A review by rachel92886
An Amish Christmas Gift by Kelly Irvin, Amy Clipston, Ruth Reid

4.0

Naomi's Gift-- Such a sweet story about second chances. Naomi is what those in the Amish community would call an old maid. She is also known as the girl who chases after the boys, which is a no-no in the Amish community. She meets sweet little Sadie at the farmer's market where she is selling her handmade quilts and she is immediately drawn to the young girl. After finding out that Sadie and her father are visiting for Christmas, they become friends and a wonderful story develops. This was my first read by Amy. I enjoyed it very much. The storyline is sweet with good romance. Nothing overly mushy, and for a novella, a full story that moved just fast enough without seaming too rushed. I most definitely will be reading more from Amy. This one was my favorite of the three novellas in the book.

An Unexpected Joy-- This story was a little different, than the Amish books I am used to. For starters Abigail is a very talkative woman which I'm not sure is common is Amish communities. This was overall a great story. I was very much interested the whole time and couldn't wait to finish so I would know what happens. I have come to enjoy the Amish stories I have read recently where the woman is above what is considered to be a marrying age. This one was no different. Abigail has made peace with the fact that she probably won't get married (probably because she can't seem to stop talking). When circumstances make it difficult for her to buy the horse she has been saving for, she jumps at the chance to sit with Micah Zook's Grandmother to finish earning the money she needs. Needless to say this story has all sorts of little hiccups in it for both characters. This was a great read and I could see myself possibly reading something else by Ruth.


A Christmas Visitor-- Another good story by Kelly Irvin. This is my second read by Kelly and I have to say I really enjoyed it. Kelly has such a unique style when it comes to Amish fiction. They speak about things I have never thought about in an Amish book before. This book deals with the struggles of loving an Englischer and knowing that you can never leave your faith. Kelly does a great job with this story. Rocky and Frannie were great characters. I also enjoyed that she took me back to Bee County, where I previously visited in the Bishop's Son. This is a stand alone novella, but I enjoyed reading about some of the characters I read about in that book as well.

A great finish to a great set of novellas. I was blessed with this book for review, through the Fiction Guild. A positive review was not required.