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Home to Dover #8
A Mom for Christmas
A Christmas Reunion
Noah Carlisle is surprised to see first love Beth Montgomery back in Dover. Beth left their small Mississippi town—and him—years ago for a ballet career. Now the only female in Noah's life is his daughter, and he won't risk their future for a temporary reunion with Beth. Home to rehab her knee, Beth counts the days to resume her career—until she sees her long-ago beau. Celebrating Christmas with the handsome man and his adorable child, Beth wonders if the dreams worth chasing were always right in her own backyard. Can she stay and be Noah's second chance and his daughter's Christmas wish—a gift-wrapped mom under the tree?
Noah Carlisle is surprised to see first love Beth Montgomery back in Dover. Beth left their small Mississippi town—and him—years ago for a ballet career. Now the only female in Noah's life is his daughter, and he won't risk their future for a temporary reunion with Beth. Home to rehab her knee, Beth counts the days to resume her career—until she sees her long-ago beau. Celebrating Christmas with the handsome man and his adorable child, Beth wonders if the dreams worth chasing were always right in her own backyard. Can she stay and be Noah's second chance and his daughter's Christmas wish—a gift-wrapped mom under the tree?
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published October 18, 2016
7 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
About the author
Lorraine Beatty
45 books32 followersLorraine Beatty was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, but now calls Mississippi home. She and husband Joe have two sons and six grandchildren. Lorraine started writing in Junior High and has written for trade books, newspapers and company newsletters. She is a member of RWA, ACFW and is a charter member and past president of Magnolia State Romance Writers. In her spare time she likes to work in her garden, travel, and spend time with her family.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 20, 2017
From its description, A Mom For Christmas sounded like exactly my type of read. A Love Inspired Christmas story about a second chance romance, an adorable nine year old girl, a festive small town, and ballet. This was one of the books I was most excited to receive for Christmas last year, and I couldn't wait to dive into it this past weekend, and see if it lived up to my expectations. While I did still enjoy it overall, unfortunately it wasn't quite as amazing as I had expected, and that's mainly due to the problematic male main character.
Beth and Noah were best friends as children, and this continued until their high school graduation. She offered him her heart on the night of their high school graduation, and he rejected her. Similariy, she was the best friend he'd ever had, and yet she left for her fancy career with a New York city ballet company without even telling him goodbye. Both moved on with their lives; her with her career, and him with his wedding, the birth of his daughter, and his subsequent divorce. Due to circumstances outside of their control, they both soon find themselves back in their hometown of Dover, Mississippi, and are reluctant to admit that the old feelings are still simmering below the surface. Noah's adorable nine year old daughter Chloe takes an instant liking to Beth, and her talented dance career, however Noah is hesitant to allow the two of them to spend any time together, as he's yet to forget the fact that Beth's devotion to her career surpasses anything she may feel for friends or family. However, this holiday season the two of them will discover that God's plan unfolds in mysterious ways, and He knows us better than we could ever truly know ourselves.
Lorraine Beatty has woven a beautiful story about redemption, misunderstandings, and discovering what's truly important in life and love. Beth was exactly the kind of heroine I was hoping for, and the way she goes above and beyond to help those around her while using her God given talent of ballet was refreshing and enticing to read, and definitely warmed my heart. I also loved Noah's daughter Chloe, and the way she continues to want to see the best in everyone, even her career obsessed mother who continuously lets her down. The many numerous secondary characters like Noah's Gran, Beth's mom, and Jen, the director of the local Christmas pageant all added an extra element to the story, and I enjoyed all of their moments.
However, my enjoyment of this beautiful story was hankered by the attitude of Noah himself. He's very set in his ways, and refuses to see the other side of the story. Inside he's locked his heart away from anyone other than his daughter and grandmother, and refuses to have any association with the arts after Beth left him for ballet, and his wife left him for a career in television. His beliefs have carried over to the way he raises his daughter, and it takes him way too long to see reason. He's a martyr from page one in the story, and consistently talks Beth down, breaking her heart in the process. The reader sees the amazing change that takes place in Beth's heart throughout the course of the story, and yet Noah continues to think the worst of her right up until its almost too late to come back from it. I'm sorry to say that this was one romance I couldn't bring myself to root for, as I couldn't get over the horrible way that Noah treats Beth continuously over and over again. I still really enjoyed this holiday story overall, and I liked many elements of it and would recommend it, but I only gave it a three star rating, instead of the four star rating it probably would have been if I hadn't had the issues I did with Noah's character.
Beth and Noah were best friends as children, and this continued until their high school graduation. She offered him her heart on the night of their high school graduation, and he rejected her. Similariy, she was the best friend he'd ever had, and yet she left for her fancy career with a New York city ballet company without even telling him goodbye. Both moved on with their lives; her with her career, and him with his wedding, the birth of his daughter, and his subsequent divorce. Due to circumstances outside of their control, they both soon find themselves back in their hometown of Dover, Mississippi, and are reluctant to admit that the old feelings are still simmering below the surface. Noah's adorable nine year old daughter Chloe takes an instant liking to Beth, and her talented dance career, however Noah is hesitant to allow the two of them to spend any time together, as he's yet to forget the fact that Beth's devotion to her career surpasses anything she may feel for friends or family. However, this holiday season the two of them will discover that God's plan unfolds in mysterious ways, and He knows us better than we could ever truly know ourselves.
Lorraine Beatty has woven a beautiful story about redemption, misunderstandings, and discovering what's truly important in life and love. Beth was exactly the kind of heroine I was hoping for, and the way she goes above and beyond to help those around her while using her God given talent of ballet was refreshing and enticing to read, and definitely warmed my heart. I also loved Noah's daughter Chloe, and the way she continues to want to see the best in everyone, even her career obsessed mother who continuously lets her down. The many numerous secondary characters like Noah's Gran, Beth's mom, and Jen, the director of the local Christmas pageant all added an extra element to the story, and I enjoyed all of their moments.
However, my enjoyment of this beautiful story was hankered by the attitude of Noah himself. He's very set in his ways, and refuses to see the other side of the story. Inside he's locked his heart away from anyone other than his daughter and grandmother, and refuses to have any association with the arts after Beth left him for ballet, and his wife left him for a career in television. His beliefs have carried over to the way he raises his daughter, and it takes him way too long to see reason. He's a martyr from page one in the story, and consistently talks Beth down, breaking her heart in the process. The reader sees the amazing change that takes place in Beth's heart throughout the course of the story, and yet Noah continues to think the worst of her right up until its almost too late to come back from it. I'm sorry to say that this was one romance I couldn't bring myself to root for, as I couldn't get over the horrible way that Noah treats Beth continuously over and over again. I still really enjoyed this holiday story overall, and I liked many elements of it and would recommend it, but I only gave it a three star rating, instead of the four star rating it probably would have been if I hadn't had the issues I did with Noah's character.
August 27, 2022
I might actually give this 3.5 stars (rating shown may differ depending on whether site allows half star ratings). A friend (MH) sent me this book in a box of books. I haven't read books in this series before--in fact, I was a bit confused as to whether the town name was DoOver or Dover because it wasn't explained in this book until a bit later in the narrative.
The main female character (Beth) was a prima ballerina who dedicated herself to her career to the exclusion of most else. The main male character (Noah) is a divorced structural engineer who has a daughter.
Another confusing part (to me) was that Beth claims she told Noah she loved him and he rejected her.
Yet, Noah claims he loved Beth but she didn't love him. (The reason for this is revealed later in the book--but it did leave me wondering if I'd misinterpreted something until that point.)
Honestly, in real life, I'd probably tell these two to get counseling (from a pastor or a marriage counselor) to improve their communication skills. For two people who claim to have been so "connected" when they were younger, they don't always communicate well with each other--I think they both jump to a lot of conclusions and assume they know what the other was thinking when there's a different reason behind what happened.
The extra half-star (rare for me to give a Love Inspired more than 3 stars) is from:
*the engaging characters
*understanding the difficulty Beth has with wondering who she is if she's not dancing on stage with the dance company she was part of for so many years. It's not easy to have had your dream and then lose it. It's also normal to wonder what comes next. (Considering we read that Beth had a hand in developing the ballet that she was rehearsing when she hurt herself, I wondered why professional choreographer didn't occur to her sooner, but . . .)
*the lesson that both Beth and Noah relearn about putting God first and relying on Him instead of themselves.
*the life lesson that all humans will at some point let us down (hopefully not as often as Chloe's mother does though).
The main female character (Beth) was a prima ballerina who dedicated herself to her career to the exclusion of most else. The main male character (Noah) is a divorced structural engineer who has a daughter.
Another confusing part (to me) was that Beth claims she told Noah she loved him and he rejected her.
Yet, Noah claims he loved Beth but she didn't love him. (The reason for this is revealed later in the book--but it did leave me wondering if I'd misinterpreted something until that point.)
Honestly, in real life, I'd probably tell these two to get counseling (from a pastor or a marriage counselor) to improve their communication skills. For two people who claim to have been so "connected" when they were younger, they don't always communicate well with each other--I think they both jump to a lot of conclusions and assume they know what the other was thinking when there's a different reason behind what happened.
The extra half-star (rare for me to give a Love Inspired more than 3 stars) is from:
*the engaging characters
*understanding the difficulty Beth has with wondering who she is if she's not dancing on stage with the dance company she was part of for so many years. It's not easy to have had your dream and then lose it. It's also normal to wonder what comes next. (Considering we read that Beth had a hand in developing the ballet that she was rehearsing when she hurt herself, I wondered why professional choreographer didn't occur to her sooner, but . . .)
*the lesson that both Beth and Noah relearn about putting God first and relying on Him instead of themselves.
*the life lesson that all humans will at some point let us down (hopefully not as often as Chloe's mother does though).
April 10, 2019
I won this book in a giveaway and was asked to give a review. This is the first book I have read by this author, and I greatly enjoyed it. Beth Montgomery was passionate about ballet, and, in her desire to make a successful career as a ballet dancer, she neglected her family and friends. Following an injury, she was forced to return to her small hometown and give up her dream. Little did she realize that God had new dreams for her. There is a quote that says, “When God closes one door, He always opens another.” It isn’t always easy to hand our dreams to God and allow Him to replace our dreams with His, but His are always better. I look forward to reading more books by this author.
December 18, 2025
This book was perfectly fine. A woman gets injured and has to quit dancing professionally. She goes back home and theres a guy sharing her mom's real state office. He used to be her best friend and now he's a single dad with some resentment against our main character. She starts giving the girl dance lessons to rehab her own injury and the 2 get closer and then become a family. Yay, yay, yay. I didn't feel much for this couple and will probably not remember this more than a week.
August 25, 2022
Sweet little read. An injured ballerina doesn't want to face up to the fact that she'll probably never dance profesionally again. A single dad wants to protect his heart and his daughter. No sex scenes. I liked it!
February 2, 2019
This is a safe, good escape novel listed as Christian fiction. It is a story of misunderstandings, insecurities, and second chances. It is a fast read with a happy ending.
July 3, 2021
Good story about equally stubborn people.
November 24, 2022
I liked the book, but it seemed to drag a bit. Not sure what it was that dragged, maybe her insistence that she would dance again or his wishy washy attitude. Short read.
January 25, 2024
I actually had Osgood schlatter disease growing up, so neat that it's incorporated in this book!! Been throughly enjoying this series!!
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November 2, 2016Miniseries: Home to Dover
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November 2, 2016Miniseries: Home to Dover
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews