Quilted by Christmas by Jodie Bailey

So this book intrigued me for three reasons. 1) I can relate to the title because I have a quilt to finish for Christmas. 2) The book is about Christmas. 3) I have read most of the books in the series and have enjoyed them all.

I always have to comment on the covers that are so beautifully done and this is no exception. The book cover matches the whole Christmas theme perfectly and I think it catches the book buyers eye. Who can turn down a Christmas tree on the cover during the upcoming season?

The story inside is just as beautiful as the cover. Forgiveness and second chances and having the courage to share a deep secret is theme of this book. Taryn and Justin had loved each other until a choice Justin makes tears them apart. Somehow Taryn has to come to grips with unconditional love. She has to understand God's unconditional love and even Justin's unconditional love. That glimpse of unconditional love just might be realized through a quilt.

It's always so interesting to see the role a quilt plays in each book. No two books in this series are the same.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

A note from the Author: Well, I’m a regular ol’ person. Who just happens to write. A lot. Probably more than I should. I firmly believe that God created me to be a writer. From the time I learned how to string letters together into words I’ve been making up stories. Believe me… I have a very rich imagination. I used to think I was weird; now I know God just put me together that way. I can’t even watch commercials without expanding them into stories in my head. I am humbled and honored all at the same time that God looked down from heaven on me and said, “Jodie, do what you love.” Wow… how awesome is that?

I have always loved to write. I have stories that I wrote when I was in first grade. I used to sit at my grandmother’s yellow electric typewriter for hours, banging out my own little stories. When I was eleven, she bought me a typewriter of my own (It was 1984, okay?) and I would write and write on it. I wrote stories out by hand, and they ran to hundreds of pages. I got my first computer when I was eighteen, and the first thing I did was write a story on it. I wrote for school. I wrote for fun. I wrote for my friends. I’d get them on the phone and make up stories for them. (I earned the nickname “Dreamweaver” for that one. Nobody calls me that anymore, but it still stands as the coolest nickname I ever had.)

ABOUT THE BOOK

Taryn McKenna believes she’s easy to forget. Abandoned by her parents and left behind when her high school sweetheart joined the army, she vows to never love again and throws herself into her love for the outdoors and the pursuit of a college degree—something no one else in her family has ever accomplished. Her goal, as a young teacher in the hills of North Carolina, is to leave a legacy in the lives of the middle-schoolers she teaches. When Taryn’s grandmother Jemma, the only other person who ever held her close, has a heart attack that reveals a fatal medical condition, Taryn is corralled into helping Grandma work on a final project—an Irish chain quilt that tells the story of her history and the love Jemma knows is out there for Taryn. As the pieces of the quilt come together, Taryn begins to see her value. Can she learn to believe that God will never leave her behind even though others have?

If you would like to read the first chapter of Quilted by Christmas, go
HERE.

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 I received this book free from CFBA and Abingdon Press in exchange for my honest opinion of this book.