Helpful Score: 8
Up to this point, my only experience with the stories from Wanda Brunstetter has been the Sisters of Holmes County series. To be honest I must admit that I was not a fan of that series. Overall, I have heard wonderful things about the Amish fiction from Wanda Brunstetter. Starting this book, I came in with mixed feeling and expectations from the things that I have heard and felt myself. In the end, I was pleasantly pleased.
"White Christmas Pie" is a good holiday or anytime of the year read. It is a story of hurt and misconceptions. Feelings that are harbored in one's heart will affect other pieces of their life and this is a story of about finding answers and peace. There are going to be various things in our lies that will prompt questions that will receive no answer.
As Christians, it is an important part of life to forgive and forget when necessary no matter how difficult and even without all the facts. God has a plan for our lives and he knows best. Each day, live to the fullest for him and do not remain caught up in pain.
"White Christmas Pie" is a good holiday or anytime of the year read. It is a story of hurt and misconceptions. Feelings that are harbored in one's heart will affect other pieces of their life and this is a story of about finding answers and peace. There are going to be various things in our lies that will prompt questions that will receive no answer.
As Christians, it is an important part of life to forgive and forget when necessary no matter how difficult and even without all the facts. God has a plan for our lives and he knows best. Each day, live to the fullest for him and do not remain caught up in pain.
Helpful Score: 7
Though not her best work ever, this book was still rather interesting. I suspected it to be a bit more of a mystery as on the back it says that Will's life is threatened, but in all reality, it's more like hanging in the balance, not threatened, as no one attacks anymore. So I found that line to be misleading. This book was interesting though, Will was abandoned by his father and he has to decide if he can forgive the fact that his father left him with an Amish couple 16 years ago. A story that makes you see how tough choices can be and how it isn't easy to get to the point we need to get to. Still an interesting, page turning read, though the beginning may be slow to start, it's like a roller coaster ride, the chain has to pull you up that hill, and once you reach the top of the hill in this book, it's all non-stop action after that!
Helpful Score: 3
I don't know if I've read too many Wanda Brunstetter books or not, but this one was very predictable, as all her books seem to be getting. All involve romance, dilemma, misunderstanding, and of course the obligatory buggy mishap and someone ending up in the hospital where the moral of the story usually ensues. While I do enjoy her knowledge of the Amish and the settings, she really needs to use a new formula or break out of her mold.
Helpful Score: 1
The book is 300 pages and the font is pretty big, so it does go quickly. I felt that this book was OK, good but not great. It's a cozy read for a lazy Saturday, but is fairly predictable. It's a story about Will Henderson, a young man still dealing with the pain of being abandoned by his father 16 years earlier. His father left him in the care of an Amish couple; Will became Amish, and is now engaged to marry a young Amish woman. Unbeknownst to Will, his father Frank has been living with this guilt for 16 years and did try to come back for Will, but the family had since moved away. Frank's wife places an ad in an Amish newspaper hoping to reach Will, but does Will want anything to do with his father after all this time? I really wanted to like this book more than I did. I didn't find Will to be a very sympathetic character, he seemed very whiny and I found it hard to connect with him. I understand that he was dealing with a tough issue, but it seemed like he never thought about any of this until the start of the story, rather than dealing with it longer ago (and if he had been like this the whole time, I'm surprised someone didn't smack him or something). Frank's grief over the situation also seemed to come out of nowhere. He's presented as being so despondent over losing his son and suddenly figures out how to get in touch (using the Internet to look up information, why didn't he think of that before since this seems to take place around when it was published in 2008 so it's not like it wasn't invented yet). I did enjoy the characters of Will's Amish parents and his fiancée more so than the others I previously mentioned. I was hoping for a bit of a peak into Amish life, but those elements seemed a bit forced, as if thrown in after the fact or pushed in a way to say "these people are Amish in case you didn't realize it.â. Anyway, it's still a decent story if you are looking for something light to fill a long afternoon.
the way the characters were written and the story lines seemed so real and their feelings and closeness of the families and neighbor made the book so real and how the family was reunited this book is worth your time