Nora Boneteel's Christmas Past
ISBN: 9781426754210
Net Galley Synopsis:
When someone buys the old Honeycutt house, Nora Bonesteel is glad to see some life brought back to the old mansion, even if it is by summer people. But when they decide to stay through Christmas, they find more than old memories in the walls.
On Christmas Eve, Sheriff Spencer Arrowwood and Deputy Joe LeDonne find themselves on an unwelcome call to arrest an elderly man for a minor offense. As they attempt to do their duty, while doing the right thing for a neighbor, it begins to look like they may all spend Christmas away from home.
In a story of spirits, memories, and angels unaware, Sharyn McCrumb revisits her most loved characters who know there is more to this world than the eye can see, especially at Christmastime.
MrsK's Review:
With the dawning of Christmas Eve, Sheriff Arrowwood and Deputy LeDonne get a warrant for a JD Shull. The last thing either of them want to do is make an arrest on Christmas Eve. With the snows arrival they arrive at the Shull's home in the mountains, only to discover that there are just a few things that need "tending" to before JD can come peacefully down the mountain and to jail. As old as his wife is, it would be criminal to leave her with no wood for a fire... a busted out window in their bathroom... and the cows on the loose in the woods. By the time the Sheriff and Deputy have everything "readied" for JD's departure... well let's just say that JD just considers them "angels" sent as a Christmas miracle.
Nora on the other hand will be called out to help her neighboring "snow birds." The Haverty's have decided to spend this Christmas in the old Honeycutt mansion on Ashe Mountain. The one challenge for her neighbors is a bit odd. Since they are from Florida, their "pink" foiled tree continues to fall over, their delightful holiday ornaments (pink flamingos, Santa alligators, decorated palm trees, etc.) are found scattered all over the room... and to their dismay... there is never any sign of an intruder or a draft. Nora agrees to revisit the Honeycutt mansion and while she is there she remembers the last Christmas gathering for all of the families on Ashe Mountain.
With two differing vignettes, you will enjoy the quick-witted humor surrounding an arrest that becomes a blessing and the heart-warming message behind the Christmas shelf in a manor that has Christmas restored within it's walls.
Enjoy these two tales, quick reads seasoned with a nice sweetness,
MrsK
Enjoyable Holiday read...
Sharyn McCrumb is the New York Times best-selling author of The Rosewood Casket, The Ballad of Tom Dooley, and many other acclaimed novels. She lives and writes in the Virginia Blue Ridge, less than 100 miles from where her family settled in 1790 in the Smoky Mountains that divide North Carolina and Tennessee.