This was an enjoyable quick read. A reunion story which is always one of my favorites. Josh left the south to fight for the North during the Civil War, but Angel was left to live through the destruction when the army came through Savannah. With most of her family gone because of the war, she can't forgive Josh for going North. But when her brother is sick, Josh is the only person that can save him. Can these two get passed their differences?

Ever imagine what Savannah, Georgia would be like the Christmas after the Civil War ended? Kat Martin’s short novel tells just that. Angel is trying to make thing work with her young brother and Aunt when her former beau comes back to the area as a Union soldier and doctor. ARC from NetGalley.

It’s 1865, the Civil War has just ended, but for Angela “Angel” Summers life in Savannah is still a tragedy she’s trying to overcome. Both parents are gone, her father dead in the battle of Shiloh and her mother wasted away with grief after his loss. Now it’s just her young brother, Willie, their Aunt Ida and Serge the family caretaker living at Summer’s End and scraping together enough to get by. Angel goes to town for supplies one day and meets up with a face she never thought she’d see again, and isn’t sure she wants to…Joshua Coltrane…former neighbor, turned Yankee who left her behind when he chose to turn traitor.

Josh is a doctor who chose to fight for the North because his mother was from the North and he did not believe in slavery. It’s been a difficult time for him both during the war and now that he’s returned home to Savannah. He’s running the military hospital and has just learned that the train carrying all of the hospital’s medical supplies has been derailed and looted. The townspeople are not keen on helping him get the supplies back to the hospital and so he asks Angel to assist him. Josh still loves her but he knows he’s still fighting an uphill battle with his heart where Angel is concerned.

Angel refuses to help a “Yankee traitor”. But her traitorous heart still harbors feelings for the man she once knew and loved. Only a tragic accident makes Angel see that getting the necessary medicines and bandages back to the hospital can set things right. But will it also set her feelings right for Josh once again?

Love and Christmas set against the backdrop of the Civil War’s end and told with a light touch. Heartwarming and inspirational for the holidays!

This was a historical book and I normally love this author but this book was ok. So we meet Angel who is scrounging looking for supplies for her and her family to be able to survive. On a errand to gather more things she bumps into the love of her live Josh a doctor, these two had plans for the future when the war broke out and Josh fought for the union, and Angel never forgave him. Now he is trying to help out the soldiers who are hurt and trying to get back home when the train that are carrying necessary items is derailed and he is trying to get the people to help him without much success, even Angel didn't want to help so I found her name or the title of the book misleading, any hoo eventually she does help and they rekindle their love.

“Christmas Angel” by Kat Martin is set in Post-Civil War Savannah. Angel Summer is left on the family plantation with her young brother, their Negro butler Serge and the Summers aunt, Ida Summers-Dixon. Their supplies are dwindling and they are living off the land at this point.

She ventures into town to pick up a few sundries and meets the love of her previous life, Dr. Josh Coltrane. At one time they were in love and planned a life together until the war broke out and Josh decided to fight for the Union. Angel never forgave him. Now he is back working as a doctor at the military hospital in town.

Angry Southerners have just derailed a train bound for Savannah with medical supplies among the other goods. Josh needs these supplies to tend the Union soldiers who were unable to return home because of their injuries. He tries to enlist the help of some of the townspeople to get back those supplies. Angel refuses to help him because of their past.

Eventually, she relents and begins helping out at the hospital herself and scrambling to find the medical supplies that they so sorely need. Of course, the two of them rekindle their love and find happiness again.

I enjoyed the story, although it was a bit predictable in its delivery. This is a typical historical romance, not really based on any real history, but drawing from that time period to write a novel.

3* Hard for this author to condense her historicals into such short a novel for the holidays.

I love this author's historical tales, her contemp ones not so much. This had all the makings of a solid historical novel, but it felt rushed and there was no mystery or angst to it, due to the length, that prevented much development. The length of the tale didn't do this author's talents justice, and yet it was still a very readable tale.

It had the elements - lovers parted, with huge distance between them, circumstances that seem to conspire to get them together, a little Xmas do-gooding and the good that's inherent in people coming to the fore, so that all things work out. What's not to like?

ARC courtesy of Kensington (Zebra) Books and NetGalley, for my reading pleasure.