REVIEW: A Callahan Carol by Emily March/Geralyn Dawson (FREE)

4 of 5 Stars

'"I’ll miss having Santa Claus on Christmas morning.”

“I know. But growing up, growing old, is part of life. It’s okay to be a little bittersweet about what’s gone before, but there’s a better way to look at it. A way you and I especially should look at it.”

“What’s that?”

She cupped his face in her hands and smiled up at him, her gorgeous green eyes warm and loving as she said, “To quote John’s favorite philosopher Dr. Seuss: ‘Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.’” 

Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.'

A Callahan Carol was a lovely and touching story to finish off my reading challenge for 2011.

It is a FREE short story available from Emily March’s website, but here’s a Direct Link To Get "A Callahan Carol"

It was released in December 2010, before the release of Emily March’s first book in the Eternity Springs series, Angel’s Rest.

Emily March had previously written under the name of Geralyn Dawson and had a series called the Callahan Brothers with the heroes being Matthew, Mark, and Luke Callahan. Geralyn Dawson had gone through a writing funk and was seriously contemplating throwing in the towel to her writing career. But then, John Gabriel Callahan, the fourth Callahan brother, wouldn’t leave her alone, and his story was eventually told under a new pseudonym of Emily March in a new series, Eternity Springs, and a change/rebirth to the author’s writing.

I haven’t yet read the Callahan Brothers series or anything written under Geralyn Dawson, but I’ve really connected with Emily March’s Eternity Springs series, and after reading this Christmas novella, I’m very excited to read the Callahan books.

This novella is a tale of Branch Callahan, the head of the Callahan family of Brazos Bend, Texas, who has become a "Scrooge" after the loss of his wife, years ago, and then the news of the presumed death of his youngest son, John. It has been three years and they have not heard from John. Branch has lost hope that he ever will. As another Christmas approached with no news from John, Branch has decided to cancel the Callahan tradition of the Christmas “Wonderland” outside the Callahan House. 

A Callahan Carol is a spin on Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol, and is a heartwarming Christmas novella. We see Celeste Blessing from Eternity Springs “A Little Piece of Heaven” working her magic. This is a tale of forgiveness, hope, faith and love. I got teary reading this novella and my heart ached for Branch Callahan and the whole Callahan family and the pain they had suffered over the years. But at the end of this tale, I was enveloped in a wonderful feeling of Hope and Love … that feeling that for me IS … CHRISTMAS.

The Callahan Christmas Wonderland...

Celeste Blessing, the angel of Eternity Springs...
 

CHRISTMAS = HOPE + LOVE...