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| The Christmas Star |
by Ace Collins
5 Stars~*****
Reviewed by Teresa Mathews
In this nostalgic Christmas story Ace Collins leads us back in time to post-war Arkansas. There we meet 16 year old Jimmy Reed, a young man with a huge chip on his shoulder yearning to grow up and make a name for himself. But as we all know teenagers even in 1945 have been known to make wrong choices.
Jimmy Reed is trying his best to cope with the life he has been dealt; a father that died fighting a war in a foreign land, although a hero, Jimmy is angry that his father had to die. Now he watches as his mother works so very hard to try to make ends meet. All because of that day in May 1942 when they received word that Robert Reed, beloved husband and dad had been killed, nothing has been the same for Jimmy or his mother, especially Christmas, the day that used to mean the world to the Reed family. Now at Christmas instead of reading the Christmas story and happily putting up their traditional star on top of the tree his mom now put up his dad’s Congressional Medal of Honor in its place. Even hearing that his dad was a hero doesn't make it any easier.
Jimmy is struggling to do the right thing with his life and the more he hears about his father the more he feels he can never measure up especially now that he has committed to do something that will forever change his life and possibly send him to jail. When a complete stranger comes to town and tells Jimmy and his mom another unbelievable story of his father‘s courage, the more Jimmy wants to be the son his father would be proud of. Is it too late for Jimmy to change what he has done? Will Jimmy get a Christmas miracle??
Ace Collins sure knows how to draw you into his stories with his characters that literally pop out at you from the pages. This was a beautifully written story that will have you wanting to cry one minute and then cheer the next. This is definitely an uplifting Christmas story that will warm your heart and make you smile. Ladies this would make the perfect stocking stuffer for the guys in your life. Thank you Ace for writing a story that deserves to become a Christmas Classic!
*I was given an arc of this by the publisher, Abingdon Press via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.
You Can Find This Treasure and more books by Ace at Amazon, CBD and LifeWay and other bookstores. You may also purchase Ace's books at his website www.acecollins.com
