How can you not love the Baxter family? And catching up with them at Christmas? We love everything Karen writes. You will epescially love this one.

Family. Family is every for the Baxter family. Such a sweet read. She gives a short line of the previous members of thr family if you haven’t read the others. There is just something about Christmas, family, and faith and that brings it on home.

Two years have passed since the terrible car accident that took the life of John Baxter’s daughter, Erin, her husband and three of their four daughters. Prompted by grief, and missing his daughter, John has invited a stranger for Christmas Eve dinner—Kendra Bryant, the transplant recipient who now has Erin’s heart.

In light of their father’s idea, Ashley and her brother Luke don’t think it’s right. They want to protect their ten-year-old niece, Amy—the only surviving member of the accident. But John is determined and believes meeting this woman is something his deceased daughter would want.

At the same time, Maddie West, the eighteen-year-old daughter of Brooke Baxter West, is praying for meaning this Christmas. Could she find it in a newfound friendship with a boy she never expected to see again? Maddie believes in miracles, especially at Christmastime, but this is a stretch even she can’t imagine.

Meanwhile, Kendra Bryant has been struggling these past few years to find purpose in the tragedy that gave her a second chance. She believes the invitation to see the Baxters and witness their unwavering faith in God can instill peace and happiness back into her life.

Heartwarming and touching, filled with love and redemption, A Baxter Family Christmas brings together two families in the aftermath of loss and in the midst of an unfolding love story, all with the help of one very special child.

A wonderful story by a good author. A reader cannot go wrong with this book if they are looking for a good Christmas novel. Well written and a good topic.

Oh no! I've found another author whose books I can't help but devour. This was my first intro to the Baxter family and I instantly fell in love with them. There's so much heartbreak that the family is trying to get through, what with losing Erin and her family a few years back.⁣
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This story centers around the Baxters meeting Kendra Bryant, the woman who received Erin's heart in a transplant. It also centers very heavily on God and faith, something that I found very refreshing. I was in tears more than once while reading this heartfelt story, wanting to reach out and hug this amazing family.⁣
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I absolutely love books that center around a large family and I can't wait to pick up some of the other Baxter family books and see how their story began.⁣

A Baxter Family Christmas by Karen Kingsbury is a wonderfully written book. I am looking forward to reading more books by her. This is the first Karen Kingsbury book I have read and in my opinion Ms. Kingsbury is a wonderful storyteller!

Karen Kingsbury has done it again. I love her books and I love reading about the Baxter Family. This is one you will enjoy over and over again.

A lovely holiday read! Perfect for curling up with on a snowy day.

Two years have passed since the terrible car accident that took the life of John Baxter’s daughter, Erin, her husband and three of their four daughters. daughter, John,, missing and grieving the loss of his daughter, has invited a stranger for Christmas Eve dinner. The stranger is Kendra Bryant, the transplant recipient who now has Erin’s heart. Ashley and Luke don’t thinking it is right. They are trying to protect three only survive member of the accident, their ten year old niece, Amy. John is determined and believes meeting this woman is something his deceased daughter would want. Maddie West, the eighteen-year-old daughter of Brooke Baxter West, is praying for meaning this Christmas. Could she find it in a newfound friendship with a boy she never expected to see again? Maddie believes in miracles, especially at Christmastime. Kendra has been struggling for the past few years to find a purpose in the tragedy that gave her a second chance. Can the invitation to see the Baxters and witness their unwavering faith in God instill peace and happiness back into her life? This book is heartwarming and touching, filled with love and redemption, The story brings together two families in the aftermath of loss and in the midst of an unfolding love story, all with the help of one very special child.

I was given this book through Netgallery, and I have freely given my honest review.

I'm going to be honest here and tell you that this is the first book in the Baxter Family Saga series I've ever read, I have read one or two Karen Kingsbury books, decided she's a stellar writer but I don't like to cry through my books so that pretty much was when I backed away. Then I saw the cover for A BAXTER FAMILY CHRISTMAS and it looked so inviting and welcoming and I had to read it. So, I did.



At first I kind of felt like an unwelcome guest. I didn't know these people. I didn't care about them, and there I was sitting at their dining room table involved in a terribly intimate conversation about a heart transplant and how they'd like to meet the reciprocate. Wonderful. But that meant someone died. Who? Why? How?



I did keep reading and I grew to care about the characters in this book (I probably won't go back and read the other books, but I enjoyed the time I spent with the Baxter family in this family saga. I especially liked the fledgling romance forming between two teens and how the Christmas Eve family gathering ended. Sweet.



I got a copy of this book off Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Kingsbury's tale is sweet and perfect for Christmas. It's real life, the family is grieving for lost loved ones and praying for comfort over the holidays. The comfort they seek turns up in the most unlikely of places- the transplant recipient of their sister's heart.
This tale reminds us of love and redemption- what Christmas is all about.

This is the first Karen Kingsbury book I have read and in my opinion Ms. Kingsbury is a wonderful storyteller!

Karen Kingsbury’s latest book is a continuation of the Baxter family story. The Baxter family suffered a terrible loss of Erin Baxter Hogan, her husband, and three of their four children in a car accident two years ago. Two years later, John Baxter, the patriarch of the family reaches out to the woman who received his daughter’s heart, Kendra Bryant, and invites her to Christmas dinner with his family. John’s invite is met with mixed emotions within the Baxter family. This invite causes division and conflicted feelings, with some of the family against meeting Kendra Bryant. In another storyline, Maddie Baxter West, has a special prayer request and meaning this Christmas.

These characters are very relatable and their stories will touch your heart. Karen Kingsbury brings their story to life so vividly. This story tells of loss, love, and forgiveness. I was sad that I reached the end of the book because I wanted to spend more time with this family. I hope that Ms. Kingsbury writes more about this family in the future.

Happy Reading!

Love this next chapter of the Baxter family. Karen's Baxter family series is my favorite.

A Baxter Family Christmas is a sweet clean read. A beautiful book to snuggle up with in front of the fireplace, the Christmas lights twinkling in the background, while you sip on a warm mug of hot cocoa (or my favorite… Russian tea). It is like reading a Hallmark movie. FYI… I mean that in the very best sense. I love Hallmark movies!

Surprisingly, for as long as I have been reading Christian fiction, I have never read one of the books about the Baxter family. The odds of my having read one seem high since there are 25 books about the Baxters. Yep, 25 books (and it keeps on growing)! Yet somehow I completely missed out. My unfamiliarity with the Baxters didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the story at all. What it did was peak my interest in them. Maybe it is time for me to begin delving further into their story. If you want to join me, I have the Baxter family story, told throughout a number of series, listed out in order at the bottom of my post. It should keep you busy for awhile ;).

I must send up a snow flurry to mess with this cozy scene. Like many other stories in this genre, Karen Kingsbury’s characters are just a wee bit too perfect. Everything that the characters want to have happened, happens. This Christmas gift is packaged just a bit too perfectly. Even so, I would recommend reading A Baxter Family Christmas (as long as you don't have a tendency to hold yourself up to fictional characters and then find yourself wanting... the author perfected them before placing them on the page... your author is perfecting you day by day).

“For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.”
— Hebrews 10:14 NIV

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
— Phillippians 3:12-14

Merry Christmas!

As a reviewer for NetGalley, I received a review copy of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased review. My thanks to the author and publisher.

This is a heart touching story about a family coming to terms with the loss of Erin and her family. Erin was an organ donor and her heart is given to Kendra who does not believe in God. Erin's family invites Kendra over for the christmas holiday. This is a very emotional book that you will need to get the kleenex out for. I was given this book from Netgalley in exchange for my review.

I wish I would have know this was a series before I read it. It would have made it that much more enjoyable, but I really liked this book. I now need to read the first book.

Written in classic Kingsbury style, A Baxter Family Christmas is a little bit different, tugging at your heartstrings as it focuses on the fallout from the tragic death of Erin Baxter, her husband and three of their four daughters.
John Baxter, still grieving the loss of his daughter two years after her and most of her family’s death, wants to celebrate Christmas in a very different way this year. However, the other members of the Baxter family are not so sure they want to be involved in his plans.
I have long been a fan of Karen Kingsbury and her books. She writes in a natural, normal way about average, everyday people. A Baxter Christmas follows that tradition. However, there were parts of the book that disappointed me because it felt as if it were called in. Sections of the story, while reading, felt choppy and disjointed. There were also some major discrepancies in age from previous books. Kingsbury does say she took “literary license” with the children’s ages, but, for long time followers of the Baxter family, the changes were unsettling. (I was able to continue the story, and overall, there is way more of good quality to the story than there is bad, but it is disconcerting nonetheless.)
If you are looking for a lighthearted story, A Baxter Family Christmas will not fill the bill, but if you want a story following true to life experiences that leaves you feeling touched in ways you normally are not, then be sure to read Karen Kingsbury’s Christmas story.
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
(Due to extended personal illness, I was unable to post this earlier. Christmas is fun anytime, though, right?)

Really enjoyed this book. I have only read one other Karen Kingsbury book and this was just as good. I like that she writes about God and family. I have yet to find a series or author that writes that way to my liking. I will say, however, as someone who considers themselves a Christian but not good at practicing, some of it was a bit much. Maybe my life just stinks to the point that some of it seems forced. I don't doubt people believe in God like that but do people love like that? The downfall for me is it made me feel like I've been cheated in my life. I know it is fictional but part of me still had a hard time with it. All in all, good book.

Kingsbury certainly lived up to my expectations in this Baxter Family installment! Loved the way she introduced new friends, and a always, I love that she keeps you involved and feeling like part of the family through the entire novel! My adult book clubs will enjoy this holiday tale of love and hope, with a little modern drama!