Title: With Christmas In His Heart

Author: Gail Gaymer Martin

Publisher: Steeple Hill

ISBN: 0373874057

Genre: Inspirational/Romance

Christine Powers is resentful when her grandmother suffers a mild stroke and she is summoned away from her high-pressure advertising career to care for Grandma Ella on Mackinac Island. She wishes her parents could have gone in her stead, but they are enjoying a cruise and are unwilling to cut it short. Christine agrees to stay until her parents can come, but circumstances keep postponing their arrival.

Will Lambert rents a room from Grandma Ella and he’s the one who discovered her stroke. Will owns a stained glass business in town. His laid back style grates on Christine’s nerves and she’ll be glad to see the last of him. She thinks he acts like a child, dropping his things all over, and not capable of carrying for himself.

When Christine receives an ultimatum to return to work or lose her job, Christine is forced to choose between her grandmother and the man she’s growing to care for, or her career. Will she be able to make the right choice?

With Christmas In His Heart is a fun read. Stroke victims all respond differently to strokes, so its nice that Christina’s grandmother wasn’t permanently rendered incapable of being alone for even a short time. I loved Will. He is a total sweetheart and a fun-loving flirt. I had a few problems with Christina. She is a perfect business woman (the type that always gets on my last nerve) and only seems to care for herself. I also didn’t like that she was so much older than Will. There is practically a generation between them.

On the other hand, Christine does mature a lot during the course of the story. I love Mackinac Island, and Ms. Martin portrays it well. I could almost see the snow, feel the biting wind, and hear the roar of snowmobiles and the clapping of horse hooves on the road. You won’t want to miss With Christmas In His Heart this holiday season. Discussion questions are included at the end. $4.99. 250 pages.