Jillian Hart grew up on her family's homestead in Washington state, where she raised cattle, rode horses and scribbled stories in her spare time. After earning her English degree from Whitman College, she worked in travel and advertising before selling her first novel. When Jillian isn't working on her next story, she can be found puttering around her rose garden, curled up with a good book and spending quiet evenings at home with her family.
My wife introduced me to this series several years ago. I had read family-series romances before (where each book follows the romantic adventures of one sibling of a family), but this series really impressed me. I ended up reading the first four in one sitting (I think I was recovering from surgery) and then had to special order the fifth on-line. It was worth it. The underlying plot that spans all five books is very powerful and inspiring. This was a work of genius on the part of Jillian Hart.
This book is so filled with emotion. I think Ryan Sanders is one of my favorite male characters in fiction. Jillian Hart has a deft hand at writing male characters. The McKaslin clan series is a wonderful family saga.
I think this one was the most heart wrenching out of the McKaslin series so far. It was neat how the whole family was included in the book and we got to see all the babies and such.
Kristin McKaslin lives in Seattle but goes home on the holidays to visit with her family. The only problem is this time her plane has to land in Boise due to a snowstorm and Thanksgiving is tomorrow. All the rentals are gone & there are no rooms available. Ryan Sanders who she went to high school with was on the same plane is lucky enough to find a rental SUV. He offers Kristin a ride which begins a holiday relationship.
Two families, same neighborhood, one with four girls, one with a boy and girl, friends and about to lose their world as they have known it. Through terrible accidents one daughter was lost and the father of the other family was lost. As the years passed this books tells his each family handles their losses, how some grew in love and how some almost lost it all. Read and travel through the years with these two families.
this book is incredibly depessing. One family lost a daughter the other a father.... years ago but the entire book revolves around the fact that they for the most part are unable to move on. both families in serious need of counseling. Cant recommend this one
It was good, considering we knew nothing about Kristin before now. It was a good way to wrap up this part of the series :) I was not expecting it to be short visits over an extended period, it was different :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Holiday Homecoming is the last book in the original McKaslin series, which followed the 5 McKaslin sisters to their 'happily ever afters'. This was Kristin's story. I felt like I knew Kristin the least of all the sisters when I started this story. She's mentioned in the other 4 books, but I don't really remember her being a character in any of the scenes themselves, so it was nice to get to know her through this book. Kristin is afraid to trust in love, not only because she has not completely healed after her sister Allison's death, but because she sees how Allison's death has driven a wedge between her parents. An old hometown acquaintance, Ryan Sanders, starts to change all that when he gives her a ride back to Montana after they are both stranded in Idaho due to a blizzard. I really liked how Kristin and Ryan's love grew from a friendship, rather than being 'love at first sight'. I also enjoyed seeing glimpses of how Mr. and Mrs. McKaslin are finally able to pull their marriage from the brink of divorce to something that is lovely again.
I heard some one say recently that grief is the price of love. This book is mostly about loss and how we deal with it. Pulling away from love, does not lessen grief. In fact it creates a new type of grief and loss. Anyway, it was cute. Not exactly lighthearted. It is a Love Inspired/Steeple Hill/Harlequin romance though, so 3 stars.
Two main characters dealing with the death of loved ones, but they don't really deal with some of the issues that they may have with each other before they end up together. I liked that the characters were honest with each other.
I liked the characters and feeling of loving Christian homes but got bogged down in the every page self pity and inability to adjust to the loss of a loved one. Overdone for my taste, but I appreciate what she was trying to achieve.
I feel like this book should have been longer. There was something missing in the wrap up of the feelings and controversy in the end. Maybe it's just me. It was good but just missing that final bit.