It's not often you find a great Christmas novel with a compelling and lasting message regarding extended family, but I think Barbara Cameron has managed to do just that with Annie's Christmas Wish, book 4 in her Quilts of Lancaster County Series. This is perfect for those that enjoy Amish fiction or even a great contemporary romance because that is exactly the blend that Barbara has managed to create.
Annie Bontrager knows that she desires to become a writer at some point in her life. She carries around a notebook so that she can capture whatever thoughts or ideas come to her wherever she might be like all great writers do. She carries that inspiration from being around her step mother Jenny who was a famous newspaper reporter when she used to live in New York City. Jenny was raised English and thus was never really subject to the terms one usually finds in an Amish community. However when a bomb exploded while covering a story on children who were living in a war zone, she found comfort and love recovering in the Amish community of Paradise, Pennsylvania under her grandmother's care. It was there she discovered healing and love in the being reunited with David, Annie's father who was born Amish but decided not to join the church and in a way incorporated the love of both English and Amish upbringing in the children. Annie's mother died when she was just a child and had known no other mother but Jenny. To her, she was as real as a mother could be.
The family is on the brink of making a trip to New York City for vacation and Jenny hopes to show Annie not only the major tourist sites but also take her on a tour to her old office as well as to the New York Times, something Annie has only dreamed about doing for as long as she can remember. All she knows is that the desire to write is just as strong in her blood as it was for her mother and even though she knows at some point she might find love, she isn't the least bit interested right now.
Yet Aaron Beiler who has grown up with Annie as a close childhood friend has been making plans for what he believes will be his future with Annie working as a carpenter and furniture maker in town. Now if only he can convince Annie that his feelings go beyond that of just her friend and into something more. With the trip to New York coming up however, Aaron fears that Annie's love for writing might take her someplace she may never want to return. He just want's a wife that will take care of the home and any future children they might have and leave making a living up to him. What if Annie goes to New York and decides to never return? Is there anything he can do to change her mind?
I received Annie's Christmas Wish by Barbara Cameron compliments of Abingdon Press for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions expressed here are mind alone. This is such an incredible book and one of the few that really reach to the heart of what really makes a family even though in this case it is a blended one. Annie sees the relationship with Jenny as that of what a mother/daughter relationship is as well as one with Jenny as her friend as well. Jenny never tries to replace Annie's birth mother but gives her the room and the time to accept her as she is in her role as a mother and wife in their family. It also shows how difficult our choices can be when it comes to the true desires of our hearts, in this case with Annie's love of writing and how she will have to make a choice that will forever change the relationship in her family and possibly her community as well. I rate this one a 4.5 out of 5 stars and think this makes the perfect Christmas addition to The Quilts of Lancaster County series!
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To read more reviews on Annie's Christmas Wish, please visit Abingdon Press' website.
- Series: Quilts of Lancaster County (Book 4)
- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Abingdon Press (October 1, 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1426733895
- ISBN-13: 978-1426733895
- Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
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