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melodicfate's review
3.0
The emotions surrounding the death of Ellie's father and her grief really got to me. However, these characters could be very unlikable, Eleanor in particular. She never wanted to actually listen to what Randolph said, but preferred to make things about a million times harder for anyone by jumping to conclusions. I liked that Randolph really did want to be a good husband to her, though he was a jerk in the beginning. Mary Balogh did a great job with the Christmas celebrations and the family dynamics though. I'll be reading more of her for sure, but this was not my favorite.
whiskeyinthejar's review
4.0
Read this for 12 Tasks of the Festive Season:
Task the Third: The Holiday Party:
- Read a book where a celebration is a big part of the action. Examples would include holiday parties, country house hunting/weekend parties, weddings, etc.
This meets the holiday party criteria, the heroine's family and a couple of the hero's friends gather at their home for a week to celebrate Christmas.
He felt disgust and shame at what he was doing. He was marrying for money.
I had a couple friends tell me they thought pretty highly of this book and I see why. Eleanor's father is dying and he wants to make sure that she is settled so he buys the debts of an Earl and tells him he'll forgive them if he marries his daughter. Randolph inherited the debts along with the earldom but sees no way out of it, so he decides to marry who he calls the cit because Eleanor's father made his money in coal. So, our heroine knows she's being married for money and our hero knows he's being married for position in society. This leads to them being very cold to one another.
She had done what she always did when she was afraid or angry or both. She had given as good as she had got.
With her father dying and having had a bad experience with aristocrats Eleanor throws up one heck of a wall and cold shoulder toward Randolph, he eventually ends up calling her "hedgehog". Which is a nickname I never thought I would delight in but oh did I. I think some will be annoyed/angry with how cold Eleanor was but I get her, she was in self-protection mode and not wanting Randolph to see her hurt because that would shame her. I did think their dagger throwing, especially on Eleanor's side went on a tad too long, I think we should have seen a stronger turning about around the 60% mark.
Was it that he wanted the physical closeness to her in the hope that it would bring some emotional closeness too?
This was originally published in 1992 and it has aged very well but it also has a more realistic telling of how people would have acted during this time than a lot of currently published historicals. Don't get me wrong, Eleanor is an extremely strong character but she asks for permission from her husband and acknowledges she has to obey him in certain situations. To me, she is all the better because of this realistic take, her strength is even more evident in how she maintained her sense of self in the face of the "rules" of her time. Thinking back, Randolph was probably a better man than I gave him credit for while reading. He was the one who seemed to want to give them a chance and walked further across the bridge that separated them. However, since I know it is a deal breaker for some,
If you're looking for holiday reading, this needs to be at the top of your list. The wintry and holiday atmosphere is fantastic in this story. They go sledding, picking holly, Christmas carols are sung, Christmas pageants, snowball fights, a family gathering, and etc. The hero and heroine's relationship might be a bit too prickly for some but I loved how real it felt. The wariness of being involved in an arranged marriage, the guarded standoffish of distrustfulness, and the eventual getting to know someone and coming together. This was a moving holiday read.
"Do we like each other?" she asked.
"Yes," he said. "We do."
Task the Third: The Holiday Party:
- Read a book where a celebration is a big part of the action. Examples would include holiday parties, country house hunting/weekend parties, weddings, etc.
This meets the holiday party criteria, the heroine's family and a couple of the hero's friends gather at their home for a week to celebrate Christmas.
He felt disgust and shame at what he was doing. He was marrying for money.
I had a couple friends tell me they thought pretty highly of this book and I see why. Eleanor's father is dying and he wants to make sure that she is settled so he buys the debts of an Earl and tells him he'll forgive them if he marries his daughter. Randolph inherited the debts along with the earldom but sees no way out of it, so he decides to marry who he calls the cit because Eleanor's father made his money in coal. So, our heroine knows she's being married for money and our hero knows he's being married for position in society. This leads to them being very cold to one another.
She had done what she always did when she was afraid or angry or both. She had given as good as she had got.
With her father dying and having had a bad experience with aristocrats Eleanor throws up one heck of a wall and cold shoulder toward Randolph, he eventually ends up calling her "hedgehog". Which is a nickname I never thought I would delight in but oh did I. I think some will be annoyed/angry with how cold Eleanor was but I get her, she was in self-protection mode and not wanting Randolph to see her hurt because that would shame her. I did think their dagger throwing, especially on Eleanor's side went on a tad too long, I think we should have seen a stronger turning about around the 60% mark.
Was it that he wanted the physical closeness to her in the hope that it would bring some emotional closeness too?
This was originally published in 1992 and it has aged very well but it also has a more realistic telling of how people would have acted during this time than a lot of currently published historicals. Don't get me wrong, Eleanor is an extremely strong character but she asks for permission from her husband and acknowledges she has to obey him in certain situations. To me, she is all the better because of this realistic take, her strength is even more evident in how she maintained her sense of self in the face of the "rules" of her time. Thinking back, Randolph was probably a better man than I gave him credit for while reading. He was the one who seemed to want to give them a chance and walked further across the bridge that separated them. However, since I know it is a deal breaker for some,
Spoiler
he has a mistress and after he is married to Eleanor and he visits her twice. We never see these two visits, we see one visit before he is married to Eleanor, but they are mentioned.If you're looking for holiday reading, this needs to be at the top of your list. The wintry and holiday atmosphere is fantastic in this story. They go sledding, picking holly, Christmas carols are sung, Christmas pageants, snowball fights, a family gathering, and etc. The hero and heroine's relationship might be a bit too prickly for some but I loved how real it felt. The wariness of being involved in an arranged marriage, the guarded standoffish of distrustfulness, and the eventual getting to know someone and coming together. This was a moving holiday read.
"Do we like each other?" she asked.
"Yes," he said. "We do."
localstreetcat's review
1.0
DNF at 60%.
I couldn't get invested in the characters and it was just like sad but not in a way that was still cathartic to read. Also I don't want to read a depressing Christmas book...
I couldn't get invested in the characters and it was just like sad but not in a way that was still cathartic to read. Also I don't want to read a depressing Christmas book...
laura_mcloughlin's review against another edition
3.0
This book was mostly fine. I have read a few of her books before but although they have interesting premises I just have a hard time getting through them. This one was better in that I actually wanted to finish it. It was also written in the early 90s and that very much shows. There are things that did not age well. Also, this is a marriage of convenience story and both characters jump to wrong conclusions about the other's motives and they could have solved a lot of problems by sitting down and talking to one another (their arrangement was such that this wouldn't have been super difficult).
Once the Christmas party got going, and the heroine's large, working class, close knit family showed up the book got much better.
(I purchased this book from my local Romance bookstore as a Holiday Blind Date, so I didn't know what I was getting. It was something fun to liven things up and a great way to support a local business, I would be happy to try my luck again)
Once the Christmas party got going, and the heroine's large, working class, close knit family showed up the book got much better.
(I purchased this book from my local Romance bookstore as a Holiday Blind Date, so I didn't know what I was getting. It was something fun to liven things up and a great way to support a local business, I would be happy to try my luck again)
saycheeze37's review against another edition
3.0
Good, as always with this author, but perhaps a little bit to close of some of her other stories to be my favorite. Still a good holiday read, though.
martamae77's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual content
nelsonseye's review against another edition
3.0
A Christmas Promise had a good premise with interesting main characters and a myriad of secondary characters who, to be honest, I clumped together. I enjoyed, maybe not the best word, Ellie and Randolph's exchanges, even when they were mean to each other, it wasn't gratuitous or toxic. I also liked how Randolph recognized Ellie's "hedgehog" tendencies and adapted to them. I also really enjoyed Ellie's conversation with Randolph's former potential mother-in-law: her comments were delightful. I think there was an overabundance of Christmas elements which is to be expected in a book called A Christmas Promise, and I did skip over some of them. But overall it was a good read.
sarawithoutanh's review
2.0
I read this as part of the Drunk Literacy series on my channel. My roommates and I each read a Christmas-themed romance book and then review them. I ranted about this book quite a lot while I was drunk.
I will soberly tell you here that this book isn't the greatest. The writing style is alright but the plot (and sex scenes!!) leaves more to be desired. The only thing I liked was Eleanor's family.
Watch the crazy drunken rant here: https://youtu.be/IvWTSHMhceA
I will soberly tell you here that this book isn't the greatest. The writing style is alright but the plot (and sex scenes!!) leaves more to be desired. The only thing I liked was Eleanor's family.
Watch the crazy drunken rant here: https://youtu.be/IvWTSHMhceA
phoenixinthecity's review
3.0
Enemies-to-lovers marriage of convenience arranged by Ellie's dying father, a coal merchant and the impoverished Randolph, Earl of Falloden who inherited the title and debts from his wastrel of a cousin.
It was a slow-burn that grew from a misunderstanding that was resolved with the help of Ellie's boisterous family who joined them for a Christmas the likes of which "Randy" and Grenfell, his childhood country estate had never seen before.
It was a slow-burn that grew from a misunderstanding that was resolved with the help of Ellie's boisterous family who joined them for a Christmas the likes of which "Randy" and Grenfell, his childhood country estate had never seen before.
nononanette's review
it was, not surprisingly, well written and had depth. it must be one of her earlier books because there was a distance i felt from the characters despite the good development.