"The Christmas Remedy" by Cindy Woodsmall and Erin Woodsmall

About this book:

  “When an Old Order Amish woman takes a job at a small-town pharmacy struggling to survive in a world of "big box" stores, her motive is to help her Plain community. But the advent of the holiday season brings an unusual mystery to the surface--and possibly love.

  Twenty-four-year-old Holly Zook lives a unique life for a young Amish woman. Years ago, her bishop allowed her to continue her education and become the lead technician for Greene's Pharmacy, an old-timey drugstore that looks out for the Amish community--a group largely without secure healthcare plans. She knows she can't marry and hold onto her professional job. She's Amish, and she can only have one or the other, so she spurns love and works toward addressing treatable diseases--like the one that claimed her father's life.

  As long as Holly continues to avoid Joshua Smucker, the one man who draws her like a warm hearth in winter, she should be fine. When something unexpected threatens Greene's Pharmacy, Holly and Joshua must work together to unravel what's happened and find the "missing" patient before the Board of Pharmacy shuts them down. As the snows of December arrive, with Christmas in the air, will Holly succumb to the generous spirit of the season?”


Series: As I can tell, no.


Spiritual Content- Prayers & Blessings over food; Christmas & Hymns; Talks about God & those in the Bible; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Mentions of God; Mentions of those in the Bible; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of bishops/deacons & ministers/preachers; Mentions of Christmas & the reason; Mentions of hymns/Christmas songs & youth groups; A couple mentions of thanking God; A couple mentions of miracles; A mention of being blessed;

             *Note: a ‘for Pete’s sake’ is said; A mention of atheists.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘dumb’, a ‘rats’, and four ‘stupid’s; A bit of eye rolling; A few mentions of curses (said, not written); Mentions of finding people passed out & one who died after (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of illegal actions; Mentions of baby chickens dying or being killed; Mentions of lies & lying; A few mentions of injuries & possible deaths; A couple mentions of gossip; A mention of kidnapping; A mention of gambling.

Sexual Content- two hand kisses, two head/forehead kisses, two barely-above-not-detailed kisses, and a semi-detailed kiss; Noticing (lightly x2); Mentions of singles events, being asked out, dating/courting, dates, girlfriends, & breakups; A couple mentions of mistletoe kisses; Love, falling in love, & the emotions (lightly x2);

             *Note: A mention of some Amish men believing a woman’s calling is to find a husband, serve him well, and populate the earth with obedient, well-behaved offspring (Holly says “Thanks, but no”); A mention of fertility issues & the Amish church frowning on getting help; A mention of a life of celibacy.

-Holly Noelle Zook

-Joshua Smucker
                                P.O.V. switches between them & Brandon
                                                        198 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

{Add ½ to a full star for older girls interested in pharmaceutical careers.}

While this book was way more pharmaceutical and medicine related than I was expecting, it still had some parts I liked. It wasn’t as Christmassy as I was expecting either, though, with page 147 being when Christmas started to get mentioned out of 198 pages with a couple song mentions earlier. Not quite my cup of tea, but it was very clean, so I appreciate that. :)

See y’all on Wednesday with a new review!

*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

*I received this book for free from the Publisher (Waterbrook) for this honest review.