This is the second in the trilogy that began with "Beverly Lewis' The Shunning." It's based on the 1997 book of the same title in Lewis' "The Heritage of Lancaster County" series. A significant change is that a different actress played the role of Katie Lapp in this film.
Katie Lapp has now left her Amish family and is working in a restaurant as a waitress. She is naïve and patrons take advantage of her. Her waitress friend helps her locate her birth mother, Laura Mayfield Bennett, a woman who has inherited great wealth, is dying of cancer, and has a husband, Dylan, who has a severe gambling problem.
Because Dylan has great debts, he gets an actress, Alyson, to pretend to be Katie Lapp in order to persuade Laura to bequeath her fortune to Katie rather than to a foundation she has established. The Fake Katie shows up days before Real Katie appears on the luxurious estate. So the Real Katie is mistaken as the replacement for a maid who Dylan fired because she overheard him lie to Katie on the phone.
Katie willingly serves as a maid because she quickly comes to love Laura and wants the best for her.
Meanwhile, Katie's old boyfriend, Daniel Fisher, shows up at the home of Katie's parents in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He reveals he did not drown as was thought, but had run away to join the army. He had been shamed into service by an "English" man who said the Amish were protected in their way of life by people willing to serve. Katie's father, Samuel Lapp, throws Daniel off the farm, but her mother, Rebecca, gives Daniel a clue as to Katie's whereabouts.
Daniel arrives at the Bennett estate, realizes there is a Fake Katie, and recognizes the Real Katie. He introduces himself as Katie's cousin from Holmes County, Ohio. He quickly determines the imposter is not able to speak Pennsylvania Dutch, but does not reveal this to Laura.
In the end Dylan's scheme is found out and Real Katie Lapp inherits everything. She now faces a quandary to be settled in the last film of the trilogy -- she thinks she sees Daniel Fisher on the street, but she has begun a relationship with Justin Wirth, the head of the foundation started by Laura.
There's very little actual Amish content in this film. Katie's (and Daniel's) accent remain problematic and unidentifiable. Using Pennsylvania Dutch to unveil the fraud was a good gimmick. It was also clear the Fake Katie was unaware she had been shunned by the Amish community back home. But the whole plot is quite outlandish, and outside of a few letters home, Katie has totally left her Amish family in the dust.
Outside of the general sweetness of this Hallmark film, there is not a lot to commend it.