Donna VanLiere’s THE CHRISTMAS TOWN is an inspirational holiday story with a winning protagonist whose good deeds and positive faith award her the Christmas of her dreams.

All 20-year-old Lauren Gabriel wants for Christmas is a family. Having spent much of her youth in foster homes, she is now working at a supermarket. One night, overwhelmed with loneliness, she randomly drives to a nearby town, the short distance thrusting her into the new world she had been hoping for. After stepping into the town’s supermarket, she receives a note from a generous checkout boy named Ben, realizing that the trip hadn’t been so random after all, especially upon reading: It’s a great day because you are in it! You are welcome here! While driving, Lauren is bewildered that a kid has given her hope during a time of year that had always been so lonely. It is then that she witnesses a hit-and-run and goes to the victim's aid, also calling the police. On the way home, an idea enters her mind. Could she find a family to call her own this very Christmas? Courageously, Lauren posts an ad on Craigslist under a false name, crossing her fingers for a wonderful holiday.

"...a distinctive Christmas story in that the main character is real and vulnerable, yet goes for what she wants, eventually proving that opening your heart and doing good deeds can bring you a world of blessings."

Lauren is called to identify the hit-and-run suspect, and returns to none other than Grandon. Her first stop is the supermarket, as she is curious to receive another note. Coincidentally, it reads: Sometimes family is disguised as the neighbor down the street, the waitress at Betty’s Bakery, or the bag boy at Clauson’s. Have a great day!Stacy, the victim of the hit-and-run, takes Lauren out to lunch at a lovely place called Betty’s Bakery where she meets two older, upbeat women named Gloria and Miriam, who ask Lauren to help out with the town’s Christmas charity and sing-a-thon. Lauren feels the same sense of hope returning from the night before, and is glad to have something positive to which to contribute. Most of all, she is happy to have a place where she can belong, even for a little while. Hope brims inside of her. Maybe Christmas will be good to her this year after all.

Lauren becomes close with the women at Glory’s Place, where children in need are cared for, and where practices for the sing-a-thon take place. This safe haven is run by Gloria, who notices a young woman's post on Craigslist for a family for Christmas. But Lauren had written the ad under an alias, and no one knows that it is she who is looking for a home on this special holiday. With a gracious heart, Gloria responds. Miriam, looking out for Gloria, feels compassion for the young woman and reaches out as well. Everyone is set to meet at Betty’s Bakery, but the pen names may not be so safe after all, because no one is able to recognize one another when the time to meet finally approaches.

After setting up another date with the women, Lauren has to cancel. Her mother wants to reconnect after many years of absence. Feeling optimistic about the holiday, Lauren agrees to have dinner. However, while waiting at the restaurant, her mother does not show up. This scene delivers the message that some people never do change, and that sometimes we must accept the new gifts the universe has bestowed upon us.

Lauren spirals into a depression, believing that the women from Craigslist hadn’t shown up to Betty’s Bakery either. Feeling hopeless, she does not return to Glory’s Place. The children, and the women who do view Lauren as a part of their family, call her without receiving any response. It isn’t until a young man from the Parks Department in Grandon goes to Lauren’s job that she returns to the place that had been so kind to her.

Glory and Miriam soon discover that they both had been writing to the same young woman, and that the girl in question is no stranger. In order to show Lauren once and for all that she is loved, they invite her again to meet them at Betty’s Place, where the three unite and Lauren’s wish comes true.

THE CHRISTMAS TOWN is a quick read and simply written. Even if the events of the story are sometimes too tightly crafted, it is a distinctive Christmas story in that the main character is real and vulnerable, yet goes for what she wants, eventually proving that opening your heart and doing good deeds can bring you a world of blessings. I give Donna VanLiere’s latest effort five stars for delivering a powerful message that good is still out there, if only you put the message out to receive it.