Book Review For Christmas Roses by Amanda Cabot

This is a sweet clean romantic story that takes place in 1882 around Christmas time in the small copper mining community of Easton in the Wyoming Territory.

The protagonist is Celia. She is a recent widow with a six-month-old baby girl named Emma. She operates a boarding house, prepares meals for a couple of local men, and helps care for a young boy named Aaron hoping to make enough money for her and her baby daughter to survive. Celia loves roses and uses them abundantly in her décor. Three different men develop romantic interests in her but she’s not certain she will ever by ready to marry again.

Jacob Bender is the man who pays Celia to care for his young boy Aaron while he is at work. He and Aaron eat their meals at Celia’s boarding house. Jacob makes comments to Celia such as, “We work well together,” “We’re a good team,” “Aaron needs a mother,” and “Emma needs a father.” He also informed her that he was thinking about a mail-order bride. Aaron tells Celia things like “I love you“ and “I want you to be my ma.”

Frank Tyson is the owner of Easton’s general store and regularly eats supper at Celia’s boarding house. He has a romantic interest in Celia and brought her a tin of oysters as a token of his affection. He gifted her a crumb tray for Christmas.

Mark Williams is the new man in town. He is a twenty-six-year-old carpenter and wood carver who is traveling in search of his father who had left him when he was a baby. Mark ends up staying in Celia’s boarding house. He helps her ill baby who had the croup and was struggling to breathe. He anticipated Celia’s needs around the house and made it a point to help out. He chopped wood, brought in fresh water, made her shelves, etc. Mark shows a bit of an anger streak but grows to like Celia and Emma. However, he wasn’t planning on staying around as he was just their searching for his father. For Christmas, Mark made a wooden rocking horse with a wreath of roses around its neck for Emma and he carved a small wooden box and a Christmas rose pendant for Celia.

I enjoyed reading this book and seeing how these three different men tried to woo Celia—each in their own way. It was sweet, humous, and uplifting. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a clean holiday romance who enjoys Christian and historical fiction genres. I give it a solid 4 stars.