Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball
Donita K. Paul
Mischievous matchmakers ~ Two special tickets ~ One unlikely couple
I think it’s only fair to say that I tend to be picky when it comes to any romance novels/novellas – even Christian ones. More often than not, I will pass on them unless I have recommendations from someone who knows me and my taste. That being said, I’m a sucker for Christmas stories, so I decided to check out this book when it was offered for review.
Cora is still trying to figure out the whole Christian walk. Cora knows Simon as a very serious, stick-in-the-mud at work. Both Simon and Cora end up in a strange bookstore – Warner, Werner, and Wizbotterdad’s – while looking for books. Cora was on a mission to find just the right book for her uncle’s Christmas gift while Simon is looking for the perfect book for his bookworm sister, Sandy. Somehow, they both end up with tickets to a mysterious ball inside of their books.
As the story develops, readers get to know Cora, Simon, and Sandy a bit better. Simon’s character is never fully developed in the story, but readers really get to know Sandy. Sandy has Down Syndrome and has a wonderful talent of bringing out the best in people. Her genuine faith, hope, and love captured my heart. Both Simon and Cora had a good deal to learn from this beautiful young woman.
While this is suppose to be a story about two people falling in love, I felt it focused more on Sandy than it did on the two main characters – Cora and Simon. The addition of wizards and trying to meld Christianity and wizardry made for a bit of an odd story. Without giving away too much of the story, I’ll say that the interaction between Cora, her estranged sister, and Simon left a bad taste in my mouth.
In the end, while some aspects of this story were good, I did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would. It had too many side stories going on and too many (in my opinion) loose ends. While it was a Christian book, it had several things within the story that just didn’t sit right with me. The redeeming character in the story was Sandy. It was because of her character that I wanted to read to the end of the book.
I received a copy of this book as a member of Blogging for Books to help facilitate the writing of a frank and honest review. All opinions are my own.
