"Country Christmas Joy"
This lovely anthology opens with Millie Criswell's sweet
story of a scrooge-like spinster in 1887 Colorado. Eve
Barlow has had more then her share of tragedy at Christmas
time, including being jilted at the altar on Christmas Eve
in front of the whole town. She wants no part of Christmas
and even closes her boarding house down for the Holidays. Gabe Tyler has had his share of tragedy too, but he hasn't
given up on Christmas. Gabe's wife left him and took his
little boy with her and Gabe has been searching throughout
the west for years for them. His latest tip brings him to
Cedar Springs and there is literally no room at the inns.
Gabe won't take 'no' for an answer from Eve and she is
forced to take him in, but says he has to leave before
Christmas Eve. Finding a baby on Eve's doorstep complicates
her plans to evict Gabe, as he knows more about babies then
she does. What follows is a wonderful story of a sweet, but
emotionally damaged woman learning to love both an
abandoned child and a wonderful man. The perfect Christmas
story and the epilogue made me cry tears of joy. Mary McBride's story is one of redemption and equally
appropriate for the Holiday season. Will Cade was a Doctor
in the Civil War and the pain of what he witnessed sent him
rolling through the West as a drifting gambler. Will arrives in Ellsworth, Kansas in 1871 with a bounty
hunter hot on his trail. He enters Matty Favor's store
with the intention of stealing an item to advance him in
his journey. But, when the bounty hunter enters behind him
Matty lies to him and protects Will. Will then agrees to
work for her during the holidays. Matty is a very complicated woman who constantly talks to
her dead husband and relies on the advice he gave her
during their short marriage to run her store. Most of the
advice is bad, but she is afraid to rely on her own
knowledge and taking in Will is the first thing she has
done in years without talking to her hubby. McBride does a good job in a short story of showing two
damaged people dealing with their pasts and learning to
love again. Liz Ireland tells the story of Ivy Ryan who has come to
Otis, Texas as a mail-order bride. Ivy has had a run of
bad luck that ended with her being put in jail in Boston
for a crime committed by her boyfriend. She agrees to the
mail-order marriage in desperation, but has had second
thoughts and decided to tell her waiting husband-to-be that
she wants to go back to Boston. Unfortunately, he is dead
and the town is waiting to unload his three very bratty
children on her and they won't take 'no' for an answer. Ivy is forced to take the children to their uncle, who the
children tell her is "evil and mean". Justin Murphy is
neither evil or mean, but he IS very bitter. The children's
father had eloped with Justin's fiancee and Justin allowed
this betrayal to embitter him to Christmas and children. When Ivy arrives with the children Justin ignores them and
hires her to keep them out of his hair. Ivy thinks him an
ogre, but gradually begins to see that there is great pain
under his seeming indifference to the children. The children do their best to annoy Justin and anyone else
they encounter, which considering the completely
disfunctional life they have had is not surprising. This
story is very funny and yet Ireland manages to make the
children seem real and Justin and Ivy's love story is very
sweet. A Western Family Christmas is the perfect Christmas book, a
little schmaltz, a lot of love and plenty of joy--this will
go on my 'annual Christmas reads' shelf.
Reviewed by Linda Hurst
Posted November 10, 2001
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