The Dawn of Christmas By: Cindy Woodsmall

I loved this story by Cindy Woodsmall. The Dawn of Christmas is a story of two Amish people, Sadie and Levi. They’ve both been hurt by love and are determined to not get married, regardless of the expectations from others. When Levi is thrown from a horse and Sadie finds him, they spend more and more time together while pushing away their growing feelings for each other. Sadie has been hurt by Daniel. Right before their wedding she caught him with another woman. How can she ever trust another man again? She’d rather do mission work and not deal with it. Levi was hurt when his brother’s wife left him and his son. They now live with Levi. Levi can’t see putting his heart in the hands of someone who will just up and leave without notice. I was pleasantly surprised this wasn’t another story of we both don’t want to get married, let’s do it since we both know we aren’t going to fall in love, and then they do. The Dawn of Christmas is a very sweet romance between two people and Cindy Woodsmall draws you into their deepening relationship. Their distrust of each other comes to a head with words from Sadie’s ex-fiancé, Daniel. Does she care that now Levi won’t have anything to do with her? Isn’t it for the best since they were getting too close? Read this wonderful romance to find out!

Mail-Order Mistletoe Brides By: Jillian Hart and Janet Tronstad

This book contains two stories, Christmas Hearts by Jillian Hart and Mistletoe Kiss in Dry Creek by Janet Tronstad. I love anything written by these two authors. They are great together! The book starts out with two women, Mercy Jacobs and Maeve Flanagan, riding a train to meet their new husbands. They have answered mail-order bride ads and are on their way to meet their husbands. Christmas Hearts is Mercy Jacobs’ story. She has a son George that needs a father and Cole Matheson needs a mother for his daughter Amelia. Will their marriage remain in name only or will they find true love? Cole’s wife has died and he figures since Mercy’s husband has died that she’ll understand. But he has nothing left to give. His heart is broken and grief has filled him. Can Mercy help him to love again? Mercy fills Cole’s life with grace and humor, loving his daughter as her own. Will she find what she needs in Cole? Mistletoe Kiss in Dry Creek is Maeve Flanagan’s story. Her husband was killed and she needs a father for her daughter and unborn child. Noah Miller needs a cook for his ranch hands. Maeve decides she can do that, and hopefully Noah will decide he likes her enough to go ahead and marry even if she is already pregnant. But what happens when Noah’s ex-wife shows up? Will he still marry Maeve? Or will he remarry his ex? These two stories are great and I can’t wait to read more! For a great Christmas read, pick up this book today. I received this book free from Janet Tronstad in exchange for a review.

What Once Was Lost By: Kim Vogel Sawyer

I loved this book by Sawyer. I hadn’t read one of her books before, but I was hooked from the first page with this one. What Once Was Lost is about Christina Willems who runs the Brambleville Asylum for the Poor and has to prove she is the woman for the job. After a fire causes the residents to find another place to stay while it’s being rebuilt, others want to shut the place down and displace the residents for good. Christina fights for them and their place to live. Will the residents of the town help her or must she fight them too? Levi Johnson is a reclusive mill owner and Christina approaches him to take in Tommy Kilgore. He is a blind boy who needs a home while the Brambleville Asylum is being rebuilt. Can Christina convince him to take in the boy? Can he help Tommy? He can’t see, but he feels responsible for the fire. Was it his fault? I loved this romance story. It’s filled with mystery, suspense, romance, and Christina’s strong attachment to the residents of Brambleville Asylum. I will definitely read more books by this author! If you love sweet romances, this book is for you! I received this book from Waterbrook Press Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

This is Your Captain Speaking By: Gavin MacLeod

Have you ever read a book and just smiled when you finished reading it? This is one of those books. I loved reading MacLeod’s story of his life. When I got the chance to review this book from Booksneeze, I jumped at the chance. I grew up watching The Love Boat and I wanted to read the Captain’s story. I laughed, cried, cheered, cringed, and felt at peace as MacLeod told his life’s story from wanting to act from a young age to spending the rest of his life telling people about Jesus. What a remarkable actor! Who did MacLeod team up with when he was first starting out? How did he become the captain of The Love Boat? Want the scoop on some of Hollywood’s top actors and actresses? It’s all in this book. From MacLeod realizing his identity comes through his Lord and Savior and his relationship to God, to God having control over what happened in his life, you’ll find it all here in this very candid biography of his life, his loses, and everything he’s gained. I recommend this book for anyone who remembers the Captain, or anyone wanting to see an encouraging voyage through Hollywood. MacLeod’s faith shines through to the end. He inspires me to do all I can for Christ.