Review: An Amish Christmas Gift

An Amish Christmas Gift is a good collection of stories perfect to read around Christmas or to just get you in the mood for Christmas. Each of the novellas are quick, easy to read stories for the hectic Christmas season.

Amy Clipston wrote the first story, Naomi's Gift, about Naomi who believed she would never get married since she had been too bold running after guys. Imagine her surprise when someone does become interested in her.

Ruth Reid wrote the best story out of the collection by far. An Unexpected Gift was superbly done, and I was really cheering the main character on! I loved that she wasn't quiet and reserved but instead very talkative. Since she was talkative, nobody wanted to be her beau. Or so she thought.

Kelly Irvin wrote an okay story. A Christmas Story is about a girl in love with an Englischer. When the guy comes to visit her, she is conflicted. I wasn't that into this story. It was okay but could have been much better.

I didn't really enjoy the first novella; I found it kind of boring. But the second book was great! It kept my interest the whole way through, and I loved such a unique main character. I wasn't surprised the story was such a fun, in depth read because it was written by Ruth Reid. She writes such real stories instead of just some fluff. The third novella wasn't that intriguing to me, but it was better than the first story. Usually these Amish sets are pretty good, but this time it wasn't. For that reason I'm only giving it 3 stars.

I was given this book free from Booklook Bloggers in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Christmas in Apple Ridge

Christmas in Apple Ridge is a three-in-one collection of Amish stories. This edition has a new story The Christmas Singing. All the stories were really good, and I loved the twists in them. The characters were so realistically written.

The Sound of Sleigh Bells introduces you to Beth Hertzler who shows up in all of the novellas. Beth works at Hertzler's Dry Goods store and travels around once a year to find Amish goods to sell to Englisch and Amish stores. On her travels, she finds a beautiful carving on a tree trunk. Something about it calls to her so when she starts receiving letters from the "old man" who made it a part of he starts to open. Until she finds out who was really writing the letters...

The Christmas Singing is about Mattie who owns a bakery in Ohio Amish land. She specializes in making beautiful cakes, and for the last three years her business has been booming. But then tragedy strikes, leaving Mattie devastated. Going home for the holidays isn't what Mattie wants because of her old beau Gideon who broke off their engagement. But when Mattie sees Gideon, she isn't sure how to handle it all.

The Dawn of Christmas features Sadie who has been away on numerous mission trips to Peru for the last three years because she found out on the eve of her wedding day that she couldn't trust her intended. Scarred from the ordeal, Sadie doesn't trust much of anything anymore so when she finally comes home for a visit she is surprised to find that she can get along with a man who doesn't want to marry either. Is it even possible for Levi and Sadie to get together with their trust issues?

I really enjoyed these novellas! The writing was superb and reeled me in right away. I couldn't wait to see what happened in all of them. I think I need to read it again during Christmas... :-D It would make a great Christmas present. Now I want to read the spring novella that goes along with these, The Scent of Cherry Blossoms.

Here are some additional resources for Christmas in Apple Ridge.

Excerpt
Sneak Peek with a Video Trailer
About the Author
Author's Website

I was given this book free from WaterBrook Multnomah in exchange for an honest review.