A Christmas Prayer ~ Review

A Christmas Prayer
By Wanda E. Brunstetter

Cynthia Cooper and her mother Mable find themselves leaving behind the ease of city life when their financial circumstances find them heading West with Cynthia's intended. Walter Prentice is more than ten years older than her and his looks are so-so but he offers a future of security for both Cynthia and her mother. But he is just so bland, especially when compared to the others in their wagon train of three.

Having missed the much larger train that they were to go with Cynthia, Mable, and Walter join with two other wagons that had also arrived a day or two late. One wagon belongs to Jack Simpson, who along with his young children Alan and Amelia, is heading to California to take up cattle ranching. The final wagon is owned by Cole Edwards and his sister Ginny.

As various delays slow their already slow pace reaching California before the weather turns bad is seeming less likely. And when the worst happens and they find themselves stranded a chance discovery finds them able to take shelter in something better than a tent or their wagons. Cynthia is also allowed a chance to truly get to know the man she is about to pledge herself to and Walter is not whom she thought him to be but she made a promise and she'll keep it.

A Christmas Prayer is a sweet story that is a quick read that ends in a most satisfying way. Wanda Brunstetter is known for her Amish fiction which this is not. This is a historical fiction with a dash of romance added along with a pinch of holiday charm. Take a break from your hectic schedule and take a short trip to 1850 from the comfort of your favorite corner.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review. All opinions expressed are my own.


About the Book:

Will Love Be Found While Trapped 

in the Sierra Nevada Mountains?

       Only the brave-or foolhardy-would attempt a cross-country journey late in the season. Three wagons meet up in Independence, Missouri, in April 1850, and their owners decide to keep forging ahead despite many setbacks and delays. December finds them in the Sierra Nevada Mountains when a sudden snowstorm traps them, obscuring the trail. 

       Cynthia Cooper is traveling with her mother and the man she has promised to marry. But as Christmas is upon them and they are hunkered down in a small cabin, she is forced to reevaluate her reasons for planning to marry fellow-traveler Walter Prentice. 

        When a widowed father heading to California and a gold prospector both show interest in Cynthia, she weighs her dreams for marriage alongside her responsibility to care for her mother. Can love win over her timid heart?