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MY REVIEW:<\/strong><\/p>\n After losing the man she loved during the war, Esther had focused on raising her orphaned niece and managing the family bakery. Jeremy had been rejected by his fiance when she learned he had lost a foot in battle. Neither ever expected to find love at their age but Esther’s search for just the right artist to paint a Christmas star for her niece’s wedding gift may have set things in motion for another family wedding.<\/p>\n “The Christmas Star Bride” may be my favorite so far in the 12 Brides of Christmas collection – probably because the romance came as somewhat a surprise to both parties. I probably also liked the story because it featured a couple who were a bit more mature than those in the usual romance novels. Of course, Cabot’s excellent skill at developing a wonderful story and her careful research combined to make this one well worth my time.<\/p>\n I am loving getting to read all the stories in this collection and hate to see it quickly coming to the end. I encourage everyone to grab a copy of one or more of these sweet and inspiring stories about Christmas brides.<\/p>\n This book was provided for review by Shiloh Run Studios.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n ABOUT THE BOOK:<\/strong><\/p>\n More About The Christmas Star Bride<\/em> with Amanda Cabot<\/strong><\/p>\n Who would have guessed that at one time\u00a0Cheyenne, Wyoming\u00a0had the highest number of millionaires per capita in the country? Amanda Cabot discovered that fact and many others while researching her novella\u00a0The\u00a0<\/em>Christmas<\/em>\u00a0Star Bride.\u00a0<\/em>Such a surprising fact spurred her imagination and intrigued her writer\u2019s sensibility.<\/p>\n \u201cEver since I moved to Cheyenne and learned a bit of its history, I\u2019ve been fascinated by the era of the cattle barons when Cheyenne was the wealthiest city per capita in the country. Not only was Cheyenne the capitol of\u00a0Wyoming Territory, but it also boasted beautiful parks, the only opera house west of the Mississippi and even had electric lights. What better time and place to set a story?\u201d<\/p>\n This is not Amanda\u2019s first visit to nineteenth century Cheyenne. Two of her Westward Winds books,\u00a0Waiting for Spring<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0With Autumn\u2019s Return<\/em>, are both set in Cheyenne during this period.<\/p>\n In this particular story, however, she wanted to tell the story of \u201can older couple, one who\u2019d suffered through the War Between the States, and how love comes when it\u2019s least expected.\u00a0 Once I realized what Jeremy and Esther had endured, the story practically wrote itself.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Bible verse I chose for this story is Psalm 34:22,\u00a0\u201cThe Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants, and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Both Esther and Jeremy have had desolate periods in their lives, but thanks to their faith in the Lord, they are redeemed.\u201d<\/p>\n Amanda\u00a0noted that while her characters are not based on real people, \u201cmy heroes and heroines frequently embody my personal values. Because I believe in justice and happy endings, readers will find that my protagonists do, too. They\u2019ll also find the recurring theme of the healing power of love, since that\u2019s something I believe in.\u201d<\/p>\n Because she lives in Cheyenne, Amanda often walks the streets her characters inhabited. She\u2019d not personally like to have lived in that time period (too dangerous to be ill), but she would love to have seen the opulent homes now gone.<\/p>\n Who is Amanda Cabot?<\/strong><\/p>\n For more information about\u00a0Amanda, please visit her website at\u00a0www.amandacabot.com<\/a>\u00a0or read her\u00a0blog.<\/a><\/p>\n You can also find her on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n Amanda had one last word: \u201cI hope everyone who\u2019s reading this has an opportunity to read all of the\u00a012 Brides of Christmas<\/em>\u00a0novellas.\u00a0 I\u2019ve had the privilege of reading each of them, and I can tell you that you\u2019re in for a treat.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/divider2.png\" "\\"divider2\\"")
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\nEsther Hathaway lost her one true love at Gettysburg twenty years ago, but she is still willing to celebrate her niece\u2019s wedding by commissioning Jeremy Snyder to paint her portrait. Will Esther’s prayers for God to ease her loneliness be answered by a wounded vet?<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAmanda Cabot is the author of more than thirty novels, including the\u00a0CBA\u00a0bestseller\u00a0Christmas Roses<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Waiting for Spring<\/em>.\u00a0 A Christmas-time bride herself, Amanda now lives in Cheyenne with her high-school sweetheart husband, where they celebrate a fairly simple Christmas tradition.<\/p>\n