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The Wish Book Christmas by Lynn Austin Review

 Happy Wednesday Friends :)

I want to thank you all for following along on this Christmas in July series on my blog, and today I'm excited to get to bring to you all the tenth and final post in the series.

I had promised at the start of this series, that I would be including a couple of upcoming Christmas book releases for this year in the reviews, and since I shared one of these reviews as the first post in the series, it made sense to save the other one for the last post.

I hope you all enjoy my last Christmas in July review, and that you'll all end up taking a chance on this upcoming release. I truly adored it, and I can't wait to tell you all about it.

The Wish Book Christmas by Lynn Austin:


Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Publisher: Tyndale House

Publisher: September 7th, 2021

Genre: Christian Fiction/Historical Fiction


Synopsis:

From the bestselling author of If I Were You comes a nostalgic and endearing holiday story that reminds us that sometimes the most meaningful gifts are the ones we least expect and don't deserve.

Best friends Audrey Barrett and Eve Dawson are looking forward to celebrating Christmas in postwar America, thrilled at the prospect of starting new traditions with their five-year-old sons. But when the 1951 Sears Christmas Wish Book arrives and the boys start obsessing over every toy in it, Audrey and Eve realize they must first teach them the true significance of the holiday. They begin by helping Bobby and Harry plan gifts of encouragement and service for those in their community, starting by walking an elderly neighbor's yellow Lab--since a dog topped the boys' wish list for Santa. In the charming tale that follows, Audrey and Eve are surprised to find their own hearts healing from the tragedies of war and opening to the possibility of forgiveness and new love.

(synopsis from goodreads)


Review:

The Wish Book Christmas is truly one of the sweetest holiday reads I've had the pleasure of reading, and I found myself immersed in the beautiful story right from start to finish.

I ended up reading If I Were You right before I dove into this one, and I'm so thankful that Lynn Austin decided to give readers more of Eve and Audrey's story. I actually ended up enjoying this one even more than I did it's counterpart, and it's a story that is going to stick with me for quite sometime. 

I appreciated how so much of this story focuses on the spiritual and personal growth that both women have experienced since the start of If I Were You, and how both are determined to give their son's the best life they can while still keeping them grounded in understanding what's truly important in life. However, the story is also nostalgic and heartwarming in little Bobby and Henry's fascination with the beautiful pages of the Wish Book catalogue and the many, many fascinating toys that lie within its pages. As Eve and Audrey struggle to convince their young sons that the true meaning of Christmas involves much more than just the shiny toys in their favorite catalogue, readers are treated to a beautiful story centered around the Nativity and the Three Wise Men who offered baby Jesus beautiful gifts to celebrate His birth.

If you're a fan of Christmas stories that will leave you teary eyed and give you warm fuzzies, then The Wish Book Christmas is definitely the book for you. However, this story involves so much more than just a simple holiday story, and it's a perfect follow up to the poignant, thought provoking If I Were You.

Final Rating: 5/5.

I can't possibly recommend this one enough, and I'm so sad to finally have to say goodbye to these characters. I loved how Lynn Austin chose to conclude these character's stories, and I look forward to reading more from her in the future. I don't personally recommend reading this one before you read If I Were You though as it contains big spoilers and parts of the story really won't make sense out of the context of that one.

Thanks so much to Tyndale House for allowing me to advance read and review this.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance reader copy of this novel from the publisher (Tyndale House) in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks so much for joining me for the final day of Christmas in July here on The Preppy Book Princess. 

Have a great rest of your day guys! God Bless :)

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