Christmas in Apple Ridge ~ Book Review

Christmas in Apple Ridge
by Cindy Woodsmall
ISBN:  978-0307730992
$14.53 (paperback)
$  7.99 (kindle)

About the book:

Join Old Order Amish Beth, Mattie, and Sadie as the warmth of Christmas beckons them to let go of past heartaches, set right past wrongs, and help them to trust in a fresh future.

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

My thoughts:

This 3 in one collection has 3 books that are part of a trilogy. I tend to get caught up in the stories I read and if I like the first one I'm going to always check to see if there is a sequel. I liked how the books are not set in the "ritual" of being Amish but actually let you see each character in a "real life" manner. You still have the rules of being Amish - but you also see the humanity and personality of each character standing on their own. I really liked that.

My favorite of the 3 books was the very first story. Beth Hertzler is out on a buying trip for her aunt's shop and comes across a intricate carving that shows the beauty of Amish children playing in the snow. The carving draws her attention and captures her heart and she sets out to see if the town bishop will allow her to sell these carvings in her shop. The love story comes when she meets the artist and and they must both let go of their past hurts and learn to love each other.

Books 2 & 3 introduce characters we read about in book 1 and in turn we get to meet and get to know each of them and watch them fall in love and struggle to get through issues each of them have in their own lives - or with each other. All 3 stories are beautiful detailed and capture your imagination and heart making them a wonderful classic to pull out each year to read again.

This would make a great hostess gift, stocking stuffer, "just because" gift or even a great addition to your own library. 

Disclaimer: Blogging for Books provided this book to me for free in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to have a positive review and no money exchanged hands. Thanks for reading GivingNSharing!