A Christmas Courtship

 Title: A Christmas Courtship

Series: The Berlin Bookmobile Series #3

Author: Shelley Shepard Gray

Publisher: Gallery Books

Genre: Christian Fiction, Amish, Christmas, Christian Romance

Source: Net Galley

My Review:

While this is the third book in the series it can be read as a standalone novel. However, the Bookmobile and the librarian, Sarah Anne, are in all the books, and it would be best to start at the beginning and see how Sarah Anne started with the Bookmobile, how her life has changed from the beginning, and how she changes the lives of those who come into her bookmobile.

 "I started thinking that it ain't like one can take lessons wooing and such." He looked at her intently. "Have you heard of men going to courting classes or the like?"

I love this series!  Sarah Anne is a wonderful librarian who always comes up with the right book for her patrons. Atle's book request is not something that I would think would be found, but of course, Sarah Anne comes up with the perfect book. Unfortunately, Atle is a bit stubborn and it takes him a while to come around to her way of thinking.

"Well, then." He rolled back on his heels. "A book is what I need then. A courting book for middle-aged men. Can you find me something like that?"

Sadie is a single mom raising her three children alone since her abusive husband died. She works hard to provide for her family and comes up with a special Christmas gift for her son Cale. She asks Atle to help with the project and their awkwardness together is so cute. I love what Cale, Viola, and Jason (Sadie's children) add to the story.

She had been driving the bookmobile for a while now and she'd thought she'd seen and heard everything. It turned out she had been very wrong.

Two romances, a novel inside the story, the hope and wonder of Christmas, learning to trust again, leaning on your faith, a bookmobile, and learning to let go are just some of what you will find inside this delightful novel. I turned the page and was so sad the book had ended. Don't get me wrong, it had a good ending, I just wanted more. This is a quick-read with wonderfully developed characters that I would recommend to anyone who loves to read.

Thank you to Net Galley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read this book. I was not required to provide a favorable review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

★★★★★/5

P.S. If you want to join in the Christmas Challenge that Tea & Cake for the Soul is hosting you can click here for all the details, it is pretty informal.

Synopsis (from Goodreads): 

In this endearing Christmas tale, a bookmobile librarian knows just the novel to help an Amish bachelor woo his next-door neighbor in the latest installment of the “charming” (Carla Laureano, RITA Award–winning author of Five Days in Skye) Berlin Bookmobile series.

A solitary sort, forty-two-year-old Atle Petersheim spends his time hard at work in his wood shop. But as the days get long, he realizes just how lonely he’s become. When his longtime crush, Sadie Mast, a widow and mother of three, asks him to help her build a room in their barn for her son Cale, Atle can’t say no. Eager to pursue Sadie at last, he turns to bookmobile librarian Sarah Anne Miller for courting advice. More than happy to help, Sarah Anne decides the best way to learn about love is through books—romance novels to be precise.

Between completing holiday orders for her flourishing food business, helping Cale navigate a dramatic new relationship with his boss’s daughter, and coming to terms with the trauma her late husband had inflicted upon her and her children—not to mention Atle showing up at her door with flowers—Sadie is in over her head. Though Atle’s efforts are initially clumsy and his declarations a bit awkward, Sadie can’t help but be charmed by him. He’s patient and kind...and at times even seems to know far more about romance than he’s let on.

Another delightful romance about the “transformative powers of love, hope, and faith” (Publishers Weekly), A Christmas Courtship is the perfect holiday read.