I don’t often read Christmas books because – well, sometimes they seem like they are just thrown out there to get in on the hype of the season and sell books but then end up being not very good.

I wanted something that would help kick off the Christmas season, though, so right before Thanksgiving I picked up A Quilt for Christmas by Melody Carlson at my local library. I could see it was a quick read but still wasn’t so sure about it.

It turned out to be just the book I needed. It was so well written and I was thoroughly impressed with how Carlson was able to develop the characters and story so well in such a short amount of time.

I fell in love with the characters so quickly and was overjoyed when there was – not to spoil the book too much but. . . – a happy ending.

How that happy ending is reached isn’t something I’ll spoil though.

Vera is such a delightful main character already but her character becomes even more charming as she interacts with her neighbors and her new friends.

I love how this book presented realistic and sometimes heartbreaking circumstances for the characters but didn’t bring the mood down in the process. I didn’t feel weighed down with the sadness a couple of the characters had faced in their life, but yet still felt the emotion of what they had faced.

More than once I found myself wiping my eyes and wishing I could give a couple of the characters a hug.

While many modern Christmas books involve romances of some sort, this was a unique story involving friendship with only a small underlying story that involved a very light romance.

The book had a great message throughout and especially at the end.

This book is listed under Christian Fiction but there was not a pushy or over-the-top Christian message all. There was one small mention of Jesus during a conversation but, again, not preachy at all. As I was reading the book I wasn’t even sure it was a Christian book or not. I didn’t check until I was writing up this recommendation.

This book has made me want to check out other books by Carlson.

Have you read this book or any other books by her?

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*This post is also part of the Comfy, Cozy Christmas Link Up for 2024. If you have a Christmas/holiday post you would like to share you can find the link HERE or at the top of the page here on my blog.