Christmas in Cedar Cove is a charming book by Debbie Macomber.  There are two stories in there that take place during the holiday season.  Since I love the writing of this author, I knew that I would fall in love with this book and I was right.

The first story, 5-B Poppy Lane, takes place in the memories of an older woman as she is readying her little home for her granddaughter’s Christmas visit.  This fantastical tale takes us back to a time past when Christmas wasn’t so merry.  Helen had been studying at the Sorbonne in France when WW2 broke out.  Caught up in the French Resistance, Helen remembers the struggles that she went through to survive.  Knowing that she is getting older and frailer, she finally decides to tell her tales to her family.  The story is amazing and fascinating.

The second story, Christmas in Cedar Cove, also takes place in someone’s memories.  Mary Jo is thinking back to her first visit to Cedar Cove a year ago in which she was searching for the father of her unborn child.  She knew that he had said his parents lived in Cedar Cove and he was supposedly going to visit them.  As was his norm, he was lying to her again.  The fun part of this story was trying to pick out all the little things that paralleled the real Christmas Story and the birth of Jesus.  This is a very heart touching story that will give you that nice warm fuzzy feeling.

Christmas in Cedar Cove: 5-B Poppy Lane\A Cedar Cove Christmas (9780778328223): Debbie Macomber: Books ISBN: 0778328228 ISBN-13: 9780778328223

I have been reading these Christmas books as part of the Christmas Spirit Challenge that is going on until January 6th.  Its not too late to join in the fun.  Head on over, sign up and start reading.  Then check in with the books you have read.  I love visiting the other blogs that are involved as well.  Its great to see what other stories are out there.  You never know, you just might find your next favorite author by trying out a book from one of those blogs.

And then when you are done checking out all the wonderful posts for The Christmas Spirit Challenge, head on over and check out the 2010 Holiday Reading Challenge.  This is going on until December 31st, so there is still time to join in as well.  As of this posting there are already 80 blogs joining in on the fun, with more joining all the time.  And there are a ton of great books that are being reviewed.