Part of the Quilts of Love series, the story starts
with
the Christmas lights being switched on in Hollings, North
Carolina. Taryn McKenna is shepherding young relatives.
Later she brings them to warm up in the town hall where
handcrafts are being sold to tourists; everyone wants to
be
QUILTED BY CHRISTMAS.
Justin Callahan left town years ago for the Army, but now
he drops back to blend with the crowd; as soon as Taryn
spots him he knows this was a mistake. Her stricken eyes
haunt him as he departs. Taryn believes that he's on leave
but in fact he's coming home for good. To distract herself
Taryn concentrates on helping her aged grandmother Jemma
with quilt making. Her quilts for sale are sewn on a
machine but family gifts are stitched by hand. A half-made
wedding quilt in the Irish family tradition has been
stored
in the attic - Taryn has a sneaking suspicion that it was
meant for her. She'd hoped to marry Justin, but she had
such a row with him over his enlistment that there is no
reconciliation possible.
Strong issues are hidden by the deceptively gentle scenes
of women sewing fabric, and by the references to pine tree
scent and baking gingerbread. Taryn lost her mother early,
and her father was determined that she was not going to
tie
down a young man the way that he felt he had been trapped
and tied. Devoid of support, she saw the young man she
cared about leave her life. Times were different then.
Now
she's got her own mortgage, and doesn't need a man.
Grandmother Jemma takes a turn, and she's going to need
good care as well as the community's prayers.
Justin turns out to be refreshingly normal and doesn't
mind
saying that being able to sew hems earned him a lot of
favour in the army. He never knew the pressures Taryn was
under when he enlisted. Now all his memories of town are
of
eleven years ago, and recalling them makes him seem
younger. I liked Justin a lot and was pleased that he was
coming home to help his father, not to do gung-ho black
ops
or security work.
Jodie Bailey's carefully pieced-together QUILTED BY
CHRISTMAS is an inspirational romance with a hard edge of
truths underlying the softness. Some readers may find the
multilayered story sparks discussions of life choices
which
are better spoken about than hidden. I consider this
writing to savour and will be looking for more from Jodie
Bailey.
Taryn McKenna believes she’s easy to forget. Abandoned by
her parents and left behind when her high school sweetheart
joined the army, she vows to never love again and throws
herself into her love for the outdoors and the pursuit of a
college degree—something no one else in her family has ever
accomplished. Her goal, as a young teacher in the hills of
North Carolina, is to leave a legacy in the lives of the
middle-schoolers she teaches.
When Taryn’s
grandmother Jemma, the only other person who ever held her
close, has a heart attack that reveals a fatal medical
condition, Taryn is corralled into helping Grandma work on a
final project—an Irish chain quilt that tells the story of
her history and the love Jemma knows is out there for Taryn.
As the pieces of the quilt come together, Taryn begins to
see her value. Can she learn to believe that God will never
leave her behind even though others have?
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