Well, time to lighten things up with a seasonal offering… the WRONG season… but holiday fare all the same. The Doctor’s Christmas Wish… well it happens at… Christmas… this is part of the Village Green series by Renee Ryan. It is a Love Inspired book, so definitely faith based.

This contemporary Christian romance has a bit of an unusual premise. Keely O’Toole (who is a mix of Irish and Italian) has returned home (to Village Green) to take up the position of mother to her cousin’s six year old daughter Felicity (or Flicka). Her cousin has been imprisoned after embezzling funds for 12 years. Father is out of the picture.

Keely is running a restaurant, raising a child who is hurting and planning the Christmas parade. Here enters her neighbour, Dr. Ethan Scott. High school nemesis (in her eyes), ex army doctor who now runs a private practice with a childhood friend (who is also the husband of his sister, Keely’s best friend).

There are widowers and orphans a plenty in this Christmas tale. Though the orphaning happened post childhood. Two engagements ended abruptly, one in an accident resulting in death and the other with a heart who has not yet let go of the past. This book really does focus on the idea of releasing a lost love but not forgetting that love… when is it time to risk your heart again? Can you really say good bye? What happens to the love for the first person? 

This book is definitely a journey of faith and healing. A lovely afternoon read on a rainy day, I think. Well worth the time, this story is full of holiday romance and healing with a strong and lovely message.

Well, I am finding more and more that my random story choices is teaching me quite a lot about my personal tastes. This book has reinforced that I enjoy my Regency romance and my stories with a strong faith element SEPARATELY. I feel like I am looking for something very specific when I pick up a Regency romance, a sweet story with gentile people, maybe not EXACTLY period correct but most often at least period close…

With The Nanny Arrangement by Lily George you do get some of the period feel, a lot of the romance of the era, but I found the way faith was included – bible studies, and the situations the two main characters are in – often alone, unchaperoned was a bit too much for me. But the imagery was lovely, the characters well thought out and the story interesting. I just found I had to suspend my Regency sensibilities at times (not to say I am educated in perfect Regency era rules and regulations, but I do love the genre and have read pretty much everything I can get my hands on).

The Nanny Arrangement is not the first in a series, but focuses on the middle sister of 3 who helps her younger sister run a hat shop. The elder has married up and is happy in her home but still in contact. The younger two do not get along overly well without the third to balance them out. Cue the needy gentlemen, known to the elder and her husband as a good friend. His estranged (badly married) sister has perished leaving her only child – a daughter. In order to solve everyone’s problems Becky, the middle sister, becomes the nanny.

There is a lot more than simple romance going on. Paul Holmes has lost his faith, and is not reconciled to his sister’s death or her daughter’s appearance in his life. Becky is unsure of her future as she longs for more than her place in the hat store and has been newly jilted (or at least the man in question never realized her interest). All in all a fun read just more of a faith story than a period piece. I can recommend a second book by the same author – Healing the Soldier’s Heart which is a bit more in the period correct feel. But both have great merits! 

So the romance section of my local library worked in my favour once again with this Love Inspired romance by Bonnie K. Winn. Jingle Bell Blessings is a wonderful inspirational romance all based around “A Little Boy’s Christmas Wish” as was written on the back of the book. Sweet Jimmy Evans is an orphan in need of a family all his own. Chloe Reed was the woman charged with helping him find one. Everyone has their reasons and history and Chloe and Jimmy’s distant relation Evan Mitchell are no different.

A broken family definitely in need of a sad and heartbroken young boy. Chloe is sure she can help Evan see the light. And Evan is equally sure there is no place in his busy life for a young child. This is a story of loss and heartbreak, redemption and love. All wrapped up with faith and peace.

Christmas is the perfect setting for this romance. Bonnie K. Winn shows how a man haunted by the past and weighted down by an uncertain future cannot only find peace but possibly love and a new start. If you are in need of something to read on a snowy evening this is a lovely cozy romance with a touch of mystery. I truly enjoyed this story. A lovely Christian contemporary romance.