Home for Christmas

by Colleen Coble, Carol Cox, Terry Fowler

Faith and love lead to a Christmas reunion of four siblings who were raised separately.

Genres: Christmas, Christian Fiction, Romance, Fiction, Contemporary, Christian

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

USAToday bestselling author Colleen Coble lives with her husband, Dave, in Arizona. She is the author of dozens of novels including the Rock Harbor Series, the Aloha Reef Series, the Mercy Falls Series, the Hope Beach Series, the Lonestar Series and two Women of Faith fiction selections, Alaska Twilight and Midnight Sea. She has more than 6 million books in print.

Reviews

[Loraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

SUMMARY: Faith and love lead to a Christmas reunion of four siblings who were raised separately.

REVIEW: I enjoyed these four novellas that are tied together through four young siblings who were split up when their mother and father both died. Each of the siblings is affected in some way by what happened at an early age. They are all now young adults and as they fall in love each of their partners helps them to find their siblings. The four authors did a great job of connecting the stories and showing the problems each sibling encountered due to being separated from their siblings at such a young age. The various ways that the partners used to find clues to reconnect them was well done. I was glad the authors waited til the end of the fourth sibling to finally reconnect them.

FAVORITE QUOTES: "Adults do terrible things sometimes....We don't know why God allows children to be hurt by their actions. It's one of the things I struggle with most. But I know this one thing. Though we suffer sometimes, God can use it to make us stronger."

"Remember, the three biggest time thieves you'll deal with are disorganization, indecision, and procrastination."

"Without God, life leaves little to cling to."

"Life plays tricks on us sometimes, I suppose, but I like to think there's a reason and a season for everything, like God tells us."

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Not brilliant writing, but sweet, cozy stories about faith, family, and love. A great deal of the family's past was sad, but I loved seeing each story build on the other. I think my favorites were Edn's and Tim's stories!

[Victoria Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book!! It was very wholesome and sweet. I will read it again.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains the stories of four siblings who were separated after the death of their parents. There are four different stories, each written by a different author. At the end, the four stories come together with an unexpected reunion.
This was a nice read, especially for the holiday season. Each of the authors did a nice job developing the sibling they wrote about. God was central to each of the characters and it was a true story of forgiveness and love. I would recommend it to adults.

[Michelle Polk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Novella. I love the way this book weaves the story. It was fun reading it. I couldn't wait until the end so I could find out how they were going to tie everyone together.

The story of a broken family torn apart by poverty, but then, brought back together by Love.

[Lynette Alshanski · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful anthology of adult siblings who finally find each other after being separated as young children. We get each of their stories of Christian faith and learning to finally surrendering all to God. A beautiful book of God's love.

[Janie R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, to me was more of an inspirational read,than a Christmas story. It had a lot of religious themes to it, etc. Overall, a heartwarming story.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved how there was one thing that ran through all four stories only to be revealed at the end of the 4th.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very sweet series of stories about sisters and their brother finding each other. Not a whole lot about Christmas

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this collection of four novellas. Each novella focuses on one of four siblings who were separated as children. We see them as adults who each have their own issues they are working through, plus see relationships that are developing in their lives. Each sibling is at a different place in their spiritual lives and faith plays an important role for all of them. The first story focuses on Eden, and she is the one who starts the process of trying to find her long lost siblings: Crista, Angelina, and Tim. Each story is written by a different author, but the stories are interwoven perfectly. It's not a secret that the siblings will reunite, seeing as it is right on the cover "Love Reunites four orphaned siblings in interwoven novellas." The joy of the story is reading each novella, getting to know each sibling and learn their story, and discover HOW they are finally reunited. The only thing I wish (and this could be a spoiler) is that more time was spent on the actual reunion and we could have seen more of their lives after they discovered each other.
I found this book while looking at books written by Colleen Coble in my library. I had never heard of this book before and I am so glad I found it. And while it is titled "Home for Christmas," the majority of the book does not take place at Christmas time, as we are seeing the siblings' lives leading up to the special Christmas.
Definitely a book I recommend.

[Jennie Louwes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. A well deserved 4 stars. 4 different author's, 4 separate but intermingled stories. I'm partial to the first story in the book; however, each one had its own kind of refreshing innocence: Relationships that reflected love and chastity at its finest. Love stories that are nothing but good and leave out the "TMI" (too much information) and details that over share. The ending was satisfying and the knowledge of what truly happened brought tears to my eyes and gave me all the feels; tragic but heartwarming. A beautiful book. When love is done right it's good.

[Pianosue · Rating 3 out of 5]

A 4-in-1 book of novellas. A good light read. The stories about siblings who were separated as children and placed out for adoption or stayed in foster homes. Each story focuses on one sibling and their life. Will Eden be able to find her younger siblings? Where are they now? Do they even remember her or each other?

[Margaret Chind]

[Diana OBando · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I wasn't so sure I'd like this book but I loved that it was 4 different authors writing about separate characters all in books that tie them together in this scenario. It's A great Holiday book about hope, family, faith, and finding love.

[Rosemary Evers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent story, great points brought out by each character about God's love a great reunion, good love stories without a whole lot of mushy or inappropriate romance/behavior. So appreciate this book and it was a great pleasure to read!

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Found this book in a used book sale. Simple easy reading for Christmas season. Nothing special. Story is cute but too perfect, not believable, and a little too heavy on pushing Christianity. Fine for me as an established Christian but would not recommend this to someone growing their faith.

[Terry Yaceyko · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lovely read. 4 children separated and put in foster care found each other later in life.
The first story was a little lax with the plot.

[Michelle Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one really tugged at my heart!!! Very much a good book!!

[Dorothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Four siblings were separated at a young age due to their mothers death. This is four novellas about each of the siblings and how they found one another.

[Maxine Pruitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very heartwarming

[WeeBee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Festive but tooooooo religious for my liking. Some religion is fine but this was holy-roller religious.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Predictable, but interesting.

[Deborah · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 1/2 for gratuitous religion.

[Carol Willis · Rating 4 out of 5]

1

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great Holiday read. Although I enjoyed all 4 stories, my most favorite is story 2 and then 4.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

the story and how they all found each other was endearing, but each story felt rushed, especially the last one with the brother.

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

All these stories tie-in to one another. Several of the characters were adopted at a very young age. Their love of balloons is a common characteristic between the adopted children - now adults.

In Heart Full of Love by Colleen Coble,

Josh has come to claim Katie, his niece as his own but when he arrives at her foster home, he learns that she's been legally adopted and Eden her "new" mother is not about to give her up. Josh continually visits the foster home while Eden fosters Norman Rockwell-type images of him as part of the family.

I don't care for romance novels and this one is rife with it, parts of it are almost sickly so. - 2 stars

In Ride The Clouds by Carol Cox, Brad inherits a business from an uncle and meets Crista at a class on organization she was teaching. They both want to pursue a relationship but some things get in the way. She knows she was adopted and he searches for information regarding that.

This 2nd novella is better written and the romance more tolerable than in Heart Full of Love.. The conversion in this one is expected. - 3 stars

In Don't Look Back by Terry Fowler, Angelina's husband died of cancer as did Melody's mother. Melody lives with Angelina and takes care of her two young children while Angelina works as a pharmacist. Melody's father Wes has a store next store to Angelina's pharmacy where he sells stained glass. - 3 stars

To Keep Me Warm by Gail Gaymer Martin is about Tim and Julie. She's a nurse; he's a factory worker. He doesn't think he's in her league since she must be making more money than he. He's widowed with a young son; she never married. She's so sweet and lovable because all prospective loves in romances are. - 2 stars

You pretty much can tell in all these stories from the get-go who will end up with whom and yada yada. All four novellas are bearable.

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Home For Christmas Is four different authors.
1. Heart Full Of Love by Colleen Coble
2. Ride The clouds by Carol Cox
3. Don't Look back by Terry Fowler
4. to Keep Me Warm by Gail Gaymer Martin
The stories are about three sisters and a brother. Mother died and dad goes out looking for a job but never comes back. They are placed with a minister. Then the Aunt takes the boy. the three girls are put in foster care and later adopted. They ended up moving out of town. The oldest a girl ends up tracking them all down. They ended up finding each other. A very romantic and caring story. A good read.

[Dolores Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most wonderful books I have read over and over again. Four siblings separated at young ages due to parental death are reunited after 24 years. Eden the oldest is the one that sets it all in motion. A search I am kin to. Recently within the past two years I was able to finally locate my father's birth family and he and his sister were able to reunite after being separated for more than 70 years. Unfortunately their brother had passed on back in 2007; however, his sister and brother were adopted by the same family so she has enlightened him and me about him. A true rejoicing for all of us finding family and questions answered all were results of genetics. Thanks to www.cousinconnect.com for my many decades of searching. Not unlike Eden and her siblings search to reunite in this wonderful book of novelettes that reunited her family. This book is truly worth reading over and over again!

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bleh. It’s kind of Christmasy. It’s four short stories. Each story written by a different author. Each is a romance story. Each is very Christian-y.
So if you’re not a Christian you will do a fair bit of eye rolling.
The writing itself is barely okay. I have zero desire to read anything further from any any of the writers.
The stories are interconnected by a story of four siblings separated when they were young and then finding each other by the end of the final story.
The only people I would recommend this to is Christians or people who really want to get married. Otherwise you should avoid at all costs.