About the book:
With Bing Crosby's "I'll Be Home for Christmas" playing in the background, Maggie Culpepper and William Byrd proclaim their undying love to one another. But with the U.S. at war and Maggie's personal home front under attack, the Southern belle impetuously joins the WAVES (Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service).
When Christmas draws near and Maggie finds herself miles and miles away from her Georgia hometown...and her beloved William...will she realize that, no matter where she spends Christmas, home is where her heart is?
My review:
This is a tough one to review for me for several reasons. There was a lot to like about the story, but also some things that took away from it. The heroine, Maggie, was very difficult to like because she had so much anger in her. I tend to steer away from hostile and angry people in my own life because I have learned that only God can change that. So rather than wanting to throw a cyber arm over the heroine's shoulder and assure her that God had her best interest at heart I wanted to say, "Listen, chica, get over yourself. Stop hurting Will. He's too good for you." Not exactly a sympathetic attitude. This could have been worked through better if her anger hadn't kept coming to the forefront and she hadn't kept rejecting Will. She was over the top there, IMHO.
I enjoyed the setting, the Christmas tree farm, the WAVES job, etc. I felt my patriotism swelling here and there as the result of some of the exquisite wording regarding veteran's and dying for a good cause. We've lost site of that this day in age. Then again, some wars weren't pivotal to our future like WWII. Anyway, I grieved some similar losses with the characters. I admired their fighting through struggles with faith. I loved the candle light ceremony and what it represented. Got a tad misty there. :) There was a good message that if love is really there, it will still be there after separation. Also, never giving up hope and praying for your loved ones at war. There was a lot of good Scripture in her and sound spiritual content/doctrine, but a few times it sounded a tad preachy (I hate that word) and other times it was natural sounding. So I had mixed feelings there. I couldn't believe how hard headed Maggie was and naive when it came to Brent, but that's another story for another day. The hero and heroine spent too much time apart for my tastes. Regardless, this was a good read for people who enjoy WWII era books and stories with Christmas themes.
I'll Be Home For Christmas was published by Summerside Press and released in Sept 2010.
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