet Soldier” offers something they’ve been waiting for. “I wanted to give some measure of closure to their relationship which hadn’t felt appropriate in the first two books,” Miller reveals. But she’s not finished with Sugarcreek’s mysteries. “I think I’ll dive deeper into Rick’s antique shop and discover more secrets.”

“The Quiet Soldier” represents the culmination of a remarkable year for Miller. In early 2025, she launched the “Secrets of Sugarcreek” series with “A Stranger for Christmas,” followed by “Searching for Samuel” in June. In September, she received the prestigious Carol Award for “The Heart of Sugarcreek,” marking her second Carol Award win.

 Miller is a USA Today bestselling author and winner of the Romance Writers of America “RITA,” the American Christian Fiction Writers “CAROL,” and a finalist for the “CHRISTY.” Her signature storytelling has leaped from page to screen multiple times, with “The Sugar Haus Inn” becoming the award-winning UPTV movie “Love Finds You in Sugarcreek,” which captured the coveted “Templeton Epiphany Award.” Her mastery of heartfelt narratives has since inspired acclaimed Hallmark Channel features “An Uncommon Grace” (2017) and “Moriah’s Lighthouse” (2022).