Book Review: The Dawn of Christmas

The Dawn of Christmas
by Cindy Woodsmall
Description: The Amish community of Apple Ridge is a place to discover anew that even though life doesn’t always look the way you might expect and pain can’t help but color our actions…love may just be around the corner, just in time for Christmas!
Sadie Yoder enjoys her freedom away from home but after four years, her Old Order Amish family insists it’s time to come home and settle down. Levi, a bachelor who distrusts women after a family heartbreak, also has no desire for romance. To keep their families from meddling in their lives, Sadie and Levi devise a plan—but soon discover that the walls around their hearts are breaking down. Can they let go of their prejudices, learn to trust each other, and embrace a future together?
- See more at: http://www.cindywoodsmall.com/books/novellas/the-dawn-of-christmas/#sthash.qcMeHu5U.dpuf
My Thoughts: I first reviewed this book last year when it was one of the three stories in the ‘Christmas at Apple Ridge’ book. You can read my thoughts about it here. But I would like to go more in-depth about what I thought about the story of Sadie and Levi. I love that Cindy writes about characters that are REAL. They struggle, they love, they fight fiercely for what they believe in. Levi has watched other men in his life be burned by women and that has led him to not trust women. Sadie had her heart broken the night before her wedding when she catches her betrothed embracing her cousin. Both are being pressured by family to marry, and soon. They hatch a plan to ‘date’ so they can go their own ways. I loved the friendship that blooms between the two. And I want to kick that lying Daniel from the beginning. Cindy does a great job making you love her characters flaws and all. I absolutely enjoyed not only Sadie and Levi’s story but following up on the other couples of Apple Ridge.

Disclosure: "I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review."