The Amish Christmas Candle

September 4, 2017
Three of Kensington’s most popular Amish romance authors reconvene around the warmth of hand-poured candles and indulge in less traditional pairings in this year’s Amish Christmas novella trio. In Long’s saccharine “Snow Shine on Ice Mountain,” Naomi’s father hires a young man to help her in the candle shop, but it turns out he’s using it as a cover for his job as a moonshine runner. The two colleagues experience a mysterious Christmas love miracle with supernatural underpinnings, a plot twist both unsatisfyingly abrupt and out of line with the conventions of Amish romances. Beckstrand’s “A Honeybee Christmas” uplifts the idea of being one’s true self and serves as a sprightly, satisfying, and occasionally hilarious coda to her Honeybee Sisters trilogy, as grumpy traditionalist Yost Weaver is both distressed and fascinated by his growing affection for Bitsy Kiem, the girlfriend of his youth turned outrageous empty nester with a very non-Amish fashion sense. Continuing the theme of embracing a modest amount of change and difference, an Amish girl battles the loneliness of her sister’s departure by diving into the charity baking drive of an attractive Mennonite neighbor’s family in Baker’s gently good-natured “The Christmas Candle,” which ends with a recipe.

October 15, 2017

Stories focusing on Amish communities are as popular as ever, and this trio of Christmas novellas from three of the genre's most beloved authors are ideal for the season. A smart father hires a handsome young man to help his unmarried daughter in their candle shop with more than one ulterior motive in Long's "Snow Shine on Ice Mountain"; a woman must choose between returning to her old Englisch life or marrying an Amish man she's come to love in Jennifer Beckstrand's "A Honeybee Christmas"; and a young Amish woman and a Mennonite man are attracted to each other as they work on a Christmas charity project but fear their different faiths may keep them apart in Lisa Jones Baker's "The Christmas Candle." VERDICT Sweet, gently humorous, and steeped in Amish tradition, this collection will entice inspirational and traditional romance fans alike. Long, Beckstrand, and Baker live in Hummelstown, PA; Centerville, UT; and Bloomington, IL, respectively.

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2017
The love and warmth of the holiday season shines brightly in this charming trio of Christmas novellas, by inspirational authors Long, Jennifer Beckstrand, and Lisa Jones Baker, each of which features a sweet romance involving candles or candle making.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)