Pocket Books Tour, Review and Giveaway: A Blue and Gray Christmas by Joan Medlicott

A Blue and Gray Christmas by Joan Medlicott




My rating: 3.75/5.0


I received this book for a Pocket Books Tour for December.

This is a Covington Holiday novel and part of a series that I believe centers around 3 friends who met later in life and moved to Covington, NC together to live in a farmhouse that one of the friends inherited.

This was an enjoyable novel, I enjoyed the characters and getting to know them. I also enjoyed the Civil War letters from the two soldiers that were found. I loved learning about the families of the men and how people can come together after never knowing they were related and get along. The book read easily and was a great way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon. I never lost interest in the book or in the characters.

My main complaint with the novel was the fact that there was a lot going on. There were several small story lines that were glossed over and I didn't feel like they truly added to the story. However I don't know that they weren't story lines from previous books being revisited and those that have followed this series may enjoy this book more than someone picking up this book for the first one in the series. You will not be lost if this is the first Covington novel you pick up, you may just not get as much out of it, but on it's own it is still an enjoyable novel.

I will say I enjoyed the characters enough that I do want to know more about them and I will be checking out the earlier books to learn more about this series and these women that are the focus.

About the Book:

When a rusty old tin box is unearthed at the Covington Homestead, longtime housemates Grace, Amelia, and Hannah discover that it contains letters and diaries written by two Civil War soldiers, one Union and one Confederate.

The friends are captivated by the drama revealed. The soldiers were found dying on a nearby battlefi eld by an old woman. She nursed them back to health, hiding them from bounty hunters seeking deserters. At the end of the war the men chose to stay in Covington, caring for their rescuer as she grew frail. But while their lives were rich, they still felt homesick and guilty for never contacting the families they'd left behind.

Christmas is coming, and the letters inspire Amelia with a generous impulse. What if she and her friends were to fi nd the two soldiers' descendants and invite them to Covington to meet? What better holiday gift could there be than the truth about these two heroic men and their dramatic shared fate? With little time left, the ladies spring into action to track down the men's families in Connecticut and the Carolinas, and to make preparations in Covington for their most memorable, most historic Christmas yet.

 Giveaway:

In an effort to keep my bookshelves cleared off, I would like to give away my read one time hard cover of A Blue and Gray Christmas by Joan Medlicott.  Simply say you would like to enter and leave your email address if it's not available in your blogger profile, additional entries for being a follower here on blogger and on twitter, subscribing and tweeting.  Just leave a comment..  Giveaway open worldwide and ends 12/20.  I can't promise you'll get it before Christmas, but I will try.


Challenges:
100+ Book Challenge
Fall Into Reading Challenge 2009