Saturday, December 6, 2014

"An Amish Christmas Quilt" by Hubbard, Long and Beckstrand

About the Book

With all the warmth of a cozy quilt, three authors stitch together Amish tales of hearts joined, friendships patched, and the bright joys of Christmas tradition . . .

A Willow Ridge Christmas Pageant ~ Charlotte Hubbard
Seth Brenneman didn't expect his holiday would include rescuing pregnant young Mary Kauffman and her two children. . .or having unexpected feelings for the still-grieving widow. But when they must play the leads in an impromptu live Nativity pageant to help his Amish community, will their roles reveal their hearts--and work a miracle for a lifetime?

A Christmas On Ice Mountain ~ Kelly Long
Matthew Beider and Laurel Lapp's secret wish to marry is a gift their feuding fathers definitely won't accept. And trying to settle their dats' long-standing quarrel is making their holiday anything but merry. Can rediscovering the joys and friendships of Christmas past finally turn their families' futures bright?

A Perfect Amish Christmas ~ Jennifer Beckstrand
Anna and Felty Helmuth's grandson, Gideon, plans to spend Christmas on a beach in sunny Mexico. But Anna is quite sure he'd rather be with them, snowshoeing, ice fishing--falling in love. And she knows the perfect girl. Not only is Dottie Schrock an excellent quilter and baker, she's having a party. There's just one complication--Gideon is not invited. Dottie has her reasons, but Anna trusts that the spirit of Christmas--and true love--will change her mind, and her future . . .



This book was released in October 2014
I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.


My Review

“An Amish Christmas Quilt” is a book with three novella's by Charlotte Hubbard, Kelly Long and Jennifer Beckstrand. All three stories focus on Christmas with a different meaning all the way around, while love blooms or draws families closer. Jesus, forgiveness and better understanding of Christmas are just some of the messages that I took from these charming stories that are each only about 80 pages. I hope all who read this book enjoy the Christmas messages that come from these stories. 

“A Willow Ridge Christmas Pageant” by Charlotte Hubbard goes along with her 'Seasons of the Heart' series. Seth is a minor character in the other books, but here we see him with his own role. Here is a Christmas novella that I really enjoyed for though it is a romance and things appear to be moving fast, I got the feeling there was a lot more contact between the two as this story takes over several months. We are just invited to see what is going on in those pretty important scenes where things are being discovered or shared between the two. I have to say that I felt the Christmas message as well for it was the focus on the Reason for the Season that I enjoyed and how they touched so many other people as well. 

“A Christmas on Ice Mountain” by Kelly Long goes along with her Ice Mountain series (not sure of the title of the series though sorry), and that in of itself made me uncertain if I wanted to read the short novella. Oh Ms. Long writes wonderful stories and this was no different, but after reading “The Amish Bride of Ice Mountain” I was just weary. This time I wasn't given the shock that I had when I tried reading “The Amish Bride of Ice Mountain” so I wasn't taken by complete surprise, so warning it is an adult short story regardless, for if I don't feel comfortable allowing my 14 year old neighbor read it then it is an adult story, and I feel that about this story. 

Here is a a story that reminded me a lot of “Romeo and Juliet” in that their fathers are feuding to the point to where they don't speak. The story starts out with what caused the rift, and sadly at that point I figured out what happened but the ending was so worth reading the book. Yes this is a story of love between Matthew and Laurel but the more important part of the story is that of forgiveness and listening. Time is sometimes too short here on earth so we should always work on trying to get over those past hurts and forgive each other. This story is a wonderful example of that alone with the fathers. 

“A Perfect Amish Christmas” by Jennifer Beckstrand goes along with her 'The Matchmakers of Huckleberry Hill' series. I found the message of discovery for what makes the perfect Christmas to be so precious for so many times people look for things being perfect and over look the important things. The person who is seeking that perfect Christmas has their reasons and reasons that everyone can understand, but this person forgot what makes Christmas perfect no matter what happens. When things look so bleak, the truth is figured out, things begin to turn around for things are being looked at differently. Truly a Perfect Christmas is achieved then and I couldn't help but smile as I read the ending.


Other 'Season's of the Heart' Books and Novellas

Summer of Secrets
Autumn Winds
Winter of Wishes
"Kissing the Bishop"
                                                      found in An Amish Country Christmas
Breath of Spring
"A Willow Ridge Christmas Pageant"
                                                found in An Amish Christmas Quilt

Other 'Ice Mountains' Books 
 
The Amish Bride of Ice Mountain


Other 'The Matchmakers of Huckleberry Hill' Books and Novellas

Huckleberry Hill
Huckleberry Summer
Huckleberry Christmas
"A Perfect Amish Christmas"
                                                          found in An Amish Christmas Quilt


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