12.24.2013

Christmas in Apple Ridge | Book Review


Stats:
Author, Cindy WoodsmallPaperback, 576 pages
Published October 9th, 2012
Publisher, Waterbrook Press
Genre, Christian Fiction, Romance

Description from Goodreads:
Experience the holidays with the Plain folk of Apple Ridge, Pennsylvania, in these touching novellas centered around love, romance, heartache, and restoration from best-selling author Cindy Woodsmall.

The Sound of Sleigh Bells
Beth Hertzler is unable to let go of a past tragedy, but when she discovers a large, intricately carved scene of Amish children playing in the snow, something deep inside Beth’s soul responds. Determined that her niece meet the gifted artist, her aunt tracks him down, but it’s not that simple – will Jonah be able to offer Beth the sleigh ride she’s always dreamed of and a second chance at real love?

The Christmas Singing
Mattie thought her childhood sweetheart adored her until he abruptly ended their engagement on Christmas Eve. Brokenhearted, Mattie moves away and pursues her longtime dream of becoming a cake decorator, and even finds a new beau. But when Mattie is forced to return home three years later, will learning the truth behind Gideon’s rejection restore her Christmas joy – or open the door to even deeper heartbreak?

The Dawn of Christmas
Sadie enjoys her freedom away from home and her mission trips to Peru, but after four years, her Old Order Amish family insists it’s time to come home and settle down. Levi, a bachelor who distrusts women after a family heartbreak, also has no desire for romance. To keep their families from meddling in their lives, Sadie and Levi devise a plan—but soon discover that the walls around their hearts are breaking down. Can they let go of their prejudices, learn to trust each other, and embrace a future together?

My Thoughts:
This was a wonderful collection of Amish Christian Fiction for the Christmas Season. Cindy Woodsmall wrote three separate novellas and combined them nicely into this one book. I will briefly review each story.

The Sound of Sleigh Bells
This is the story of Beth and Jonah. Beth is a business woman that works in her families story. She is still in mourning over the loss of her fiance. She also travels once a year to find Amish goods to sell to both English and Amish stores. One her trip she finds a carving that she loves and tells the story owner that she would like to buy more to sell. She sends her aunt to met with the carver, Jonah, and her aunt starts to play matchmaker.
Jonah has his own story and grief to overcome and together, they just may be able to find more than they are looking for.

The Christmas Singing
This is the story of Mattie and Gideon. They have been childhood sweethearts and are going to be married, but Gideon calls off the marriage and gets married to an English woman. This is very upsetting to Mattie and she moves away to start a business and be closer to her brother. She has been away for three years but is forced to return.
She runs into Gideon who tells her the real reason that he called off the marriage to her. Then she is forced with the decision of a life with Gideon or with Sol.

The Dawn of Christmas
This is the story of Levi and Sadie. Sadie was engaged once and found that she could not trust her fiance after finding him with her cousin. She left and went on a three year mission trip to Peru. When she returns home, she is determined to remain single.
She is literally thrown together Levi and when Sadie saves him after an accident. Levi is also determined to stay single after friends of his have gone have experienced heartache. One of those friends is the old fiance of Sadie. The two join forced to stay singe and soon find out that they may have found what they weren't looking for.

Over all - they were all wonderful Christmas stories. I really love to read novellas since they are fast and easy reads.



**It is important to note that I received this book from Waterbrook Press via Blogging for Books for an honest review.

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