Series: Christmas Revels #4
Publication Date: 9/18/18

Mr. Hunt’s Christmas Caller by Anna D. Allen

I really liked this well-written novella and it was the first time I’ve read anything by Anna D. Allen. I liked that both the hero and heroine were both older – in their thirties and both of them were flawed – as in not the most handsome man alive or a diamond of the first water. They were just regular people – NOT the ton. Add in that it was also a Christmas story and it was really nice.

Mr. Matthias Hunt of Oakwood Hall wasn’t looking forward to the Christmas celebrations. Once again, he had been unlucky in finding a wife. He’d proposed and she’d said she needed to think – then – in church – the bans were read announcing her engagement to another man. Well – what did he expect – she was half his age! So, all Matthias wanted to do this Christmas was to sit by his own fire and sulk in misery.

Miss Constance Blackwell was a very poor relation living in her aunt’s home as not much more than a servant. She wasn’t beautiful, but she had a sweet gentle spirit that drew people to her. She had also been in love with Matthias Hunt for almost the entire seven years he had lived in their village. He never really noticed her as a candidate for his wife – he seemed to look toward the young and beautiful debutantes. So, she’d always wish him the best and love him from afar.

Then, finally, he notices her – had he always been so blind that he hadn’t seen her – really seen her. People try to put obstacles in the way of their HEA, but it is a fun read to see how and what they overcome.

The Christmas Gamble by Kate Parker

My favorite stories are those that have both a mystery to solve and a lovely romance and that is just what this story has. Kate Parker writes one of my favorite series, Victorian Bookshop Mysteries, so I always know I’ll enjoy her contribution to any work.

Lizzie Hancock is very hopeful as she travels with her guardian to meet her betrothed – George Waters, Earl of Stonebrook. As she approaches, the house takes her breath away. She can’t wait to meet him – he certainly can’t be much worse than her guardian. However, when she arrives, something seems just a little off. She’s not sure what it is – maybe it is just the fact that her betrothed isn’t there, he’s gone to London on business.

The same afternoon, George’s long-lost brother, Gabriel, arrives and is amazed that his brother isn’t there. George sent for him and he’s come from the middle east to see him.

It is the Christmas season and there are balls and other festivities to participate in, so George squires Lizzie and her guardian around. Gabriel and Lizzie begin to really enjoy each other’s company, but Gabriel knows he’ll have to give her up when his brother returns.

Can’t tell you more – don’t want to spoil it – but there are some lovely twists to the story. After all – it is a Christmas story – and there are Christmas miracles.

The Gnome and the Christmas Star by Hannah Meredith

I really enjoyed this story. It was well written, excellently paced and had very relatable and likable characters. At first, I thought the story was going to be about the younger couple, but it turned out to be about their parents. YIPPEE! The hero was in his mid-forties and the heroine was in her late thirties, so not old, but mature. There is a really fun epilogue that I absolutely loved. To me, the only thing missing was what happened to the relationship between their two children because they seemed to be forming an attachment as well. Maybe it is in an upcoming book, but I couldn’t find it if that is the case.

Dowager Viscountess Sophia Lyndon married an older man with children because she needed security and had no dowry. She wasn’t unhappy, but now that he has passed on, she is going to savor her independence – just as soon as she gets all of her step-children settled. There is only one left, Henry, and he is turning out to be a problem. He lost his left arm in the war and just hasn’t adjusted well – he is temperamental, and can’t seem to find a purpose in life. She and her older step-son, Alexander, have come up with a plan – they just have to persuade Henry to follow it. They think being in the House of Commons and a political career would interest Henry and they present the idea to Henry. He scoffs at first, but then, the idea piques his interest. Once the idea takes root, Alexander mentions that he has the perfect location in mind – in a borough that Duncan Ashe, the Earl of Marle, heavily influences. All Henry has to do is travel to extreme northern England – in December – despite the weather – and attend a house party where he’ll interface with the Earl and perhaps receive his endorsement. All of Sophia’s step-children love her dearly and Alexander has a sub-plot that is all his own. So, he manipulates Sophia into accompanying Henry to the house party.

Duncan’s wife left him after ten years of marriage and four children. He’s felt insecure in his ability to ‘read’ the emotions and thoughts of the female gender from that point on. He thought all was well with their marriage until he came home and found her five-word farewell note. “I have always loved him.” He had kept that note for the last fifteen years and read it about once a week – just to remind him of his failure. He’d settled into a life where he wielded tremendous political influence and power and he held a yearly political house party where he could meet and endorse (or not) newer entries into the political arena. Females rarely attended the events. So, he was a little interested to see the young man who was bringing his mother with him to the house party – certainly an unprecedented thing.

Neither Duncan nor Sophia were looking for any kind of relationship and both were stunned at the instant and very strong attraction they felt for each other. I really liked both of them and I loved watching them realize that they could have more out of life – they could both have a love match. I enjoyed the story, but as I mentioned earlier there was a thread between Duncan’s daughter and Sophia’s step-son that was just left dangling. I would have liked to see that one tied up.

A Perfectly Ridiculous Christmas by Louisa Cornell

I enjoyed this happy little addition to the book, but I guess I didn’t think it was so much a farce as it was just three misguided men trying their best to protect three lovely little girls. It was bright and funny and the characters were engaging.

Valerian, Viscount Kenysham, William Collins, and Viscount Thynne had grown up together. They had spent all of their lives together wherever they had traveled and whatever they had done was always together– they were closer than brothers. Although he was the youngest, Valerian had always been the leader. So, when Thynne needed a new wife, a mother for his three mixed-race daughters, and an heiress, it was Valerian who went to Edinburgh to find just the right lady. Luckily, he did.

Lady Catherine Chastleton has come into a fortune left to her by her aunt. She already has much of the inheritance, but in order to receive all of it, she needs to marry. She doesn’t have a very high opinion of men, so she needs to find one who is weak enough to marry her for her money and still let her be in charge. Luckily, she has found just that man in Viscount Thynne.

The fun begins because the men don’t plan to tell Catherine about the daughters. They figure Thynne can have her “wedded and bedded” and they spring the news of her step-motherhood on her. They make an elaborate plan to keep Catherine away from the girls, but that quickly falls through. Then, they come up with a new scheme and work on that one for a while. Too bad none of them took into account the attraction that would develop between Valerian and Catherine.

The little girls are cute – and can plot on their own. They constantly refer to Catherine as The Hairless rather than The Heiress.

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“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”

Romantically Enchanted by Various Authors

On September 9, 2018September 8, 2018 By BarbaraIn Anthology, Barb's Reviews, Paranormal / Fantasy5 Comments

Romantically Enchanted

Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Anthology
Publication Date: 9/11/18

I decided to read this anthology because there were several new-to-me authors in it as well as a couple of authors that I love. It is almost 700 pages (according to Amazon), so it is a pretty long read – but you can read a story and take a break if you like 🙂 Madeline Martin’s contribution was my favorite, but they were all good — well-written books — even those that I don’t normally read – like shapeshifters and lots of supernatural beings, magic, etc.

Her Highland Beast by Madeline Martin

This lovely tale of curses, sacrifice, and love is a cross between Beauty and the Beast and Princess and the Pea – with just a smidgen of the supernatural thrown in. As with all of Madeline Martin’s work, the writing was superb, the plot was flawless and the characters were so very likable.

As a boy of fifteen, Duncan wanted to be a hero. So, when he heard a scream off in the distance, he left his mother and her lady’s maid alone in the forest to go to the rescue. When he gets there, he finds a man who is dead and a young girl, perhaps ten-years-old, almost at death’s door. He scoops up the girl and takes her to a monastery so they can care for her. When he gets back to his mother both she and her lady’s maid are dying. The lady’s maid is a sorceress and she curses Duncan before she dies.

Evina is a warrior. She’s been earning her way as a mercenary since she was about thirteen and she is so very, very lonely. She always walks away from every battle, unscathed, when all of those around her are dying. She has no memory of her past – she doesn’t know who her family is – there is absolutely no clue. So, after the last battle, when all around her have died, she is walking toward – what? It is bitter cold and she hasn’t eaten for days – it would be so very easy to just lie down in one of the huge snow drifts and stay there. Then she smells the most mouthwatering aroma – food – and she heads toward it.

She is amazed at what she finds when she gets there. A castle with a garden completely filled with sunshine and warmth – and in the middle a huge Rowan tree with very few leaves left on it. As she is reaching toward a leaf, the most handsome man she’s ever seen tackles her – literally.

It is so lovely to read this story of what true love is really all about.

Rescued by a Sea Nymph by Rebekah Lewis

I haven’t read anything by Rebekah Lewis before, but this was a really well written and well plotted and I liked the characters. It is based on the Little Mermaid story. Now, there is a lot more of the paranormal in this story than I like, but that didn’t keep it from being a well-done tale. It did leave me with an unanswered question since Demeter’s grandson’s identity was constantly mentioned – yet we never learned who he was.

James is attacked by the seventeen-year-old James Paxton, the Earl of Underwood and a gang of his young friends. They put him in a skiff and row out – then, they cut off his hand. Because Underwood doesn’t want James to die right away – they then cauterize the stump – and then push him overboard. James knows he is going to die, it is just a matter of how quickly.

Ione is a sea nymph and she is very lonely and very bored. She’s just swimming around – not even sure where she is – when she sees humans in a rowboat. Humans can be real trouble for her kind. Then, she sees one of them being thrown overboard. She can’t let him die, so she grabs him and tows him toward shore. As she gets closer to shore, it is harder to manage to drag him because her fins and tail interfere. She has to transform into a human form to actually get him onto the shore.

James is only half conscious at the time, but he witnesses Ione’s transformation. Ione has called her cousin, Poseidon, to her in order to get him to heal James – all of the bruises, broken bones – and re-grow his hand. Poseidon agrees to all but the hand. Instead, he puts a hook there. If James turns out to be all Ione hopes he will be, then Poseidon will replace the hand.

Ione has three days to decide if she wants to go back to the sea or if she wants to stay in her human form. She wants James and he wants her – but is it enough for her to give up her humanity for?

Scandalous Liaison by Amanda Mariel

This was a lovely second-chance romance with older main characters. I thoroughly enjoyed the read.

Grace and Lewis were in love when they were young, but Grace was forced to marry a Duke who was rich in order to save her family from ruin. The duke loved her, treated her well and gave her two daughters. She came to love him, but she was always in love with Lewis. Over twenty years later, she is a widow and Lewis has never married when they meet along the road on their way to the christening of their godchild. It is lovely to see their passion even after all those years and to see if they can make a life together when his life is in America and hers is in England.

Infinitely My Marquess by Dawn Brower

I think this was a takeoff on a mixture of several fairy tales – Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, etc. It had multiple wickeds in it – step-mothers, step-sisters, step-fathers, grandfathers, fathers – goodness, there were a pile of them. There were an awful lot of characters in such a short story, so you had to pay attention to keep them all straight.

Ryan Simms was a happy, loving child until his father remarried and brought a miserable step-mother and two equally miserable step-sisters into their home. Then, just a few years later, his father died and he belonged, body and soul, to his very wicked step-mother. She let all of the servants go and made Ryan do all of their work while she spent money on herself and her daughters. Finally, when Ryan was about twelve, his grandfather, the Duke of Ashthorne, came and removed him from Lady Penelope’s custody. Although his grandfather was a cold and forbidding man, at least he would prepare Ryan for a future.

Annalise, the daughter of the Duke of Wolfton, had a miserable life. Her father was cold, cruel and controlling. She couldn’t even choose her own gowns – he chose them for her. Somehow, Annalise managed to be a sweet and caring person despite her father’s cruel punishments. Her poor brother, Marrock, was just as much under the control of the duke as Annalise was.

When Annalise met Ryan Simms, Marquess of Cinderbury while visiting her step-sister, Estella, there was an instant attraction. The pull was strong, but Ryan didn’t trust love and Annalise knew that her father would never permit her to marry or have any sort of caring relationship. These two were fated to be together, but how were they going to manage it? Well – add in a fairy godmother in the form of a grandmother and a brother, and you have your answer.

It was a lovely read and I enjoyed it.

It Must by Magic by Sandra Sookoo

I’m not a fan of shape-shifters, but I can still appreciate a well-written, well-plotted story with characters that are very likable. You have an evil queen, a loving father, curses, shape-shifters, centaurs, and fairies – something for everyone.

Averell Woode is thirty years old and lives in an enchanted tree. She’s lived there since she was an infant with her father who is a huntsman for Queen Grimhilde, the ruler of Sarringden. Her father tells her that they live there for her protection and that there are many evils in the world, but she’ll be safe as long as she stays near home. One day, while her father is away in the village, she gets restless and wants to see more of the wood that she has ever seen before. As she is moving along, she hears voices in the distance and stealthily moves closer to see who is there. It is a group of men, hunters, who should not be hunting in these woods. One of them draws her attention and she can’t draw her eyes away from him.

Prince Devon James Quinn Lansdowne – Quinn – and his brother Henry were cursed as children by a disgruntled witch disguised as a fairy. They were in their human form by day but would be wolves by night. Quinn quietly snuck up on the woman hiding in the tree line and was struck by her beauty and pure innocence. He was drawn to her, and that night, in his wolf form, he went back and trailed her to where she lived – and it really was in an enchanted tree – just as she had said.

Quinn and Averell have a lot to overcome and many battles to win before they can finally get their HEA, but it was lovely to see them get theirs.

Luring a Lord’s Love by Tammy Andresen

Lots of magical happenings in this book! I’m not usually a fan of that much magic, but this one was well written and handled it well. The only thing I didn’t like was that I didn’t see a real resolution to the villain. She was routed for a time, but I was left with a blurb that said I’d have to read the next book to see the resolution. That is fine, series do that all the time and I usually like an overarching theme or quest, etc. in a series. But – since I’m not a fan of ‘magical’ books, I won’t be reading the next one, so I’ll miss out on the resolution.

Arianna is on her way to her grandmother’s house (a la Red Riding Hood) to take her grandmother a basket of food when she is set upon by a bunch of men in wolf costumes. There has been a lot of crime in her village lately – girls even disappearing. So, Arianna has been skittish and fearful during the entire walk to her grandmothers. When the wolfmen appear, she runs and manages to hide until she hears their dogs, and she knows she can’t hide from them. Being an intelligent young woman, she knows that the only way to escape the dogs is to hide in water. So, she makes for the estuary, enters the freezing water and clings to a log. The dogs and men hang around so long that the tide starts to go out and take her and her log with it. She is sure that it is safer to stay with the log than it is to face the wolfmen. The water is frigid and she’s moving further and further out to sea. When she comes to for a moment, she can’t believe what she sees. There is a ship beside her and a man is diving into the frigid water and swimming toward her.

Nicholas Fairfield is part of a magical family and all of his brothers have been drawn to magical women and have all just recently married. Nick has laughed at them and tells them that certainly won’t happen to him. Then, through his spyglass, he sees something floating in the sea – and as he gets closer, he can tell that it is a person. He has to rescue the person. That person turns out to be a beautiful young woman with bright auburn hair and he is drawn to save her and help her rescue her village.

Arianna’s grandmother has predicted the marriage of Nick and Arianna and at first, both of them are skeptical, but as the story moves on they both realize that the other is the only one for them.

Lots of magic and excitement.

“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”

Flippin' Pages Book Reviews

Category: Anthology

Christmas Revels V by Anna D. Allen, Kate Parker, Hannah Meredith, and Louisa Cornell

Romantically Enchanted by Various Authors

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