A Christmas to Remember

Starred review from September 4, 2017
Four talented authors combine four Regency-era short stories into one spirited, scintillating holiday treat. In Kleypas’s “I Will,” prim and proper Lady Caroline Hargreaves loathes everything about fiendish Andrew, Lord Drake, but she agrees to a mutually beneficial fake courtship: he’ll be reinstated in his father’s will and will pay off her brother’s gambling debts. What starts out as a deal with the devil turns into a match made in heaven. In Lorraine
Heath’s “Deck the Halls with Love,” Alistair Wakefield, Marquess of Chetwyn, tries to rekindle a long-ago romance with Lady Meredith Hargreaves, but she refuses to call off her wedding to another man, afraid that Chetwyn will break her heart again. In Megan
Frampton’s “No Groom at the Inn,” wealthy, loyal James Archer needs a fake bride-to-be to make his mother happy, so he offers to buy the penniless Sophronia Bettesford a cottage of her own, away from her awful relatives, if she agrees to play his fiancée. They discover they have a lot in common, and Sophronia’s inherent goodness, intelligence, and wit anchors James’s restless soul. In Vivienne
Lorret’s “The Duke’s Christmas Wish,” when Ivy Sutherland arrives at the Christmas house party hosted by inventor Northcliff Bromley, Duke of Vale, he’s drawn to her effervescence, intelligence, and impulsiveness, putting his scientifically sound marriage formula—which holds monetary assets, lineage, and shared interests as the top factors—into question. This anthology is a wondrous combination of charming characters and unique circumstances; each of the stories is well-written and deeply satisfying. Agent: Mel Berger, William Morris Endeavor.

September 15, 2017
A quartet of Christmas novellas by some Regency romance favorites ushers in the season with wit and distinction.Most historical romance fans will agree that Kleypas is among the best of the best of the genre, so it comes as no surprise that her entry in this Christmas anthology is delightful. However, whereas sometimes collections with headliner authors suffer from uneven storytelling, this one delights across the board. Kleypas' I Will charts the unexpected romance between a decided rake and his friend's sister as he tries to convince his disapproving father to put him back in his will by courting the bluestocking, then falls in love with her. Heath's Deck the Halls with Love touchingly reunites Lady Meredith Hargreaves and the Marquess of Chetwyn, whose budding romance was interrupted when his brother died and he felt honor-bound to marry his brother's intended, who fell in love with someone else before he could accomplish it. Now Chetwyn wants a second chance with the woman he truly loves. Meredith, however, isn't sure she can trust her heart to the man who already broke it once. No Groom at the Inn is a clever play on the faux fiancee theme; when penniless Lady Sophronia Bettesford meets Mr. James Archer at a coaching inn and he asks her to pretend to be his betrothed at a house party in exchange for financial freedom. The arc of the story is well-tread, but author Frampton's lively characters and bright use of words and wordplay through the tale add depth, humor, and whimsy. Finally, in Lorret's The Duke's Christmas Wish, sexual tension nearly melts the pages when a duke meets the woman of his dreams even as he's creating a system of matchmaking that devalues the very things that make her perfect for him. An enchanting, exquisitely rendered collection of Christmas Regency shorts.

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October 15, 2017

Romance shines with plenty of festive cheer in this quartet of historical novellas by some of the genre's most gifted authors. Though all have been published previously, Kleypas's "I Will" (2001), Lorraine Heath's "Deck the Halls with Love" (2012), Megan Frampton's "No Groom at the Inn" (2015), and Vivienne Lorret's "The Duke's Christmas Wish" (2015), as an anthology, make a diverting holiday read. Kleypas, Heath, Frampton, and Lorret live in Washington State; Plano, TX; Brooklyn; and Indiana, respectively.

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2017
Four popular romance writers present four holiday-themed novellasKleypas' I Will, Lorraine Heath's Deck the Halls with Love, Megan Frampton's No Groom at the Inn, and Vivienne Lorret's The Duke's Christmas Wish, which add up to the perfect gift for historical-romance readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)