Christmas JarsThis is a GREAT short read that really gets you into the holiday spirit! I read it last year, and bought 8 copies this year to share with friends.

This book is a great one to buy several copies of to give as Christmas book to a co-worker or teacher. It encapsulates the meaning of Christ-mas. Paying it foward..............

This is a small book, but the story is captivating, heartwarming, and inspiring without being gag me with a straw sappy. I loved how there was a plot with twists, characters with imperfections (because I really hate a perfect character, they just aren't real) and a heart warming message that would be easily achieved by all who read it, regardless of ANYTHING. I was a little skeptical when I read that the main character's name is Hope, because that kind of sets the character up to be fabulous and perfect and sickening, but she isn't like that. She is hard working, trying to make her way in the journalist industry, meets her trials head on, but still has her flaws, tough decisions and accountability for her actions.

This probably took me an hour to read, maybe a little less, and with everything that is going on in the world, you really can afford an hour to feel like the world isn't all bad, to realize there are still good people, and remember that no good deed goes unrecognized.

So much of our lives are a result of another's intersection. Hope Jensen was abandoned as a baby, left on a booth seat at the Chuck's Chicken `n' Biscuits, six miles outside of town on Highway 4. Abandoned, but then found by an unsuspecting Louise Jensen who always stopped by Chuck's on New Year's Eve. The very same Hope who returned to her "hometown" after college to make her name in journalism. Now alone after Louise's death, Hope returns to her apartment that first solitary Christmas Eve and finds her apartment ransacked. Everything gone, including Hope's belief that people were basically good and kind. Stepping out of the mess to catch her breath, Hope stumbles over a brown paper bag containing a jar filled with cash. Where did the jar come from? Puzzled by the unexpected windfall, Hope sets out to find out where the money came from....sure she has stumbled on a front page story. No matter which way she turns, her questions are turned aside. The most promising lead, the Maxwell family does not open up to Hope's questions; they open their hearts and bring her into their family. Hope still wants the story, but the warmth of the Maxwell's home is equally appealing.

Jason F. Wright has crafted a simple, heartwarming tale about the effect one kind act can have as its recipient and the ripple effect that kindness sets in motion. Never saccharine, Wright reminds readers that every one of us has the ability and opportunity to affect the lives of someone around us. This is a hopeful (no pun intended) tale that will lift the reader and restore a bit of faith in those around them. You may even start a Christmas jar of your own.

I am so glad I found this author. The book is written so well. It makes you really envision the people and places you are reading about. very good read.

This is an excellent, heart-warming book. Sure to be at the top of my gift giving list this year.