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Home For Christmas
I wrote this story during the Christmas season after attending an annual women's dinner at my church. The festive time fit in perfectly with the rhythm of the holidays, and I knew the setting would make an excellent first scene in a Christmas tale. Two of the main characters, Lindsay and her elderly friend Ruth were consuming my thoughts a few days later. Their sweet friendship was delightful to imagine, and although I didn't know where their story was headed, I knew I wanted to be along for the journey.
Sorrow came to our family before Christmas arrived. My father-in-law passed away, and the weeks that followed were a unique time of enjoying the holidays and grieving the loss of a close family member. We tried to go on and celebrate Christmas the way we knew he wanted us to, and writing this story was one of the ways my soul had rest during that time. I found comfort in writing about these characters who also struggle to find a balance between joy and grief. May their story encourage you to find contentment in the difficult realities of life and ongoing hope for better days ahead.
Home For Christmas; A Christmas Story:
It’s Lindsay’s favorite time of year. Bound for her childhood home in the central mountains of Washington State, she is looking forward to spending two weeks with her family as they enjoy the holidays together. Some changes are on the horizon, however. One is joyous and fitting for the holidays, but another doesn’t fit at all. The loss of a loved-one at Christmas? How can it be, and how can she cope with tragedy at a time like this?
Her family grieves the loss with her, and God has some unique ways of turning her heart toward the silver lining. But will she have the faith to believe in the blessings He’s had in mind all along? After waiting so many years to find her true love, can a bizarre turn of events lead her straight to him, or is it all too good to be true? Will she allow the grief to be replaced with unparalleled joy or shut down her cautious heart and remain alone in her confusion and despair?
"Home For Christmas" will delight your heart, make you cry, and remind you of the faithfulness of God. Even when our circumstances are beyond our control, they are never beyond His ability to turn our hearts back to peace, joy, and the unpredictable journey of going deeper into His love.
Sorrow came to our family before Christmas arrived. My father-in-law passed away, and the weeks that followed were a unique time of enjoying the holidays and grieving the loss of a close family member. We tried to go on and celebrate Christmas the way we knew he wanted us to, and writing this story was one of the ways my soul had rest during that time. I found comfort in writing about these characters who also struggle to find a balance between joy and grief. May their story encourage you to find contentment in the difficult realities of life and ongoing hope for better days ahead.
Home For Christmas; A Christmas Story:
It’s Lindsay’s favorite time of year. Bound for her childhood home in the central mountains of Washington State, she is looking forward to spending two weeks with her family as they enjoy the holidays together. Some changes are on the horizon, however. One is joyous and fitting for the holidays, but another doesn’t fit at all. The loss of a loved-one at Christmas? How can it be, and how can she cope with tragedy at a time like this?
Her family grieves the loss with her, and God has some unique ways of turning her heart toward the silver lining. But will she have the faith to believe in the blessings He’s had in mind all along? After waiting so many years to find her true love, can a bizarre turn of events lead her straight to him, or is it all too good to be true? Will she allow the grief to be replaced with unparalleled joy or shut down her cautious heart and remain alone in her confusion and despair?
"Home For Christmas" will delight your heart, make you cry, and remind you of the faithfulness of God. Even when our circumstances are beyond our control, they are never beyond His ability to turn our hearts back to peace, joy, and the unpredictable journey of going deeper into His love.
165 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2008
23 people are currently reading
52 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 27, 2017
Lindsay's favorite time of the year, Christmas, is here. But the sudden loss of her elderly friend, Ruth, sends her into a tail spin. Lindsay is 30 years old and single and feels love has passed her by as she waits for the "right" man to come along. When a lawyer calls her to tell her she needs to appear for the reading of Ruth's will as she has been left something, Lindsay meets Steven, one of Ruth's sons who is still single. Steven is a professor of theology at a New York college and a strong Christian.
The focus of this story is singly on Lindsay and Steven's romance. Although both are supposed to be Christians, within a few hours of meeting, they are both involved in a passionate kiss. Throughout the remainder of the romance, the writer seemed obsessed with their kissing. Even when Lindsay flies to New York to spend a weekend with Steve and Steve moves in with a fellow professor (good decision), the focus still doesn't turn from the passionate kisses. Within 2 months, they are married.
There seemed to be no real development of the characters and the plot line didn't seem to have much complexity.
Really wouldn't recommend this novella even with the Christian label.
The focus of this story is singly on Lindsay and Steven's romance. Although both are supposed to be Christians, within a few hours of meeting, they are both involved in a passionate kiss. Throughout the remainder of the romance, the writer seemed obsessed with their kissing. Even when Lindsay flies to New York to spend a weekend with Steve and Steve moves in with a fellow professor (good decision), the focus still doesn't turn from the passionate kisses. Within 2 months, they are married.
There seemed to be no real development of the characters and the plot line didn't seem to have much complexity.
Really wouldn't recommend this novella even with the Christian label.
December 24, 2023
This book pulled me in right away with the friendship between Lindsay and Ruth, the way Lindsay embraced her season of singleness, and the warm and realistic family that Lindsay was a part of. What fell down for me was the very fast-paced relationship to follow, actually both hers and her sister's, after being betrayed by men before. It seems like both would be more cautious and want to know the men better before jumping into something permanent.
December 14, 2017
😕
Its been a long time since I've sped read a book, but I had to with this one. Too perfect. Too sappy. Too God-loving. Very disappointing 😖
Its been a long time since I've sped read a book, but I had to with this one. Too perfect. Too sappy. Too God-loving. Very disappointing 😖
October 29, 2013
“Home for Christmas” by Melanie Wilber is a pleasant general fiction story that will appeal to fans of “The Waltons” or “The Brady Bunch”. It’s the story about a very introverted woman who is going home for the Christmas holidays to reunite with her family. It’s a good story to read before going to bed because it’s not the type of book that will keep you turning the pages.
The story has a nice plot, interesting characters and decent values, but what makes it so tedious to read is the lack of dialogue. The first seven chapters have no conversation of any kind, except for a smattering of small talk and chit-chat. After that, the author begins to use some conversation, but not as much as she could. Dialogue is a useful element that authors can use to make a story engaging, and to solve several other problems.
Engagement is what pulls the reader into the story to make the reader feel like they are there. In the first scene, Lindsey is at a women’s luncheon with her best friend, Ruth. She spends the evening thinking about her last boyfriend, and the upcoming holiday. If she had talked about her feelings instead of just sitting there, she would seem like more of a friend than just a wallflower; the type of person who can be all alone in a crowd. If she talked about her boyfriend to Ruth, the reader would feel like they are listening to the conversation. The reader can’t feel like they’ve “met” her if all she is doing is thinking.
Dialogue also solves the problem of what to do with all the backstory. Lindsey has a divorced sister with a new boyfriend, a mother and father, nieces and nephews, and all types of people that need to be introduced. A conversation about them would be a better way to introduce the cast without doing page after page of just backstory.
Dialogue can add emotion and action to an otherwise sedate scene. In the opening scene, Lindsey is at a women’s luncheon. Not much can happen while you’re eating, but if she was talking about her old boyfriend, and how much he hurt her, Ruth could place a hand on hers, raise an eyebrow, or give her a hug.
Dialogue also offers a chance to sneak in physical descriptions in small pieces. After she says something, Lindsey can look at her manicured nails, raise a neatly plucked eyebrow, or straighten a loose strand of her silky, light brown hair. Reminding the reader of what she looks like in this way helps cement the image in the reader’s mind, and that also helps make the story engaging. It also allows for a chance to add items to a description that are often overlooked. How much makeup a woman wears can add to the woman’s character, but it’s an item that is often overlooked in a physical description paragraph. However, if Lindsey begins to cry because of what she said, the author can let her dab away the tears in a way that doesn’t smear her heavily mascaraed lashes.
Dialogue also helps with the basic rule of writing: show, don’t tell. The way the story is now, the author tells you about Lindsey and her family. The author tells you how lonely and hurt Lindsey is after her breakup with Joel. It would be better if the author showed you how lonely she is by allowing Lindsey to tell Ruth how she feels and what happened to her, wringing her hands and rolling her eyes.
Dialogue also helps import the senses into the scene. This family does a lot of cooking for the holidays. The food looks and tastes good, but none of it smells. “Gee, that smells delicious!” adds another sense.
Dialogue is also a way to make the heroine strong and courageous in the reader’s assessment of them. It takes courage to admit your mistakes. If she spends too much time just thinking about it, then the character seems to be wallowing in self-pity.
As it is, “Home for Christmas” is a nice story. If it had effective dialogue, it could be a great one.
The story has a nice plot, interesting characters and decent values, but what makes it so tedious to read is the lack of dialogue. The first seven chapters have no conversation of any kind, except for a smattering of small talk and chit-chat. After that, the author begins to use some conversation, but not as much as she could. Dialogue is a useful element that authors can use to make a story engaging, and to solve several other problems.
Engagement is what pulls the reader into the story to make the reader feel like they are there. In the first scene, Lindsey is at a women’s luncheon with her best friend, Ruth. She spends the evening thinking about her last boyfriend, and the upcoming holiday. If she had talked about her feelings instead of just sitting there, she would seem like more of a friend than just a wallflower; the type of person who can be all alone in a crowd. If she talked about her boyfriend to Ruth, the reader would feel like they are listening to the conversation. The reader can’t feel like they’ve “met” her if all she is doing is thinking.
Dialogue also solves the problem of what to do with all the backstory. Lindsey has a divorced sister with a new boyfriend, a mother and father, nieces and nephews, and all types of people that need to be introduced. A conversation about them would be a better way to introduce the cast without doing page after page of just backstory.
Dialogue can add emotion and action to an otherwise sedate scene. In the opening scene, Lindsey is at a women’s luncheon. Not much can happen while you’re eating, but if she was talking about her old boyfriend, and how much he hurt her, Ruth could place a hand on hers, raise an eyebrow, or give her a hug.
Dialogue also offers a chance to sneak in physical descriptions in small pieces. After she says something, Lindsey can look at her manicured nails, raise a neatly plucked eyebrow, or straighten a loose strand of her silky, light brown hair. Reminding the reader of what she looks like in this way helps cement the image in the reader’s mind, and that also helps make the story engaging. It also allows for a chance to add items to a description that are often overlooked. How much makeup a woman wears can add to the woman’s character, but it’s an item that is often overlooked in a physical description paragraph. However, if Lindsey begins to cry because of what she said, the author can let her dab away the tears in a way that doesn’t smear her heavily mascaraed lashes.
Dialogue also helps with the basic rule of writing: show, don’t tell. The way the story is now, the author tells you about Lindsey and her family. The author tells you how lonely and hurt Lindsey is after her breakup with Joel. It would be better if the author showed you how lonely she is by allowing Lindsey to tell Ruth how she feels and what happened to her, wringing her hands and rolling her eyes.
Dialogue also helps import the senses into the scene. This family does a lot of cooking for the holidays. The food looks and tastes good, but none of it smells. “Gee, that smells delicious!” adds another sense.
Dialogue is also a way to make the heroine strong and courageous in the reader’s assessment of them. It takes courage to admit your mistakes. If she spends too much time just thinking about it, then the character seems to be wallowing in self-pity.
As it is, “Home for Christmas” is a nice story. If it had effective dialogue, it could be a great one.
December 10, 2014
Age Appropriate For: 15 and up for romance and reading level
Best for Ages: 15 and up for romance and reading level
If you had asked me one third of the way into this book what I would rate it, I would have said five stars without any hesitation. Wilber has so much talent as a writer, and I loved Lindsey and the strong faith that she has. Her struggles were very much like mine and the girls I know face. Getting older and still single and wondering if the right guy will show up.
Sadly, the last two thirds of the book did not live up to the first one. Although Lindsey still loves her family, and appears to have a strong faith, her romance left a lot to be desired. She didn’t seem like the kind of girl who would kiss a guy on the second meeting (not date even). It was disappointing to me.
Another thing that got really annoying was how the author kept saying things like: “He desired her, but not in a bad way.” Or “It was a long, deep kiss, but not a sensual one.” If you have to tell your reader that, over and over again, so they don’t get the wrong idea, then you are not conveying the right tone in your writing.
I will leave this book at three stars, because I did like Lindsey, and I liked the first third of the book, but the last two thirds were more like a two star for me.
Best for Ages: 15 and up for romance and reading level
If you had asked me one third of the way into this book what I would rate it, I would have said five stars without any hesitation. Wilber has so much talent as a writer, and I loved Lindsey and the strong faith that she has. Her struggles were very much like mine and the girls I know face. Getting older and still single and wondering if the right guy will show up.
Sadly, the last two thirds of the book did not live up to the first one. Although Lindsey still loves her family, and appears to have a strong faith, her romance left a lot to be desired. She didn’t seem like the kind of girl who would kiss a guy on the second meeting (not date even). It was disappointing to me.
Another thing that got really annoying was how the author kept saying things like: “He desired her, but not in a bad way.” Or “It was a long, deep kiss, but not a sensual one.” If you have to tell your reader that, over and over again, so they don’t get the wrong idea, then you are not conveying the right tone in your writing.
I will leave this book at three stars, because I did like Lindsey, and I liked the first third of the book, but the last two thirds were more like a two star for me.
January 11, 2016
A nice story of facing grief at Christmas as well as a sweet romance. The romance was a little rushed, but the fact that the couple knew a lot about each other before they met made it more believable.
November 30, 2016
I almost didn't continue reading this after the first few chapters, but I'm glad I did. It was a nice read but I do like Christmas themed books to be more Christmassy than this one was. It didn't get me in the festive spirit.
November 19, 2014
Good
the story is about a family who live there lives and belived in the Lord's way of life.there believes helped to find happiness
the story is about a family who live there lives and belived in the Lord's way of life.there believes helped to find happiness
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews