Snowflakes and Teardrops

Snowflakes and Teardrops
B. J. Betts
Five Star Press
Smashwords Edition
Amazon Digital Services
November 2014
154 pages
$ 0.99 Amazon digital

Celina Gray is accustomed to stress while daily working as an emergency room nurse.  Living in Council Bluffs, Iowa during the winter, she knows that the weather changes quickly with the temperature being sixty degrees yesterday.  Today she is driving home in freezing sleet while the inside of the car seems reluctant to provide heat.  This is nothing unusual in this part of the country.
While stopped at a traffic light, she observes two little girls walking to their school.  The older girl is arguing with her younger sister who is claiming to feel sick and wants to go home.  What Celina noticed their legs which were cold and red and wonders about how cold their feet must be in flip-flops.
Celina hears the honk of a horn as the light turns green.  As she turns the corner, another car races through the intersection forcing her to slam on her brakes and fish-tail, cutting a cookie on the icy road.  As she takes a few seconds to refocus and breathe, Celina is startled by a knocking on her car window.  The kind man outside just wants to be certain she was fine. It is reassuring to know there is still some kindness in the world.
All these factors combine into Snowflakes and Teardrops, a Christmas novel by local author, B.J. Betts.
Snowflakes and Teardrops is a warm, fuzzy romantic Christmas story.  Betts' writing is engaging with a logical conclusion that yes, fits the typical romance novel.  Her characters though are becoming more developed in her writing with conflicted situations between right and wrong and more realistic and complicated characters.  Although most of the characters could be classified as good and bad, it is refreshingly realistic to have characters who are victims of circumstances with no hope of change within their lives.   To view life through their eyes is a privilege and unquestionably adds depth to the characters and story.
Council Bluffs' native, B. J. Betts married her high school sweetheart while raising their children.  Previously she has written Saigon Moon and Echoes in the Night which are both set in the Vietnam War and inspired by her grandson who served in Iraq, as well as A Moment in Time, Belle's Crossing, and Mile Marker 59.  She in a member of Romance Writers of America and Romance Authors of the Heartland.
With only 154 pages the story is fairly simple but comforting with a reminder of the warmth of caring during the holiday season.