A Christmas Haven
An Amish Christmas Romance
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3.0 • 5 Ratings
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
ECPA BESTSELLER • For fans of holiday romances and Amish life comes a new Christmas tale of surprising expectations and discovering miracles.
Old Order Amish Ivy Zook is wrestling with her need to shed her community's ways so she can grow the business of her dreams: planning parties. As long as she's stuck living without modernization, she can barely get her business on its feet. But if she leaves too soon, she'd cause trouble for her sister, Holly, who is planning her wedding to Joshua Smucker. All of their plans become twice as complicated when an old car crashes into the storefront of Greene's Pharmacy, carrying a Swartzentruber (ultra-conservative sect) Amish man, Arlan, and his very ill sister.
The Zooks take in Arlan and Madga, tending to the woman's illness and Arlan begins helping around the family farm. Ivy and Arlan are on different tracks, one wanting to leave her community and the other to return to his. But both young people are trying to discover what God has in store for their futures and what miracles might lie around the corner this Christmas season.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The Woodsmalls (The Gift of Christmas Past), a mother- and daughter-in-law, offer an enjoyable romance that examines the differences in conservative sects of the Amish faith. In rural Pennsylvania, Ivy Zook is eager to leave the old order Amish life behind. She and her Englisher friend Tegan run a party planning business and have plans to share an apartment, but Ivy's heartbroken mother convinces her to stay for six months, until after her older sister Holly's wedding and their Christmas celebration. In a concurrent storyline, Arlan Keim is a devout member of the ultra-conservative Swartzentruber Amish. When his parents refuse to get medical care for his ill, pregnant, and unmarried sister, Magda, Arlan disobeys the rules of his family and buys a car to escape with her. However, his plan goes awry when he crashes his car into the pharmacy where Holly works. After getting care for Magda, Holly takes Arlan and Magda home with her and offers to let Magda, who is a couple months pregnant, stay with her until the baby is born. Magda is thrilled, but Arlan fears she will be tempted by Holly's comfortable way of life. Arlan soon finds himself tempted, as well, as he develops a close relationship with Ivy and longs for the close family relationship the Zooks share. The Woodsmalls' lovely Christmas tale, concerned with universal themes of home and family, is a fit for any season.
Customer Reviews
A special story
A Christmas Haven by Cindy Woodsmall and Erin Woodsmall picks up shortly after The Christmas Remedy ends. While A Christmas Haven can be read as a standalone, I recommend reading The Christmas Remedy first. There is a cast of characters at the beginning of the book. I found the book to be well-written with developed characters and thoughtful pacing. Ivy Zook finds the rules of her community restrictive and she believes going Englisch will allow her to be free to pursue her dream of having a party planning business. Arlan Keim gives up everything to help his sister, Magda get the medical treatment she needs and save her from the future her parents have planned for her. I liked how Arlan saw Ivy’s way of life in a totally different light. Someone from the outside can give you a different perspective as Arlan did for Ivy. The story is filled with hope which I found uplifting. I like that we get to catch up with Holly and Joshua from The Christmas Remedy as well as Red Zook. There is a sweet epilogue that gives a look at Ivy, Josh, Magda, Red, Arlan, and Holly’s lives a year later. A Christmas Haven has hope, love, heartache, joy, and forgiveness. We see that you never know what God will have in store for you. You just need to be patient, pray and follow His lead. I like how Arlan and Ivy bonded over books. I was shocked to learn the Swartzentruber Amish do not read fiction. My favorite phrase from A Christmas Haven is “Who I am can’t be defined by breaking bonds with my family. It can only be defined by blooming right where He planted me.” A Christmas Haven is a fulfilling novel with party planning, an auto accident, a benevolent bishop, restrictive rules and a wonderful wedding.