Wow! Viola Shipman, the Author of “The Wishing Bridge” has written a memorable and delightful novel. Viola Shipman is a master storyteller, and in this well written novel, she vividly describes the quaint and charming town, the scenery, the Christmas traditions and colorful characters. The Genres for his novel are Women’s Fiction, Romance, Christmas, Holiday, Chick Lit, Fiction and Contemporary Fiction. I am a fan of Viola Shipman, and the author treats us again to what feels like a Hallmark Movie experience.

The characters in this unique story are complex, complicated and flawed. The protagonist of the story Henrietta Wegner is a middle aged executive returning home for the holidays with less than noble intentions. Henri is used to working in the big city acquiring companies and doing mergers. Her Boss demands that she convince her family to sell their Christmas Store, or she will be fired. The family store has a touch of class, and has provided a touch of familiarity and stability to the community. The small delightful town is also home to Henri’s friends from long ago. If a big conglomerate takes over, the store will lose that special feel.

Can coming home lead to the best decision for Henri? Henri has fond memories of her father’s unique creations, and the Christmas wish they had. Her family is thrilled that Henri is home, but does wonder why Henri is visiting after many years. Henri’s first love and best friend also live here. The clock is ticking for Henri to decide what she will do.

I appreciate how the author discusses the importance of family, friends, forgiveness, what a home is, love, hope, and special wishes. I highly recommend this amazing novel.

Warm story about a woman who broke free from the family business in a small mid-west town as she sought big city fame and fortune. She realizes that family is more important than fortune. Centers around Christmas and a family Christmas store. Makes the reader want to visit this idyllic town!

3 stars

I've heard so much about Viola Shipman/Wade Rouse that I was thrilled to receive this ARC. Overall, I enjoyed it. It was sweet like a Christmas-themed book should be. Very atmospheric, now I want to visit Frankenmuth, Michigan (but maybe not in winter - this Florida girl doesn't do snow). But, there were a few things that pulled me out of the story. And, since this seems like a book that is geared toward an older reader, it need to be addressed.

1st - anachronisms
As someone old enough to remember the Sears Wish Book, and a history teacher, it was frustrating that so many historical facts were just plain wrong. In one of the first scenes, it's 1975, and Henri (short for Henrietta) is circling toys in the Christmas Wish Book. She wants a Shaun Cassidy phonograph, a Simon computer toy, and some Star Wars figures for her brother. Cool, except NONE of those were available in 1975. Shaun Cassidy didn't release his first album until 1977, Simon came out in 1978, and the firs Star Wars action figures were released in 1978. I know these are not essential details, but the history teacher in me has to google.

2nd - continuity
Henri is 52 at the start of the book. She left home after college to move to Detroit and find her own path. She doesn't visit home that often, And, yet, both she and her high school boyfriend have a special bond with her parents' 15-year-old dog, Mabel. Henri would have been 37 when she bought the puppy for her parents. She recounts taking the puppy to look at ducks and that she and her best friend racing across the bridge with the dog. Seems like something a 17-year-old would do, not a 37-year-old.

I know this is an ARC, and some of these errors might be corrected in the final stages of publishing. I'm thankful to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this digital ARC in return for an honest review.
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Viola Shipman's new book is a heartwarming story. Love, family, forgiveness and how life decisions can affect all of these make for a wonderful and beautifully written pre-Christmas book.. Thanks for the advanced copy.

This is a delightful, heartwarming Christmas story. I am from Michigan and have been to Frankenmuth several times so I was thrilled at the setting for the book. I loved that the story is about an older woman finding her way and the message it ends with is an important one. This is a perfect Christmas read.

Henri grew up in a small village in Michigan. Her father, who had always loved Christmas, starts a business with a year round Christmas store. Henri goes off to the city and gets a corporate job. When her boss threatens to fire her, she promises to get her dad to sell the Christmas store, which the greedy boss says will be the ticket to not getting fired at age 52. Should she betray her family by convincing them to sell out to a heartless corporation, her company's specialty? Should she revisit her old sweetheart whose heart she broke? Viola Shipman will take you to the Bavarian town in Michigan at Christmas, as Henri makes some hard decisions. Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the ARC.

This story pulled me in. A woman, Henri, in her mid-fifties, is struggling with her job and personal life. She made a choice, right out of college, to leave her home town and move to the city for a job. This story takes place in Detroit and Frankenmuth, Michigan. Having been to both; I could picture the scenes in my mind. If you haven't been; the author did an amazing job of bringing "little Bavaria" (Frankenmuth) to life. Those folks that have been treated to a visit to Frankenmuth at any time of year will recognize Wegner's has a close resemblance to Bronner's.

Henri was in love with her childhood boyfriend and also the lure of a life of adventure to places where she wasn't known as Jakob Wegner's daughter or the "face" of Wegner's. She wanted to do her own thing and make her own mark. Three decades later finds her working for the same company she started with out of college; but, with the owner's son now running the business. She feels like she is hovering over an abyss. She makes a decision to save her job; that may sever the tentative ties she has with her family.

This story has Henri taking a good hard look at the life she has led and the life she forfeited for it. She is doing a lot of soul searching. Will she be able to face her family? Will she be able to do what she set out to do and reconcile her choices? Will the magic of family and friends at Christmas show her the way?

The Wishing Bridge by Viola Shipman is much more than a Christmas story. It's about finding your way back home and embracing your true self

This book snuck under my radar and I’m glad it did. I love a good Christmas story so I just picked this one. It was only later that I realized that it was a barely concealed homage to the city of Frankenmuth Michigan, a distance of about 80 miles from my home. On top of that, the story was not only charming but very well written.

The focus of the story is on a 50 year old woman named Henri Wegner, the daughter of Jakob Wegner who created Wegner’s Winter Wonderland—the world’s largest Christmas store. Henri is coming home for Christmas for the first time in several decades which thrills her parents but puzzles her skeptical younger brother Finn.

The reason for Finn’s skepticism is that Henri has done everything in her power to avoid the family business ever since she left for college. After graduation she took a job at a financial services company in Detroit that specializes in buying smaller companies and making them more profitable. Now Henri’s boss, Benjie Tolliver, has his heart set on taking over Wegner’s Winter Wonderland. In order to accomplish that Benjie put’s Henri’s job on the line. Deliver the family business or else! So as she comes back to the hometown she has so long avoided, Henri feels more like the Grinch who stole Christmas and she cannot forgive herself for allowing herself to end up in this dilemma.

Henri’s story is her internal battle to forgive herself for leaving her hometown, her family, and her longtime boyfriend and almost fiancé. In reality by fleeing Frankenmuth, Henri was fleeing not just family and friends but a lifestyle. She knew what lay in store for her if she had chosen to return home after graduation and she was not ready to do that. It was not merely a job but a way of life that would consume her 24/7/365.

Henri’s journey of self-understanding and self-forgiveness was a joy to read. Anyone who has been part of a military family or a clergy family or a political family knows all to well that there is far more to being part of their family than meets the eye. The ending of the book was joy-filled and I loved it. The Grinch’s heart grew three sizes that day.

I highly recommend this book and am grateful for the opportunity to read it.

This book follows Henri after she tries to save her job by insisting she can get her family to sell their family owned Christmas store. Set in real life Bavarian town, Frankenmuth, Michigan, the Christmas magic is real. It’s real enough to overpower how unlikeable Henri can be in parts of this book as you wait for her to get the magic. Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for a chance to read this book early in exchange for an honest review..

What a fun, heartwarming Christmas story! This is a story filled with a family’s love that will be tested when one family member has different plans for the family Christmas store. Will the conflict take away their Christmas spirit? I really enjoyed this!

This book was as sweet as the divinity you make every Christmas. I'd highly recommend it.

I love that Viola Shipman is the author's real grandmother's name. The books he writes are filled with memories of Michigan. Wonderful if you're from there (I am) and if you're not, you will learn a lot about this beautiful state.

Henrietta has a high powered job with mergers and acquisitions. She is in quite a bad spot with her boss. She goes home to Frankenmuth for Christmas, where her family has owned Wegner's Christmas shop for a very long time. What her family doesn't know is that she is going to try to convince her family to sell their beloved business.

What happens next? Will she save her job? Will her family sell the business? If so, what happens to their relationship? It was a fun ride to find out.

This is a classic holiday tale of old-fashioned family values in a small town in Michigan vs competitive, greedy corporate business deals of big city, Detroit. Henrietta (Henri) is living the latter life but remembering her former world as she is caught in the middle between what she has promised to do to keep her fast-paced job and what she knows will ultimately hurt regular everyday hardworking people whose lives and livelihoods will suffer because of her actions.

And when her boss expects her to handle a job that hits close to home and will basically destroy her family’s Christmas business, Henri must decide what is most important in her life. She must relive and remember what her past has given her and decide what is the most important for her future. She has to be reminded of the joy of family, the true values of friends and the rekindling of long-lost love so that she can make the right decision in her heart.

I am thankful to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an advance copy of this story for an honest opinion of the book.

As always Viola Shipman doesn't disappoint! The story has very likable characters, a good storyline, and a romantic
possibility. Henrietta is faced with an impossible decision, and at Christmas time too! Her father is the king of Christmas, with a business to prove it. She left home and her family years before for a fancy job that is now turning on her, if she doesn't do something drastic now she could be fired. But can she destroy all her father built to save her own job? Can she help or will she lose her family too? Excellent story Viola is a master writer and I would highly recommend this great book and any book she writes. Thank you, NetGalley and publishers Harlequin Trade Graydon House for this eARC this is entirely my own opinion.

This is the first book I have read by Viola Shipman, and I loved this book. It was so heart-warming and descriptive. You felt like you were right there in Frankenmuth for the Christmas holidays. My heart went out to Henri (Henrietta) as she had to take an honest look at her life once she returned to Frankenmuth and decide what was more important, her job or her family and their family business. Reading this book also makes you look inside yourself to see if you are going where you want to go. I really liked reading about an older woman who had some tough decisions to make about work and family. Having a bully for a boss didn't help Henri at all. Luckily, she had good friends to help her make the tough decisions. And meeting up with your longtime love that you left behind years ago didn't hurt. I don't live far from Frankenmuth (Ohio) and this book has made me want to add Frankenmuth to my list of road trips. I especially enjoyed the bonus novella "Christmas Angels". I have always believed in angels and have a small collection of them. This little novella really reminded me of how special angels are and that they are "everywhere". I will definitely be looking for more books by Viola Shipman to be added to my TBR list.

Thank you so much NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book and find a new author to follow.

This is another heartwarming and festive Viola Shipman's novel, a story about what really matters and what you really want.
Well plotted, upliftingò
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Book Title: The Wishing Bridger
Author: Viola Shipman
Publisher: Harlequin Trade Publishing ~ Graydon House
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Pub Date: November 7, 2023
My Rating: 4.2 Feel Good Stars
Pages 368

The Wishing Bridge centers on the lives of three generations of women in the same family.
It is told past and present.

Henrietta (Henri) Wegner grew up in Frankenmuth a small village in Michigan.
Her father always loved Christmas and started a business that sold Christmas items all year! The store is “Wegner’s but also called ‘The Christmas Store’ and turns out to be the world's largest holiday gift and decoration store
Henri leaves her hometown for a corporate job. Her boss Benjie Tolliver runs a large department store in Detroit, He is a greedy man and is not happy that Henri’s dad’s Christmas store is competition. He threatens to fire Henri however, when she promises to get her dad to sell the Christmas store to him. He likes the idea and says okay in that case he won’t fire her.

Henri returns to her home town, with the intention of convincing her parents to sell their ‘Christmas Store. Deep down she hates herself as she knows she is betraying her parents.

This is a story which included childhood memories- disappointment, jealousy; hopes and dreams as well as forgiveness.
There is love of family and friends (yes there is some romance);

There is no doubt when I pick up a Viola Shipman novel; I have an expectation that it will be a ‘feel good story.
Our author tells us in his Acknowledgements that he writes holidays novels that are ‘ropes of hope”!
Awww- Yes!

The Acknowledgements and the ‘Dear Readers’ messages are – “‘must reads’!
BTW: We find out that out our author also had a mutt named ‘Mabel’.

There is also a great “Reader’s Guide. One of the questions mentioned that a major theme in this story is memories of holidays and how they shaped us.
Oh and that it did. I lived in a small town and going ‘Downtown was a big thing. At Christmas was shopping and visiting the departments’ stores to see Santa. However, when I was young the favorite place to visit the ‘real’ Santa was a furniture store perhaps since it wasn’t a ‘down town. Department store but a special place we only visited at Christmas. A section of the store becomes a magical Christmas village with Santa.

This is my fifth Viola Shipman novel – I call myself a fan of Wade Rouse!

Note: As you probably already know Wade Rouse chose his grandmother’s name Viola Shipman as his pen name. He states he grew up with her in the Ozarks and her extraordinary life was filled with beauty, hope as well as tragedy and is his inspiration for so many of his stories.
Here is a link for more info.
https://waderouse.com/about/


Want to thank NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing ~ Graydon House for granted me this delightful early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for November 7, 2023.

As that time of year quickly approaches, you might to tempted to add a Christmas themed book to your to do list along with shopping and holiday movies as a way of getting into the spirit of the season. I have more than one such book on my TBR pile and I have no doubt I will enjoy them all, but this 5 plus star gem will be the one with the lasting impact. I’ve already decided that an annual reread of The Wishing Bridge needs to be a holiday tradition.
This book has everything you could be looking for: nostalgia, humor, romance, armchair travel and above all, joy and renewal.
Henri Wegner, a single, middle-aged career woman, who has been worn down by life, finds herself in a midlife crisis. She no longer fits into the life she has built and she believes she definitely doesn’t fit into the life she left behind 30 years ago. She’s no longer competitive in the world of corporate takeovers having been superseded by younger, greedier individuals who worship at the church of the bigger and better profit margin. In a totally misguided attempt to save her job, she agrees to try to persuade her parents to sell their super successful, but starting to struggle, retail business, allowing her company to broker the deal.
This story could have been written to take place any time of the year. But since the location of Frankenmuth Michigan is an equal character to Henri and Frankenmuth is at its sparkling best in the winter, the Christmas theme is critical. Also what better time of year for soul searching and renewal!
There is much about this wonderful book that could be a Hallmark holiday movie. In fact, Hallmark, I wish you would try to make it. It will however be a case in which the book far exceeds the movie.
Wade Rouse, aka Viola Shipman, has done his usual superb writing job in The Wishing Bridge. Inside the magical descriptions and Henri’s inner dialogue, you find the heart and soul of the author. This is Wade’s special gift to his readers. You can’t ask for anything more or better.
Much thank you to the author, the publisher, Graydon House, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an ARC.

I loved The Wishing Bridge! With the fabulous descriptions I felt as if I was right there with Henri in the magical Christmas town of Frankenmuth, Michigan.
Would Henri really sell her family's business to save her job?!
Family traditions, dreams, decisions, childhood memories, aging parents, family business, corporate buyouts, best friends, family strength, secrets and more.
A story about the choices we make in life. Good and bad, forgiveness and finding love later in life.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, Grayson House for the opportunity to read this book.

This is a very sentimental Christmas book. It’s all about second chances. It’s about remembering what’s important, what are dreams were, and our self worth. It’s a perfect holiday read. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced free copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley.