Coming Home for Christmas by Carla Kelly 5 Star Review
Three soldiers, three generations, finding love at Christmas
1812: A Christmas in Paradise
To save nurse Laura Ortiz from destitution, British naval surgeon Thomas Wilkie has made her an offer this Christmas—a marriage of convenience….
1855: O Christmas Tree
A generation later, it's Thomas and Laura's daughter, widowed lone mother Lilian, who's working as a nurse in the Crimea. Christmas seems a long way away—until Major Trey Wharton helps her bring back the festive sparkle.
1877: No Crib for a Bed
Lilian's son Captain Wilkie Wharton is finally on his way home from Fort Laramie. It's a long, arduous, life-changing train journey…which sees him discover his soul mate and the true meaning of Christmas!
Review
It may seem out of season to read this book in the Spring but trust me this is a grand book for any time of the year. Carla Kelly is simply a treasure. Are you looking for a great Historical Romance Writer? Very few do it better than Carla Kelly. Her attention to historical detail, willingness to linger in uncommon eras with common people, and poignant sense of what it really means to fall in love with all the gritty, ordinary, and luminous parts included make her a not to be missed Romance writer. Her steam levels are very low in most cases but the passion between the couple always rings clear and true.
This Christmas Romance is one of my favorites among many of her fine works.
We see generation after generation of wars (The War 1812 in Alta California, Crimean War, and the Indian Wars) through the point of view of doctors and nurses. Each love story is remarkable. The Prisoner of War who falls in love with a Senorita above him in station. The shy American Hospital Administrator who can't help but adore the widowed nurse trained by Miss Nightingale herself. The Irish American daughter of a Bogman who partners the upper class doctor so beautifully that he can't help but alter the course of his life to join with hers.
Read it. I hope it brings you joy at Christmas time or any other time you just need a good book.
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