A Joyful Christmas

GIVEAWAY

HICKEY, CYNTHIA
JOHNSON, LIZ
MCDONOUGH, VICKIE
TOLSMA, LIZ
TURANSKY, CARRIE
VETSCH, ERICA
A JOYFUL CHRISTMAS

A Christmas collection to warm the heart.

Grab a warm cup of tea and watch as romance is kindled and joy is restored to broken lives during six bygone era Christmas celebrations.

A Christmas Castle by Cynthia Hickey -- Married by proxy in Missouri, Annie Morgan sets off for Tombstone, Arizona, to join her new husband as a cattle rancher. But too soon she finds herself a widow with an unexpected daughter and butting heads with her handsome neighbor.

A Star in the Night by Liz Johnson -- Wounded within Confederate territory, Union officer Jedediah Harrington finds refuge at the tiny cabin of Cora Sinclair and her grandfather. Still haunted by what she saw as a battlefield hospital volunteer, Cora finds that only Jed can understand. But, though she longs to give him her heart, the risks to both of them are too great.

An Irish Bride for Christmas by Vickie McDonough -- When Jackson Lancaster's brother and wife die, he takes his three-year-old niece home. But a meddling busy-body makes the judge give her custody "because an unmarried man shouldn't raise a little girl." Now Jackson has until Christmas to find a bride or lose his niece forever. Larkin Doyle is grateful her employer took in the orphan and believes Jackson abandoned his niece. When her heart says otherwise, will romance blossomm?

Under His Wings by Liz Tolsma -- Adie O'Connell, orphaned and left alone in a dangerous Wisconsin logging camp, seeks the stability she once knew when both her parents lived. Despite the compassion and friendship offered by Noah "Preacher Man" Mitchell, she refuses to consider marriage to a man always drifting from one job to another for God.

Shelter in the Storm by Carrie Turansky -- The daughter of a wealthy Tennessee doctor, Rachel Thornton begins nursing James Galloway, a wounded artist-war correspondent. As James recovers, their hearts draw closer together. Having already lost one sweetheart to the war, Rachel is hestiant to reveal her feelings for James, who insists on returning to the front lines. Would she be safer in the arms of another man?

Christmas Service by Erica Vetsch -- Beth Sorensen has been put in charge of the Christmas pageant at the little log church, and this year she wants something different. But she didn't count on a Minnesota blizzard paralyzing the whole town. Can the blacksmith teach this preacher's daughter about what it means to serve one another in love through the storm?

My Review:

A Christmas lover's dream collection. Six fantastic authors have created novellas full of heart and faith steeped in the spirit of Christmas. Each story has all the elements of a full-length novel and packs the same kind of emotional punch. Each author brings her own unique perspective to these rushing-into-love-under-dire-circumstances romances.

Cynthia Hickey's heroine walks into a a homesteader's nightmare when she arrives in Tombstone and discovers her married-by-proxy husband is dead and has left her a struggling ranch under siege and an unexpected step-daughter! This is the wild west at it's best, and worse. I loved the romance between feisty and determined Annie and her gruff but knight-in-shining-armorish neighbour and the way they draw together to save the ranch from the dastardly villains. :-)

I'm not a huge fan of Civil War stories but Liz Johnson and Carrie Turnasky beguiled me with their very different approaches to finding love in the midst of war. Both involve wounded Union soldiers and the women who nurse them back to health. Loved Johnson's cabin in the woods setting where Cora lives with her grandfather. By contrast, Turnasky's heroine enjoys status and wealth as the daughter of a prominent doctor. And her British hero is a war-correspondent artist which was really interesting to read about. But both Cora and Rachel have to decide whether they dare risk giving their hearts to men who will continue to risk their lives for the cause they believe in.

I was steaming over the meddling busy-body in Vicki McDonough's An Irish Bride for Christmas right from the very start. There's grieving Jackson having just buried his brother and sister-in-law trying to do his best by his four year-old niece when Mrs. Hoity-Toity Persnickety Mayor's Wife comes waltzing in claiming he's unfit to raise the child. Gah! Luckily sweet Irish lass Larkin is on hand to care for the little girl because Mrs. HTPMW thinks children should be seen (and not often) and definitely never heard. Meanwhile, there's poor Jackson fighting just to have rights to see his niece while searching high and low for a woman he can marry by Christmas or he'll lose any chance of regaining custody of his niece. Uh, Jackson, meet Larkin and get married already! This one kept me discombobulated right to the end.

Adie and Noah in Liz Tolsma's Under His Wings gave me fits too. These two were so intent on following through on their own plans they neglected to notice God's Grand Plan right in front of them. There's a truly vile lumberjack with designs on Adie and enough tension and drama to satisfy this thrill seeking bibliophile. Angst aplenty with the promise of a Christmas miracle conclusion.

I howled my way through Christmas Service by Erica Vetsch. This is like the adult version of the holiday classic The Worst Christmas Pageant Ever. And just as funny. With an infuriatingly reluctant-to-court-the-blacksmith heroine. But oh my, that blacksmith. Thud! I want to shake some sense into Beth. Chaos and hijinks abound for this doomed couple who desperately need a Christmas miracle!

I listened to the audible edition of A Joyful Christmas narrated by Carolyn Molloy and she did an amazing job of capturing all the distinct accents -- from British to Irish to Southern drawl -- not to mention the creaky voice of an old grandfather and the sweet yammering of young children. A lively reading that enhanced my enjoyment of these stories all the more.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

If you would like a chance to win a copy of  A Joyful Christmas, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it's easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday September 12 2020 . Offer open to International Readers. Good luck