Book Review: "A Patchwork Christmas" by Kristin Eckhardt

Heather Creek Farm looks like a winter wonderland as Charlotte Stevenson prepares to make a memorable Christmas for her three grandchildren. Despite the difficult year they’ve all experienced, Charlotte hopes to find solace in this season of peace and joy, trusting in her faith to see her through. That faith is shaken, though, when everything begins to go wrong. Sam, her oldest grandson, makes plans to spend Christmas away from home. Emily is drawn into a battle with the pastor’s daughter, and shy, ten-year-old Christopher faces his worst fear. And when a dangerous ice storm threatens to ruin all their plans, Charlotte finds strength in the promise of God’s gift to the world.

Tis the season to be jolly.....or hectic and frenzy. The folks in Heather Creek are getting ready for the holiday season and it will be the first Christmas together for the Stevensons and their grandchildren. I can imagine how hard it would have been for Charlotte and Bob to try to celebrate the holiday knowing that the kids are still mourning the loss of their mother. If I had been in their situation, I would have to think long and hard how to handle the task, should festivities be more subdued or should everything act as normal?

As always I enjoyed reading the adventures of the entire family. I think Charlotte needs to learn how to say no to people. I realize that she's a very caring and understanding person who doesn't want to hurt other people's feelings. However stretching yourself too thin does not win you any extra points with Jesus no matter how helpful your tasks may be. In the past couple of books, Charlotte seems to be taken advantage of by other people and while she realizes this, she just can't seem to say that she can't do it right now. In this book she gets roped into being in charge of the Christmas pageant where she has to learn she can't be partial to her own grand kids.

I enjoy Emily's battle with Nicole. Not that I like seeing Emily suffer from the teasing but because this book showed that Christian teens even pastor's kids can be downright cruel and manipulate adults into thinking they are perfect. While Nicole is obviously not a good role model, it was strangely pleasant to see how she could fool everyone into believing one thing and then turn around and act completely the opposite. Most books would have everything tie up neatly between the two girls with forgiveness winning in the end, but it looks like the feud between the two will last for a couple more books. I was scared, I was worried, I was thinking I know what's going to happen to Sam's trip. I thought all these things because all the signs were leading up to the same predictable ending. To my wonderful delight, there was a twist! I was really happy to see this happen because it was such a surprise to see the story NOT go in the same route. It may be a minor thing to most people, but to this reader it was greatly appreciated. Once again this is another wonderful addition to the Heather Creek series and really gets you in the holiday spirit no matter what time of the year you read this book!

A Patchwork Christmas by Kristin Eckhardt is published by Guideposts (2008)