In the small town of Grandon, five very different people discover the true meaning of Christmas. Jennifer and Ryan are both single parents, struggling with their own losses and heartache as they attempt to move forward in the present while still holding onto the memories, joy, and heartache of the past. Sixteen-year-old Kaylee is faced with a life-changing situation that has affected her whole … family. Stephen and Lily are happily married and ready to start a family. All of them are facing their own struggles, and all are finding their way through the dark. When they are brought together for a rather unconventional church Nativity, they will learn that with strength, courage, and love, there is always hope. The New York Times bestselling author of the beloved The Christmas Hope series returns with this new heartwarming, inspirational story about the power of love and faith to reveal the possibilities that lay right in front of you.
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I always try to read a Christmas novel by Donna VanLiere each year. This year the Author didn’t write a new Christmas book so I read the Christmas Light. I read the audio of this book and I loved that the author narrated it. There was a lot of characters in this novel and each one had their own challenges. There was a young widow and her six year old daughter who had grieved the loss of her father deep in her heart. A young father has troubles excepting that his wife divorced him because of another man. A teenage girl finds herself pregnant and wonders what the future holds for her. A man and woman haven’t been able to have children and apply for adoption. Gloria and Marian find themselves heading up the Nativity play at the local church. All these different characters come together to help get this play together. I thought the story was Christmassy and didn’t disappoint this reader. Well written with a beautiful ending.
I recommend to readers of clean read fiction and fans of the Author. Readers who enjoy Christmas books will like this book.
I borrowed an audio copy from Hoopla library. A review was not requested. All opinions expressed here are my own.
3 1/2 Stars
This author does a great job of pulling at the readers heart strings. Every character is a regular person trying to get through the ups and downs of life. I really enjoy that there are always at least one twist that I never expect. This story was written as the author being a narrator (third person omniscient) where we are privy to all of the thoughts of the characters at one time. I did find that distracting for most of the book. However, even with that distraction, the author managed to bring me to tears with the story.
I thought one of the characters in the book, a little girl, didn’t match up with her own self. The girl was so young, couldn’t spell well, all normal stuff in how she processed things. I know this could be true, because some kids DO talk “older than their age,” but really, this little gal talked WAY older than her age. It felt like too big of a jump and an annoying discrepancy, to me. I am dying down on my enjoyment of these books in this series, but maybe it’s because I should NOT be reading them back to back to back. But I am, so it is what it is. I DID, however, write down several quotes in my Keepers book from this book., from some of its “new chapter, new quote” spots and from some of the ponderings of the characters in this book. But yeah, really a flippy little light book and I didn’t feel the Christmasy wonder so much this time, sorry.
I know bad things happen at Christmas, but I wasn’t prepared for this story. There are many characters and sometimes it was confusing. But if you keep reading, you become familiar with them. The story seemed disjointed at times. The story is about a little girl whose dad has died. She is in therapy to try and deal with it. The story line can be a downer, but the ending is good, if you can last that long.