A friend passed this book on to me after she'd read it. I don't think I've read anything else by this author but I'd be willing to search out other books by her if this one is an example of her writing.

The only real negative I have is that there was a bit too much plot-teasing about the incidents that both Jonah and Beth suffered prior to the author revealing the details.

I liked the advice Jonah had about healing and even wrote some of it in my journal to remember.

I liked Lizzy's idea of having a barbecue/sleigh ride for singles--even if in the end she thinks she did it for the wrong reasons. I'm also glad she found love.

I do wonder how Jonah and Beth will arrange their life in Pennsylvania. He's already got his woodshop and a house in Ohio and it seems like her work might be more easily transferred. There's also the issue of Omar (as bishop) not approving Jonah's carvings as sellable in his district--I can't imagine how Jonah's going to continue that business if he moves to Ohio and Beth's district. But I can see why they'd not want to be on his family's land with his family used to just walking in and out of his house--I don't see why that behavior couldn't be changed but. . . it was a bit like O'Henry's "The Gift of the Magi" in that both are willing to give up something dear to them for the other. ( )

A fast cute romance novel. Nothing earth shattering or remarkable but a fun read. ( )

Cindy Woodsmall is one of my favorite Amish authors. I really enjoyed this sweet, short Christmas Novel. The characters were likeable and very interesting. A very good Story to read for the holiday. ( )

I'm going to try really hard not to ruin anything here and I'll say this, I'm not sure I am a good enough writer to really do it justice but I'm going to give it my best shot.

If you are someone who has ever had a rough relationship, this is something you NEED to read. If you've ever dealt with loss, this is something you NEED to read! And if you enjoy a good book with wonderful characters and a fantastic story, you will want to read this book.

It's truly a GREAT read!

Cindy has a talent for reaching out of the story, getting a firm grip on your heart and pulling you into the story. And when you find your way back out again, you've had an amazing experience and you never quite look at the world in the same way again... or at least that's the way I feel anyway.

The beauty of Cindy Woodsmall's writing is that she writes characters who could be anyone. One of the things we struggle with is the realization that the Amish are just like us, they just live their faith in a different way than most of us do. They're not really very different from most religions. Every religion has their own little things they do differently than anyone else, rules, traditions, ideals and even habits.

So these characters in Cindy's novels, they could be anyone. It's so very easy to associate the things they go through with your aunt or your father or your next door neighbor or someone you work with. And she does this really well. She has a true talent for helping you to get into a characters head and I am so thankful for it.

I pray that Cindy's books bless you the way they have me and I pray God Blesses Cindy Woodsmall and her writing for many years to come!

And if you would like to read my whole review, it goes live on my blog tomorrow.

http://jcsbookshelf.wordpress.com ( )

To be honest, I was a bit hesitant when picking up this book. I've read one of the author's books in the past, and had a bit of trouble reading the subject matter in the book. It was enough for me not to be able to read the other two books in the series. Therefore I was worried that this book would be like that. Luckily, as far as I could tell, there's no connection and the storyline was one that rather enjoyable. I liked reading about Beth, Lizzy and Jonah. All three of them had very interesting story lines and I liked seeing the connections between the three. I thought it was interesting how the Amish portrayed in this story were allowed to be a bit more modern and freely use phones and other electronics. This is mainly due to the business but it's always fascinating to read.

The problem with novellas is that because they are short, sometimes the story feels a bit rushed. The author has the hard task of making the entire story come across plus give the characters enough time to grow and develop in a shorter amount of words. In this case, it works well for the most part. I personally would have enjoyed seeing the confusion of identity between Beth and Jonah last longer. It would have been more interesting for them to think they were writing to who they were picturing instead of the actual person. As it was, the illusion ended too quickly. I'm still not ok with the way that the Amish seem to handle heavy subjects. Beth's fiance sounds like he had serious controlling and abusive issues but she never tells anyone this because it would look bad on them. This type of behavior makes me very wary of the community portrayed in Woodsmall's books. This book seems to be marketed as a Christmas story but I'm not really seeing it. Aside from a few references to the holiday in the book, it's almost not even an issue. I would classify it as more a winter time story. Overall, it's a nice short read perfect for a fall or winter afternoon. If you are a fan of Amish fiction you will enjoy this story. ( )