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Customer Reviews for Abingdon Press One ImPerfect Christmas
Abingdon Press One ImPerfect Christmas
Graphic designer Natalie Pearce faces the most difficult Christmas of her life. For almost a year, her mother has lain in a nursing home, the victim of a massive stroke, and Natalie blames herself for not being there when it happened. Worse, she's allowed the monstrous load of guilt to drive a wedge between her and everyone she loves-most of all her husband Daniel. Her marriage is on the verge of dissolving, her prayer life is suffering, and she's one Christmas away from hitting rock bottom.
Junior-high basketball coach Daniel Pearce is at his wit's end. Nothing he's done has been able to break through the wall Natalie has erected between them. And their daughter Lissa's adolescent rebellion isn't helping matters. As Daniel's hope reaches its lowest ebb, he wonders if this Christmas will spell the end of his marriage and the loss of everything he holds dear.
Average Customer Rating:
(20 Reviews) 20
Rating Snapshot (20 reviews)
5 stars
9
4 stars
8
3 stars
2
2 stars
1
1 star
0
11 out of 1292%customers would recommend this product to a friend.
Customer Reviews for One ImPerfect Christmas
Review 1 for One ImPerfect Christmas
Overall Rating:
An interesting read
Date:February 27, 2013
Jules
Location:Ontario, Canada
Age:35-44
Gender:female
Quality:
4
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
4
out of
5
Overall I quite enjoyed this book. The ending was predictable, however I wouldn't have wanted it to end any other way.
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Review 2 for One ImPerfect Christmas
Overall Rating:
A heartwarming story of forgiveness
Date:December 22, 2012
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
This is a wonderful story. I love to read Christmas stories this time of the year, and this was one of my favorites. I have never read anything by this author before, but I really enjoyed the development of her characters and the way she presents the plot, which was interesting, though predictable. A wonderful happy ending topped of a great story.
I recommend this for adult or teen readers.
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Review 3 for One ImPerfect Christmas
Overall Rating:
Date:November 13, 2012
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
This author made you feel as though you were right with the family as they faced their problems. It hits home, as it really affects a family when there is an illness, the fact that she felt guilty made it more real. I really liked the ending.
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Review 4 for One ImPerfect Christmas
Overall Rating:
Wonderful book but not what you'd expect
Date:April 3, 2012
Theresa
Location:Mississippi
Age:35-44
Gender:female
Quality:
4
out of
5
Value:
4
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
4
out of
5
If your looking for the happy-go-lucky Christmas book, this isn't for you...however if your looking for a wonderful look at how we deal with life and how we often screw everything up, this us for you. One of the hardest things for us to deal with is our regrets, and its hard to see good in what we feel is all bad. This book takes you through it all and will leave you crying in the end! Perhaps I haven't put it down great so I will just say ... I loved it.
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+1point
1of 1voted this as helpful.
Review 5 for One ImPerfect Christmas
Overall Rating:
A fine read,
Date:February 9, 2012
nanandnic
Location:toronto, ontario
Age:55-65
Gender:female
Quality:
4
out of
5
Value:
4
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
4
out of
5
A fine read, whether over the Christmas season or anytime at all. A portrait of humanity.
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Review 6 for One ImPerfect Christmas
Overall Rating:
Date:January 13, 2012
MsMarilyn
Location:Minnesota
Age:Over 65
Gender:female
Quality:
4
out of
5
Value:
4
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
4
out of
5
The main character in this book was overly obsessed with what she perceived to be her "duties". I think we all could take a lesson from her and learn to trust more in our God and less in our ability to control situations.
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Review 7 for One ImPerfect Christmas
Overall Rating:
Date:January 11, 2012
Musicmind2
Location:Arlington, TX
Age:55-65
Gender:female
Quality:
4
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
4
out of
5
Imperfect Christmas was a great examination of the emotional scars we carry from cildhood and their effect on our lives. It also examins how we can misinterpret a situation and convince ourselves we are correct. The guilt carried by the main character Natalie, was all about how she misinterpreted her mother's help with her horse when she was a child. Eventually that guilt turned to anger. She almost allowed that guilt and anger to destroy her relationship with her only child as well as her marriage. But it also shows how God takes all those scars and uses them to draw us closer to him. A great inspiration.
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Review 8 for One ImPerfect Christmas
Overall Rating:
Not just another sappy Christmas novel
Date:December 3, 2011
zebrapmb
Location:Calgary, AB
Age:45-54
Gender:female
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
I was expecting One Imperfect Christmas to be just like most other Holiday offerings... was I mistaken. The story reads a lot like life... the stress of deadlines, angry kids, failing marriages, sudden sickness -- and yet with an underlying hope and Promise.
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Review 9 for One ImPerfect Christmas
Overall Rating:
Not what I expected
Date:November 18, 2011
Kayla
Location:Austin, tx
Age:35-44
Gender:female
Quality:
3
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
3
out of
5
This turned out to be an interesting book. I thought I was getting one of those "cookie cutter" clean romances. This was not. There was some intrigue and some interesting characters, and I did like it enough to finish it. Not to want more though
Share this review:
+2points
2of 2voted this as helpful.
Review 10 for One ImPerfect Christmas
Overall Rating:
Good reading!
Date:November 17, 2011
Nana
Location:NC
Age:55-65
Gender:female
Quality:
4
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
4
out of
5
I am an avid reader, and having a kindle with my droid makes it easy for me to have a book available at all times. Having places where books are always available to me is a real bonus. This book was a very good read. I enjoyed the story and would like to read more by the author.
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Review 11 for One ImPerfect Christmas
Overall Rating:
Great Story
Date:November 17, 2011
jada
Location:Brooklyn, NY
Age:45-54
Gender:female
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
I love romantic, Christian Christmas stories and this is a good one. I love a story where there's a heroine, a hero a desire/dream and a conflict...it's all here.
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Review 12 for One ImPerfect Christmas
Overall Rating:
PERFECT for the HOLIDAYS!!!!
Date:November 18, 2010
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
5
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
5
out of
5
Natalie Pearce faces her first Christmas without the artist mother who has made every holiday perfect...or so she thinks.
Pressures mount in Natalie's graphic design job, the thread that holds Natalie's marriage to football coach Daniel stretches gossamer thin, and sassy teenaged daughter Lissa plots and schemes and backtalks in that so-annoying adolescent way.
Somehow Natalie juggles her roles as mother, wife, daughter of an invalid, and employee. Then the family enters the pressure cooker called holidays, and life snowballs out of control.
In this her debut novel, Myra sets One Imperfect Christmas in the lush environs of a horse farm...as contrasted with the sterility of a nursing home bed.
While Myra entertains you, she weaves in commentary on caring for aging parents, raising teenagers, and finding that balance between family and work.
Don't miss a chance to enrich your holiday season--and your life! Pick up a copy of One Imperfect Christmas--today!!!
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Review 13 for One ImPerfect Christmas
Overall Rating:
Date:February 6, 2010
Missy Tippens
I saved One ImPerfect Christmas to enjoy over the Christmas holidays. I picked it up one night and got to read about one page, but alas, my crazy schedule kept me from it. So finally, in February, I was able to pick this book up once again. Wow! What a great story. And it's not just a story about Christmas like I assumed. It's a story about a family struggling with illness, guilt, denial, selfishness...and ultimately forgiveness, letting go, honesty and the power of love.True, I wanted to shake Natalie a few times. But the more I read, the more I understood her and her problems. I was rooting for her and Daniel as the story progressed to an ending that is truly touching. You won't want to miss reading this book any time during the year!
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Review 14 for One ImPerfect Christmas
Overall Rating:
Date:January 10, 2010
marcell
I didn't care at all about these characters. It jumped around too much. If the author could've stayed with the main character Natalie and all she was experiencing with the separation, mother's stroke, guilt, job pressure it would have been a rich book. But, she spent to much time jumping over to the husband and the daughter.
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Review 15 for One ImPerfect Christmas
Overall Rating:
Date:October 3, 2009
Do yourself a favor and go home for the holidays to experience Christmas like youve never experienced it before! Bravo to Myra Johnson for a debut novel that not only inspires and uplifts, but takes you home to the true meaning of Christmas with a tender tale of healing, hope and new beginnings.With compelling prose, characters who feel like family and a plot so achingly real that the journey becomes yours, Ms. Johnson deftly leads the reader to a place where Christmas is more than twinkle lights on a tree or ribboned gifts beneath a pine-scented bough. A place where hearts reconnect with loved ones and the Saviors message of new birth embraces not only the characters you fall in love with, but you as a reader as well. So brew a cup of Christmas tea, put your feet up and keep the tissues handythe true spirit of Christmas awaits!
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Review 16 for One ImPerfect Christmas
Overall Rating:
Date:September 28, 2009
I enjoyed this book. It was different from alot of christmas books and the book deals with serious issues. Myra has done a good job with this book. I appreciate how she deals with Natalie and I admit at times I wanted to shake her out of her feelings but I do appreciate guilt that can be associated with an elderly parent being sick or injured or in this case having a stroke. Guilt when a parent is in a nursing home is very hard to deal with but sometimes you have to let go of the guilt to go on. The way Natalies feelings affect the rest of the family is intersting to and I did enjoy how the story played out. The ending was well done and not quite what I expected but it was better. Good read.
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Review 17 for One ImPerfect Christmas
Overall Rating:
Date:September 22, 2009
One Imperfect Christmas by Myra Johnson is a poignant look at how tragedy can shatter a family. Natalie Pearce loves her life, and although she may complain about her messy husband or her teenage daughter's attitude, she's happy working part time as a graphic designer and painting in her spare time. Three weeks after Christmas, she receives a phone call that brings her entire world to a shuddering crash; her mother has suffered a severe stroke and will most likely never recover. What brings Natalie to her knees is the knowledge that if she had just answered her mother's plea for help putting Christmas decorations away, her mother wouldn't have had the stroke while alone and may have received treatment in time to recover. Natalie's guilt propels her into pushing away everyone she loves and focusing on nothing but her work. As a new Christmas approaches, she is filled with both dread and hope, can she have one more "perfect" Christmas with her family? Every character is so wrapped up in themselves that it will take a miracle to bring them back together. Johnson performs with precision an autopsy on this dying family, portraying to readers each wound and sadness. My one complaint with the book is that in the 49 weeks the book covers, Lissa, the teenage daughter, never ages beyond 13. If her birthday was in the three weeks not covered, it should have been referenced somewhere! That petty point aside, Johnson's novel has a powerful lesson for readers about learning to love and letting go of regret.
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Review 18 for One ImPerfect Christmas
Overall Rating:
Date:September 21, 2009
This is not the typical feel-good Christmas book. It's a story of a family struggling through a rough time. Sometimes, they operate as a loving family, but more often, they pull apart. It's a bit of a tearjerker.Natalie is a complex character caught up in guilt and operating in a chaotic world of her own making. She overreacts to her mother's stroke by first clinging to her side and then by diving headlong into work. Her husband and daughter are pushed away and sadly neglected. The readers learns how easily a good marriage can go haywire through neglect and how a parent-child relationship can quickly become strained.Although the topic is gloomy, this Christian fiction book has an uplifting theme: "learn to love and forgive."
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Review 19 for One ImPerfect Christmas
Overall Rating:
Date:September 11, 2009
Myra Johnson's debut novel, One Imperfect Christmas, touches the heart. Her excellent portrayal of how Natalie deals with the unexpected blows life can deal out, rings with reality and truth. Her struggles to overcome the guilt and rebuild her relationship with God hit home with me. We often think we are so rooted in our faith, but one major incident that produces guilt or fear can so derail us. Ms. Johnson shows the importance of getting back on track with your faith and with God. I loved the deep rich characterization of Myra's writing. It was difficult to put the book down and at the same time reminds us how we must rely on God when life makes those inevitable turns. I'm looking forward to more work from this author.
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Review 20 for One ImPerfect Christmas
Overall Rating:
Date:August 22, 2009
Carla Stewart
Natalie Pearce faces the same frustrations many busy women dothe responsibilities of maintaining a home, trying to quell her temper with a husband whose job is top priority, and providing guidance for an adolescent daughter who can be a handful at times. Add to that a budding career for herself and helping out with her retired parents, and its easy to see how Natalie falls into the guilt trap when her mother has a debilitating stroke. Blaming herself for not being there, Natalie erects a wall around herself, alienating her family and giving her father more worry instead of help in caring for the mom whos confined to a nursing home. One Imperfect Christmas is a familys journey through broken marriage, misunderstood feelings, and the lengths to which a young teen will go to bring her parents together and be the catalyst for healing and peace. Warm and heartfelt, the writing is deeply introspective, and there were times I didnt like Natalie very much, but as we are all vulnerable to lifes traumas, she was also relatable. Who among us is always likeable? And even more, who hasnt experienced the need for divine intervention more than a few times in our lives? Myras debut book is one to ponder, to reflect on our own relationships, and to celebrate the joys of Christmas.
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