A Festive Romance Anthology! --"A Christmas Serenade" by Jennifer Moore, Kasey Stockton, Katie Stewart Stone, and Anneka R. Walker—Review

 My Review:

“A Christmas Serenade" by Jennifer Moore, Kasey Stockton, Katie Stewart Stone, and Anneka R. Walker is a festive, historical romance anthology! These feel-good novellas will get you in the mood for the holiday season. I loved each sweet story. There are plenty of Christmas balls, romances, and house parties to make a person swoon and be swept back to another era. The stories have humor, wit, banter, nods to Dickens and plenty of sparks flying. Several stories have characters from the authors’ other series, that fans will be delighted to see again and see their stories resolved. Each novella can also be read as a standalone. “A Caroling Christmas” by Jennifer Moore has a house party, nods to Dickens and a scatterbrained naturalist meeting an organized party planner. “A Carol So Bright” by Kasey Stockton has a clumsy heroine and a musical hero who were childhood friends. “Christmas at Bellingham” by Katie Stewart Stone has music, a Christmas ball, complicated family relationships, childhood friends, fencing and first kisses. And finally, “Christmas at Amorwich” by Anneka R. Walker is full of a second chance romance, unrequited love, Christmas miracles and legends, dealing with grief, humor and wit, midnight dances, sewing mishaps, and cooking together (with sparks flying). Can the characters find healing and hope and choose to love and forgive? I highly recommend this delightful historical novella collection to lovers of sweet romance that puts you in the Christmas spirit!

Content: I give this book a PG rating. “A Caroling Christmas”: mention of a fortune teller and ghosts; spiders. “A Carol So Bright”: emotional infidelity; mention of alcohol. “Christmas at Bellingham”: rumors of gambling and illegitimate children; terminal illness; someone was drunk in the past. TW: estrangement; a kiss without consent. “Christmas at Amorwich”: loss and grief. TW: A side character has depression.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

Get in the Mood for Christmas with "Christmas at Carnton" by Tamera Alexander (Review)

"Christmas at Carnton" by Tamera Alexander is a sweet Christmas novella that will get you in the Christmas spirit.  “Christmas at Carnton” is the second book I’ve read by this author.  It’s a novella to start off a new "Carnton" series.  It is a longer novella at a little over 200 pages.  It's the perfect read for a cozy winter's night.

"Christmas at Carnton" reminds me of a great Hallmark movie.  Its characters are real, flawed people who you grow to care about.  I especially like our heroine, Aletta, who is recently widowed with a young son and another child on the way.  On top of that she loses her job and home.  She has a strong faith that shines despite her hardships.  She prays for others, helps people even when she is barely making it herself, and shows a great deal of courage.  She is a wonderful picture of strength amidst great hardship.

"Christmas at Carnton" is an excellent story.  I appreciate how Ms. Alexander puts a lot of history in, so you really feel like you've learned something while reading a great book.  This tale shows the hardships women faced during the Civil War as well as Southerners.  Being from the North, I don't know as much about the South and their side of the story.  They are real people with hopes and dreams, some good and some bad.  Most of the people Aletta knows don't even own slaves and they see the War as being more than just about the issue of slavery.  Bravo, Ms. Alexander, for shining light on the lesser known stories of the War and making history come alive!

Content: I would give this book a PG rating.  There is talk of a man banishing his wife's doubts that he desires her and then lying in bed and talking with her after the fact.  There are hints that a woman who is behind on her mortgages is giving a man at the bank favors of a sordid nature.  The word Negro is used, but not in a derogatory way.

Rating: I give this book 4 stars.

Genre: Christian Historical Fiction; Romance

I want to thank Tamera Alexander, Thomas Nelson and the Fiction Guild for the complimentary copy of this book for review.  I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I express in this review are my own. This is in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s CFR 16, Part 255.


About the Author:


Tamera Alexander is the USA Today bestselling author of numerous books, including A Lasting Impression, A Note Yet Unsung, To Whisper Her Name, and To Wager Her Heart. 

Her richly drawn characters and thought-provoking plots have earned her devoted readers worldwide, as well as multiple industry awards.

These awards include the Christy Award for Excellence in Christian fiction, the RITA Award for Best Inspirational Romance, the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, Bookseller’s Best Award, and being listed among Publishers Weekly and Library Journal’s Top Inspirational Fiction, among others.

Tamera's books have been translated into numerous languages. She's toured Germany and The Netherlands meeting readers, and cherishes those connections.

She hopes readers who pick up one of her novels will be swept away into another time and place, that they'll fall in love with the characters and gain insights into the history of the setting and people of yesteryear. But most of all, when a reader turns that final page in one of her novels, she prays they will have taken a step closer to Christ. Because He's what it's all about.

After living in Colorado for nearly two decades, Tamera and her husband now make their home in Nashville where they enjoy life with their two adult children who live nearby, and Murphy—a rambunctious but oh-so-lovable Australian Terrier.

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