Christmas Hotel

Saundra Staats
McLemore
Genre: 
Inspirational

Last Christmas, Jerilyn was happily married and looking forward to a bright future with her husband Kenneth. This year finds Jerilyn widowed and pregnant feeling the loss of her husband who had been killed earlier in the month at the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The message bearing the news of his death still fresh and searing in her heart. To better deal with her loss and loneliness she decides to travel to Nashville, Tennessee to be near her husbands family and perhaps start a new life there. Due to some curious circumstances on the bus while traveling, she eventually ends up in Franklin, Kentucky.. At the Christmas Hotel, to be exact. The owners of the hotel are an elderly Christian couple who find  joy in helping others through the pathway of life. The hotel itself being decorated for Christmas all year round. Reclaiming her lost faith, meeting  Christopher and trusting that the Lord will bless her with peace and happiness again is at first a hard thing to do. Could this be the beginning of a miracle that Jerilyn desperately needs in her life?

What a lovely, pleasant story written with faith and conviction that miracles do happen. The author has written this book using headings with biblical passages that are explained within the story.The characters in the book are loosely drawn and not deep enough to ask any more of the reader than to be accepted. Although the storyline is sweet, it is  perhaps too sweet to be seen as realistic. The love story is a rather  predictable one and borders on the fanciful even with the problems and obstacles  the couple face. Despite these factors while reading, one finds the tale both comforting and hope promoting in a gentle, heartwarming way.

Beth Chamberlin