Book Review: Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball by Donita K. Paul

Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball
Donita K. Paul
WaterBrook Press, a division of Random House, 2010
ISBN 9780307458995
Hardcover
I first encountered Donita Paul as a writer of children’s fantasy, fantasy with a definite Christian undertone (or overtone, I’m not sure which is better).  I listened to her book Dragonspell, and loved it.  So I looked for more by Ms. Paul and encountered another genre.  Paul also writes Christian romance.  Two Tickets is a novella in this genre.

It’s Christmas and Cora Crowder just can’t get into any kind of Christmas spirit.  None of it feels right.  She’s a relatively new Christian, with minimal support in the city.  Her family puts the “fun” in dysfunctional, so they are more of a downer than anyone needs.

Simon Derrick is the serious man who is the boss of Cora’s boss at work.  They really don’t know each other until they are both at the same odd bookstore at the same time.  They also both receive tickets to a well-kept secret: The Sage Street Annual Christmas Ball.  Neither really has any intention of going.  This is a romance, so the reader knows better.

Paul writes a believable love story about two people from varying backgrounds, united by their faith.  She manages to interweave fairies and wizards into this faith without a great deal of hoopla and uproar; all things are possible.  While reading this, I was reminded a great deal of Grace Livingston Hill’s work (updated quite a bit) and also of the works of Emilie Loring.  Fans of either author should be happy to read Ms. Paul, if they haven’t already.

Reviewed by P.J. Coldren, April 2011.

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May 11, 2011  Tags: , , , ,   Posted in: Full Reviews

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