I look forward to Donna VanLiere's Christmas Hope book each year. These stories always have a great message and are well written family based stories. This year we have a dual-timeline story that comes together nicely in the end. With Lauren Mabrey recently discovering she is pregnant, she is dealing with monetary issues in preparing for the new arrival in 2012. She is gifted a table from friends for her kitchen. When it is refurbished, she finds recipe cards in a hidden drawer and she begins to learn to cook. The other timeline is 1972, when John Creighton is determined to build his wife Joan a kitchen table. With Joan being diagnosed with cancer, the table gets put on the back burner while dealing with her worsening illness. Lauren is sure that whoever owned the table and the recipe cards will want them back is both she and her husband follow clues to find the original owners of the table.

This story finds us back at Glory's Place where there are both new and familiar characters. The warmth, generosity and caring of the people who live and work in their town shines through. I loved hearing about the recipes and the comments put on the cards, it reminded me of the recipes I received from my mom, grandma and mother-in-law. This is not a fast paced story, but a story of love, sharing and caring. A story that shows the toil a serious illness takes on a family. A story that deals with the magic of Christmas and how determination can help someone achieve a goal. This is a wonderful Christian based Christmas story showing how the power of prayer can make the difference in a situation. Although this is part of the Christmas Hope series, you do not need to read them all to enjoy this one. I definitely recommend this one.

Wow! I have read all of Donna’s Christmas books and this is one of my favorites. I fell right in love with the characters and the story. The setting and atmosphere are perfect for the Christmas season. Each member of the town has their own little piece to add to the story.
I really enjoyed about days gone by and how one wife was learning how to cook like her Mom and using her recipes. Then how another generation was just starting their family and own traditions and even though there are big differences were still connected through a simple table and traditions.
I look forward to Donna’s books every year.

Such a sweet holiday tale. Just the kind of book I love to read around the holidays.

This is a story of a Christmas table and how it brought happiness to two different families with the help of recipes handed down from mother to daughter.

Lauren and Travis are just starting out together and Lauren finds a table for their home. Inside the table she finds a stack of recipes. Once she realizes that the recipes probably weren’t meant to be given away she starts her search for the owner of the table and recipes.

We learn about Lauren and Travis, new in their life together and also Joan and John, who built the table.

I have loved books in this series beginning with The Christmas Shoes and will continue reading them at Christmas

I received this book in exchange for my honest opinion

This was a heartwarming storie, that revolved around two families and a kitchen table. One family made the table and the other family just happened to buy it years later. It itwines the families with what they are both going through. I would read another book by this author.


*** I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review**

A fantastisch Story about two families. They live in different times, ohne in the past and ohne Right now. The have similar lives and through old recepies in a table they come together. This Book is written with a lot of love and understanding.

THE CHRISTMAS TABLE - Donna VanLiere

#10 in the Christmas Hope series

Sweet and inspirational - 4 stars

Plot - 4 stars - There are actual two stories here, both relating to a home-made table containing some family recipes. We follow the first family who used them and built the table, then we meet the current couple who are also being inspired to cook.

Writing - 4 stars - Although VanLiere is sometimes so sweet that my teeth hurt, I still end up smiling and feeling good about the world, so that's a win for me.

Characters - Her characters are engaging. In this case, Lauren and Travis are a newly-married couple (from the previous book) who are expecting their first child. As she gets closer to the birth, Lauren discovers some recipes in a table, and she starts learning how to cook/bake, building her own special traditions. At the same time, we meet Joan and John (the original owners of the table) as they face some difficult times in their lives as Christmas approaches.

Title - 4 stars - Clear, concise, it tells us the basis of the story.

Cover - 4 stars - Lovely wintry picture, deep colors to draw the eye, and a warm look through the window at a family table.

Overall - 4 stars - This was just what I was looking for--a gentle, warm, and loving Christmas story. So many holiday books nowadays focus on "reality," often stressful and depressing, but this one was very inviting. I found myself drawn into the family dramas, especially that of Joan and John as they faced a difficult situation. The happy ending was sweet and satisfying.

This was such a sweet book. This is a quick and heartwarming story that is set across dual timelines. It features a special table that brings people together at Christmas time. In 1972 John decides to make a special table for his wife Joan and his kids. In 2012, Travis and Lauren, a newlywed couple buy the table in hopes of refurbishing it. They find a secret drawer under the table filled with handwritten recipe cards.

This was such a heartwarming and faith filled book. I loved the dual timelines and how the story intertwined. This book would make an amazing Christmas movie! This is a short book and can be finished in a day or two. It is a Christian story with a powerful message of the power of healing. I loved this book, and would highly recommend it!

A simply wonderful Christmas story. Told from two different time frames, one that will pull at your heart strings and one that will make you smile. However it is a book full of the love and closeness of family and friends. I’ve been a fan of Donna Vanliere for years. #NetGalley # TheChristmasTable

What an emotional journey The Christmas Table turned out to be for me.

Told in two different timeframes, by two different women facing far different lives – still, the connections they will share through the recipes discovered in the drawer of a refurbished kitchen table will pierce your heart one moment and bring a smile the very next.

Since the Cover Description Blurb already tells you much of this story I don’t really want to go into any more details. I’m simply going to say that although I’ve read and enjoyed other books in the Christmas Hope series, this one will stay with me long, long after I closed that final page. Joan and Lauren became very alive, flesh women to me as I got lost in their story. They and their emotions, their difficulties, and their joys mattered – and I enjoyed every moment spent with them. Vague? Yes, but you should discover the details first-hand.

I enjoyed The Christmas Table immensely and will be re-reading it again in my yearly Christmas stories collection re-read marathon.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher, St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

Title: The Christmas Table
Author: Donna VanLiere

Ch: 30

Pg: 231

Series: Christmas Hope

Genre: Christmas

Rating: 3.5 stars

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press



This sweet Christmas story from the author who brought us the Christmas Shoes. I just knew that this one would make me laugh, make me cry and celebrate the season. I look forward to her books every year and this year was no different.





I received a copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.

The stories of two women switch back and forth during two different times across a black walnut table in The Christmas Table by Donna VanLiere. Joan Creighton, in May 1972, watches her husband John take the wood from his pickup truck with her daughter Gigi who is five and son Christopher who is one. She hears his goal of a kitchen table by October although he has never built anything except frames before.

Joan is gob smacked when she learns she has breast cancer. She makes learning to cook part of her own therapy and an attempt to leave her children something to remember other than her intensifying illness, using her mother’s recipes with personal notes.

The time frame for John lengthens as Joan’s treatments for cancer that spreads to her lungs sabotages his time and their spirits, but he persists in between caring for her and the children. The date becomes Thanksgiving and then Christmas. Adding to his distress is the thought that Joan may not make it until Christmas.

Lauren Mabrey in May 2012, a former foster child with no family, has found one in Grandon in Glory’s Place where she volunteers in their after-school program. The workers witnessed her wedding a year ago and now are helping get her place ready for the child she is expecting. A real find is secondhand walnut table, refinished by a local builder, after he found it in a garage sale. The bonus is a set of recipes with handwritten notes in a hidden drawer.

As Lauren uses the recipes to learn to cook herself, she becomes caught up in the idea that they belong to someone who never meant to let them go and begins a search. Her only clue is the farmer named Bud in the notes where the original owner went to get the fresh milk to make yogurt.

The Christmas Table will appeal to those who have a woodworker in the family (like me) and to those who need a light enjoyable read for Christmas to take them away from the distress all around us.

Thank you to Netgalley and Donna VanLiere for my copy of The Christmas Table for an honest review. Wow, this book had all the feels. I could not stop reading this wonderful story. Set in two time frames 1972 & 2012. In 1972, John Creighton decides to build his wife Joan, a kitchen table. The biggest piece he has ever tried to make. Joan can’t wait for it to be done, so she can start to use her mom’s recipes. Fast forward to 2012 and Lauren Mabrey buys a table, from a local builder’s shop and when she gets it home she finds it has a drawer with recipes cards.
The table brings joy to Lauren and gives her a reason to cook. She loves the recipes and the stories that went with them. She is pregnant and really wants to be able to cook for her husband and her growing family.
Back in 1972 Joan is diagnosed with cancer. As she fights for her life John continues to build the table. A task that brings him great peace. Joan finds herself in the kitchen more and more. She loves to cook with her children. She finds great comfort in her mother’s recipe cards.
This is such a beautiful story. Filled with faith, home and family. From 1972-2012 so much happens between both families. One day Lauren feels she should find the owners of the table. She couldn’t imagine anyone every giving up the recipe cards. If only she can find the owners and find peace herself. I read this story so quickly. It was inspirational. Such a different kind of Christmas story but I am pleasantly surprised how good it was. This was a four star read for me. I have recommended this to friends and family. I have also recommended it on my Instagram account. I have also reviewed it on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I believe you will love it as much as I did!!!

The Christmas Table is a quick, heartwarming story set across dual timelines and featuring a special table that brings people together at Christmastime.

In 1972, John Creighton decides to build his wife, Joan, a kitchen table for their young family. Joan is then motivated to build her cooking skills by preparing all of the handwritten recipes from her childhood that her mother gave her.

In 2012, Lauren is a young newlywed begins to prepare their new home for their first child and purchases a recently refurbished kitchen table at a local furniture store. Inside a hidden compartment in the table, Lauren finds a stack of old recipe cards and begins to make them and dream of serving them to her growing family.

I enjoyed this sweet Christmas story. It is a short book and can be read in a day or two. There is a whole community of characters that you come to love and quite a few of them had me laughing out loud throughout the story. This is a Christian story at it’s heart with the powerful message of the healing power of God and believing in Him, especially during times of struggle.

3/5 stars!
Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for my gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

I liked this story, and it was an easy read, but I really wanted a Christmas story, and this book had very little to do with Christmas. I did enjoy how the two timelines came together at the end.

I love a good Christmas story and this is one of my favorites this year. I could read it year after year! I love that the story lines are set years apart....this writing style keeps me engaged and wanting more. What a beautiful story. I can’t wait to read more by Donna VanLiere!!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my copy of The Christmas Table by Donna VanLiere. It published October 6, 2020.
This book was a pleasure and joy to read! I actually had forgotten that I had read a book earlier in this series, so it was like meeting up with new friends and catching up!
I appreciate that this book doesn't shy away from tough stuff, but practices faith and hope, two very important topics this time of year!
If you're looking for a heartwarming book that will bring you to tears of sadness and joy, you will enjoy reading this!

I received an eARC of The Christmas Table by Donna Van Liere from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
5 stars!!! This is the perfect holiday read! It reminded me of a Hallmark movie. It's an inspirational and heartwarming story of two women from two different time periods and a table with hidden recipes that will bring them together, but they don't know it yet. Highly recommend this book!

Donna VanLiere’s books are a staple in my Christmas reading and it’s with good reason. I blazed through this book with tears in my eyes and a smile on my face. So so wonderful!

John and Joan, in 1972, are challenged with Joan's cancer, all while raising a young family. John has promised Joan a hand-made dining room table and his project gets continually sidetracked by her illness. A source of comfort during the trial are family recipes.
In 2012, we find another young couple who are expecting their first child and putting their home in order. A great second-hand find for them is a restored table with a hidden drawer. They soon discover the drawer and all of the recipes held therein, including all of the advice and memories recorded on them. Lauren sets upon a quest to find the real owner of the recipes, all before her own child is born.
The story pops back and forth between the two settings. It is done well and is a fast read, with a heart-warming quest.
Thanks to St. Martin's Press for providing me an ARC for a review in my own words.

The Christmas Table by Donna VanLiere is a sweet story that spans two timeframes (1972 & 2012) while bringing together the characters through a special table and recipe cards. The 1972 story centers on John building a table for his wife, Joan. Joan has recently taken up cooking using recipes given to her by her mother. These are special recipes that her mother cooked for the family as Joan was growing up and each recipe card is filled with heartfelt notes detailing the occasions and moods that went along with the meals. Fast-forward to 2012 when the table ends up in the home of newlywed Lauren and her husband as they prepare for the birth of their first child. Newly pregnant, Lauren decides she should learn to cook some proper meals. The recipe cards were an unexpected find in a secret drawer in the table and Lauren loves reading the notes that go along with the cards. She is also determined to find the owner of the table because she knows these cards must be deeply missed. I am giving this book four stars because I loved the storyline, the characters, and how the power of prayer is displayed through the book, but I will say the story was a bit slow at times. This is not a story to read if you are looking for anything fast-paced or adventurous, but rather something to savor and enjoy. One super fun surprise at the end of the book is the recipes featured throughout the story and some of them sound really yummy!