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birdloveranne's review
4.0
I normally don't like Christmas-themed books. But this one is just wonderful. It ties in a lot of characters from previous books (most of which I haven't read). I'd recommend reading A Precious Jewel before this one (it was just reprinted) as two of the characters that appear in this one are significant. (But I didn't and it wasn't a problem, just made me wonder if there was a story about those two.) This book is pretty short, but the characters are so unusual and sharply drawn, their dialog is wonderful, I just love them both! Definitely worth the read.
lifeand100books's review
3.0
I really enjoyed this story, but think it could have benefited from a bit more character depth.
I loved Edgar, but wouldn't have minded understanding his path to loving Helena more thoroughly. It felt like it just happened real quickly. And you come to know Helena fairly well, but she too comes to love Edgar very quickly. She hides it from him, but to the reader she admits it.
I would have loved the story if I understood the characters motives better. Still, it got me in the Christmas spirit!
I loved Edgar, but wouldn't have minded understanding his path to loving Helena more thoroughly. It felt like it just happened real quickly. And you come to know Helena fairly well, but she too comes to love Edgar very quickly. She hides it from him, but to the reader she admits it.
I would have loved the story if I understood the characters motives better. Still, it got me in the Christmas spirit!
cassandra67b07's review
2.0
Pretty blah for Balogh even for the Signet Regencies. She got so much better as a writer of damaged characters that going back to her earlier books feels unwise. I used to buy her on sight back in the day, but if I read this one then I had forgot it. There's a strong connection to A Precious Jewel as well as the Famous Heroine, but I didn't feel much interest in either of the main characters and I was skimming halfway through the book just to complete it. Strong dose of treacle near the end. I know it's a Christmas story, but the saccharine made my teeth hurt.
nicole_j_abley's review
5.0
I love Mary Balogh and it was a real pleasure to read this novel. Her characters are complex and her plots are exciting even though you know that things will usually turn out well because of the genre. This is one of my favorites and I love seeing the familiar characters from The Famous Heroine and the Plumbed Bonnet in new roles.
katkinney's review
3.0
In this regency romance, Helena and Edgar meet at a social function where Edgar is trying to find a bride before Christmas. Helena seduces him and they wind up spending the night together. The steamy scenes were super steamy! However, Helena is the queen of push and pull and as soon as the passion is through, she coldly dismisses Edgar.
I found myself really drawn into the writing, especially enamored with the secondary characters, and charmed by the Christmas setting. The only element of the story that I wasn’t so keen on came about very late in the story when certain aspects of character backstory came to light. Before that, this was on track to be a 5 star read for me.
I found myself really drawn into the writing, especially enamored with the secondary characters, and charmed by the Christmas setting. The only element of the story that I wasn’t so keen on came about very late in the story when certain aspects of character backstory came to light. Before that, this was on track to be a 5 star read for me.
Spoiler
It seems Helena had during the course of her first marriage tried to seduce her husband’s son when he was a very young teenager. The author tried to explain it away in the writing with their ages only being so many years apart (I still felt really uncomfortable reading it as written—this was clearly penned long before #MeToo), but the victim was traumatized by her actions, it gave an unsavory element to an otherwise nice Christmas story, and I rather wished this one aspect of the story would have been omitted.crownoflaurel's review
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
2.75
I know what Balogh was attempting here, but it's a bit hard difficult when one of the characters is aggressively dislikable for the first half of the book.
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape
tita_noir's review
3.0
You know how sometimes in romances you have the bored, wealthy, mocking, cynical, contemptuous, very haughty aristocrat? Well that person is alive and well in this book. Only this time it isn't the hero. It is the heroine.
Balogh takes the character signifiers that she normally bestows on many of her heroes and gives them to Helena, Lady Stapleton, her heroine. Helena was a bit of a beeyotch and I totally dug her!
Our hero is Edgar Downes, the wealthy older brother (and Cit) of Cora the heroine from [b:The Famous Heroine|969591|The Famous Heroine (Dark Angel, #3)|Mary Balogh|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179890786s/969591.jpg|954488]. Helena is the wicked stepmother of Gerald, the hero from [b:A Precious Jewel|110300|A Precious Jewel (Dark Angel, #6)|Mary Balogh|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171635896s/110300.jpg|106299]. Edgar has come to town with the full intention of finding himself a bride by Christmas. Although he is of the merchant class, his sister is now married to the son of a Duke and her many close friends are all members of the upper echelons of society. They have decided to aid Edgar in his search for a bride who should also be a lady.
At the very first party, though, Edgar sees Helena who is back in London, wearied from months of travel on the continent. They are immediately aware of each other and begin a liaison.
On some level I think Helena's relentless mockery and contemptuousness of things would have annoyed me. But she is saved by two things. First, Edgar is no pushover. He meets her toe to toe and doesn't let her act superior to him. While she may be inclined to be a bit snotty about his birth, he refuses to allow it. He is proud of himself and his achievements and makes sure she knows it.
Second, it soon becomes clear that Helena's attitude is mostly veneer. She wears a well placed mask that hides a whole lot of inner turmoil. Much of her inner conflict comes from acts from her past. I was a bit perplexed because I had read [b:A Precious Jewel|110300|A Precious Jewel (Dark Angel, #6)|Mary Balogh|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171635896s/110300.jpg|106299], like, twice and sincerely didn't remember her in that book. I actually had to go back and find the passages to see if she was as awful as she thinks she is. She takes up all of two pages from that book and frankly she wasn't the monster she has built herself up to be in her own head.
Edgar doesn't let her wallow and manages to draw her out. And it is a Christmas book so the magic of Christmas, blah blah blah, you know the drill.
For the most part this is a very pleasant book made better by the strength of the two main characters.
Balogh takes the character signifiers that she normally bestows on many of her heroes and gives them to Helena, Lady Stapleton, her heroine. Helena was a bit of a beeyotch and I totally dug her!
Our hero is Edgar Downes, the wealthy older brother (and Cit) of Cora the heroine from [b:The Famous Heroine|969591|The Famous Heroine (Dark Angel, #3)|Mary Balogh|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179890786s/969591.jpg|954488]. Helena is the wicked stepmother of Gerald, the hero from [b:A Precious Jewel|110300|A Precious Jewel (Dark Angel, #6)|Mary Balogh|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171635896s/110300.jpg|106299]. Edgar has come to town with the full intention of finding himself a bride by Christmas. Although he is of the merchant class, his sister is now married to the son of a Duke and her many close friends are all members of the upper echelons of society. They have decided to aid Edgar in his search for a bride who should also be a lady.
At the very first party, though, Edgar sees Helena who is back in London, wearied from months of travel on the continent. They are immediately aware of each other and begin a liaison.
On some level I think Helena's relentless mockery and contemptuousness of things would have annoyed me. But she is saved by two things. First, Edgar is no pushover. He meets her toe to toe and doesn't let her act superior to him. While she may be inclined to be a bit snotty about his birth, he refuses to allow it. He is proud of himself and his achievements and makes sure she knows it.
Second, it soon becomes clear that Helena's attitude is mostly veneer. She wears a well placed mask that hides a whole lot of inner turmoil. Much of her inner conflict comes from acts from her past. I was a bit perplexed because I had read [b:A Precious Jewel|110300|A Precious Jewel (Dark Angel, #6)|Mary Balogh|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171635896s/110300.jpg|106299], like, twice and sincerely didn't remember her in that book. I actually had to go back and find the passages to see if she was as awful as she thinks she is. She takes up all of two pages from that book and frankly she wasn't the monster she has built herself up to be in her own head.
Edgar doesn't let her wallow and manages to draw her out. And it is a Christmas book so the magic of Christmas, blah blah blah, you know the drill.
For the most part this is a very pleasant book made better by the strength of the two main characters.
kslhersam's review
Thought this would be a sweet romance, but then the main characters were having sex by page 30. Not for me.
audreypalz's review
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
At the end of the year, I thought to myself, I would like to read something that makes me think no thoughts and is holiday thematic. Well, this fit the bill perfectly. I did appreciate that this was a romance novel with a heroine that wasn't entirely virginal and naive, a trope that I find kinda icky. It had its tropes, but overall I found it entertaining and nice.