Novella – Page 105 – Flippin' Pages Book Reviews

A Scottish Lord for Christmas by Lauren Smith

Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Sins and Scandals #3
Publication Date: 12/5/17

Scrumptiously, deliciously different tale of love. Lauren Smith always delights us with her wonderful way of developing wonderful characters and writing compelling stories for them. This book – and this series certainly attests to that.

This stories in this series begin with a house party in book one of the series. Leopold Graham, Earl of Hampton was almost ‘pockets to let’ and needed to find a rich wife. He had his sights set on Millie, but he didn’t like her very much. So, Leopold gets his HEA in the first book and Millie gets hers in the second book – and now, in the third book, Millie’s sister gets her HEA.

As this tale begins, Leo and Ivy are engaged and Owen has just ‘ruined’ Millie so they have to marry. Millie and her parents leave Rowena at the house party while they go to their neighboring estate to make arrangements for Millie’s wedding to Owen. Rowena is so nervous because she’s just had her first season and this is her first house party. She’s afraid she’ll make a mistake and fall flat on her face even with Leo’s mom as her chaperone.

During dinner that night, all of the ladies are all a’ twitter about Quinn MacCauley, Lord Forres, a Scottish Earl. Rowena is half-way down the table from him, but she finds his voice mesmerizing and her eyes are constantly drawn to him.

The next day, while taking a walk in the gardens, Rowena sees a small girl running her chubby little legs off – directly for the slippery, frozen fountain in the garden and there is nobody running after her. Rowena hikes up her skirts and takes off at a full run and manages to snare the little sprite just before she pitches headlong into the fountain. She is about two or three years old and she was looking for ‘fishies’. Rowena hugs her close and falls in love with the child. She has no idea who the child belongs to or why she would be all alone in the garden. Then, the child’s nurse comes puffing up to Rowena and explains that the little girl is a bit of an escape artist and that she is the daughter of Lord Forres who is a widower. At about that time, Lord Forres himself runs up and is surprised to see his daughter, Blair, being held in the arms of a stranger because she will not usually have anything to do with people that she is not totally familiar with.

Quinn was totally, completely, profoundly and irrevocably in love with his wife and her death devastated him. If it weren’t for his sweet bairn, he wouldn’t have made it through. Now, he has decided to find himself a wife – not because he wants to, but because Blair needs a mother and he needs someone to oversee the household part of the estate so he can be free to manage the rest. He wants someone who is totally different than his first wife because he doesn’t want any reminders. Since Maura was a Scot, he looked for an English woman, etc.

Whomever Quinn decided to marry, she would have to understand that there would never be love between them. It would always be a marriage of convenience – no love, probably not even affection. However, he couldn’t help but be attracted to Rowena who was sweet, gentle and kind – and she genuinely cared for his daughter. Once he decided to propose he was really surprised when Rowena accepted.

Their journey, most especially Quinn’s journey, to finding love and happiness is a delightful read. I couldn’t put it down. The characters were wonderfully developed and I was truly invested in the story and their happiness.

See my reviews for the first two books:
An Earl by Any Other Name – Book 1
A Gentleman Never Surrenders – Book 2

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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.”

The Christmas Stranger by Anna Campbell

Tracy’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Release Date: November 14, 2017

Kitty Hall is at her wits end, her son Joss refuses to settle down and ignores all the nice girls she has placed in his path. In desperation, she writes to his godfather, Dr. Thomas Black and asks if he would help her find a bride for Joss. Dr. Black is about to refuse when he remembers that his cousin’s daughter is working as the housekeeper at his estate in the north. When her mother died five years ago, he meant to see her settled and find her a husband, but he never got around to it. Seems like he can kill two birds with one stone. Joss is a gifted architect, so Dr. Black requests that he go to Thorncroft Manor and give him suggestions for updating the house. He means to write to Maggie and let her know and to Kitty to tell her the plan, but he gets sidetracked and forgets.

Maggie Carr is not looking forward to spending Christmas alone, she has been alone too much since her parents died. But alone she will be, because she wouldn’t ask Jane to stay with her and miss time with her family. After Jane leaves, Maggie settles in for the night only to be awoken by a banging at the door.

Joss barely made it to Thorncroft with the blizzard raging, but he is here now and no little slip of a girl is going to keep him out. Maggie is shocked when Joss shows up, she would love nothing better than to kick him out, but if Dr. Black sent him, she doesn’t have the right and the storm is too bad. Shaking with cold as they are standing in the foyer arguing, she refuses to go with him to the kitchen. So Joss picks her up and tosses her over his shoulder and takes her himself.

Joss is a gentle giant, he was raised a gentleman, but his manners are a bit rusty. He knows he should leave, but Maggie sparks something in him he has never felt before. He wants to know more about her.

As they spend time together, they form a friendship and Joss does his best to bring some joy in her life. When an impromptu kiss unleashes the barely passion he feels for her, he knows he must leave. He wants Maggie, but he will not dishonor her, he will return later once Jane has returned and court her properly.

Joss sets out and Maggie is heartbroken, she knows she loves him and wonders if he will return and if he does will the magic between them be the same. She feels even more lonely now that she has ever felt and worries about his safety. Later that night, Joss returns, half frozen. The road was impassable and his horse was lame.

Maggie immediately takes charge and gets him warm and fed. After Joss retires, she goes to his room, determined to make memories with Joss that will sustain her after he is gone.

This was a sweet, slightly steamy little novella. The writing was wonderful and the story was well paced. The story is amusing and heartfelt and it has a wonderfully sweet epilogue.

I happily recommend this novella, it is set at Christmas, but it is not overly “Christmas-y”, it is just a great story about two wonderful people meeting and falling in love around Christmastime.

*I was provided a copy for review by the Author*

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