Unpacking Christmas

 

Johanna, Jillian, and Payton’s excitement about the Christmas holidays is upset when their parents announce they’re selling their long-time family home. Soon the sisters find themselves facing a variety of unexpected changes, including a serious health scare for their dad. Instead of putting up holiday lights and decorating the family Christmas tree, the Thatcher sisters are helping pack up their childhood home. Along the way, they share treasured memories as they try to hold onto valued traditions, discovering the struggles they’ve endured pale in comparison to the love they share with each other.

 My thoughts: I enjoyed reading the series about the Thatcher sisters and seeing each of them grow and change through the course of the series as they tackled hard things and mended their relationships with one another. It was sad to read the final story, so I was thrilled to see this novella come out! I highly recommend reading the series to get the back story before picking this book up. I liked that this novella wraps up some of the lingering questions I had after finishing the third book, giving readers a chance to see how the three sisters (and their families) are doing. This is a wonderful series and book to pick up and enjoy!

I received this book from Celebrate Lit. This is my honest review.

Click here to get your copy! This post contains affiliate links.

 

About the Author

Beth K. Vogt believes God’s best often waits behind the doors marked “Never.” Having authored ten contemporary romance novels and novellas, The Best We’ve Been, the final book in Beth’s Thatcher Sisters Series with Tyndale House Publishers, released May 2020. Other books in the women’s fiction series include Things I Never Told You, which won the 2019 AWSA Award for Contemporary Novel of the Year, and Moments We Forget. Beth is a 2016 Christy Award winner, a 2016 ACFW Carol Award winner, and a 2015 RITA® finalist. An established magazine writer and former editor of the leadership magazine for MOPS International, Beth blogs for Learn How to Write a Novel and The Write Conversation and also enjoys speaking to writers group and mentoring other writers. Visit Beth at bethvogt.com.

 

More from Beth

What’s going on with the Thatcher sisters?

 

Readers have asked me this question so often since The Best We’ve Been, the third and what I considered final book in the Thatcher Sisters Series, which released in May 2020. In the series, Payton, Jillian, and Johanna each had their moment center stage. Some readers told me they’d come to understand and, yes, even like older sister Johanna. Quite a feat, considering how she annoyed readers in book one, Things I Never Told You.

 

I ended the series with the trio of sisters in a good place – the best they’d ever been.        The circumstances of their lives weren’t all tied off in nice, neat bows, but then real life isn’t like that, is it? And as the author, I was content to leave the sisters there and let readers imagine what happened next.

 

And then 2020 disrupted life for all of us. For me? Writing didn’t happen. I promised myself I would dive back into story in 2021. What better way than with a Christmas novella? So many readers love Christmas stories. And what better time to revisit Payton, Jillian, and Johanna and answer readers’ question: What’s going on with the Thatcher sisters?

 

I wasn’t sure myself. Part of the fun of writing is rediscovering well-known characters as you discover a new story. Set against the backdrop of Christmas? That was just an added blessing.

 

It’s been Christmas time for me throughout 2021 – a time to enjoy family traditions and face some unexpected changes. Welcome back to the Thatcher family!

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, November 8

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, November 9

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, November 9

Texas Book-aholic, November 10

Livin’ Lit, November 10

A Modern Day Fairy Tale, November 11

Splashes of Joy, November 11

Inklings and notions, November 12

lakesidelivingsite, November 13

Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, November 14

Simple Harvest Reads, November 14 (Guest Review from Mindy Houng)

Where Faith and Books Meet, November 15

Genesis 5020, November 15

For Him and My Family, November 16

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, November 16

Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, November 17

SusanLovesBooks, November 17

deb’s Book Review, November 18

Spoken from the Heart, November 18

Locks, Hooks and Books, November 19

Christian Chick’s Thoughts, November 19

Musings of a Sassy Bookish Mama, November 20

Through the fire blogs, November 20

She Lives To Read, November 21

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Beth is giving away the grand prize package of a $50 Amazon gift card, a copy of Unpacking Christmas: A Thatcher Sisters Christmas Novella, and a set of the Thatcher Sisters Series!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/12f8b/unpacking-christmas-celebration-tour-giveaway