This is only review on one story at the moment, 

Cookie and Cheer by Amy Clipton

Alyssa Byler dreaming of the next holiday window display for her work. As she draws out her idea for the window display and then she gets permission to create it. She needs to ask someone to make the cookie cutters for her. As Alyssa Byler get more ideas. Will they be all good. She asks Kyle Smoker to make the Cookie Cutters will happen when there is more demand?

Alyssa Byler seems to get pulled into the hustle and bustle and forget the most important thing about her lifestyle. As the season approves and gets busier. Everyone is trying to remind her of what import at this time when Christmas is coming.

Will she learn it and ask to be forgiven. Kyle and Alyssa's relationship grows. Will they make it through the rough patch. Celebrate the coming to Christ as it meant to be. Will Alyssa ask the one person to help give her a solution for her to be with her family and Kyle and help her friend Denise?

The story is set on two families. Though it mostly on two senior citizens and this it really good. I have not read many stories about seniors in the Amish. This is one really well written story. They are in their 70's and it about romance with them. 

The author show both points of view for both senior citizens. Will they find love and second chances? Laura seems ready to join her last husband. But God seems to have other plans. Zachariah seems a little bitter and grouchy after his wife passes away. He is also dealing with a disease. What will happen when his family get involved in what he can and cannot do? 

The author jumps into different topics like Parkinson. There are others things as well. It the way she she shows you how some of the Amish deal with different diseases and mistakes of the young. There so much going on that you will be surprised at how it all comes together. 

There seems to be several different plots going on though out the book. The main plot is about Laura and Zachariah. There is also both families. What will happen and will Gods will be done.

Rebekah Lantz feels imprisoned by circumstances she didn’t create. Tobias Byler is haunted by regret. Can two young runaways from half a world away teach them the healing power of true family? Rebekah isn’t like her sister who left the Amish faith, but the watchful gaze of her family and small, close-knit Amish community makes her feel as if she’s been judged and found lacking. The men avoid her and the women whisper behind her back. She simply longs for the same chance to be a wife and mother that her friends have. Tobias Byler only wants to escape feelings for a woman he knows he should never have allowed to get close to him. Moving with his family to isolated Bee County, Texas, seemed the best way to leave his mistakes behind. But even a move across the country can’t erase the past that accompanies his every thought. A surprise encounter with two half-starved runaway children forces Rebekah and Tobias to turn to each other to help a sister and brother who have traveled thousands of miles in search of lives of unfettered peace and joy. In doing so, Rebekah and Tobias discover the key to forgetting the past is the one that will open the door to love and the future they both seek.

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Teaching Assistant  Rebekah Lantz feels her Amish community is harshly (and wrongly) judging her for the actions of her sister, who chose to leave the Amish faith. The women gossip, the men hesitate to court her. 

Meanwhile, Tobias Byler is trying to work off the shame of a failed relationship with an Englisch (non-Amish) woman. He was tempted to drift away from all he knew to be with her but soon realized he didn't want to (could not, even) abandon his Amish roots. Heavy with the guilt of leading his lady love on only to have to break things off, Tobias comes to Bee County to begin anew. 

The paths of Tobias and Rebekah connect when both are brought together to help two lost children who stumble into the community of the Bee County Amish. At first glance, these two children seem to have the look of runaways, but the truth quickly comes out. Tobias and Rebekah don't have the smoothest introduction right off. In fact, in pretty much no time flat Rebekah is already fighting feelings of guilt for bringing Tobias into a situation where she has to ask him to lie for her, before they hardly know each other at all. 

Spanish turns out to be the native tongue of the lost children. Neither child seems to know more than a word or two of English, but luckily Rebekah knows enough conversational Spanish to gather that the older child, a girl of 12, is named Lupe while her brother is Diego. They say they were sent by their grandmother, on their own, from El Salvador (Central America) to Texas to try to locate their missing father. Lupe and her brother show signs of being a bit malnourished and seem to be wary around grown men -- any adult men, always fearing they might be "the bad men" -- and jumpy at the sound of guns. 

The Amish of Bee County -- the children especially -- seem to take to Lupe & Diego quite quickly. Likewise, Lupe & Diego are fascinated with the culture and find they pick up English quickly here. The whole situation also gives Rebekah a break in that the town gossips let up off her a bit, instead showing their support and encouragement for her interest in the children. Many community members agree that any relatives of the children should try to be located, though some fear what it might mean for Bee County legally should word get out that they might be harboring undocumented immigrants. Rebekah herself of course wants to locate any of Lupe and Diego's relatives, but also worries that if none can be found, that these children might fall victim to being shuffled around and lost in the States' foster care system after they've already been through so much. There are also those who air their suspicions that the children might have ties to terrorist plots.

Rebekah, to ensure that the children have the best chance possible at a good life, enlists the help of none other than her sister Leila....the same sister who left the faith and put so much strain on Rebekah's own life. But Leila's husband just happens to work with non-profits that provide assistance to newly immigrated families, work that has him interacting with immigrants and the immigration office pretty much on a daily basis! Rebekah figures if there is anyone who knows their stuff, it'd be him! 

Okay, so first off I have to vent and say that I was not impressed with the spoilers author Kelly Irvin left in her Note To Readers at the beginning of the book, regarding the other books in this series. I've seen quite a few reviews where readers have mentioned picking this book up without having read the previous (as I did) but way to kill some of the surprise if and when they might choose to go back to the earlier stories! Not cool! 

Alright, that out of my system... on to this book and my thoughts.  I do like the themes Irvin works with here. Not only does she illustrate the pain of being shunned (either literally or figuratively) by the people you most love for things you cannot control, but also uses her characters to show that one can work through the forgetting or forgiving of mistakes through the process of helping others worse off. Perfect reminder any time of year but especially nice to read during this holiday season. :-)

Rebekah herself is an admirable character, strong in her sense of self, comfortable with sharing her thoughts and opinions... a trait that gets her the label of "firecracker". Been there, girl. I can relate! {You say firecracker like it's a bad thing, ammirite ;-)} I also enjoyed experiencing the warm and caring sisterhood between Rebekah and Leila. I only have a brother myself, but this is what I imagine having a sister must feel like -- when you're on good terms with them that is! 

As far as the slow burning romance between Rebekah and Tobias, it was molasses slow for me! I can appreciate a decent slow burn but with these two I just kept wanting to hit the FF button already. Nope, just too lukewarm and dragged out IMO. I even laughed when at around 200 pages, after pages of started-cute-now-tedious bickering, Rebekah says "maybe we should start over..." What? aww no girl, there's only like 155 pages til final curtain so let's just wrap this forced mess up already, 'kay? Susan and Levi had a better story on that front (at least for me).... and the closing of David and Bobbie's story was pretty touching.

My interest was primarily held simply on the story of the bundle package of cuteness known as Lupe and Diego. I found their journey to the States very much relevant to the times now, given the uncertainty many US citizens have over our newly elected president's statements / stand on immigration issues. This is just one story that illustrates that yes, borders have to be protected, but at the same time there are lives of children, CHILDREN, at stake... a reality that should not be taken lightly or approached with an all or nothing point of view. It's not and won't be a clear cut, black and white issue... there will be plenty of layers of gray for some time to come and at the very least we have to acknowledge that with an empathetic heart.  

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Note To Readers: This is the third book in Irvin's Amish of Bee County series. As I mentioned previously, I have not read the first two. While there were some minor points in the story where I felt something was being referenced that I did not quite catch the importance of, feeling like it must have been a nod to the earlier books, I still had no trouble reading this as a standalone piece. You can also find some of Irvin's short stories (set in this community, I believe) in the Amish themed anthologies An Amish Market and An Amish Christmas Gift.

BONUS: Irvin throws in a little something extra for her readers at the back of this book. In a nod to the Salvadoran heritage of her characters Lupe & Diego, Irvin offers a few Salvadoran recipes for you to try out!

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FTC Disclaimer: TNZ Fiction Guild kindly provided me with a complimentary copy of this book with a request that I might check it out and share my thoughts. The opinions above are entirely my own. 

Phineas is an Amish man and the beekeeper’s son. Phin was eight when riding in a van and a semi truck hit the van. Phin went through the windshield then got thrown up to the bumper of the truck and then was thrown down on the paved road. Phin’s mother had been killed and Phin had almost died as he had landed on his face. Some others that had been in the van also got hurt but nothing like Phin had. It had been twelve to thirteen years ago. Phin’s face and arms were really scarred up. Phin hadn’t talked very much before the accident but now he talked even less. Deborah had come with her mother Abigail and five siblings from Tennessee to Texas for an old boyfriend that Abigail had known before she married Deborah's father who had passed away. Phin does not believe anyone will ever see past his scars and is mainly a loner. Deborah is very homesick and wants to go back to Tennessee but wants to see her mother happy also.

I enjoyed this story alot. It wasn’t to long before you knew what this story was about and reminded you of which was a Beauty and The Best scenario Amish style. Also to have Phin refind his faith in God and for Deborah to follow God’s path for her. I enjoy Amish stories and really liked this one as it was a little different then most. Their was the extra challenge of Phin losing his mom so young and his scars and Deborah being so unhappy when she first got to Texas. I liked the ins and outs of this story alot and i recommend this story.

I received an Arc of this story for an honest review.

Clocking in at 409 pages total, this is a cozy collection of Amish-themed Christmas romance novellas written by Amy Clipston, Ruth Reid and Kelly Irvin. While the first story, Naomi's Gift, takes place in the well known Amish area of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the other two incorporate areas less commonly referenced in this genre -- St. Joseph County, Michigan in An Unexpected Joy and Bee County, Texas in A Christmas Visitor. So let's break down & discuss each of these! 

Naomi's Gift by Amy Clipston

Naomi King, 24, works in her family's quilt shop in Lancaster, PA. After a couple of failed romances and no new romantic prospects on the horizon, she finds herself feeling pretty passive about her situation. She grudgingly accepts her "old maid" status, believing that she's just destined to be the child that stays in the home to help her parents and siblings. That is until she meets Caleb. Caleb is a young widower with a 7 year old daughter, Susie. Caleb is the brother of one of Naomi's neighbors, but he's been living in Ohio for many years. This year he decides to come back home to visit his family for Christmas. Caleb & Naomi get to know each other through Susie's fascination with Naomi's quilt shop. As a friendship between them develops, Caleb wonders if it's time to come back home to Lancaster. 

My thoughts: A cute if pretty predictable romance. The friendship between Caleb and Naomi is full of warm fuzzies, making it perfect for a holiday read, but there was one thing that kept bugging me. Caleb has family in Lancaster, but has been living in Ohio for 10 years or so at the request of his late wife whose family lived there. Naomi is 24, which means she would have only been about 14 when Caleb left town, yet in this story they are written as if they've never met....even though Caleb's brother is Naomi's neighbor? How would they have never run into each other before?!

An Unexpected Joy by Ruth Reid

Abigail Kemp, 23, is hired by Micah Zook to be a caretaker to his grandmother while his parents are out of town. Micah, a glassworks artist, is a little overwhelmed with orders for Christmas gifts as well as a Christmas wedding and needs all the time he can get to get caught up. At first Micah finds Abigail's bubbly, uber-chatty personality a little exhausting, nicknaming her "Gabby Abby". Over time though, he finds himself being able to more easily look past that, taken by her kind and generous nature. In fact, Abby convinces Micah to hire a veteran suffering from PTSD that many others in the community have written off. Caleb himself is hesitant, concerned that the man might be a liability, but Abby teaches him that it's more important to concern yourself with living by a code of compassion and honest, good deeds rather than fretting over the opinions of others. Abby and Caleb also come to see that even though life might throw a wrench in your original plans, it can often be the start of something even better!

My thoughts: I think this was my personal favorite of the collection. There are a number of adorable, humorous moments between Caleb and Abby as Abby unabatingly pours her sunshiney personality all over Caleb's constant crabbiness, which amusingly just frustrates him more. The thing that impressed me most that Abby isn't written as one-dimensional as you might think. She does have moments where her more serious side peeks through, making one think -- when you run into others that seem over-the-top bubbly, might make you wonder what lies underneath that that they're scared to let others see. 

A Christmas Visitor by Kelly Irvin

Frannie Mast meets and falls in love with English (non-Amish) man Rocky Sanders while on her rumspringa. Frannie's family does not approve of the relationship and does their best to separate the two, insisting that Frannie return to the family homestead. Come Christmas season, Rocky makes a surprise appearance to make it known that he deeply cares for Frannie and is intent on learning the Amish culture. At first no one takes him seriously, waiting for him to leave, but the elders are gradually impressed by his persistence in learning the traditions. Frannie herself is surprised and confused at Rocky's dedication but, since she has developed strong feelings for the guy, can only hope his follow-through game is strong to the end. 

My thoughts: While not a bad story, my issue with this one is that the plotline took a hit with keeping the whole thing at novella length. We don't get to know much about the development of the relationship between Rocky and Frannie while she was on her rumspringa trip, so it was hard for me as the reader to understand Rocky's sudden commitment to converting to the Amish life. It felt a little too out of nowhere. What was it about Frannie exactly that had him knowing she was worth leaving the modern lifestyle he'd always known. The story doesn't really get into it all that well. Subsequently, it made the later bits of romance between them feel pretty rushed... because I didn't have a satisfying amount of backstory. 

As a whole, you get pretty much what you'd expect with this kind of collection. The romances are cute and tame, full of side glance smiles and hands "accidentally" brushing up to the whirlwind confession of love and oaths of eternal devotion. Nothing that was long-term memorable for me necessarily, but a solid holiday collection to escape into, particularly if you like the drama in your reading to be minimal and you really want that HEA. 

FTC Disclaimer: TNZ Fiction Guild kindly provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions above are entirely my own.