I loved this Christmas novella so much! The loss of a book club member leaves the other four shaken and torn as to what to do until they receive angel ornaments and a challenge from their lost friend. This angel project challenge sets these women on an inspiring path that brings hope to their futures and a new closeness among the group.

Linda Stephens brings such joyful narration to this story. The character voices were easy to follow, distinct and clear.

This book is suitable for teens and older with no inappropriate intimate scenes and no bad language. ( )

I really enjoyed this clean Christmas Romance. Another that I bought at a library sale, just at a good time. I also rated this 5*s. I'm really enjoying this author. She seems to touch a lot of feels. A tissue might be needed for this one as well. ( )

Hallmark movie. Everything turns out great. Quick read. ( )

What kind of legacy will you leave? That is the underlying theme of Melody Carlson’s The Christmas Angel Project. Carlson, known as the queen of Christmas novellas, has another hit with this book. She takes her characters on a journey from grief to hope as she explores how people can use their talents and dreams to make a community a better place.

Four women — Cassidy, Louisa, Grace, and Belinda — find themselves lost and rudderless following the death of their friend, Abby. Abby has befriended, encouraged, and basically loved on all four, and they find themselves unsure how they will get through the next days and weeks leading up to Christmas without her. Although members of the same bookclub, the women feel disconnected from each other without Abby. That is until they receive an unexpected gift from their dear friend.

The Christmas Angel Project is all about finding purpose within the framework of one’s gifts, personality, and passions. Each character built on what they had already developed in their lives and used it to reach out to others in unique and meaningful ways. The projects each woman undertook — veterinary care for the elderly, art classes for the grieving, decorating Habitat homes, and a fashion show for high schoolers — brought dignity, self-confidence, and hope to those they touched. The characters all had fears, self-doubt, and feelings of unworthiness common to all. I liked that about them. They were real women with real struggles who decided to focus not on themselves but on others. And that is what Abby had done in her life, and that is the legacy she left for the four to continue.

I listened to the audiobook of The Christmas Angel Project and was at first put off by the narrator’s voice. Her timing was great, but she made several of the characters sound older than they were. But as I got more and more involved with the story, her voice disappeared and the women emerged.

A heart-warming read for the Christmas season, The Christmas Angel Project gets a recommended rating from me!

Recommended.

Audience: adults. ( )

Nice little story, but not quite up to Melody Carlson's usual standards. Romantic & more sappy than most. --5 person bk club; one lady dies. Leaves homemade angel w/Bible verse inside for each; they use that as way to go on. Churchy. ( )