Search - A Historical Christmas Present

Be aware that all three stories are re-issues from other Christmas anthologies.

I Will by Lisa Kleypas - previously published in Wish List.
Three French Hens by Lynsay Sands - previously published in Five Gold Rings.
Father Christmas by Leigh Greenwood - previously published in Their First Noel.

A set of three Christmas themed stories. Settings are Georgian, Medieval, and Western.

The Lisa Kleypas story is a re-issue of an previously published story.

This anthology consisted of three stories by Lisa Kleypas, Lynsay Sands, and Leigh Greenwood. This review contains spoilers.

Lisa Kleypas’ “I Will” is part of the Capital Theatre series. I didn’t like Logan and Madeline’s story but Andrew was intriguing. So I was excited to read his story. In the beginning I did get a little annoyed with Caroline’s mother and brother because they were such useless leeches, but as soon as the story moved towards Andrew and Caroline together it was great fun. Dialogue between them was engaging and had a little humor. Then towards the end the story it got really dumb. Caroline pretty much rapes Andrew to receive his confession. And I have no idea why Andrew didn’t tell Caroline he was being blackmailed into marriage. Did he really think it would be better to break her heart by letting her think he used her or because he had no choice? And all this time Caroline knew her cousin (aka blackmailer) was a murderer yet she kept silent until it would benefit herself? Still, it was a decent story. I give it just a little under three stars.

Surprisingly I liked Lynsay Sands’ “Three-French Hens” the least. I usually read her immortals series and have only read one of her historical romance. That book made me laughed so hard. Although there were some funny parts to this story, I hate plotlines where people switch roles or have to pretend to be someone else. I also hated the ending. If I was Brinna I would always wonder if Royce was marrying me because of me or the money. It was fun but the end just didn’t have the happily ever after feel to it. 2 ½ stars.

“Father Christmas” turned out to be my favorite of the three stories. I have never read Leigh Greenwood before but I’m interested to see what her other works are like. There are no steamy sex scenes but the story is quite sweet. Some might find it boring because there isn’t really any action but Joe Ryan’s nonstop dialogue with the animals somehow adds to the charm of the story. Four stars.

good read

Good holiday read.