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priya_amrev's review
1.0
Ok wtf was up w Helena
And 2 the beau. I don’t even remember his name and I just finished the book but he’s a fucking bastard
He’s in love w a girl but he hates her for jilting him so he decides to make her fall in love with him. Then has sex with her without protection***** and then decides actually he does want to marry her. Meanwhile the whole time he manipulates her via her children
What a fucking bastard psychopath.
And 2 the beau. I don’t even remember his name and I just finished the book but he’s a fucking bastard
He’s in love w a girl but he hates her for jilting him so he decides to make her fall in love with him. Then has sex with her without protection***** and then decides actually he does want to marry her. Meanwhile the whole time he manipulates her via her children
What a fucking bastard psychopath.
indolentfop's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
julsmarshall's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
I loved these two historical romances that capture the magic of Christmas and have you rooting for the characters who are flawed yet so deserving of love. There is a reason that Mary Balogh is one of the best!
amykastigar's review
4.0
Quite dark for Christmas romances. But unlike many popular authors who re-release early stories that show how bad they were in the beginning, even Balogh's early stories are well-paced and -plotted. And I do enjoy romances in which the protagonists are average people...it takes a flair to make them worth caring about, but when it works, it's fantastic. And Mary Balogh, like Lisa Kleypas, makes it work.
wildwolverine's review
3.0
These two stories were both so sweet! What I loved most about these stories is that the heroines weren't your typical heroines. They were older and disappointed in both life and love. One even had children, though I realize that's not all that unusual in contemporary romances.
I definitely have a favorite, and it's a Christmas Bride. Helena was such a complex character. She wasn't a good girl, as she'd wronged someone close to her in the past. In my opinion, her sin wasn't unforgivable, but I could see how she viewed it that way. In the hands of a less skilled writers, a heroine's insecurities often come across as wishy-washy and foolish. However, Balogh manages to capture the complexity of Helena's insecurities and show how she powers through them. I really enjoyed reading about her redemption. And, I really enjoyed the hero's perseverance in helping his wife. So romantic!
A Christmas Beau was a huge letdown after that. It actually made me downright uncomfortable at times. The heroine, Judith Easton, is physically uncomfortable and sometimes afraid of the hero for about 2/3 of the book. Reading about her fear of him made it difficult to view his actions as romantic. He literally stalks her, following her around in the park and only going to parties she'll attend. It's super creepy.
Towards the end, it also got very didactic about the power of Christmas, which became nauseating by the end of the book. Because it's Christmas and because everyone loves each other and everything is so wholesome, no one gets angry, not really. No one fights or shouts. By the end of the story, the characters were flat and unrealistically sweet, like in those basic Christian novels where God solves everything and the characters don't even have to lift a finger. Except, instead of God here it was the spirit of Christmas spread by God.
Depending on how saccharine you like your stories, one or the other of these two Christmas stories will appeal to you. Personally, I like a little drama and realism mixed in, and if you're like me, then you'll really like A Christmas Bride.
I definitely have a favorite, and it's a Christmas Bride. Helena was such a complex character. She wasn't a good girl, as she'd wronged someone close to her in the past. In my opinion, her sin wasn't unforgivable, but I could see how she viewed it that way. In the hands of a less skilled writers, a heroine's insecurities often come across as wishy-washy and foolish. However, Balogh manages to capture the complexity of Helena's insecurities and show how she powers through them. I really enjoyed reading about her redemption. And, I really enjoyed the hero's perseverance in helping his wife. So romantic!
A Christmas Beau was a huge letdown after that. It actually made me downright uncomfortable at times. The heroine, Judith Easton, is physically uncomfortable and sometimes afraid of the hero for about 2/3 of the book. Reading about her fear of him made it difficult to view his actions as romantic. He literally stalks her, following her around in the park and only going to parties she'll attend. It's super creepy.
Towards the end, it also got very didactic about the power of Christmas, which became nauseating by the end of the book. Because it's Christmas and because everyone loves each other and everything is so wholesome, no one gets angry, not really. No one fights or shouts. By the end of the story, the characters were flat and unrealistically sweet, like in those basic Christian novels where God solves everything and the characters don't even have to lift a finger. Except, instead of God here it was the spirit of Christmas spread by God.
Depending on how saccharine you like your stories, one or the other of these two Christmas stories will appeal to you. Personally, I like a little drama and realism mixed in, and if you're like me, then you'll really like A Christmas Bride.
l1brarygirl's review
1.0
Only read the first story, "A Christmas Bride." I found the story to be far-fetched and I didn't like the two main characters at all. I am so disappointed that I don't even want to read the second story.
gemmalaszlo's review
3.0
I've come to the conclusion that I enjoy Balogh's novellas to her full-length novels. I find the novels too drawn out, and the characters are so stubborn that I want to clunk their heads together. She is an author who doesn't need a lot of pages to touch my emotions.
saycheeze37's review
4.0
I love Mary Balogh's Christmas stories. She really makes Christmastime a major character in the story which is what it's all about in my opinion.