Recent Reads - A Louisiana Christmas To Remember

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A Louisiana Christmas To Remember - a novella collection by Morgan Tarpley Smith, Betsy St. Amant, and Lenora Worth - This sweet trilogy of novellas is like a Hallmark Christmas movie weekend in print! The stories center around a family of women in Moreau, a fictional small town in Louisiana as they come together to plan some very special holiday events. Each one finds love and a renewed connection to their town and to each other, and their faith plays a big role as well.

A Louisiana Snow gets things started with Mattie who is one of the key planners for a holiday marketplace that will also be a fundraiser for some important restoration work that needs done as the town is recovering after hurricane damage. On her team is Paul, a school friend that she saw as a rival. As they are forced to work together, Mattie learns to let go of her need for control as she gets to know Paul again and their friendship is rekindled. Mattie plans to have a mural painted and revealed for the marketplace but the artist is injured . . . 

Enter Mattie's cousin Jolene, who just happens to be an artist! Jolene has been away from Moreau for years and has a reputation for being flighty and unreliable, but when she comes home for the holidays, Mattie is able to talk her into taking over the mural project in the second novella, Restoring Christmas. Jolene reluctantly takes on the project under the supervision of Cameron, and they get off to a very rocky and combative start. They establish a truce, and Jolene's attempts to find inspiration for the art help her work through her guilt and fears. And the truce becomes a romance as Cameron sees Jolene for who she is and wins her trust. 

With the marketplace and the mural project looked after, the attention turns to the holiday ball and the third story picks up the thread. A Christmas Reunion focuses on Jolene's mother, Adale, a beautiful widow whose contribution to Moreau's holidays is planning the ball. She's caught completely off guard by the architect that has come to oversee the restoration work on the chapel, and who has been placed on her planning committee. Remy is not just any architect - he is the boy who stood her up in Paris when she was sixteen years old. And she suspects that her own mother, Eloise, had a hand in bringing Remy to Moreau. While Remy has never forgotten Adale and wants to make amends and earn a second chance with her, Adale is reluctant and fearful of being hurt again. It's only when she finally learns the truth about why Remy never met her that last day in Paris that she is able to fully forgive and allow herself to accept the second chance for happiness with him.

Despite being by three different authors, the stories are well coordinated and follow chronologically. Eloise, or Granny as Jolene and Mattie call her, is the matriarch of the family, and her presence in each story helps tie them all together as well. The characters and storylines work together so well that there's not a jarring change in style when a new author takes over. The viewpoint characters simply change, and this does allow a little bit more character development than most novellas have time for, since the four women appear in each story, even though they may be more in the background. 

Charming, heart-warming, light holiday reading with sweet romances and small town characters.

From the Publisher:

A Rare Snowfall Leads to a Christmas to Remember

Three heartwarming, interconnected stories of faith, love, and restoration, brought to you by three Louisiana-native authors. Will a rare snowy Louisiana Christmas bring restoration and hope to the hometown and hearts of three women from the town's founding family?

In A Louisiana Snow by Morgan Tarpley Smith, meet Mattie: A passionate visionary who learns to forgive and finds love in unexpected places . . . 

In Restoring Christmas by Betsy St. Amant, meet Jolene: An artist and prodigal daughter who discovers love exists in the very place she once called home . . . 

In A Christmas Reunion by Lenora Worth, meet Adale: A beautiful widow who finally dares to love again . . .

And don't forget Granny, whose feisty spirit, blunt dialogue, and quirky ways play an important and endearing role.

Visit Barbour Publishing for more info on where to buy.

I received a digital ARC of this book from Barbour Publishing through NetGalley and was under no obligation to post a review.

#ALouisianaChristmastoRemember #NetGalley

This is a book with a contemporary setting (#44) for The 52 Book Club's 2023 Reading Challenge. Because it's three stories, I'm also counting Restoring Christmas as an enemies-to-lovers plot (#38) for the challenge.

#the52bookclub #the52bookclub2023

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