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Joy to the World: A Regency Christmas Collection by Erica Vetsch, Carolyn Miller, Amanda Barratt
erincataldi's review
4.0
Honestly, this is exactly what I needed. It's been a while since I read any regency romance and this inspirational novellas were just what the doctor ordered. Each story was only around 100 pages but did a beautiful job of setting up the whole story and characters in no time. In" Heaven and Nature Sing" two former love birds are thrust together at their godmother's house over the holidays. Will they get past the misunderstandings that drove them apart nearly a year ago? "Far as the Curse is Found" had definite Beauty and the Beast vibes. A masked man takes an unmarried young woman with child under his wing and allows her to work on his estate. Will she thaw his cold dead heart? The final story "Wonders of His Love," follows a widowed woman who starts to follow for the Scottish painter who has been commissioned to paint portraits of the family. Will the dowager stand in her way? Will she find her voice? A thoughtful collection - will appeal to fans of regency romance and inspirational fiction.
randikaye's review
4.0
Anyone who knows me well knows that if there is anything that I enjoy as much as reading... it's Christmas! The traditions, the spirit of the season and the joyous music. To be honest, I love Christmas music so much that I could listen to it all year long! Naturally when I saw Joy To The World, I knew I had to add it to my TBR this holiday season.
Joy To the World is a collection of three novellas by different authors, with all stories named for a line in the beloved classic song of the same name. With my love of holiday music, I thought this concept was fantastic. Each story is unrelated, but all are Regency themed stories. You can read one, all and in any order... but you'll definitely want to read them all. In fact, you might just find yourself dreaming of a good ol' fashioned Christmas. I know I certainly was. I found it so intriguing to see how the holidays were celebrated in those times. Each story portrayed it so beautifully with tradition and romance that I thoroughly enjoyed.
One of the thing that I particularly love about holiday novellas is that I find their length to be ideal for this time of year. They are shorter and can better be fit into our busy holiday schedules. These particular stories really were a nice holiday escape I thought. And while some novellas can feel a bit rushed or unfinished, I did not feel that was the case at all here. They seemed to be complete and thoroughly developed stories, just shorter.
If you enjoy Regency romances and are looking for your next great holiday read, this is definitely one to check out.
**I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley for consideration. All thoughts are my own.
Joy To the World is a collection of three novellas by different authors, with all stories named for a line in the beloved classic song of the same name. With my love of holiday music, I thought this concept was fantastic. Each story is unrelated, but all are Regency themed stories. You can read one, all and in any order... but you'll definitely want to read them all. In fact, you might just find yourself dreaming of a good ol' fashioned Christmas. I know I certainly was. I found it so intriguing to see how the holidays were celebrated in those times. Each story portrayed it so beautifully with tradition and romance that I thoroughly enjoyed.
One of the thing that I particularly love about holiday novellas is that I find their length to be ideal for this time of year. They are shorter and can better be fit into our busy holiday schedules. These particular stories really were a nice holiday escape I thought. And while some novellas can feel a bit rushed or unfinished, I did not feel that was the case at all here. They seemed to be complete and thoroughly developed stories, just shorter.
If you enjoy Regency romances and are looking for your next great holiday read, this is definitely one to check out.
**I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley for consideration. All thoughts are my own.
betherin02's review
5.0
Delightful reading. Gorgeous storytelling and masterful wordsmithery. Bravo.
katie_bookey's review
5.0
Each novella was unique, charming, and an endearing clean romance. I especially loved the focus on musicians and artists!
cbear550's review
4.0
A delightful collection of Christmas novellas that focus on the true meaning of the season. Each of these regency romances were well written and enjoyable, with likeable characters and interesting plots. This was a good first taste of regency romance for me and a great way for me to try out three new authors! If you like historical romance and/or Christmas books you should definitely try this one out!
melmo2610's review
5.0
Fantastic collection of Christmas novellas! I thoroughly enjoyed all three. If you like regency stories, don't miss this one!
bird_dwarf's review
3.0
[a:Carolyn Miller|15483848|Carolyn Miller|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1631842076p2/15483848.jpg]'s Heaven and Nature Sing: 2.0 stars
I read much of this story with my eyebrows raised at its far-fetchedness. That along with the occasional clunky sentence causing me to stumble earned this one 2 stars from me. It was okay.
[a:Amanda Barratt|20803379|Amanda Barratt|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s Far as the Curse Is Found: 3.2 stars
A quiet story. I typically prefer more dialogue, but the quietness of this story suited it well. A bit of a Beauty and the Beast retelling. I liked it.
[a:Erica Vetsch|3490829|Erica Vetsch|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1442514697p2/3490829.jpg]'s Wonders of His Love: 3.6 stars
I enjoyed this story. I only wish I'd known of it sooner so I could read it while the characters and storylines from Vetsch's Serendipity & Secrets series were still fresh in my mind. Perhaps someday I'll reread the trilogy and be able to read this one again along with it. :)
I read much of this story with my eyebrows raised at its far-fetchedness. That along with the occasional clunky sentence causing me to stumble earned this one 2 stars from me. It was okay.
[a:Amanda Barratt|20803379|Amanda Barratt|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s Far as the Curse Is Found: 3.2 stars
A quiet story. I typically prefer more dialogue, but the quietness of this story suited it well. A bit of a Beauty and the Beast retelling. I liked it.
[a:Erica Vetsch|3490829|Erica Vetsch|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1442514697p2/3490829.jpg]'s Wonders of His Love: 3.6 stars
I enjoyed this story. I only wish I'd known of it sooner so I could read it while the characters and storylines from Vetsch's Serendipity & Secrets series were still fresh in my mind. Perhaps someday I'll reread the trilogy and be able to read this one again along with it. :)
kgormley's review
4.0
I picked this up mainly to read the story by Erica Vetsch, which is a novella that tells the story of one of the side characters from her Serendipity & Secrets series. I have never done this before, but that story was actually the last short story in this book and I read it first! It was EXCELLENT. I was so glad that Cilla finally got her happy ending.
I did go back and read the other two stories in the book. Both were good, but I enjoyed "Far as the Curse is Found" by Amanda Barratt the most of these two, which wasn't that surprising considering it won a Christy Award last year.
I did go back and read the other two stories in the book. Both were good, but I enjoyed "Far as the Curse is Found" by Amanda Barratt the most of these two, which wasn't that surprising considering it won a Christy Award last year.
belovedbrat's review
4.0
first reviewed here: https://belovedgraceful-carissasbookshelf.blogspot.com/2020/12/review-of-joy-to-world.html
Title: Joy to the World: A Regency Christmas Collection
Author: Carolyn Miller, Amanda Barratt, Erica Vetsch
Pg: 336
Genre: Christmas, Christian Historical fiction, Christian Historical Romance
Rating: 4 stars
Publisher: Kregel Publications
Joy to the world is a Christmas Novella collection set in the Regency period. Which is a time period that outside of Jane Austen I don’t really read. But I did enjoy this one. And while I liked Heaven and Nature Sing by Carolyn Miller and Wonders of His Love by Erica Vetsch. My favorite was Far as the Curse is Found by Amanda Barratt which gave me Beauty and the Beast with faith feels. All in All this was a sweet Christmas novella.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.
Title: Joy to the World: A Regency Christmas Collection
Author: Carolyn Miller, Amanda Barratt, Erica Vetsch
Pg: 336
Genre: Christmas, Christian Historical fiction, Christian Historical Romance
Rating: 4 stars
Publisher: Kregel Publications
Joy to the world is a Christmas Novella collection set in the Regency period. Which is a time period that outside of Jane Austen I don’t really read. But I did enjoy this one. And while I liked Heaven and Nature Sing by Carolyn Miller and Wonders of His Love by Erica Vetsch. My favorite was Far as the Curse is Found by Amanda Barratt which gave me Beauty and the Beast with faith feels. All in All this was a sweet Christmas novella.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.