Excellent romance and Christmas treat. Usually holiday-themed books are stinkers, either forced into the holiday or just too quickly written to be very good. Not the case with A Christmas Promise. This is a wonderful book, read anytime of year, but what a fantastic Christmas present for yourself. The romance is paced beautifully, the characters fully developed and the Christmas element is a real part of the story. My only complaint is that I find her love scenes short on anything a woman would really like. Her style is a bit old-fashioned - a dry bang-bang seems to work for her heroines, but not for most real women. I am always surprised when writers pen that type of love scene (even in the 90's). That said, this is a bit steamier than most Balogh books. Otherwise a wonderful book I'll read again and again.

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This is classic early Balogh. A couple is forced to marry which was arranged by Ellie's father before his death. So Ellie and Randolph get off to a very rock start. They were antagonistic through much of the story, but slowly learned to fall in love during a family Christmas celebration. Wonderful characters with a sweet romance; surprisingly, the love scenes were rather lusty considering this was written in the early nineties. 3.5 stars.

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Classic Balogh. She has a knack of drawing me in and not letting go. I stayed up into the night the first time to finish this one, and it's been a favorite reread ever since. The central characters believe the wrong things of each other at first, but they have rational reasons for doing so. Their differences are not resolved by silly plot complications; it's done by getting to know each other and taking each other seriously.

Some reviewers have noted that the sex scenes in this book are not romantic and not what they were expecting, but that is part of the growth of the relationship of this couple. Balogh is very good at showing the development of changes of heart and that's not always a pleasant, romantic process. I give this one five stars.

Other Balogh titles from this period of her career I would especially recommend are Dark Angel, Secrets of the Heart, A Precious Jewel and The Secret Pearl.

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Randolph Pierce, the Earl of Falloden, is approached by businessman Joe Transome. Mr. Transome tells the Earl that he has bought all of Randolph's debt. Mr. Transome wants Randolph to marry his daughter, Eleanor, or he will demand payment of the notes. He only has a short time to live and wants to see his daughter settled and married to a man with a title. With no choice, the Earl agrees and soon finds himself married to Eleanor, a woman he believes cares only about herself. Eleanor agrees to the marriage because it is her father's last wish. Now she must make the most of her Christmas with the stranger she has married.

This arranged marriage starts out on the wrong foot. It takes the whole book for both Eleanor and Randolph to get rid of their preconceived notions and see the real person that they married. I thought their misunderstandings were dragged out way too long. It could have been cleared up if they had just had a conversation. The love scenes also left a lot to be desired. This book was written over 20 years ago, but I don't think the wham-bam sex scenes were even popular back then.

I thought the best part of the book was the Christmas celebrations. Eleanor's family and Randolph's friends descending on the newlyweds with their Christmas traditions gives this book a holiday feel. My rating: 3 Stars.

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