ONE IMPERFECT CHRISTMAS by Myra Johnson

If you are looking for a fun and lighthearted Christmas romance, then this story is one you might not want to read right now.  Although it definitely has a Christmas theme to it, it was a story of how a family struggles through a very difficult time in their life.  It was very well written and showed that even a family who thinks they "have it together" can face some real struggles when tragedy strikes.

Natalie and Daniel are raising their one child and working and life seems to be going about in a normal fashion.  Then one day Natalie finds herself getting a phone call that her Mom is in the hospital with a stroke and because no one found her for awhile her prognosis for recovery is not good.  Natalie blames herself for this as she turned down her mother's request to come over to the house and help her the day it happened.  Now Natalie is pulling away from her husband and her family and can't seem to come to grips with her life.  She thinks working hard all the time will help but it ends up separating her from her husband and daughter.  Can anyone or anything get through to Natalie?

I thought the author did a good job of getting into the minds of each family member and helping you to understand their thought processes.  I was a little upset with Natalie and her failure to see what she was doing to her family.  I felt sorry for the daughter who was trying so hard to keep her folks together.  And I wished that Daniel could have tried a little harder to help Natalie.  It was a good but difficult ending to a very somber story.  Love and forgiveness go hand in hand and life is not easy sometimes, but God is faithful and when we take our eyes off ourselves and put them on Him, we can make it through those hard times and come out stronger.