Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball

By: Donita K. Paul

Book Preview:

In a sleepy, snow-covered city, Cora Crowder is busy preparing for the holiday season. Searching for a perfect gift, a fortuitous trip to Warner, Werner, and Wizbotterdad’s (a most unusual bookshop) leads to an unexpected encounter with co-worker Simon Derrick. And the surprise discovery of a ticket for a truly one-of-a-kind Christmas Ball.

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Every year, the matchmaking booksellers of the Sage Street bookshop host an enchanting, old-fashioned Christmas Ball for the romantic matches they’ve decided to bring together.

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This year, will Simon and Cora discover a perfect chemistry in their opposite personalities and shared faith? Or will the matchmakers’ best laid plans end up ruining everything this holiday?

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My Opinion:

Well, this author also wrote the DragonSpell Series so I kind of expected a lot and I am not quite sure if I got it. This book is very romantic. Nothing bad but sometimes just too much to read all at once. This book also has a lot of Christian beliefs throughout it but they also mix in some fairy tale things like wizards and fairies. It definitely will give you something interesting to read.

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(Picture from Barnes and Noble Site)

Deeanne Gist

Okay, so I am not usually a religious/romance person, but I really enjoy this author. The books are historically set and give some interesting facts about things that actually happened. Here are 2 of her books that I really, really liked and I know she has more that I haven't read.

A Bride Most Begrudging

Any ship arriving from England means good news for Virginia colony farmers. The "tobacco brides" would be on board--eligible women seeking a better life in America, bartered for with barrels of tobacco from the fields.

Drew O’Connor isn’t stirred by news of a ship full of brides. Still broken-hearted from the loss of his beloved, he only wants a maid to tend his house and care for his young sister.

What he ends up with is a wife--a feisty redhead who claims she is Lady Constance Morrow, daughter of an Earl, brought to America against her will. And she want to go straight back to England as soon as she possibly can. She hasn’t the foggiest notion how to cook, she dares to argue with her poor husband, and spends more time working on mathematical equations than housework. What kind of a wife is that? Drew's Christian forbearance is in for some testing.

Headstrong and intelligent, deeply moral but incredibly enticing, Constance turns what was supposed to be a marriage of convenience into something most inconvenient, indeed.

A Bride in the Bargain

In 1860s Seattle, a man with a wife could secure himself 640 acres of timberland. But because of his wife's untimely death, Joe Denton finds himself about to lose half of his claim. Still in mourning, his best solution is to buy one of those Mercer girls arriving from the East. A woman he'll marry in name but keep around mostly as a cook.

Anna Ivey's journey west with Asa Mercer's girls is an escape from the griefs of her past. She's not supposed to be a bride, though, just a cook for the girls. But when they land, she's handed to Joe Denton and the two find themselves in a knotty situation. She refuses to wed him and he's about to lose his land. With only a few months left, can Joe convince this provoking--but beguiling--easterner to be his bride?

(As usually, thanks to the B&N website for the pics and storylines)

Home for Christmas

I know it is no where near Christmas but I could not help read one of my most favorite books yesterday. This book was written by Anita Stansfield. It is not a terribly long book so if you are looking for something to read in only a day or two this would be perfect for you. Home for Christmas is one of the last in a series she has written but it is actually okay to read this book out of order. The main character is a girl by the name of Allison who is going to school at Provo's BYU and working an accounting job too. Right at the start of the book you learn that she is unable to go home to Australia for Christmas and the reason is simply that she prayed about it and just feels like she needed to stay. Yes, this book has teaching and principles from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day-Saint and how those things apply to everyday life and choices that we make. It is a wonderful book and the story is so sweet and tender. I hope you all get a chance to read this lovely book one day. Well the only thing left for me to say is, "Happy Reading!"