Title: The Christmas Remedy by Cindy and Erin Woodsmall

Genres: Christian, Christmas, Amish, Romance

Published by: Waterbrook Press (Oct. 23rd, 2018)

Summary

When an Old Order Amish woman takes a job at a small-town pharmacy struggling to survive in a world of “big box” stores, her motive is to help her Plain community. But the advent of the holiday season brings an unusual mystery to the surface–and possibly love.

Twenty-four-year-old Holly Zook lives a unique life for a young Amish woman. Years ago, her bishop allowed her to continue her education and become the lead technician for Greene’s Pharmacy, an old-timey drugstore that looks out for the Amish community–a group largely without secure healthcare plans. She knows she can’t marry and hold onto her professional job. She’s Amish, and she can only have one or the other, so she spurns love and works toward addressing treatable diseases–like the one that claimed her father’s life.

As long as Holly continues to avoid Joshua Smucker, the one man who draws her like a warm hearth in winter, she should be fine. When something unexpected threatens Greene’s Pharmacy, Holly and Joshua must work together to unravel what’s happened and find the “missing” patient before the Board of Pharmacy shuts them down. As the snows of December arrive, with Christmas in the air, will Holly succumb to the generous spirit of the season?

*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. A huge thank you to the publisher!*

This was such a sweet book!  I’m from Ohio, and so I’ve visited Amish Country many times throughout the years.  So when I was approached by the publisher to read and review this book, I was so intrigued by the plot that I had to say yes.

One of the things I really enjoyed about The Christmas Remedy were the characters.  Both Holly and Joshua were very forward in their thinking for being Amish.  I really appreciated how Holly was devoted to her job, continuing her education, and was so invested in the importance of modern medicine.  Likewise, I love how Joshua focused on free-range, quality care and respect for his farm animals.  I realize that not all Amish people are like this, but it was refreshing to read about those that are like them, because they really are out there!

The actual plot of this book was very enjoyable and evenly-paced, too.  This book is just around 200 pages, and so it was a very quick read. That being said, nothing felt too rush or too dragged out, which I appreciated.    The Christmas Remedy was a lot more technical and informative than I was expecting, but all the pharmacy information was actually really interesting to me, too.

My only “complaint” which really isn’t a complaint but just more of a personal preference was that this book was not nearly as Christmas-y as I was expecting.  Christmas actually isn’t even talked about until halfway/three-fourths of the way through the novel.  With a title like The Christmas Remedy and that super festive cover, I was just hoping for a bit more Christmas.

Overall, The Christmas Remedy was quite enjoyable.  It was very sweet and made my heart smile.  I would definitely recommend this book to fans of Amish fiction!

Follow me on:

Bloglovin’ | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Litsy (@thecalicobooks)

Buy from:

The Book Depository

(I receive a tiny commission if you follow my BD links!)