Cover Image: The Amish Christmas Gift

The Amish Christmas Gift

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Member Reviews

Hilton has a knack for writing fantastic Amish stories, and with one that's set at my favorite time of year, I know I was going to enjoy it. What I didn't expect was how much some parts were going to touch my heart.

First of all, Levi's love and devotion to his sister was so unexpected. Yes I know Amish people are typically like that anyways, but I feel like Levi's was a step beyond. And while part of it was probably guilt, I do think most of it was just respect and love. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy reading romance stories, this one included. But I also enjoy seeing other kinds of love represented in a story. Friendship, family, community, etc... I'm so happy Hilton included this!

Now, let's get to Levi and Elsie - yeah they had a great love story. And wow there were some swoony scenes, which Hilton is known for. But my favorite part of their story was just their interaction with each other. Hilton held my interest from start to finish, wondering when they'd connect, how they would end up together, when would they make me laugh again, and when would I get that foot popping kiss I know Hilton is going to write. Not to worry - she delivered on all of these!!

Although set at Christmas, I do think this story could be read any time of year. Amish fans, and Hilton fans will devour it! I received a complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to write a favorable review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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The Amish Christmas Gift by Laura V. Hilton is the 2nd novel in the Hidden Springs series. It can be read as a standalone. This is a brilliantly crafted story.. Elsie Miller and Levi Wyse have a history together. Levi is very absentminded and forgetful. He is also the primary caretaker for his sister, who is in a wheel chair. He makes beautiful hand crafted wooden toys in his spare time. He would love to do it full time but is worried it would not pay the bills. Elsie comes in to help him get organized and she finds herself having old feelings resurface. Can the two of them rekindle what they had?
Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read a copy of this book - all thoughts are my own.

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The Amish Christmas Gift is a great read for Christmas. It is a story of misunderstandings, second chances with old loves. Overall the book is good and you find yourself routing for Elsie and Levi - that they will overcome what is preventing them from recognizing their continued love for each other. Elsie's clumsiness and inability to keep a job, and the writing around these character traits, somewhat takes a bit away from the overall story. Levi's absent-mindedness and dwelling upon the circumstances around his family's death also is a bit tiring. That being said, the story is one that does capture your attention from the start - Elsie and Levi's misunderstanding years before that resulted in their break-up, Elsie being hired as a companion for Levi's sister Abigail, placing Elsie and Levi together on a daily basis, Elsie's caring brother Noah, Elsie believing the only answer for her is to leave the Amish community with her brother Sam....so many things that keep you on the edge of your seat wondering how the story will end! The book has wonderful characters beyond the main ones, including old George who just makes you laugh whenever he's part of the story!

The book is fun, characters endearing and humorous - the book ended too soon as I wanted to read more about Elsie, Levi, Abigail, and Noah!

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A lovely written story that is book 2 in the series but this book reads as a stand alone also. It’s a love story gone wrong and then found again. The book has great characters and I loved Elsie’s fun quirky traits and the way she seemed to bumble everything. Levi hurting for so many reasons , Abigail wanting to have a normal life, Noah the kind hearted, Amish George crazy as they come and a few others. The story was a quick read and I loved the interaction between everyone. I found myself laughing, praying and cheering for hopeful outcomes.
I would recommend this book to friends or my BookClub
I received a free copy from NetGalley and all opinions are mine.

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Magical Christmas book that will put you in the holiday season.
I thoroughly enjoyed watching the relationship between Elsie and Levi as they learn about forgiveness and trusting in God.
Laura V. Hilton writes a very touching and uplifting story.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion. All opinions expressed are my own.

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The Amish Christmas Gift is a heartfelt story. I thought the story contained good writing and the story moved along at a steady pace. There are some charming characters in this story with quirky traits. Faith, family, love, guilt, and miscommunication are the themes in this cute story. There are some good life lessons and I like how the author included the scripture verses that went with each one.

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This is a heartwarming, 2nd chance romance, and add a Christmas setting and a story of the Amish -- well, that just makes it all the better! Love, family, faith, and holiday charm--- this book kept my attention and I was entertained with the delightful characters. This is an easy read, 2nd in the series, but felt like a stand-alone story. It had a wonderful happy ending and I hated to see if finish.

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This is a fun second chance romance, with Elsie and Levi both still in love with each other after their impetuous breakup a year and a half earlier. Their flaws keep them apart- Elsie doesn't let Levi explain, and Levi just gives up. They are both kind of a hot mess as they keep getting thrown together, but they begin to learn from their mistakes and realize they are stronger together. They share an intense physical attraction as well, which makes it difficult to keep their hands off each other, to the chagrin of their elderly chaperone George. Humor, drama, chemistry, and angst kept me turning the pages to see how these two stubborn young adults would finally get back together.

Disclosure statement: A complimentary copy of this book was provided from a tour group, publisher, publicist, or author, including NetGalley, OR was borrowed from the library, including OverDrive, OR borrowed from Kindle Unlimited, OR purchased. A review was not required and all views and opinions expressed are unbiased and my own.

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While reading THE AMISH CHRISTMAS GIFT I became emotionally invested in all of the characters. They are all flawed, real and lovable! Once I started reading, I was instantly hooked. I devoured every page and couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next. This not so typical Amish story is filled with jealousy, temptation, lies, rumors, but also love, family, and second chances. THE AMISH CHRISTMAS GIFT by Laura V. Hilton is the second book in the Hidden Springs series.

I quickly flew through THE AMISH CHRISTMAS GIFT and when I finished I found myself wanting more. I loved all of the characters and found myself wanting to travel to Hidden Springs, IL. The tender moments in the story really pull at the reader’s heart strings. Levi knew he loved Elsie from the minute he saw her. It’s been quite awhile since he saw her last at a wedding and he has never forgotten her. Well, he did leave her stranded there! Elsie is unable to hold down a job and is considering jumping the fence with her older brother. Levi’s wooden toy making business is rapidly taking off, but he really needs help with some type of organization. Elsie needs a job and Levi needs help They both still have feelings for each other and wonder if this could possibly be the perfect solution? Except for Elsie and Levi, the way to true love is anything but perfect!

In THE AMISH CHRISTMAS GIFT I loved Elsie and Levi, the primary characters, but also fell in love with all of the secondary characters as well. Every one of them has an important part to play in this heart warming story and even though I wanted to reach in and shake some sense into one or two of them every now and then, they all weaseled their way into my heart. My emotions were all over the place and I was even reaching for the tissues quite a few times. Levi and Elsie are both hiding painful pasts and are afraid of being exposed at any moment. Will they learn to forgive themselves and begin to live again?

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Forever. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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The Amish Christmas Gift by Laura V Hilton is a charming light-hearted contemporary Amish novel that will put a smile on your face. It is the second book in the Hidden Springs series but can be read as a stand-alone.
In spite of the light-hearted tone, there are the serious themes of guilt and forgiveness. Sometimes we pick up burdens that were never meant for us. We, wrongly, believe that what we have done is unforgiveable. This is a lie from the enemy. God asks us to come to Him and to lay our burdens and our guilt down. He asks us to live in His love and His forgiveness.
The leading lady is very accident prone. This creates some highly amusing moments. There are also some delightful and funny verbal volleys.
Love and friendship are important qualities. It is wonderful to see them bud and blossom.
We make our plans for our lives but there is One who knows us far better than we know ourselves. We would be wise to follow His plans.
Prayer is important. Prayer helps us to build a relationship with God. It is always good to know that we are not alone. “It was nice to imagine Someone out there heard and cared.”
The Amish Christmas Gift was a perfect read for a dark and gloomy December day as it will inject some light, life and humour into our lives.
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

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Elsie Miller has a knack for picking up odd jobs.. and for loosing them. In fact, it takes her less than a day to loose her job at the local market. So when she's offered a job assisting a disabled neighbor, she has no choice, but to take it... even if it means spending her days with an old love.

Levi Wyse struggles under a heavy burden... supporting a crippled sister, grieving the loss of their family... and determined not to open his heart to love. But when his sister hires Elsie as her assistant, Levi has to face his past all over. Will their arrangement bring healing to old wounds? Or will it end as all Elsie jobs do... in absolute chaos?

I always love picking up a sweet easy read in December. With the busyness of the season, it's the perfect time to slow down with a light novel. There were some elements of this book that were just that. Amish Christmas Gift contains some wonderful moments of humor and whit, from the banter between Levi and Elsie to the introduction of George who speaks his mind and innocently bumbles into some interesting situations.

However, there were certainly a few misses in this book for me. The flirtatiousness of the two main characters was way out of touch with the mood of the book. In one paragraph, Elsie and Levi would be living with the propriety of Amish culture and in the next paragraph, they would be opening throwing themselves at each other. And Levi's thoughtlessness of others was drastically blown out of proportion to prove a point. It was just all together completely unrealistic. With these two issues and a few others, it was hard to get into the flow of reading this book. It wasn't my favorite in this genre by far.

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

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This is one of my very favorite authors and I love love her books!
Her stories are wonderful and will take you away into that world even if it's only for a little while.
I'm always sad when her books come to an end.
I liked this particular story because of Amish George.. I'm not sure why but he's quite the character. Not easy to like but after you get to know him...... Well let's just say I will leave you to figure it out.
Amish George is what made this book. He cracked me up.
The rest of the characters were awesome too. They were well rounded out and each character brings something special to this story.
As always I have enjoyed and loved Hilton's books. She never disappoints me.
I can't wait to see what she writes next!
I recommend this book.
My thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

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The Amish Christmas Gift by Laura V. Hilton is so good that I read it in 3 days, life got in the way.

So why did I like page turning The Amish Christmas Gift so much? Well, let me tell you. Laura gave us readers a lovely inspiration story of how caregivers can get overwhelmed, not asking for help when one should, and isolation-the result of the first two. And all of them together leads to the most important topic in the book forgiveness. Whether it's forgiving of one's self, making peace with a tragic incident and or sometimes you have to forgive someone else. Just maybe after you get through forgiving, you might also get a second chance on love.

Don't take my word that The Amish Christmas Gift was a good book, find out for yourself!

I look forward to reading more books and materials by Laura V. Hilton in the future.

I received a free copy of the book by NetGalley with no money exchanged only an honest review for agreement. This is my view in my own words.

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I really struggled with this story. Some stories and characters are just a miss for some readers and I think that is what happened in this novel for me. I usually adore books written by this author, yet this one fell short for me.

Levi’s extreme absent-mindedness bothered me a lot. It made me feel that others weren’t important enough to him to pay attention to what they were saying. Admittedly, I felt that he got better about this in the second half of the book and I ended up liking him more during the blizzard portions of the story.

I liked Elsie better than Levi and felt sorry for her because it seemed like things were constantly out of her control. She seemed to be blamed for everything, such as the ice cream delivery debacle! I also felt like she let herself be manipulated by her brother, Sam, and his desire to leave the community. He talked down to her a lot in order to get her to do what he wanted her to do.

I will definitely keep reading this author. This particular story was just not the right one for me.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

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Levi Wyse's forgetfulness was the reason that Elsie Miller broke up with him two years ago. Elsie never knew why he forgot and left her at an out of state wedding. Levi is overwhelmed with taking care of his wheelchair bound sister Abigail and paying her medical bills. Abigail convinces Levi that they need Elsie to help her with her household chores and to organize Levi's business. I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher. This is my honest and voluntarily given review. I think this book is for a younger audience than me. I really like that the book contained humor and biblical quotes that tied well in the story. I was surprised that Elsie's family allowed her to work with Levi since they witnessed a passionate kiss between them. I really like how hard of hearing George kept them in line at the saltwater taffy outing. There is also a sweet secondary romance. For me, this story was overlong and dragged for me. I grew tired of Levi either avoiding Elsie or kissing her passionately. This was a book that I almost didn't finish.

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The Amish Christmas Gift by Laura Hilton is the story of Elsie Miller and Levi Wyse; They were a dating before a misunderstanding caused them to break up. Now much later they are brought back together by the request of Levi's sister for Elsie to be the elf to him and to get him organized. It is a very touching story, and a wonderful ending.

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The Amish Christmas Gift is a sweet and amusing Amish Christmas story with proliferation of peppermint, a toy train time limit, an absentminded Amishman, icky ice cream, a familial matchmaker, and an executive elf. The perfect romance for this holiday season… Lisa

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This book is part of a series: Hidden Springs by Laura V. Hilton. Levi kept a secret that was destroying everything he loved and cherished. Elsie suffered the consequences.



The book is a little more suggestive than most Amish books I have read. I still enjoyed the characters and the storyline. How could you not like Amish George or sweet Abigail?



Christmas was just around the corner. I enjoyed the premise of the holiday season and the fun of family and friends getting to celebrate together. When have you ever experienced a taffy pull? It made me think of a time when my Dad and Mom made homemade candy. It became quite messy and they were in a rush to get it done. I think I was around 12 but I can remember it as if it was yesterday.

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Elsie's inability to keep a job was quite humorous. She was, apparently, a bit of a klutz. And too nice to not be taken advantage of. And didn't know much about things you aren't supposed to put in a microwave... Despite her seeming lack of marketable talent, Elsie's heart was big and she was an organizational whiz. She was the type of woman who enjoyed bringing order out of chaos.

Enter Levi. His broken heart and the guilt he carried escalated his forgetfulness to extreme levels. This poor, broken man had a heart full of kindness and yet his burdens were far too heavy for him to carry. Because God never intended us to carry our own sin!

I loved Levi's kindness to his disabled sister, Abigail. He had a very hard time saying no to her about anything - especially because he blamed himself for her confinement to a wheelchair.

When circumstances bring Elise and Levi back together so she can be an assistant to Levi and his sister, sparks fly as they both attempt to deal with feelings of resentment, insufficiency, and repressed love.

The Amish Christmas Gift is full of surprises and quirky characters who make an appearance as well. "Amish George" is quite the riot! I especially liked him and Elsie's younger brother, Noah.

I have read many stories by Laura V. Hilton and always enjoy the plot and the way she integrates the Gospel message with serious heart issues and fun romance. The faith message Levi learned is all about forgiveness. Elsie had to learn to trust God - that He knows best and has good plans for His children.

While the story was clean, I was surprised at the level of passion it contained. Levi spent quite a bit of time dreaming about kissing Elsie and had to restrain himself from thinking about her in ways that are more intimate as well. Their kisses were much more passionate and touchy than I'm comfortable with. I would have appreciated the longing and the kisses to be toned down a bit.

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What a delightful book! I enjoyed reading this so much and definitely recommend it for lovers of Amish and Christmas books.

A sweet romance filled with lots of emotions as characters develop and redevelop relationships. Add in some tragedies, and intrigue, along with comedy that actually had me laughing out loud and my husband questioning what I was finding so funny. You don’t want to miss this book!

Thanks to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley for the advanced copy. The opinions expressed are my own.

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