The Christmas Singing by Cindy Woodsmall

After Gideon coldly broke her heart, can the warmth of the season revive Mattie’s hopes? 
Mattie thought her childhood sweetheart adored her until he abruptly ended their engagement on Christmas Eve.
 
Three years later, will learning the truth behind his rejection restore her Christmas joy – or open the door to even deeper heartbreak?
 
Spend Christmas with the Amish in this story of love, romance, heartache, and restoration.

My Review

What a delightful story author Cindy Woodsmall brings to us this Christmas season - right from the heart of Amish country, from an Amish community in Ohio to one in Pennsylvania. I believe it is because the Amish have intentionally removed themselves from many of the things we use, that they are able to cultivate the closeness of community that we all wish for. 

Although this is a novella, Cindy very aptly deals with all the issues you might find in a full length novel, and the characters are all well developed. Issues like betrayal, heartache, loss, and restorationone are some of the most promanent in this novel. Since this is a Christmas novella, the story is short and fast, but sweet and easy to relate to. Mattie is sincere, but easily distracted, Gideon feels he can control life. How often don't we tend to fall into the same things?

The story is told both from Mattie's view point as well as from Gideon's. This might be confusing, except the author has done a very good job keeping this clear in the reader's mind.

I read this in one afternoon, and would recommend it to any of my friends. Even if you don't particularly enjoy Amish romance, I believe that you would enjoy this short glimpse into the life of Mattie and Gideon.

I received this book from WaterbrookMultnomah Publishers through their Blogging for Books program in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to make a positive review, and the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Smitten - By Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, Denise Hunter, & Diann Hunt

 

Published by Thomas Nelson

Average Blogger Rating:4.51 Stars

Book Description

Four friends devise a plan to turn Smitten, Vermont, into the country's premier romantic getaway-and each finds her own true love along the way.

With Smitten Lumber closing, residents wonder if their town can stay afloat. Then four friends and local business owners-Natalie, Julia, Shelby, and Reese--decide the town is worth saving. How will they do it? They'll turn Smitten into a honeymoon destination!

As Natalie, Julia, Shelby, and Reese work to save the town, each discovers romance in her own life. Meanwhile, the faith of a little child reminds the whole town what it means to have real faith in the God who is the always and forever Love.

Discover a novel written by four of Christian fiction's most popular romance novelists- friends in real life who've drawn an amazing story of four friends! Includes a Reading Group Guide as well as "Conversation over Coffee with the Authors".

MY REVIEW

i found this a very fun read...actually this is written like one book - it is just that each season and each main character is written by a different author. What makes this work extremely well is the fact that the authors are best friends, and according to them can finish each others sentences. Want to get to know these authors better? well, each author loosely based her main character on herself, the operative word being loosely.  This novel really invites the reader to feel the friendships that the girls enjoy - from one season to another.  Together they have a plan - to save their town, but first they must convince the residents (in particularly the men in their lives that not only is the plan good, it will work! A few anxious moments as the reader wonders if things will work out all around, many chuckles as the characters mess things up for themselves and you have a wonderful novel.

i actually checked the start of the book to see if some of these novels were a continuation from other novels, that is how comfortable i was with the characters right from page one. The story (stories) flowed with out pause from one story or season into another. i have never read a novel that took novellas and welded them together so seamlessly, unless they were written by one author. 

i was disappointed that there were a few loose ends not tied up, and that the sequel to this one does not come out until December 2012. In every other way it met my expectations.


i received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers through their program Booksneeze in exchange for an honest review. i was not required to give a postive review.

An Amish Wedding - novellas

An Amish Wedding, a collection of three novellas by three Inspirational Amish writers – Kelly Long, Katherine Fuller and Beth Wiseman, follows the stories of three young friends as they contemplate their wedding day.

A Perfect Secret by Kelly Long is Rose Bender’s story. She knows who she loves, but does she know who he is? The share some common interests, and they are both Amish, but the secret she and the reader stumble upon one dark night causes both the question what do these two share? And who is the thief in the community? Secrets in a relationship are seldom healthy, and these need to be resolved quickly.  Kelly carries the reader along with Rose as she finds answers to the questions she has, and both she and the reader learn that pretending to be who you are not, is harder than it looks.

In A Perfect Match by Kathleen Fuller, Naomi is not only a baker but a friend who wants only happiness for her friends even if it brings her heartache.  Having helped Rose overcome her insecurities, she turns her attention to her friend and assistant Margaret, who is painfully shy when she becomes the attention of young men.  Regardless of what her heart tells her, or the young man, for that matter, she feels Margaret needs to pay attention to the stranger from out of the county.  Hearts win out, and when Margaret finds someone who loves her, right beside her, maybe Naomi can pay attention to her own happiness.

When Beth Wiseman wrote “A Perfect Plan” she wrote about something i think all young brides hope for...that nothing will go wrong for the couple. Priscilla thinks that if the perfect plans she makes go on without a hitch, she must be living in God’s Will, but when things don’t turn out in the order she wants them to, or even turn out how she wants them to, she begins to doubt.  A perfect life does not necessarily doing God’s Will, nor does one of hardship mean the opposite.

I loved all three novellas, though felt that each one could have stood on its own as a novel with more depth being given to the characters. However, each story is clear in its message, and together, they bring an inspiration to living...God is ultimately in control, and we need to rest in this truth, whether we are contemplating marriage, our life’s work or any other situation. Through all three novellas trust is a major issue.

I received this ebook from Thomas Nelson Publishers through the Booksneeze program for review.  I was not required to give a positive review just my honest opinion in exchange for a free book/ebook.