My Review and Reflections

𝙇𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝘼𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝘾𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙢𝙖𝙨 is a heartwarming collection of Amish novellas where second chances, family bonds, and faith come together to create love-filled holiday miracles in Lancaster County. Amish romances are my favorite, and when you add Christmas, it makes them so much more magical. I really enjoyed the unique approach to each novella which let me really soak into each one independently.

Lucy’s Christmas Sunbeam by Anne Blackburne

Lucy takes on the mother role for her infant sister with Down’s Syndrome following the death of her parents. Lucy taking on this role at such a young age, and her family allowing it, seems quite surprising. However, you can see that the child has bonded with Lucy and thinks of her as her mother and there are many young mothers out there. It’s just that you would have expected a married couple to take the child. When Amos, the local hardware store owner, enters the picture, it makes your heart melt. Amos seems to take a shine to the little family from the get-go and is immediately protective. There was a bit of suspense with Lucy’s ex-boyfriend, who had left her because he didn’t want an instant family. Not only does this add something extra to the plot line but it also explains Lucy’s trepidation to getting involved with a man. This was a special approach to a Christmas story, and I thoroughly enjoyed every part. Just a great read!    

A Bird-in-Hand Christmas by Amy Clipston

Widowed and returning home for Christmas, Makayla discovers her ex-boyfriend Wyatt working for her father, and as her son quickly bonds with him, she begins to hope for a second chance at love. All the misunderstandings in this one! I could relate to Makayla and her quick reactions to things, so I understood how she ended up where she was in her life. Seeing both of them approach each other with hesitation is realistic. Just because they were in love at one time, that doesn’t mean where things are at now. Especially with Makayla being a widow /single parent now. The ending on this one was so great!   

Christmas Lily by Amy Lillard

Seven-year-old Jacob Bontrager’s attempts to match his widowed father with the new schoolteacher seem to fail until a snowstorm unexpectedly brings her to their farm, making him wonder if fate is finally on his side. Lily Kate, Jacob’s new schoolteacher, and his father, Simon, had a falling out almost as soon as she arrived in town, so it was fun to see this story unravel. At first, I didn’t get that Jacob was purposely trying to bring his father and teacher together but as the story moves on his antics become a little more obvious. He seems especially smart for a seven-year-old and picks up on things he can use towards his plot quite quickly. The only thing that he didn’t pick up on was the fact that Lily Kate and Jacob did not like each other at all. Or maybe he did know and he wasn’t going to let that spoil his plan. This one was my favorite of the group. I jumped up and down and clapped my hands in several spots.

Leaving Lancaster by Mindy Steele

The Wicky sisters face an unexpected move from their beloved deer farm to Kentucky, each grappling with their dreams and uncertainties as they hope for a Christmas miracle in their final holiday together in Lancaster. This was a different approach to a romance novel. Instead of the usual male and female points of view, the story was told from the perspectives of two female characters, so you have two romances in one. This did not work for me, especially in novella format. Just as you were getting into a storyline on one of the main characters you were interrupted by the other love story. Overall, this story also had too many characters. I could not keep up with the secondary characters and was flipping through trying to remember who each of them was. It was just too many siblings and one character that I never could figure out where she came from. About halfway through the story, I gave up and just ignored the secondary characters. If there were fewer characters to keep up with and each of the love stories were independent, I think I would have enjoyed this story much more because each romance was really great once I figured out how best to read it.

More epilogues would have been great, just because I enjoy them, not because they are necessary to a good story. Each of the authors were able to capture romantic tension and resolve it in a unique way. Overall, I thought this was a great book that certainly captured the Christmas spirit! 

What Christmas romances are you reading?