HOME FOR CHRISTMAS
MERRY K. STAHEL
ISBN: unavailable
2005
By Grace Publishing
http://bygracepublishing.com/
E-Book
$3.75
68 pages
Christian Romance

After years of uncertainty and unrest, Dea Lacey arrives in a small Oklahoma town to discover a church sits on the land willed to her. It is almost a joke to Dea, who has searched for sanctuary all this time. Young son Garrett falls in love with the place and as Dea learns from a letter left by her late Aunt, hope remains that Dea will come to love this legacy as well and find the happiness and stability she needs.

Settling in Oklahoma brings an ulterior motive for Dea, who is Garrett's mother in name only. Having raised her cousin's child from birth, Dea seeks to reunite the boy with his father. She is distraught to find instead an embittered man in biological father Jesse McTavish. The addition of a young, very pregnant girl named Heidi seeking shelter adds to the worry, yet Dea is determined to find sanctuary for everybody. Spontaneous prayer keeps her grounded.

Jesse was once a man of faith, but lost it with the loss of his family. Seeing Garrett's resemblance to his dead son enhances the pain and anger. To Dea's dismay, Jesse wants nothing to do with the boy, now living in the child's room once decorated for his late half-brother. Yet despite the resentment for Dea for bringing Garrett, there is a spark of attraction he desperately tries to quell. Dea however, is too busy to notice, as the church begins to fill with others seeking sanctuary. From a litter of motherless puppies to a drifter name Joe Trafford, Dea's church/home is sufficiently warmed for the holidays, and eventually so is Jesse's heart.

Realistic dialogue and characters warmed by the core of faith make HOME FOR CHRISTMAS a wonderful, inspiring read for any time of year. Miss Stahel seamlessly blends faith into mainstream fiction that is neither preachy nor heavy handed.

Leigh
Reviewer For Coffee Time Romance
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