Christmas book

Christmas Mail-Order Brides

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Reviewed by Sandra Merville Hart

These three historical romances by different authors all have something in common—someone in each story either wants a mail-order bride or wants to be one. They have employed the services of Mrs. Mayberry’s Matrimonial Society for Christians of Moral Character in their search.

But sometimes the heart has its own ideas…

I loved the characters in Carrie Turansky’s A Trusting Heart. Annika Bergstrom travels to a Wyoming ranch to marry a widower in need of help raising his young daughter, but Chase Simms is mysteriously absent. Daniel, his brother, wishes their pa had talked to Chase before writing to the mail-order bride. In his brother’s continued absence, Daniel begins to fall for Annika. She can’t help wishing that Chase was more like his brother…

The action in Vickie McDonough’s The Prodigal Groom begins immediately. The main setting is in Cedar Springs, Nevada in 1882. My emotions were engaged early as I wanted Jolie Addams to flee the orphanage where a man the age of a grandfather wanted her to live with him as his maid. Jolie flees to Nevada from Iowa to marry a man she’s never met. She meets Clay Jackson along the way and must face a dangerous situation with him. That event turns her future on its head.

I was delighted when this collection comes full circle in Mrs. Mayberry Meets Her Match by Susan Page Davis. Amelia Mayberry, who has supported herself since her husband’s death by running a matchmaking service, finally has saved enough money to retire. The widow in her early fifties has only one job left—find her husband’s old friend a wife, as she had unsuccessfully tried to do two years before. Lennox Bailey has built a successful business in Sacramento. The widower’s married daughter’s family now includes Lennox’s only grandson. He agrees to a visit from Amelia, but he hopes she will not mention the mail-order bride she’d recommended. It had been a fiasco. Yet Amelia cannot leave a job unfinished…  

All of these historical romances are feel-good stories set in the West at Christmas.

I enjoyed this collection of light-hearted, easy-to-read romances. Recommend.

Amazon

The Holiday Arrangement by Dineen Miller

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Reviewed by Sandra Merville Hart

Joy to the World…until it falls apart

Corinne Carter’s divorce from her alcoholic husband is final. She’s got a fresh start back in her hometown in Florida, near her matchmaking mama.

Jeremy Payne hasn’t dated since his long-term relationship ended a year before and his mother is determined to change that. Corinne and Jeremy had been best friends in high school. When they meet again at a Christmas party, they decide to fake a dating relationship to protect themselves from their mothers.

I loved this well-written Christmas romance! It’s a short, enjoyable read. The characters are likable and the situations they face are believable.  

I enjoy stories set during the Christmas holidays and look forward to finding new ones every year. This one is a gem!

Highly recommended for readers of contemporary romance.   

Amazon

A Simple Christmas Wish by Melody Carlson

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Rachel Milligan is spending the week with her lovable niece, Holly, when tragedy strikes. An airplane crash takes the lives of Holly’s parents shortly before Christmas.

Now the only family they have left is each other. Rachel resolves to be the best parent she can be to her brother’s only child.

Yet the will reveals some surprises. What can they do to stop it?

Lovable characters (and one you may love to hate,) and an adorable little girl who tugged at my heart made this a page turner for me.

I love stories set during the Christmas season. This heartwarming story did not disappoint me. Recommend.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Christianbook.com

Christmas Fiction Off the Beaten Path

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Not your Granny’s Christmas stories …

Step off the beaten path and enjoy six stories that look beyond the expected, the traditional, the tried-and-true.

MARY, DID YOU KNOW?  is inspired by the song, Mary Did You Know? This story by Patricia Meredith is a thought-provoking look at the birth of Jesus through the eyes of His mother, Mary.

THOSE WHO STAYED, by Ronnell Kay Gibson, is a gripping story about a Christmas Eve when a teenage boy is one of seven holiday shoppers held hostage. The gunman asks an important question—and a young father has the same question years later.

A ROSE FROM THE ASHES, by JPC Allen, is a story about a daughter searching for her father—and the one who tried to kill her mother. It snagged my attention right away.

In RETURN TO CALLIDORA by Laurie Lucking, a princess threatened by a sorceress is guarded by a dragon. She awaits rescue from her knight in shining armor … but things have a way of turning out differently than planned. I loved that this story has an unlikely hero.

CRYSTAL CHRISTMAS by Michelle L. Levigne not only transports readers back in time but also to a magical mountain in another world. This story is filled with twists that surprised me and kept my interest. I loved the ending.

And I hope you will also enjoy my story in the collection, NOT THIS YEAR, where a hard-working husband and father faces difficult choices at Christmas.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Amazon