Unshaken
Shelley Shepard Gray
Revell Pub
June 2025
Unshaken by Shelley Shepard Gray is a romantic suspense story. She is one of the special authors that can write all different types of genres. But her romantic suspense stories have an Amish twist that are riveting. She has many layers to the characters that include interesting backstories where the characters have dreams, fears, and hope.
The story has the plot of the 1985 Harrison Ford movie “Witness” turned 180-degrees. Stephanie Miller, an Amish woman, went into town to pick up some items. Unfortunately, she sees a teenage boy shoot a man and then shoot at her, grazing her arm. Now the sole witness to a murder, Stephanie is targeted by the gunman. Bev, a social worker, sees what happened and decides immediately to help her knowing that there were gangs and drugs involved. She suggests emphatically that Stephanie’s life is in danger, and she must disappear. Bev sends Stephanie to her brother who lives and works on a ranch with a gate guard and ranch hands to protect her. Bev’s brother Hardy works for the wealthy ranch owner Carter and both men served in the military together. He dresses her in English clothing and decides to hide her at Carter’s sprawling ranch. But the killer is desperate, and the gang is desperate, and they will not stop until Stephanie is dead.
Stephanie at first feels out of place in the English world. But having lost her parents at 16, Stephanie is sent to live with her aunt and uncle, helping them with their household and children. Although grateful for a place to live, Stephanie feels out of place because she knows that her aunt and uncle only want her as a housekeeper and treat her accordingly. Even with the danger she is much more relaxed on the ranch and starts to imagine a life outside the Amish community.
Readers should want more stories by Gray that delve into romantic suspense. This one has not one but two relationships going on concurrently: Bev and Carter, Stephanie and Hardy. The plot has plenty of action with the drama increasing in intensity.
Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story?
Shelley Shepard Grey: I am a fan of the movie, “Witness” with Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis. I wanted to do a twist on this, having an Amish heroine witnessing a murder but instead of having the detective go into Amish country, to have her go into the English world. This was the inspiration. I hope readers saw that everyone had everything to gain and everything to lose.
EC: Why was Stephanie willing to go into the English world, being Amish?
SSG: She witnesses a crime and has been convinced she is in danger. She does not want to go to the police. She has specific reasons why she does not trust and is afraid of the police. She feels that there is no one to protect her so her only option is to run.
EC: What about her Amish family life?
SSG: She felt she was not losing much going into the English world. She had to weigh what she was giving up, what she was to gain, and the risks involved. She really is a Cinderella character with her parents dead and had to move in with relatives who did not treat her very well. She had a choice to make a change or do everything the same. The Amish community is very close where I live. They deal with some of the same things as those in the English world.
EC: How would you describe Stephanie?
SSG: Naïve, scared, untrustingly, had hard knocks, sheltered, shy, observant, innocent, calm, and stressed. She is stronger than she thought. She is a little bit scrappy.
EC: What is the role of her aunt and uncle?
SSG: It showed how Stephanie put others above her own wants and needs. With them, she has become withdrawn and quiet. She is treated like a foster child in a very bad foster home. She did not see any way out. There are those in the Amish community that must give all their earnings to their elders, making it so they have no choices.
EC: Why the foster homes?
SSG: Gangs went after foster children and gave them the belief of a sense of belonging. They are damaged and vulnerable. This is my perception of where I wanted the story to go. My character in the story, Timothy, represents this and we follow his journey.
EC: How would you describe Timothy?
SSG: Damaged, vulnerable, and bitter. I wanted his story to echo Stephanie’s. I wanted the reader to feel for him as he fumbles through this story. My intention was that he was not all good or all bad. He had some good points. He had as many dreams as Stephanie but had tried to achieve the dreams in a bad way. They both had some situations they wanted to escape from.
EC: How would you describe Hardy?
SSG: Former military, honest, kind, gruff, direct, and a protector.
EC: How would you describe Carter, the other hero in the story?
SSG: Easy going, friendly, has common sense, charming, kind, shrewd, and powerful. He does not have a separate point of view or voice. There are four points of view: Stephanie, Hardy, Bev, and Timothy.
EC: How would you describe Bev, who initially rescued Stephanie?
SSG: Caring, patient, and does not see all her qualities. She was a mother type of figure for Stephanie. She gave her a sounding board. She represented the person who Stephanie could interact with and bond.
EC: How would you describe the Carter and Bev relationship?
SSG: Carter sees Bev as amazing. They make each other feel off kilter and refuse to admit how they feel. I wanted this relationship to be in the background.
EC: How would you describe the Stephanie and Hardy relationship?
SSG: They have so many conflicts including their age, lifestyles, and religion. Her vulnerability and his protectiveness meshed. Because of her he was able to let down his guard. He makes her feel secure about the outside world. She brings out some gentler character traits in him.
EC: Next books?
SSG: There are two books coming out in October. C is For Courting, that will finish up the trilogy where the children must decide if they will remain English or become Amish.
The other one is Christmas Promises, a contemporary romance. It is the second book in the series, set in Ohio.
Early next year is a first book in a new series, The Amish Widow’s Club. There is a forty-year-old Amish heroine, recently widowed. She becomes part of a secret club.
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