When Sadie sees the man she intends to wed in a compromised position with her cousin, she calls off the next day's nuptials. She embarks on a mission trip to Peru and then returns to work in a store in another town. When the family calls her home, she is torn between being obedient and her desire to return to Peru. But circumstances force her to move back home at least until she can gather the necessary funds for the trip. In the midst, she meets Levi, a man new to the area, who saw his brother's wife walk and leave him and their young child. He distrusts women as much as she distrusts men.

I listened to this in audio format. The narrator was good, but not exceptional. The story itself is a nice, clean romance that Amish fiction lovers and those who enjoy gentle Christmas reads will enjoy. It's a typical Amish romance plot with enough of a twist to make it enjoyable. ( )

This title was originally offered in the 3-in-1 book "Christmas in Apple Ridge" by Cindy Woodsmall but her fans loved it so much, she chose to let those of us who LOVE having lots and lots of books, have the stories in 3 separate hardbound novellas.

THANK YOU CINDY!

I don't know about you but I have a personal fondness for hard bound books. There's just something about a nice thick cover, a pretty dustcover that you can slip off while you're reading and then slip back on so it looks pretty on the shelf. It may be weird but I'm OK with that.

These Apple Ridge Novellas are absolutely some of Cindy Woodsmall's best work. Each story is written in such a way that you could quite easily read it all by itself and not miss much about what has happened in the others. And yet, if you read them in order, they flow so nicely from one to the next. I don't know if she has anymore in the works but I'm hoping so!

This story focuses on two young people who have experienced heartbreak firsthand in the worst way. It's not something one typically associates with the Amish community. In fact, nothing about the main characters in these three novellas is something we typically associate with the Amish but they are very real and very true-to-life struggles that the Amish deal with just as often as we English do.

I have to say I was surprised at the deviousness of one particular character. I won't spoil it for you but you'll know who I'm talking about when you get there. It was a pleasant surprise and masterfully written. Definitely not something you would expect in the Amish community but very well-written and done in exactly the right way for the character!

Cindy has written all of these stories so beautifully. The characters are wonderful and the story pulls you right in. I remarked to a good friend the other day that Cindy has a particular talent for writing the Amish voice. I am one of those people who hears the characters talking in my head as I read the story. It's probably why I remember so much about stories I've read, even years later. And when I "hear" Cindy's characters, they truly sound Amish. I would love to say it's true of most other Amish fiction authors I read but sadly, it is not. And that's OK. They're still great stories or I wouldn't read them and then go on about them here.

As you can probably guess, I received this book free from WaterBrook Multnomah in exchange for my honest review but I already owned the first two hard-bound books in the series and I would have bough this one!

And I wholeheartedly recommend it to my friends! GREAT GREAT READ! All three books in the series are well-worth the full purchase price and 5 star reads!
( )

Sadie sees with her eyes that her fiancé may not be as perfect as she thought, and isn’t the man she wants to marry. People close to her think she has lied, or have been “seeing” things that wasn’t there between her future husband, and the other girl. Sadie was crushed, and thought marriage would never be something to think about again.
Sadie meets Levi when she found his horse, and later found him. Levi was hurt badly, and Sadie saved his life. Sadie and Levi become friends, they decided they would “date” to keep their families quiet about the dating/ courtship life.
Sadie wants to go into Mission work, but her family wants her to marry into the Amish faith, get married and raise a family of her own.
I recommend you grab this easy, fun read. Find out for yourself what happens, and how the story plays out. You won’t be disappointed, and neither was I. ( )

The Dawn of Christmas
Cindy Woodsmall

Book Summary: 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?

Review: I loved Sadie and Levi. It was great to see all the previous Christmas Novella characters back. The story line was great and fun to read with great dialog going between Sadie and Levi. Like every Cindy Woodsmall book it has some teary eyed moments that were quite worth it. I can’t wait for the next book!. I enjoyed the off beat traits that Sadie had and Levi was a great companion to her. It is a rare gem of a story and look forward to visiting them in the future.
I would like to thank Waterbrook Press and Blogging for Books for allowing me to read and review this book in return for a free copy and I was never asked to write a favorable review by anyone. ( )

Cindy Woodsmall takes us back to The Amish community of Apple Ridge. The Dawn of Christmas is a wonderful story about allowing yourself to love and trust again. Sadie and Daniel were to marry until Sadie caught him kissing her cousin. The story they told was one of innocence, making Sadie out to be hysterical and simply jumping to conclusions. Sadie knows what she saw and her father, a member of the Old Order Community, allowed Sadie to travel to Peru with Mennonite missionaries. But now he demands that Sadie come home, which she agrees to do, but only for a short time. Then she meets Levi and suddenly she is unsure of herself. Both have vowed never to fall in love, yet they finds themselves falling for each other. Until Levi's friend Daniel begins to tell Levi about his former fiancée. ( )