4.5* Hope and Faith Stars

This was a beautiful heartfelt Christian story about two women, Joan and Lauren set in different time periods. Joan’s story begins in 1972 where we are introduced to her and her close-knit family and newly married Lauren in 2012 where she is about to begin a family.

Both women are surrounded by caring families, strong friendships and an abundance of love. Their journey towards each other starts with a Kitchen Table that was painstaking built by Joan’s husband John for her as she battled breast cancer. 40 years later the table has made its way into the home of Lauren and her husband Travis. When a secret drawer is discovered a stack of recipe cards are found, all handwritten and personalised to a loved one, Lauren is inspired to cook using them and feels a strong desire to return them to their rightful owner. As Laurens search begins, new friends are made, and life lessons are learnt.

The ending of the book was so perfect and beautiful, I felt so happy and content.

Every Christmas I anxiously await the latest book from Ms VanLiere. After the Christmas Shoes I was hooked. Her books leave you wet with tears but also very hopeful. The Christmas Table did not disappoint. This story introduces you to two families the Creighton family in 1972 and the Mabrey family in 2012. And you guessed it the table is what joins these two families together. The table and some incredible family recipes. This story has some surprises along the way and also gives hope. Also you will realize that sometimes the answers we are searching for are right under our noses. Read this story this Christmas and if you haven't read the others read them as well and like me wait for the next one next Christmas. We can all use a little hope in our lives.

Comfort food! That is exactly what this book is... comfort food with reading mixed in!
Lauren buys a kitchen table is 2012 that has been refinished, after getting it home, her husband finds a secret drawer containing a families old recipes mixed with family stories.
John makes his wife a table in 1972 as she is battling cancer.
I absolutely loved this book and the seamless way it drifted between the two families and time periods.
While it is listed as A Christmas book, this was so much more. The power of love, family, friendships and beliefs!

The Christmas Table by Donna VanLiere is a lovely women's fiction story that kept me turning the pages throughout the afternoon.

The story is about two women, one in 1972 and one in 2012, and their lives as they experience life surrounded by family, friends, love and faith. Ms. VanLiere's writing is poignant and descriptive throughout the story. The plot is smooth and the characters develop organically and become people who I would love to call friends. The recipes shared between mother and daughter all sounded delicious and some of them were included at the end of the book. A Christmas story that links two women from different generations by a black walnut table and family recipes.

Donna VanLiere does it again with another FANTASTIC holiday feel good read! I love this book and how the past and present collide! I love the recipes shared and the way the mother tells a story with each one! Want a great way to start off your holiday season? Read this book!!!

I received an advanced reader copy of this book and am voluntarily reviewing it.

The Christmas Table by Donna VanLiere is a heartwarming book about family, marriage, and the power of love. Told across two time frames, 1972 and 2012, two families are brought together by a table, food, and recipes. This book has a faith-based lens (centered in Christianity), though it is with a light touch.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book for an unbiased review. All thoughts are my own.

What a delightful, inspiring book! It left me wanting to know what happened next. If you have ever experienced "that" Christmas that you will never forget, you will identify with this story.

Donna VanLiere has become one of my go to authors for great reads here recently. I always enjoy her heartfelt stories that draw you into them and make you feel like you are a part of the story. These characters are so warm and loving that it makes you feel like you are part of their families and they are part of yours.

I love the way that this story is written where we go from 1972 to 2012 and get both sides of the story. In 1972, Joan's husband is determined to build her a kitchen table because she has always wanted one. When John starts out on the table he is apprehensive because he has never built anything bigger than a picture frame. John is just going to take his time and get it done though.

When Lauren finds out she is pregnant, the ladies that she is with everyday pitch in and help her get her home ready for the baby. Lauren finds a table at a local furniture builders shop that he picked up at a garage sale and talks him into selling it to her. When Lauren gets the table home she discovers that there is a hidden drawer with lots of recipes in it. With Lauren being in foster homes for most of her life, she never had the chance to be taught how to cook. Lauren decides that she is going to go by these recipes and teach herself how to cook. These recipes are very detailed and easy to follow.

Lauren loves the way that there is a memory written along with the recipe to the daughter of the woman writing them. They all have a very special memory for them. When Joan gets cancer, John has to spend some of his time that he wanted to work on the table to get it done for Thanksgiving taking care of her and their two kids. Joan tries her best to keep going and loves to cook with her two kids as well. How she kept going on is amazing!

I loved getting lost in this story with Joan, John, Lauren and all the ladies that helped her get her home together. Lauren decides that she is determined to find out if this family is still around and to get these recipes back to who they were originally intended for. Her search has some detours but she is persistent. Will Lauren find what she is looking for? Such a great read!

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book and all opinions are my own. Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for an advanced copy of this book.

The Christmas Table by Donna VanLiere is one of many in a long line of Christmas themed books she has written over the years. I've read a few here and there not realizing that it was, more or less, a series. It is, however, one of those series that features a different person in each book so that you can read them as a stand alone feature. Some of the characters will be familiar if you have read her other books and some are newly introduced. Regardless, it is an endearing story featuring a dual timeline, the 1970s and 2012, a kitchen table and recipes that have been lovingly  written for someone's daughter. How the two timeline's merge and the importance of the table is beautifully told and intertwined. I loved the story, thought it was wonderfully and carefully written and enjoyed the recipes at the end of the tale.

I was not forewarned that VanLiere's books are Christian based and I think it is important to know this. There are many people who celebrate the holidays, Christmas, or who are religious but do not believe the same way as others. In this particular book it wasn't so overt that I felt uncomfortable, but I do wish these types of books were marked accordingly. That said, I did like the book and do recommend it for your holiday reading.


Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for my copy of #TheChristmasTable.

The Christmas Table by Donna VanLiere was an interesting Christian based read spanning dual-timelines linking two families through a table. This was my first time reading anything from Ms. VanLiere and I found it to be quite different and very enjoyable.

An ARC was generously provided in exchange for an honest review of which this is both honest and completely voluntary.

The well written storyline and the wonderfully created characters made this book a very enjoyable and entertaining read!

I love the idea of Christmas in July. It just brings me a warm and fuzzy feeling! So, I picked up a Christmas book.

This story is presented in dual time settings. One in 1972 and one in 2012. In 1972 John decides to make a special table for his wife Joan and their two children and hopes to have it finished before Christmas. In 2012 newly married couple Travis and Lauren purchase a refurbished table for their home. Underneath the table they find a secret drawer that houses some handwritten recipe cards.

I loved the idea of the recipes bringing the families together. I was so delighted that the author included some of them at the end of the book! I did not even know that a Chocolate Chip Cheeseball existed! I made this for my family as a treat and they loved it! I also can't wait to try Aunt Dee Dee's Peanut Butter Fudge! It sounds delicious. I think Christmas might be extra "tasty" this year!

This was a heartwarming and faith-based story that touched my heart. I thoroughly enjoyed how the stories intertwined. I really could see this as a very sweet Christmas movie! It truly was a treat to read! (Honourable mention to this cover that I just love.)

Thank-you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for kindly granting me access to this Advanced Reader Copy.

I loved this story. I think this is a story I could read every year. Ms. VanLiere brings such emotion to her stories. She takes the reader on the highs and lows of the characters. The cast of characters in this story was really eclectic. The story switches back and forth between a 40 year period; 1972 & 2012, and the trials and tribulations of two young couples (Joan and John & Lauren and Travis) that are each connected; by chance, by a set of family recipe cards. The story unfolds in a steady manner and the reader is drawn into the lives of these couples from such different circumstances. I like how the author brings faith into the story, in my mind, as a side-character. Always there, but not always seen.
If you like stories that make you laugh and cry, involve families in it's many different definitions, and you don't mind talk of Faith and God; then, I believe you would like this book. Reading the last few pages left me so uplifted in the human spirit.

A sweet easy read. Two storylines that meld over recipes and a beautiful table presented at Christmas.
Themes of friendship, family and faith are woven throughout this story that made me smile.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Oh I like this book! It is the life of a custom made table. Every other chapter tells the story of the family that the table originally owns it. The story tells of the family crisis taking place during the time the husband is making the table. The other chapters tell the story of a young couple that needs a table and finds a stack of recipes inside the table drawer of the table that been refinished. The young couple searches for the original owner as they use the recipes to learn to cook. What a heart warming ending. It warmed my heart. I do clean outs, downsizing and estate work. Those family treasures I haul away always tug at my heart. I always hold on to them for months in hopes a family will want them back. I suppose that is why this story was such a winner for me.

The Christmas Table by Donna VanLiere, published by St. Martin's Press, is a heart warming, stand alone, romance novel that gave me all the feels and brought me right into the holiday mind. The storyline follows two families in two time tables. It all started in the 1970ties, only to peak in the 2012ths.
The story jumps between the to timelines and it took me a minute to get accosted to, but then , yes I greatly enjoyed this sweet, peaceful, low on drama beautifully thought out, beautifully told and beautifully written read.
And as goody, I found wonderful recipes that I had to try out and all I'm saying is: yummy, yummy.

A very emotional story. It really pulls at the heart strings. I cried more then once reading this story. But I also laughed too. It’s full of family, friends and life lessons. It’s about never giving up!

I received a copy of THE CHRISTMAS TABLE on NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to the author and publisher for this opportunity.

Five stars and here’s why:

HOLY MOLY. I was hooked from page one and it became so much more than just a Christmas story. It’s about two families and switches between 1972 to 2012, and the link is the table. I don’t want to give the plot away, but the writing is excellent, the stories of both families very compelling, and honestly, this book was just what I needed to give me all the feels. If you love excellent writing with a side of family drama, then this book is for you. Very satisfying story. Highly recommend!

Wow. I wasn’t sure about the two different time periods in one story but it was SO touching. And amazing. Truly a holiday story that will stay with me holiday season after holiday season.

John’s and Joan’s story broke my heart a bit, with all they had to endure and experience. What got to me was John’s never wavering devotion to Joan. Thru thick and thin, he was there for her – even if in private he doubted his own strength, to give her the love and support he knew she would need; would it be enough? Part of their journey is John’s attempts at making a table…it becomes a strong symbol in the story.

And Lauren and Trravis… They are about to have a baby! Her husband is as strong for her as John is for Joan. Lauren has had a hard childhood and doesn’t know how good of a mother she can be. But her friends at Glory’s Place – who are a hoot, btw – show her how love and faith can get her where she needs to be in life.

Although there was a faith slant to the story, I didn’t think it was heavy-handed. This book got to me; made a lasting impression as most of this author’s stories do. The end was pretty funny, too. Not in a hah-hah way but more of a ‘who woulda thunk?’ I recommend this book for your holiday shopping list to lift your spirits or those of your friends and family.

A sweet heartwarming tale that shows the love between family members in 2 different families many years apart.
In the 1970s, John created a table for his young wife Joan, who decided to learn how to cook for her family like her mom Eventually when her daughter Gigi married John and Joan gifted her the table.
The tale is back and forth between the two families that had possesio of the table.
Newlyweds Lauren and Travis got the table from the man who refinished it for their new home and Lauren learned how to make a family from the loving recipe cards that were found in the table's drawer, she'd grown up in foster care and was afraid she'd never be a good mom.
Lauren worked in a daycare and the women there had become her family and support.
The characters are all loving, caring, good people helping each other out and supporting both couples through their difficult times.
This is a truly uplifting tale with a sweet ending and I recommend it heartily to all. It would be an excellent choice for a Hallmark Christmas movie. Includes delicious sounding recipes.
I requested and received a NetGalley ARC to peruse gratis and offer my opinion the same.