Christmas at Carnton

Recently widowed, pregnant, out of work, and facing the foreclosure of her home, Aletta Prescott is desperate to find a new job that will allow her to support herself and her six-year-old son.  She eventually finds a short-term position working with the Women's Relief Society auction, but has to work alongside and depend on a wounded soldier also assigned to the auction.  Will Aletta learn to trust God to supply her needs when her temporary position at Carnton ends?  Will she have the courage to give her heart away after it has so recently been broken?  

Wounded confederate sharpshooter Jake Winston begrudgingly takes an assignment working with the Women's Relief Society while he waits for his vision to recover from a serious head injury.  Wishing  he was back on the battlefield with his unit, Jake must learn to define himself outside his rank and occupation.  Will his friendship with Aletta show Jake that he still has value?  Is he willing to risk forming attachments when the war still seems far from over? 

In her typical fashion, Tamera Alexander tells a lovely story full of fascinating historical detail in Christmas as Carnton.  While the plot was a bit predictable-- even with the supposed twists toward the end-- Jake and Aletta's characters were beautifully written and compelling to explore.  I loved Aletta's gumption and Alexander's feminist undertones woven throughout the story.  Why can't a woman build a nativity set?  Jake's struggle to accept the end of his sharpshooting career and the guilt he feels being away from the battlefield was equally interesting.  As a matter of personal taste, I would have preferred that Aletta hadn't been quite so recently widowed.  One month seems like an awfully short amount of time to have recovered from the death of her spouse to the point that she feels as drawn to Jake as she was.  Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this introduction to Alexander's upcoming series set at Carnton, and cannot wait for more! 

 I received a free copy from the publisher.  No review, positive or otherwise, was required—all opinions are my own.