Yuletide in Ireland and Wales

by Ginny Aiken, Tamela Hancock Murray

Colleen of Erin by TAMELA HANCOCK MURRAY Colleen Sullivan seems to be the perfect match for Finn Donahue, a successful merchant. But Finn lacks compassion. His coffers are lined by a wealthy customer named Joey. On Christmas Eve, Colleen sets the table with food and leaves the door unlatched so a wanderer can partake. When Joey, dressed in rags, enters, will Finn's heart be filled with the love he needs to be a husband to Colleen? Lost and Found by GINNY AIKEN When Rhiannon returns to her mining village in Wales, her childhood affection for Trefor, Papa's mine superintendent, turns into love. Her lifelong fear of the dangerous mine, however, makes a future together impossible. When he disappears down the mineshaft to rescue trapped miners, she decides to leave again. Will Trefor survive? Can he show her that with faith in God they can face anything their marriage might bring?

Genres: Christmas, Christian Fiction, Historical, Christian Romance, Ireland, Christian

224 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2006

About the author

Ginny Aiken, a former newspaper reporter, lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and their three younger sons--the oldest is married, has flown the coop, and made her a doting grandmother. Born in Havana, Cuba, and raised in Valencia and Caracas Venezuela, Ginny discovered books at an early age. She wrote her first novel at age fifteen while she trained with the Ballets de Caracas, later to be known as the Venezuelan National Ballet. She burned that tome when she turned a "mature" sixteen. An ecletic list of jobs--including stints as reporter, paralegal, choreographer, language teacher, retail salesperson, wife, mother of four boys, and herder of their numerous and assorted friends, including the 135 members of first the Crossmen and then the Bluecoats Drum & Bugle Corps--brought her back to books in search of her sanity. She is now the author of twenty-seven published works, but she hasn't caught up with that elusive sanity yet.

http://ginnyaikenwrites.com/About_Me....

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was 2 short Christmas , Christian based, love stories. The first story was just ok . It involved the daughter of a mine owner and she was afraid of the mine, but falls in love with the manager of the mine. No real substance for me. The second story was better with a prominent lady falling in love with a merchant. Not much in the way or Ireland and Wales as the the title indicates.

[Farley Chandler · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Hallmark movie in a book.

[Meredith (Austenesque Reviews) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 short novellas around 100 pages each tell of romances between two characters with diverse upbringings and desires.

Book One takes place in Wales in 1870 and is about a miner's daughter who is afraid of losing loved ones in the mine and refuses to think of a marriage and a future with the man she loves because he works in the mine.

Book Two takes place in Ireland in 1820 and is about a mercantile man who pines after the well-to-do farmer's daughter. Having been abandoned by his father at a young age, Finn assumes all who are poor are just really lazy. He shows little mercy and compassion for those less fortunate himself.

I enjoyed the tales of finding faith and learning to forgive, but I kind of wished there was more about the setting and traditions of the time period. I picked up this book because I wanted to travel to Wales and Ireland in the 1800's. There were a few tidbits and traditions touched upon, but I would have loved to have seen more!

[Cody Toohey · Rating 2 out of 5]

The second half is better then the first.

[Nancy H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two very short stories of Christian fiction set in the 19th century, one in Wales and one in Ireland. They are good for a quick, feel-good read.

[Bethsquires17 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute little Christmas stories.

[Donna Hinkley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fine Christmas book. Quick and simple to read.