Christmas takes a very different turn when the guests of honor break up instead of announcing their engagement. Trapped with his family, they learn that love looks different than either imagined. Both in their eighties, Dodie and Wilson Binder celebrate every Christmas as if it were their last. This year, their grandson Micah is planning to ask his girlfriend, Katie, to marry him so they can celebrate with the whole family. But things go very wrong when she says "no." Now they are stuck. Too many people, too much snow, and too little room should be a recipe for disaster. But sometimes too much is just enough. Especially when it's Christmas.
My review:
I don't typically read romance novels, but I am a sucker for Christmas stories, so this ended up in my review stack.
Cynthia Ruchti is a new author to me, but she wowed me with this book. It is very well written, has a great plot, and focused on one of the most important things about Christmas outside of Jesus: family.
Romance stories are more bearable for me when they are written into a Christmas story, and this was an excellent story. It has family, traditions, the true meaning of Christmas, forgiveness, and of course romance, I enjoyed reading it, and wasn't sure where the book was going to go after the turning down of the proposal, but the whole book was a delightful read and the ending topped the whole thing off very well. I have read a lot of Christmas novels, and this is one of the best. It shows how Christmas ought to be done. A definite recommended read.
About the author:
Taking multi-tasking to new heights (or depths, depending on your perspective), Cynthia Ruchti is the award-winning author of recent releases "All My Belongings" (novel), "When the Morning Glory Blooms" (novel), and "Ragged Hope: Surviving the Fallout of Other People's Choices" (nonfiction). She makes potato corn chowder for her husband of 42 years, loves on her three kids and five grandchildren, recently retired from 33 years of writing and producing a daily radio broadcast called THE HEARTBEAT OF THE HOME, is past president of the 2,700-member American Christian Fiction Writers and now serves as ACFW's Professional Relations Liaison, all while working on more book projects in addition to the eight already on the shelves. The year 2010 saw the release of her debut novel--"They Almost Always Come Home" by Abingdon Press (a Carol Award finalist)--and a Christmas collection novella, "The Heart's Harbor" in A Door County Christmas, a Family Fiction Reader's Choice, by Barbour Publishing. "His Grace is Sufficient...Decaf is Not," released Nov 1, 2011. Another novella collection--"Cedar Creek Seasons" (Barbour) released in spring of 2012. "When the Morning Glory Blooms" (April 2013) was followed by "All My Belongings" (2014, also from Abingdon Press). Her books have recently been honored with two Selah Awards, two Christian Retailing's BEST Awards, and awards from CAN Golden Scrolls and AWSA Golden Scrolls. She tells stories of Hope-that-glows-in-the-dark through writing and speaking, but she gave up knitting, counted cross-stitch, sewing her own clothes, naps, and dusting baseboards a long time ago. You can find her at www.cynthiaruchti.com, at www.facebook.com/cynthiaruchtireaderpage, or in the kitchen, brewing herself another cup of tea.
An Endless Christmas is available from Worthy Publishing.
Thanks to Worthy for the review copy.
1 comments:
Mark, I really enjoyed this story also. I thought it was excellent for many reasons, but it struck a special chord with me, as they say. It's been many years since my mom died, over 25, but she passed away before I could get to the hospital, so the theme of having left nothing unsaid hit close to home. In a similar way to Wilson and his family, my mom knew she was very much loved. Thanks for allowing me to share, Mark.
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