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Kentucky Corners #4
Bluegrass Christmas
An Old-Fashioned Christmas
That's what led new believer Mary Thorpe to start over in quaint Middleburg, Kentucky. As director of the church's Christmas pageant, Mary's job is to bring the townspeople together, to remind them what the season is really about. But everyone is all riled up over one very handsome man: the man daring to run against Middleburg's popular long-standing mayor. Mac MacCarthy wants change. Mary wants things to stay as they are. Is there a happy medium? Both Mac and Mary are in for one very big Christmas surprise.
That's what led new believer Mary Thorpe to start over in quaint Middleburg, Kentucky. As director of the church's Christmas pageant, Mary's job is to bring the townspeople together, to remind them what the season is really about. But everyone is all riled up over one very handsome man: the man daring to run against Middleburg's popular long-standing mayor. Mac MacCarthy wants change. Mary wants things to stay as they are. Is there a happy medium? Both Mac and Mary are in for one very big Christmas surprise.
220 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 1, 2009
21 people are currently reading
124 people want to read
About the author
Allie Pleiter
115 books619 followersAn avid knitter, coffee junkie and firm believer that “pie makes everything better,” Allie Pleiter writes both fiction and non-fiction working on as many as four novels at a time. The bestselling author of over fifty books, Allie has enjoyed a twenty-year career with over 1.5 million books sold. In addition to writing, Allie maintains an active writing productivity coaching practice and speaks regularly on the creative process, publishing, and her very favorite topic—The Chunky Method of time management for writers. Visit her website at www.alliepleiter.com to learn more.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 15, 2024
Good story, great characters.
December 3, 2016
An Old-Fashioned Christmas - That's what led new believer Mary Thorpe to start over in quaint Middleburg, Kentucky. As director of the church's Christmas pageant, Mary's job is to bring the townspeople together, to remind them what the season is really about. But everyone is all riled up over one very handsome man: the man daring to run against Middleburg's popular long-standing mayor. Mac MacCarthy wants change. Mary wants things to stay as they are. Is there a happy medium? Both Mac and Mary are in for one very big Christmas surprise.
I usually find the Love Inspired novels to be quick, easy, enjoyable reads with a "lite" faith thread. Pleiter's novel definitely was a surprise with a deep faith thread that wove its way throughout the story and a storyline that focused on a church drama of the nativity. Mary Thorpe is the musical director who has just come to small town Middlesburg. She brings a past filled with commercial greed as an advertising agent, but she is trying hard to live out her new found faith.. Mac MacCarthy, who has a more mature faith, is running against a mayor who has been unopposed for decades; but Mac also has past secrets that he is shamed by. As Joseph in the play, sparks fly between Mary and Mac yet they are both concerned with the secrets they're hiding. Mary is sweet and focused on living out the small town dream which she has created in her mind. Mac is hard driving with problems caused by speaking without thinking and losing his temper. When the secrets come out and townspeople take sides, the town must learn to focus on the reason for the season that led to forgiveness, second chances, and hope.
I will definitely be looking for more books in Pleiter's Kentucky Corner Series.
FAVORITE QUOTES: (Many good ones - here are a few)
"Faith rarely makes sense to folks who don't have it. If you haven't figured that out yet, you will. God asks us to do things that don't follow logic."
"But sometimes, God shows you something you don't want to see and somehow you know down deep what it is you need to do. It's the whole point of faith."
"Maybe God's getting through to you that it was His job to pull it off all along. We're stubborn folk this side of heaven. Sometimes I find God has to rip the control out of our hands to make us recognize that we never had control in the first place."
"I think the best thing is to ask yourself if what you're doing honors God, and honors what you believe God's will for you is at the time. And you have to be ready for His answers. God likes to shake up our idea of what's a good idea."
I usually find the Love Inspired novels to be quick, easy, enjoyable reads with a "lite" faith thread. Pleiter's novel definitely was a surprise with a deep faith thread that wove its way throughout the story and a storyline that focused on a church drama of the nativity. Mary Thorpe is the musical director who has just come to small town Middlesburg. She brings a past filled with commercial greed as an advertising agent, but she is trying hard to live out her new found faith.. Mac MacCarthy, who has a more mature faith, is running against a mayor who has been unopposed for decades; but Mac also has past secrets that he is shamed by. As Joseph in the play, sparks fly between Mary and Mac yet they are both concerned with the secrets they're hiding. Mary is sweet and focused on living out the small town dream which she has created in her mind. Mac is hard driving with problems caused by speaking without thinking and losing his temper. When the secrets come out and townspeople take sides, the town must learn to focus on the reason for the season that led to forgiveness, second chances, and hope.
I will definitely be looking for more books in Pleiter's Kentucky Corner Series.
FAVORITE QUOTES: (Many good ones - here are a few)
"Faith rarely makes sense to folks who don't have it. If you haven't figured that out yet, you will. God asks us to do things that don't follow logic."
"But sometimes, God shows you something you don't want to see and somehow you know down deep what it is you need to do. It's the whole point of faith."
"Maybe God's getting through to you that it was His job to pull it off all along. We're stubborn folk this side of heaven. Sometimes I find God has to rip the control out of our hands to make us recognize that we never had control in the first place."
"I think the best thing is to ask yourself if what you're doing honors God, and honors what you believe God's will for you is at the time. And you have to be ready for His answers. God likes to shake up our idea of what's a good idea."
May 25, 2010
Allie does it again with another incredible story from her Bluegrass series.
Such real life lessons in these heart warming romances.
How quick Christians forget about the planks in their own eyes when looking at someone else's faults.
And the importance of friends to stand by you in the hard times.
Such real life lessons in these heart warming romances.
How quick Christians forget about the planks in their own eyes when looking at someone else's faults.
And the importance of friends to stand by you in the hard times.
May 14, 2024
Mary Thorpe left her job as a "jingle" writer for an ad agency to become a director for a Christmas pageant in Middleberg, KY. She soon meets Mac MacCarthy and his cockatiel Curly working in his office below her apartment. They clash on lots of issues but soon learn compromise and hope as they are drawn to each other.
January 31, 2024
Love it the story and Christmas spirit always finds a way to follow your heart and find Mr.Perfect
January 2, 2026
Cozy story that reads like a light Hallmark movie sort of story. Plenty of small-town drama on tap as well!
March 22, 2016
Allie Pleiter has become one of my favorite Christian writers, and this book is a great example of why. It tells the story of Mary, a new Christian with something in her past that she's not proud of, and her attempts to help a small town in Kentucky heal some civic wounds by putting on a Christmas pageant.
One of the reasons I like Pleiter is that she manages to tell the truth about life and God and give you an HEA without making it look like God is a cosmic Santa Claus and the Christian life is one of unending fun. Yet she's never depressing, either. There are a couple of lines in here that resonated so strongly with me I may never forget them. I haven't read the first books in this series, but I intend to.
One of the reasons I like Pleiter is that she manages to tell the truth about life and God and give you an HEA without making it look like God is a cosmic Santa Claus and the Christian life is one of unending fun. Yet she's never depressing, either. There are a couple of lines in here that resonated so strongly with me I may never forget them. I haven't read the first books in this series, but I intend to.
November 28, 2013
An old fashioned christmas! That's what Mary Thorpe wanted when she started over in Middleburg,Kentucky. As director of the church's Christmas pageant, Mary's job is to bring the townspeople together, to remind them what the season is really about. But everyone is all riled up over one very handsome man Mac MacCarthy, who is daring to run against Middleburg's popular long-standing mayor. Mac wants change. Mary wants things to stay as they are. Is there a happy medium? Both Mac and Mary are in for one very big Christmas surprise.
The characters are staight out of small town USA. You can almost hear their Kentucky drawl. Very nice
Christmas story. 5 stars.
The characters are staight out of small town USA. You can almost hear their Kentucky drawl. Very nice
Christmas story. 5 stars.
March 3, 2014
I don't think I've laughed as much reading one of the "Kentucky Corners" books as I did with this one . . . I know most of the 'townspeople' well enough by now to know appropriate jokes when I read them. That said, this book was far from predictable. I liked how the author took us to the point of a town-feud heating up on the 23rd of December, and making us wonder if Christmas (and town unity) could ever be saved!
(3.5 stars)
(3.5 stars)
July 31, 2015
Bluegrass Christmas by Allie Pleiter
Christmas, faith, honesty and the season's commercialism are large parts of this Love Inspired romance from Harlequin. A Large amount of faith based passages, comments and opinions included.
Christmas, faith, honesty and the season's commercialism are large parts of this Love Inspired romance from Harlequin. A Large amount of faith based passages, comments and opinions included.
December 15, 2014
Nice story about starting over living a true Christian life.
June 11, 2015
Enjoyed it. It's a light read book.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews