movie – Vickie's Book Nook and Meditation Corner

About the Book

ISBN-13:9781400354764

Publication date:10/21/2025

Pages:208

While searching for her family’s long-lost heirloom ring, military widow Vanessa Mayfield meets handsome antique dealer Ben Miller. The two are drawn to each other and forge a friendship that soon becomes a deep and breathtaking romance. But neither are sure that what they’ve found can last.

As Vanessa organizes her annual Columbus Cares Christmas Military Dance, she looks forward to her daughter’s return from college. But Vanessa hasn’t told Sadie about Ben. After all, Vanessa hadn’t anticipated finding love again after losing her husband. And now she wrestles with feelings that are becoming hard to ignore.

Just as Ben is about to declare his love for Vanessa, he learns more about her missing Christmas ring: her great grandfather found it in France on D-Day, and engraved on the band is a single meaningful word. The details confirm a terrible truth, one that Ben cannot ignore.

Certain he now knows where Vanessa’s ring is, Ben leaves town in a frantic rush. But can he stop a certain sale, or will Vanessa’s ring be lost forever? Days before Christmas, when all seems hopeless, Ben and Vanessa learn an important eternal truth: Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Synopsis from Barnes and Noble)

My Thoughts

This book is a mixture of genres and all pure and wholesome entertainment! It mixes historical fiction with romance and a little mystery, too. The historical part is how Vanessa’s great-grandfather found the special ring during the invasion of Normandy on D-Day. The heirloom ring is a special treasure for Vanessa and she is devastated when she accidentally loses it on a Colorado ski trip with her daughter. Having already suffered the loss of her beloved husband, Vanessa sets out on a quest to find her ring again by visiting various antique stores and spreading the word about what it looks like. When her daughter Sadie goes to college, Vanessa is at a loss about how to continue courageously with her life, without her husband or her daughter. I loved how she threw herself into serving other military families and used her organizational talents to raise money for them. The way she meets the antique dealer named Ben was while she was looking for her ring. Their romance develops slowly because both have suffered a loss and neither is really ready for more than friendship. The dynamics between Vanessa and Sadie was perfect, a wonderful combination of respect and realization that independence is a part of life. The story is the perfect pace for the story being told, with poignant scenes between Sadie and Vanessa and between Vanessa and Ben as well as Ben and his dad Howard. There are several sub-plots that are beautifully woven together by a master storyteller into a memorable and lovely story with a theme of moving forward towards a promising future.
I voluntarily received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions expressed my own.

About the Author

Karen Kingsbury, #1 New York Times bestselling novelist, is America’s favorite inspirational storyteller, with more than twenty-five million copies of her award-winning books in print. Her last dozen titles have topped bestseller lists and many of her novels are under development as major motion pictures. Karen recently opened her own film company called Karen Kingsbury Productions. The company’s first theatrical movie, Someone Like You, is considered one of the most anticipated movies of the year. For more information visit SomeoneLikeYou.movie. Also, the first three seasons of Karen’s Baxter Family books are now an original series called The Baxters on Prime Video. Karen and her husband, Donald, live in Tennessee near their children and grandchildren. Website: karenkingsbury.com

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Purchase Links

Karen Kingsbury Bookstore

The movie version of the book, produced by Karen Kingsbury’s production company, releases on November 6th. Follow this link to see the trailer and to get your tickets!

Movie Trailer and Tickets

Just the message that I sent out yesterday that my husband and I had tickets and were going to see “Sound of Freedom” evoked various responses. My liberal sons jumped on the QAnon bandwagon, ridiculing our choice of movie. My sister wanted to know which theater we were going to because there had been many glitches in the AMC theater chain. (We went to the Regal.) But I was not going to be thwarted from my desire to see this film, so after my medical appointment, we headed into town for the matinee.

I would like to encourage everyone to see this heartbreaking movie, not because of the heartbreak but because of the truth that is in it. No, it is not totally factual. It has been fictionalized to make a better story, but if you read the real story of Tim Ballard and his efforts to rescue children, you will see that there is plenty of truth in the film and that is what breaks my heart. Especially the part about our nation being the largest purveyor and supporter of child trafficking and pornography.

“Sound of Freedom” -Official Trailer from Angel Studios

If you cannot afford a ticket, then Angel Studios has provided a “pay it forward” program to help you to see the movie. Just go to their site and follow the links. Tickets for Sound of Freedom

The tagline for the movie is that “God’s children are not for sale.” Remember that Jesus took the little children into His arms and blessed them; He did not turn them away. The current problem with our border is not just drugs, though that is horrific, too. The cartels use the open borders to traffic children. See the movie. Pray hard for this evil to be exposed and that God will have mercy on the children and save them. See the movie. If you are like me, your eyes are already somewhat open to the evil that men do to little children in the name of profit and pleasure. But if you are like me, you have no idea of how extensive the problem is. See the movie. And then spread the word so that others will see it.