The Gift of Christmas Past - by Cindy Woodsmall & Erin Woodsmall

About the book:

Arson wasn't the only fire that ignited between them. 
Promises shattered.
Lies spoken.
She was arrested.
He returned to the safety of his wealthy parents.

Almost ten years later, Hadley and Monroe are both specialists in the field of speech therapy. They meet again . . . thrown together to help a four-year-old-girl rendered mute after being rescued from a fire.

Years of secrets and anger beg to be set free as Hadley and Monroe try to push aside past hurts and find common ground in order to help the traumatized child and her family.

Can the love of Christmas past drift into the present, bringing healing and hope for all?

My review:

I really enjoyed this interesting story set in the world of speech therapy!  I have a friend who's a speech therapist so I know a little bit about it but I still learned more about causes and techniques and it was fascinating!  I also really liked the unique focus on grown-up foster children and what some of the difficulties were growing up in the system.  I really felt for Hadley and her friends Elliott and Tara as they struggled with feelings of abandonment, anger and helplessness when they were teens and even into their adult years due to how their parents treated them and even due to how other adults sometimes treated them.  I admired Hadley's drive to become a speech therapist and Elliott's becoming an LPN and all of the hard work it took to make it on their own.  They supported each other and took their neighbors under their wing and created their own family.  They both had a strong faith, though I would have liked a little more background on how that came about.  There were some frustrating moments as I just wanted the truth to come out about Hadley and Monroe's past and Monroe's parents were also quite the pair but there was definitely a satisfying end to the story.  There was a little bit of romance between some couples.  Overall, this was a satisfying and sweet read for Christmas.  I recommend it!

I received this book free from the Woodsmalls in exchange for an honest review.