A Hope Springs Christmas by Patricia Davids

A Hope Springs Christmas by Patricia Davids

This book will be released on December 1, 2012. 

This is only the second Amish inspirational romance that I’ve read, and both were by Patricia Davids. I don’t know much about the Amish, but her portrayal is completely convincing, bringing out not only their customs, but snippets of their Pennsylvania Dutch language. 

The seventh book in the series, Brides of Amish Country, this is widow Sarah Wyse and shy Levi Beachy’s love story. Sarah’s a young widow, and Levi was her husband’s best friend. He has also been secretly in love with Sarah since they were children.

When Levi's sister and Sarah’s friend, Grace, leaves home for a while to visit her grandmother, Sarah, whose job in a fabric store has ended temporarily, steps in to take care of the family. 

Grace wants to get married, but she fears she can’t, or who would feed Levi and their twin brothers? Who would help Levi at the buggy shop that Sarah owns, and Levi runs? Before Grace leaves, she gets Sarah to promise to find a wife for Levi.

Levi  would also like to leave the area and move west, but he made a promise to Sarah’s dying husband that he would look after her until she remarries. It’s been five years, plenty long enough to find a husband. But a man of his word, Levi's promise keeps him right where he is, and still loving Sarah from afar.  

Since her husband, sister and parents have all died in the past few years, Sarah feels as though death follows her like a dark shadow, and is reluctant to ever love again.

But she’s not afraid to look for a wife for Levi. After bringing him together with several possibilities, Levi catches on, and decides to turn the tables on Sarah.

Of course, we know what eventually happens. Watching a couple's love develop and unfold is the best part of reading a romance.

Though released during the holiday season, this book wasn’t as Christmas-y as many I’ve read. But that was fine. It was still a quiet, wonderful, heartwarming book.   

Book source: NetGalley     

A Snowglobe Christmas by Linda Goodnight and Lissa Manley

Two heartwarming Christmas novellas, set in Snowglobe, Montana.

Linda Goodnight contributed Yuletide Homecoming, which is Rafe Westfield and Amy Caldwell's reunion story. He broke her heart five years ago when he left her at the altar to enlist in the Marines. A year ago, and suffering from PTSD, he returned to Snowglobe to run a business with his brother. Now Amy has also returned, to take over her mother's Christmas Village-type store.

This novella is lushly descriptive of the best of Christmastime.

As to the romance, it takes some doing, but Rafe finally melts Amy's heart. And who wouldn't love a man like Rafe, and eventually forgive him for what he did? He's a do-gooder, volunteering at his church and for other organizations in need, including foster children. Plus, he's about to build a new house in a beautiful valley, and he needs Amy's help in planning the layout. These are only a couple of the many ways this handsome man wins back the love of his life.

If you need your spirits lifted, do yourself a favor: download the book to your favorite e-reader, make a cup of steaming hot chocolate, put your feet up, and prepare to feel loved, pampered and protected.  We women need stories like these at Christmastime, when we're running a mile a minute, trying to get everything done and meet everyone's needs but our own.

I will never, ever forget the joy I felt one year at Christmastime, when I was feeling this way, besides being basically snowbound with three small children. A package was delivered to my door in a plain, brown cardboard box. But it held such treasures: Christmas stories from Harlequin!

Now for A Family's Christmas Wish by Lissa Manley: I was sure when I started reading this novella that I couldn't possibly like it as much, or more, than Linda Goodnight's pitch-perfect, spot-on story. Was I ever surprised when I found myself so touched, moved and inspired by it that I cried throughout the last quarter.

Was this story truly a tearjerker, or did it simply find and pluck deep chords within me? Maybe it was the Snowglobe that played The Impossible Dream, my all-time favorite song, and Owen's Christmas gift to Sara.

Maybe it was Ms. Manley's expert choice of scenic material in the final quarter, situations which enabled these stubborn characters to trust God's plan for them and, eventually, their love for each other. I don't know what it was, but it moved me powerfully.

Summary: Sara Kincaid's father left her when she was a child, and then was later abandoned by her husband during her eighth month of pregnancy. As you might guess, she doesn't trust men. When she hires builder Owen Larsen to do some carpentry work on her Bed-and-Breakfast, she's pretty sure her heart is safe. After all, Owen's moving away in a week. Besides that, Owen himself is afraid to love again, after his beloved wife's death a year ago. Their small children help bring them together, and as the week rolls on, Owen and Sara fall in love. But it takes some doing on God's part to finally pull them back into each other's arms forever.

Review source: NetGalley.

The Gift of Family: Two Heartwarming Christmas Novellas by Linda Ford and Karen Kirst

Back of the book:

These were released on October 1, 2012. Being series stories (which means distribution is similar to that of monthly magazines), they are no longer in print. Unlike magazine serials, they are available perpetually in e-book format.

Merry Christmas, Cowboy by Linda Ford

A wild snowstorm strands Colt Johnson in Eden Valley, where the storekeeper's daughter exudes welcome warmth. She's even offered to give the two orphans in his charge a Christmas to remember. An outcast, Colt doesn't dare hope for more--even though Becca's love would be a Christmas wish come true.

I enjoyed both of these stories very much. As novellas, each was probably only about 35,000-40,000 words, which severely limits the depth or scope in which an author can develop and explore her themes. Linda Ford examines what it means to be an outcast, or to feel like an outsider, in Merry Christmas, Cowboy. She shows God's love and acceptance of outsiders through Becca and her father's unquestioning acceptance of Colt and his two charges. 

Colt Johnson is a half-breed in a time when people of mixed race, particularly American Indian, are shunned and even persecuted. 

Because the format is so short, Ms. Ford was unable to go into that in much depth. For most of the story until near the end, the reader needs to take for granted that Colt is indeed an outcast, because the author said so, not because the reader has witnessed it in the unveiling story. But that's okay!

It is, after all, a romance, and so Ms. Ford folds her theme into the growing love between Becca and Colt. 

Because Becca's father operates a store in a remote area, Becca's life prospects are limited. To fulfill her mother's dying wish for her, she's on the verge of returning to the East to live. Until Colt shows up at the store around Christmastime with two newly orphaned children. As Christians, Becca and her father show Colt and the full-Indian children nothing but love and acceptance. Things they have never experienced from other white people, who only disdain them. 

The reader experiences Colt and Becca falling in love despite their outer goals and inner turmoils. As well, they become parent figures to the grieving children. Becca is determined to give them all the best Christmas ever. She succeeds, and in the process gets the greatest gift she could ever have. 


Back of the book:
Smoky Mountain Christmas by Karen Kirst

Cole Prescott's Gatlinburg visit will be just long enough to free his wife from their mistake of a marriage. Then he meets the daughter he hadn't known he had. Little Abby needs a father, especially at Christmastime. And all Cole wants is a chance to make a life with Rachel and Abby at last...

Rocky Mountain Christmas by Karen Kirst was every bit as good as Ms. Ford's novella. As a reader,  I actually related to this one more than I did to Ms. Ford's story, however that has nothing to do with the quality of either story, which were both wonderful, but rather my own particular compulsions for reading. Readers latch on more strongly to some authors because of the themes those authors share and explore.

Ms. Kirst's style was more romantic, which I liked. I also related better to Cole's inner turmoils than I did Colt's, and to the things that split him and Rachel apart, as well as to what each one needed to give up, in order to make their marriage work again. 

You can always trust Love Inspired's stable of authors to deliver uplifting, inspiring and romantic Historical Romances.   

Review source: Print copy, purchased at WalMart. 

Lilac Wedding in Dry Creek by Janet Tronstad

Back of the book:

When she ran away from the juvenile home she was raised in, Cat Barker left more than an unstable childhood behind. She also left her first love, Jake Stone. The two had more in common than anyone understood, but neither knew how to trust. Now Cat needs help, and there's only one person she can turn to—Jake, her daughter's secret father. Though Cat can see the tender man she once cared for, she still fears love and marriage. Until a daunting challenge renews her faith—and teaches them all a lesson about trust.

This book was an exceptionally tender-hearted read, as well as a page-turner. Jake Stone and Cat Barker met when they were teenagers living in a home run by the state. There, they fell in love, but Cat didn't have enough self esteem to believe that he could truly love her, and so she ran away at 18. He was pretty sure he wasn’t good husband and father material anyway, as he was raised by an abusive father.

Years go by. Jake becomes a wealthy gambler in Las Vegas, sending Cat some money every year. When illness threatens her life, and there is no one to take care of Jake’s secret child, Cat takes their little girl to meet her daddy. Jake persuades Cat to travel with him to Dry Creek to attend his brother’s wedding. As Cat’s health worsens, Jake’s love and fears for her and their daughter grow.    

This is a prodigal son story, which seems to be a staple to inspirational romance, and I can understand why. In this story, Jake not only finds his way home to the small town of Dry Creek and his family, but to God as well.

Apparently this is the 20^th book Janet Tronstad has written in the Dry Creek series, some contemporary and some historical. I will definitely be reading more. Wildflower Bride in Dry Creek is already sitting on a shelf, waiting to be read ... 

Big Sky Family by Charlotte Carter

Back of the Book: Single mom Ellie James has returned to Montana for a fresh start and a new job at a local school. She sure could use the support of hometown rancher Arnie O'Brien, especially when she faces the opportunity to step up as director. But this cowboy still holds a grudge from when Ellie left him behind eight years ago. Can Arnie trust God's plan and take a second chance on the girl who got away? He and Ellie will have to put aside the past to face the future together.

I knew I wasn't reading a typical romance when I discovered, almost from the first page, that the hero is a paraplegic, and will always be one. 

Whoa. And he is hero material? 
In an inspirational romance, absolutely. Yes. 

That's what I love about inspirational romance: the authors shine a light on real people in real-life situations. The love that grows, or is rekindled, in the case of a reunion romance such as this one, is based not so much on sexual chemistry (although that is always present, but underplayed). Instead, agape love is forged between them. 

Anyone who's been married for any amount of time realizes agape is the only kind of love that will endure the trials and tribulations a couple will assuredly encounter, probably many, many times, in their lives together. Faith in God and the enduring power of love is what inspirational romance is all about.

About the book ... It's about a lot of things, but nothing so much as Arnie learning to forgive Ellie for leaving him after his injury. It's also about Arnie learning to see himself as a man worthy of being loved, even if he cannot walk, and to accept Ellie's love for him. 

For Ellie, who had never really stopped loving Arnie (though he pushed her away after his injury), it's about being tested in her leadership abilities and discovering she's up to what's hoped for her. Given the chance to take on a job with quite a lot of responsibility, she is aided in her decision by Arnie's complete faith in her abilities. But not just faith, he's also willing to roll up his sleeves and help her be the accomplished businesswoman she is destined to be ... besides being Arnie's wife.

A Home for Hannah by Patricia Davids

by	Patricia Davids

Love Inspired

Publication date: Aug 1, 2012

Miniseries: Brides of Amish Country

Category:

Inspirational Romance

Back of the Book:
Yearning to find a meaningful life in the outside world, nurse Miriam Kaufman strayed far from her Amish community. She also needed distance from Nick Bradley, the cop who had caused her so much pain. Back in Hope Springs to care for her ailing mother, Miriam needs Nick, now sheriff, to find the mother of Hannah, the baby abandoned on her porch. Nick is as wary of Miriam's intentions as she is of facing their past. Can two wounded hearts overcome their history to do what's best for little Hannah?

I cannot resist a BABY ON THE DOORSTEP hook. Who would be so desperate as to leave their baby on someone's doorstep, and why? 

The mystery is solved, of course, in any novel with this hook. But in a romance, it happens even as a man and a woman are trying desperately NOT to fall in love. 

I'll admit it. I'm new to Steeple Hill's Love Inspired line. Over the past 11 years, I was a children's librarian. The bulk of my reading was devoted to Young Adult, Middle Grade and Picture Books. But I love Inspirational Romance, and I intend to "catch up" on my reading ... and reviewing. 

I'd never read a Patricia Davids book, although she has written somewhere around 20 books so far. As well as the Baby on the Doorstep, the Amish theme intrigued me. This book is part of her Brides of Amish Country Series. Reading it, I learned more than I expected to about the Amish and their beliefs, but the facts were always deftly inserted and only where necessary. 

I discovered also that Ms. Davids's writing style matches the Plainness of the Amish, most notably their Plain Speaking. Unlike other romance writers whose style tends toward lush and lyrical, Ms. Davids does not. Her book reads more like a documentary, with a plot that was utterly believable, which didn't bother me in the least. I have always preferred verisimilitude to fantasy in the romance genre. Besides, there were mysteries to be solved, and the sooner the better. The plot needed to clip along speedily. There was only one place, really, at the end, where I wished Ms. Davids had slowed her pace slightly. I wish she had prolonged the hero and heroine's reuniting after the breakup, so I could savor it all the more. It happened too quickly to bring tears to my eyes. 

But there was another place where she succeeded, which took me entirely by surprise. Tell me if you don't think the following passage is utterly beautiful: 

Nick was singing softly in a beautiful baritone voice that sent chills up her spine. It was the old spiritual, "Michael Row the Boat Ashore." Miriam stood listening for several stanzas, captured by the beauty of his voice and the healing words of the song. Death was not an end, merely a river to be crossed.  

Mark and her father were waiting for her on a shore she couldn't see yet, but someday she would. If only she could be sure she could gain their forgiveness. 

How could she if she handn't forgiven Nick? She pushed the screen door open and walked out onto the porch.   

Well, maybe you need to read the book to feel the full context. I enjoyed A Home for Hannah, and I will definitely be reading more books by Patricia Davids.