An Amish Christmas Quilt

This sweet anthology celebrates Christmas in three different Amish communities. It’s easy to sympathize with Beckstrand’s Dottie in “A Perfect Amish Christmas”; she’s so consumed with giving her mother a perfect Christmas that she forgets her family just wants to spend time with her. Long’s “A Christmas on Ice Mountain” is the Amish version of Romeo and Juliet (though less star-crossed) as Matthew and Laurel look for their happy ending despite their fathers’ ongoing feud. In Hubbard’s “A Willow Ridge Christmas Pageant,” young widow Mary tries to get away from her father’s overbearing manner to take care of her little family. Each story has plenty of laughing and joking as well as jealous outbursts, teasing, and passion. The three portrayals of Amish life differ slightly, but the patchwork mix will keep readers toasty warm this winter. (Nov.)