A Country Christmas: An Anthology (Heart of Texas)

This book brings memories of Handel's Messiah and words of redemption and salvation which brings us to the characters in this book especially Cal and Jane finally finding their love for each other and their family. A very good Christmas story.

I really enjoyed this book and could not set it down. I read it every time I sat down or every night before I went to sleep. Just love all her books and want to read the ones from years ago. I keep up with current ones but want to get her books from when she first started writing.

This book brings memories of Handel's Messiah and words of redemption and salvation which brings us to the characters in this book especially Cal and Jane finally finding their love for each other and their family. A very good Christmas story.

I really enjoyed this book and could not set it down. I read it every time I sat down or every night before I went to sleep. Just love all her books and want to read the ones from years ago. I keep up with current ones but want to get her books from when she first started writing.

Bebbie Macomber always wright so you can go back in memory if you read the book that she written about Buffalo , as will as taking you forward in the story. I love her books, she is a great writer.

Buffalo Valley (***3.0 stars). Easy read about love, loss, and discovering what's important.
Return to Promise (**1.5 stars). Depressing storyline about separation and working it out

BUFFALO VALLEY revolves around discharged army Ranger, Vaughn Kyle. Before Vaughn starts his new job working for big-box retailer, he decides to visit Hassie Knight who lives in small town Buffalo Valley, the store's next building site. This subplot about a large retailer's invasion into a community that is adamantly opposed is both engaging and complicated, but it is the emotional connections of family, friends, and community that make this an engaging tale. Hassie is the mother of Vaughn's namesake killed in Viet Nam a generation earlier and it is the death of this individual, a son, a brother, a best friend, and a fiancée, and how the love and loss of this young man shaped the lives of those left behind that makes this a compelling read.

OVERALL, well written, engaging storyline with complicated dilemmas. 4th in Dakota series.

RETURN TO PROMISE follows Cal and Jane Patterson as they face family and marital crisis. Jane must leave to care for her ailing father and needy mother which places a tremendous strain on their marriage which is already suffering from Cal's general thoughtlessness and lack of communication. Despite their love for each other, when Jane returns home neither finds it easy to put their marriage and each other first. Trust become increasingly difficult when the death of Jane's father forces another separation and the hidden agendas of those around them cause further discord, until both finally discover what is really important.

OVERALL, troubled marriage saga rather than a romance. 8th in Heart of Texas series.

You may also enjoy the complex characters and storytelling of N. Bruhns, A. Stuart, and E. Palfrey. For sweet, funny, heart touching romances with great descriptive imagery try Susan Fox and Cara Colter.

A Country Christmas
Debbie Macomber
Harlequin MIRA, Oct 28 2014, $7.99
ISBN: 9780778316510

“Buffalo Valley”. Vaughn leaves the Army to return to civilian life in Seattle where he starts a job in the New Year. However, over the holidays Vaughn visits his family in Grand Forks, North Dakota. While in town, the veteran introduces himself to elderly pharmacist Hassie; Vaughn’s parents named him after her son who died in Nam. At the pharmacy, Vaughn and trainee Carrie meet and quickly fall in love. However, he has an ethics dilemma when he learns his Washington State employer plans to build a superstore that will destroy the mom and pop shops in Buffalo Valley.

“Return to Promise”. The schism in their marriage started when Cal hid from his wife Jane that he signed up to participate in the Promise, Texas Labor Day Rodeo bull-riding event. The next incident begins when Jane's mother calls to inform them that her father is ill. Jane, accompanied by her three-year-old son and eighteen-month-old daughter, travels to her California home while Cal stays behind. The third mess occurs when Nicole makes a bold bid to catch geographical bachelor Cal's interests. With Jane in California and Cal in Texas, their relationship appears dead.

Buffalo Valley is a reprint that returns readers to the Dakota trilogy on an interesting journey to a Shangri-La threatened by "progress". Return to Promise is a reprint of a Heart Of Texas family drama starring protagonists who substantiates that men and women occupy different galaxies not just planets or states.

Harriet Klausner

The book had two stories in it so it is hard to rate them both with one rating. I didn't care for the first one because it was too dull and the plot was contrived. The second story, "Return to Promise" was better with plot and characters better developed. There was more conflict in the second story, while the first had little conflict. My ratings are for the second story.

A great Christmas story. I love to read Christmas books at this time of year and this was one of the better ones. Heartwarming! I love to read Christmas stories adn found a delightful one to read titled, Christmas in Vermont: A Very White Christmas I could not put it down. Wonderful and very heartwarming tale of an old style New England Christmas.