Quilted by Christmas by Jodie Bailey

What a delightful romance taking place in North Carolina. Taryn and Justin were best friends and sweethearts in high school. When he decided to go into the army, she did the unthinkable to get him to stay. Then a senseless argument caused a division between the two and Justin left. Finding herself pregnant, she went off to college and to a place where she would give up her newborn.

Twelve years later Taryn is teaching high school in her home town and Justin has just returned to care for his ailing father. There's been no communication between the two but then he comes to Taryn's grandmother's house to work on putting Christmas lights on the roof. An awkward meeting is interrupted by her grandmother's fall. Her grandmother is hospitalized and Taryn is distraught. Her grandmother's love is the only family love she's known since her mother died and her father alienated her. Her grandmother asks Taryn to finish a quilt needed by Christmas. It is a project that just might bring Taryn and Justin back together.

This is a great addition to the Quilts of Love series. The story is believable and the characters are well crafted. Their tentative reunion, filled with hesitations and misgivings, is very realistic. Taryn had become convinced through her emotionally absent father that she was unlovable. To watch her heal and transform during the novel was rewarding. Both Taryn and Justin have to experience and give deep felt forgiveness, a major theme in the novel. They have to rely on their Christian faith to do that. I really enjoyed the novel as a quick and entertaining read. I recommend it as a nice novel for Christmas reading.

I am taking part in a blog tour of this book and you can read other reviews here.

You can learn more about the Quilts of Love series here.

Jodie Bailey is Tarheel born and bred. After 15 years as a military spouse, she settled with her family back in North Carolina. She is the author of the military suspense novel Freefall and is a contributor to Edie Melson's devotional for military families, Fighting Fear: Winning the War at Home. She teaches middle schoolers, loves to bake, ride the Harley with her husband, and fish the Outer Banks with their daughter. Find out more at http://jodiebailey.com/.

Abingdon Press, 240 pages. Please visit your local Christian bookstore to buy this book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Litfuse for the purpose of an independent and honest review.