Checkin' It Twice

Remember when I won a contest and had my Christmas short story published?

Well now there is a second book.  This time I don't have a story included.  Its probably a good thing because Christmas should be a happy, celebrating time and right now all the stories coming out of me are sad and depressing.

For that reason alone I was excited when I was asked to review the second book, Checkin' it Twice.

Don't you just love how the two books look enough alike to tell that they are a set? I really hope that as future books come out the covers retain that continuity.

I got the book in an e-format for my Kindle Fire. At first I was frustrated because I downloaded and it didn't show up. So I tried again. And again. And contacted the publisher and she tried to help me as best she could through e-mail by sending it again and then explaining to me how she downloads files.  I tried and still nada.

Now, if I had just Checked things twice I would have found the book the first time I downloaded it.  It was there all along, I just had to look in the right place for it.

Finally I got to start reading. I thought I would do a quick read, pick one story and blog about it.

So. Hard. So. Very hard to do. Pick just one. Ha.  Everytime I thought I had chosen the one, I would read the next one. Then the next. and so on. So many of these stories resonated with my spirit this year.

Love. Forgiveness. Healing. Love. It is all there and just waiting for you.

Broken Things by Angie Lofthouse reminds us that the greatest gift given to us is that of the power of the Atonement to make us whole. And nothing. Nothing we can do is too much for that power.

A Soldier's Christmas by Amie Borst brought me to tears thinking of my sons. How when they were deployed one of my son's daughters was only 2-3 days old. How things are such that this may be the last holiday season we are all together for a long time. How my niece was married on Friday and her new husband is being deployed in just weeks. How I have nephews that could leave their new little families soon.  And how greatful I am that these men are willing to sacrifice this for me and my freedom.

The Two Hundred Forty-fourth Ornament by Jennifer Ricks was dear to my heart because I have the same obsession with ornaments as Kayley and I could relate to the school setting. And I thought it was the perfect ending story.

Are some of the stories sticky sweet.  Of course they are. But isn't that what we have the holidays for? To fill ourselves with sticky sweetness. And if it reminds us that the season is not about sweets, twinkling lights, presents or even jolly fat men dressed in red, but about family, forgiveness and love then who cares?

Check it out, then check it twice.

Here are the particulars:
 website
 Facebook page
You can buy it here
5 format ebook bundle
Release Day Goodies Promo

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Indeed