by Sandra Merville Hart
This trio of Christmas historical romance novellas put me in the mood for the holidays.
In A Texas Christmas Carol, Felicity Wiggins tackles the tough task of collecting donations for Christmas baskets—and the even tougher shell surrounding Evan Beazer’s heart that keeps him from giving. She somehow convinces Evan to join her in collecting, but he shields his heart from falling for her—until a chance meeting with three men who keep popping back into his life at the oddest times.
This creative retelling of the classic Dickens story hearkens back to the original story in many ways. One of them is using similar names, such as Evan Beazer for Ebenezer Scrooge. I enjoyed the story.
In An Archer Family Christmas: An Archer Brothers Epilogue, Jim and Cassandra Archer are mourning the loss of their son, who lived one day and died on Christmas Eve three years before. Despite this grief, they are looking forward to spending Christmas with Jim’s brothers and their families when danger comes knocking.
The story moves at a slow pace until the danger arises. Then my attention was captured. I hadn’t read the series but that didn’t hinder my love for the characters in this captivating story.
Gift of the Heart is about a widow who accepts a new job to build a home for her and her daughter in Hope Springs despite difficulties caused by Beauregard Azlin, the town’s owner. I had read this novella story before and enjoyed the gentle romance between a man who feels no one will love him for anything but his wealth and a woman who fears no one will touch her heart the way her husband had.
This story had stayed with me from the first reading and I enjoyed spending time with characters I cared about once again.
A wonderful collection filled with lovable characters! I love the small town historical settings in each story. This is a nostalgic collection of Christmas novellas set in Texas, filled with the type of stories I love reading during the holidays.
Recommend!
Sandra Merville Hart 