Holiday in Your Heart by LeAnn Rimes and Tom Carter

From Goodreads,

"Many girls dream of becoming princesses, but for the heroine of Holiday in Your Heart, nothing could be better than singing at the Grand Ole Opry.  Teenaged singing sensation Anna Lee has realized her dream of performing a holiday concert on the fabled stage.  Yet her happiness is clouded by thoughts of her grandmother, stricken with a serious illness back in her native Mississippi and unable to see her beloved granddaughter triumph at this special time of year.  It takes the lessons of an older country singer, a musical legend now past her prime, to show the young woman that if you carry a holiday in your heart all year round, you'll always know which things really matter, which songs are the ones you have to sing.  LeAnn Rimes's legions of fans will find Holiday in Your Heart a tale as heartrending as the finest country ballad."

Goodreads - Holiday in Your Heart

December is almost over and this is the final Christmas book of this year.  I felt like it would be good to make this book the final Christmas book considering it is titled Holiday in Your Heart.  It seemed like a book that would be full of good things to carry into the new year. 

Holiday in Your Heart is about a young girl named Anna Lee who is a rising star getting read to play at the Opry.  While getting ready Anna meets a famous singer who decides she should show Anna what Nashville is really like.  Anna agrees to meet her the next day to get an official tour, but she doesn't realize that she is going to get the lesson of a lifetime.

This book wasn't what I was expecting.  It was really slow and pretty boring.  The chapters were drawn out and lacked any kind of exciting storyline.  In between the slowness and the long chapters, there was an important message.  Anna Lee is a rising star who finds out early on in the book that her grandmother is sick.  Her grandmother asks for her to come see her in the hospital, but Anna Lee decides to go ahead and go to the important meeting she has the following day.  After spending time with the old famous singer she realizes that family is more important than anything including careers.  I think this is such an important message because I am so guilty of spending so much time at my job or doing things for my job instead of spending time with family.  Jobs will come and go, but family is only here for a short time.

This book was a little bit of a let down as far as stories go, but deep down there was an excellent message.  A big reason I even read this book was because it was written by LeAnn Rimes.  It didn't meet my expectations and it lacked a good storyline.  I give this 2 stars.  If you like LeAnn Rimes then I would suggest reading this because it does have some ties back to her life, but otherwise it isn't an exciting story. 

Searching for David's Heart: A Christmas Story by Cherie Bennett

From Goodreads,

"When her older brother, David, dies in an accident, Darcy feels responsible for his death. Then she meets the boy who received David's heart in an organ transplant, and learns that life truly does go on.

A journey of faith, hope, and love.

Life at Darcy's house isn't always easy. Money is tight, and her parents argue a lot. Darcy's shy and quiet with most people, but it's not like that with her brother, David. He and Darcy are soul mates. Until David gets a girlfriend, that is, and starts to treat Darcy as if she were a pest. Darcy is hurt and humiliated, and one day after a huge fight, Darcy runs off. David chases after her and is killed in a shocking accident. Darcy is sure his death is her fault.

Then Darcy's parents decide to donate David's heart for transplant. Darcy believes that if she can find David's heart, even if it's beating in someone else's body, she will have found her brother, and in some way he will still be alive. And so the search for David's heart begins."

Goodreads - Searching For David's Heart

I love Christmas, but I also love the books that are about Christmas.  They always have an important message about believing in the spirit or in helping others.  But this book was different in the most wonderful way.  This book focused on healing and finding the ability to love and be loved again. 

Searching For David's Heart starts with a young girl named Darcy getting ready for a speech at school.  She talks with her brother David and he gives her advice about how to not be afraid.  Soon Darcy finds out that David has a girlfriend that he is apparently in love with.  Darcy becomes jealous, but becomes angry when she overhears David's girlfriend share that she picked out Darcy's birthday present.  Darcy gets angry and runs away with David chasing.  Darcy makes it across the street, but David doesn't.  In the months after Darcy must learn to heal and love again.  But to do that she sets off on an adventure to find her brother's heart.

I'm not going to lie this book started off extremely slow and slightly boring.  I was tired of it just a few chapters in, but after the accident the book picked up and took off.  While Darcy went on a physical journey, she also went on an emotional journey.  Darcy kept blaming herself for David's death and was bottling everything up.  As she went on the trip she was forced to face the truth and to truly let herself mourn away from her family.  I think that this book would be very beneficial to someone who had just lost someone in a tragic way.  Sometimes we have to take a step back and go on a journey to find ourselves and let ourselves truly heal. 

I also want to give some attention to the love and relationships that were in this book.  The first big one was Darcy and David's relationship.  Darcy looked up to her big brother in a way that a lot of younger siblings look up to older siblings.  David wasn't a jerk about the fact that Darcy admired him.  David took care of Darcy, gave her advice, and wanted her to be her best self.  He was ultimately her biggest fan and protector.  This was an excellent brother-sister relationship that was full of positivity and love.  The other big relationship was between Darcy and Sam her best friend.  Darcy and Sam had the ideal childhood friendship.  Both seem to be a little quirky and stick up for each other.  Sam has a lot of courage and charisma that Darcy ultimately needs once they set out on their journey to find David's heart.  At one point in the book Sam confesses that he loves Darcy and frankly, Darcy is a little bit of a jerk about it.  Darcy says that she doesn't love Sam and it really breaks Sam's heart.  The only complaint out of the whole book is that there wasn't ever a moment where Darcy admitted she loved Sam too.  I was hoping it would come near the end of the book, but it didn't.  Nonetheless they had a positive friendship where each was willing to do anything for the other.  I think that positive relationships in books are excellent examples of what things are supposed to look like.  This book was packed with these two positive relationships and it really enhanced the book.

I have nothing negative to say about this wonderful Christmas story.  It was full of tragedy and love and hope and healing.  Something strange however is that my copy of the book had two chapter eighteens and no chapter nineteen.  It was really weird, but I figured it was just a big typo.  I give this book 5 big stars and recommend it to anyone looking for a feel good Christmas read. 

The Promise by Jackie French Koller

From Goodreads,

"When his Labrador retriever survives a bear-mauling on Christmas Eve, Matt is convinced that her recovery is a miracle sent by his mother from heaven."

Goodreads - The Promise

It's time for another Christmas book, and I'm extremely excited about this book.  My previous Christmas book review focused on believing and hoping.  There was another important element to the book that I decided to ignore and not write about, but magically the same concept was brought up in this book.  I suppose that's a sign saying I need to talk about it.

The Promise is a book about a young boy named Matt who lives with his brother Jamie, his Pa, and his dog Sara. His Ma died and it is the first Christmas without her.  Matt wants everything to be like when Ma was still alive, and as a family they work together to make it the best they can.  On Christmas Eve, Matt goes to hang suet balls on the tree when a bear lumbers down the path.  The book comes to a dramatic conclusion as Matt and Sara run from the bear in hopes of surviving.

Apparently I missed some story in my childhood about animals being able to speak on Christmas at midnight.  Both On Christmas Eve and The Promise refer to animals having this gift on Christmas.  In The Promise Matt didn't believe it was possible, but went along with it because his Ma had said it was possible.  Eventually Matt finds out that it is true that animals get this power on Christmas at midnight.  It would be so cool to be able to speak to animals.  It definitely makes me think of my dog who passed away a year ago.  I honestly wish that I had been able to talk to him and he respond.  There are so many things that I would have said to him or asked him.  I had such a connection with him and honestly feel that he still understood me even though he couldn't talk to me.

This book had a quote that was mentioned a couple times and it really pulled the book together.  Ma had always told the family, "Some things you just got to take on faith."  This was an important phrase in the book because each of the characters needed the strength from the words.  They all needed to just believe.  Matt honestly had to "take it on faith" that Sara would be able to talk at midnight and that she would be okay after being attacked by the bear.  I think this is an important quote to carry with you through life.  Our society questions everything and I feel like we need to trust a little more and take it on faith.  There are times when we don't and can't have all the answers, we just have to believe, and that was an important message in this book. 

I love Christmas books because they really focus on believing in the magic of Christmas.  This is a book that I would absolutely read to my students in my classroom.  I think that many of them would connect with the animal aspect and the believing in the magic.  I give this 5 stars and recommend it to everyone for a quick read. 

On Christmas Eve by Ann M. Martin

From Goodreads,

"A heartfelt gift for every family, sure to be shared over and over each year.

Eight-year-old Tess is convinced this is the year she will finally meet Santa, and experience "the Christmas magic." She also wishes with all her heart that her best friend's ill father will recover. Tess' faith in the season results in a Christmas Eve so wondrous, so sparkling, readers won't be able to help but feel transformed. Like trimming the tree and "It's a Wonderful Life"; baking cookies and "White Christmas," ON CHRISTMAS EVE is sure to bring new holiday magic to readers' lives."

Goodreads - On Christmas Eve

I am beyond excited that December is finally here because that means Christmas is right around the corner!  Christmas is my favorite holiday because of the awe and magic that it holds.  Now that I'm older and a teacher, I get to share my hope and excitement with my nieces and nephews and with my students.  This book really captures the magic that Christmas holds.

Tess is just 8 years old when she feels something magical happen.  She thinks that it means she will meet the real Santa Claus on Christmas.  Tess believes in Santa with all her heart, despite her sister saying Santa isn't real.  In the weeks leading up to Christmas, Tess's best friend Sarah is spending lots of time with Tess's family because Sarah's dad is sick.  Tess decides that on Christmas she will ask Santa to grant Sarah her wish for her dad to be better.  The story reaches a magical point as Christmas Eve leads way to Christmas day.

This book was so much better than I thought it was going to be.  I love that one of the big messages in this book is believing and having hope.  Tess believed in the magic of Christmas even when everyone around her didn't.  People who believe in Santa Claus have an energy that is infectious.  They see the joy and excitement in everything that surrounds Christmas, and this is how Tess was.  However, at a certain point in the book Tess lost her hope in Santa Claus and she kept telling herself she still believed.  Tess's best friend Sarah had been through a lot and she still somehow had hope.  Tess had to realize that if Sarah could still have hope, then she could too.  This book proved that hope is a powerful thing.

This book was absolutely precious and I have nothing negative to say about it.  This is a wonderful and quick read about believing in the magic of Christmas.  I give it 5 stars and recommend it to everyone.