Helpful Score: 4
Featuring the RITA Award-winning novella "I Will" by Lisa Kleypas. 4 excellent Christmas Regencies in one great book. Puddings, Pastries and Thou, by Lisa Cach; Union by Claudia Dain, and All I Want by Lynsay Sands make up the menu. You'll love all four. In I WILL, a young lord convinces a "spinster" lady to pretend an interest in order to keep his disinterested by dying father from disinheriting him because of his dissolute lifestyle. She agrees in order to keep her younger brother out of the gaming hells. Can you guess what eventually happens? PUDDINGS tells the story of Vivian Ambrose, a poor relation, horribly mistreated, and what the Christmas Spirit brings to her life. You'll feel warm all over after reading this one! UNION tells Clarissa's story, and her compulsion to marry only an Irishman, never an Englishman, although she's "coming out" in England, and neither she nor her family understands WHY she feels this desperate need. ALL I WANT is both funny and touching, a story about a girl who sets out to keep her father from putting the family in the poorhouse with his gambling, starts a crusade against a gambling house run by a Lord, and --well you can guess the rest. Needless to say, the wish list is complete by the end of the book. A very satisfying read!
Helpful Score: 2
4 witty, warmhearted and sexy tales to keep you warm this holiday season. The one by Lisa Kleypas is very good-read and enjoy:)
Helpful Score: 2
three stories in one.
Dear sT. Nicholas
What we'd really like for Christmas this year is:
An Irish Estate
A Family
A quiet elopement
Someone to close down all of the London clubs-(like whites)
or
Marriage to a man who is honest,loving, sexy, handsome, and titled.
But we know there aren't enough of those to go around...are there?
Respectfully,
For hopefull English ladies
Dear sT. Nicholas
What we'd really like for Christmas this year is:
An Irish Estate
A Family
A quiet elopement
Someone to close down all of the London clubs-(like whites)
or
Marriage to a man who is honest,loving, sexy, handsome, and titled.
But we know there aren't enough of those to go around...are there?
Respectfully,
For hopefull English ladies
Helpful Score: 2
This was okay. Better than I thought it would be.
Helpful Score: 1
Good book. The first story was the best of the four.
"I Will" by LISA KLEYPAS: Andrew, Lord Drake, is a rake, and "beyond shame". His father has disowned him leaving his un-entailed fortune elsewhere. To try to win back his father's favor, Andrew blackmails Caroline Hargreave into pretending to be the woman he is courting. As they spend time together, they also become very attracted to each other. On the day of his father's death, Andrew gives Caro the idea that she means a great deal to him. But the path of true love never seems to run straight...
"Puddings, Parties, and Thou" by LISA CACH: Vivian Ambrose has spent the last nine years, since she was sixteen, as companion to a horrid old relative. Now the relative is dead and Vivian has been shuffled off to some distant cousins. She is determined to marry and have a home of her own...
"Union" by CLAUDIA DAIN: It's time for Clarissa Walingford to find a husband. Though she has no desire to do so, she will do her duty. All she truly requires in the man she marries is that he own land in Ireland. Setting out with list in hand, she finds herself drawn to the one man she really would rather not match up with...
"All I Want" by LYNSAY SANDS: All Prudence Prescott's mother wants for Christmas is for her husband "to stop his gambling before he sees us in debtor's prison". So Pru sets out to show her father the error of his ways. The main one to suffer, though, from her misdirected good intentions is the owner of the gaming hell her father frequents...
"Puddings, Parties, and Thou" by LISA CACH: Vivian Ambrose has spent the last nine years, since she was sixteen, as companion to a horrid old relative. Now the relative is dead and Vivian has been shuffled off to some distant cousins. She is determined to marry and have a home of her own...
"Union" by CLAUDIA DAIN: It's time for Clarissa Walingford to find a husband. Though she has no desire to do so, she will do her duty. All she truly requires in the man she marries is that he own land in Ireland. Setting out with list in hand, she finds herself drawn to the one man she really would rather not match up with...
"All I Want" by LYNSAY SANDS: All Prudence Prescott's mother wants for Christmas is for her husband "to stop his gambling before he sees us in debtor's prison". So Pru sets out to show her father the error of his ways. The main one to suffer, though, from her misdirected good intentions is the owner of the gaming hell her father frequents...
Helpful Score: 1
Four (4) Christmas Romance stories set in the 1800's. Four English ladies would like nothing better from Santa Claus, than a man, a rich, titled man. Will their Christmas wishes be answered? Only one way to find out...
Helpful Score: 1
Worth it for the Lisa Kleypas story alone.
Great read anytime of year!
Four happy-ending romances related to Christmas
Four short stories by popular Romance authors
I really enjoyed the holiday stories, very happy, fun and lighthearted. Great read for an afternoon break! You won't be disappointed.
A lovely collection of Christmas-themed short stories. The Lynsay Sands story was the weakest of the lot and fairly boring. The others were charming holiday stories that just hit the spot.
Curiously, I think these stories are presented in this anthology in the order of their quality. I liked Lisa Kleypas' novella I WILL (the first in the book) very much. I would have been happy to have this story expanded into a whole novel, but even as a novella it's excellent - maintains a nice tension & has good characterizations. And Lisa Cach's PUDDINGS, PASTERIES AND THOU is very good. It's a sweet love story and also funny. Thereafter, things slide downward; Claudia Dain's UNION gets boring quickly; the last story is utterly forgettable.
This anthology is an offering of 4 short stories in their first publication. Lisa Kleypas is a favorite author; the others are unknown to me. At the end, I will list the stories from fave-to-least.
I WILL (Lisa Kleypas) --
Having already read this in another collection just recently (in A CHRISTMAS TO REMEMBER), I'll repeat my evaluation. Caroline Hargreaves loathes Lord Drake. He is an intimate friend of her younger brother, Cade, and has led Cade astray (so that he owes huge amounts of money for gaming excessively). Lord Drake needs a faux betrothed because his father has disowned him (because of Lord Drake's hedonistic ways). Drake manipulates Caroline into acting as his love interest for a few months (until dear Papa reinstates Drake in his will). However, after his status is returned in the will, Drake decides to marry Caroline's cousin. Now what?
PUDDINGS, PASTRIES, AND THOU (Lisa Cach) --
Vivian Ambrose is a poor relation. Her previous relation (Vivian cared for her for years), has now died and Vivian has been passed on to the next relation. Unfortunately. Captain and Mrs.Twitchen have a daughter who is about to come out in her Season. Penelope is underwhelmed with the idea of sharing any of her dresses or beaus with Vivian.
Penelope suggests that Vivian find a marriageable partner in the next 10 days (so Vivian did not intrude on Penelope's Season). Vivian says she would marry anyone just to cease being a poor relation. Penelope suggests Vivian set her cap for the only unmarried man at the dinner that night. When Vivian asks Penelope why she didn't set her cap for the guest, Penelope demures. I did not like this story; the whole concept of capturing a man in 10 days was tasteless. Yuck.
UNION (Claudia Dain) --
I didn't the last one could be beaten for stupidity, I was wrong. Clarissa Walignford has 10 older brothers and she knows the game; she must marry soon and she is hunting for a husband. She's attracted to Lord Montwyn, especially when she finds out he has an Irish home. There was too much inner conversation and at the last minute, the author tells us why Clarissa insists on an Irish home. Frankly, it was not very interesting or realistic.
ALL I WANT (Lynsay Sands) --
Prudence Prescott's family is in danger of seeing the inside of a goal. Her father, Lord Prescott has been unable to accept his only son's death a year ago and he has been gambling and drinking himself to the poor house. He sneaks off early every morning and Pru cannot get to him to explain how bad things are getting. She goes to the club where her father gambles and drinks, but Lord Stockton, the owner won't let her into his establishment. But that doesn't stop Pru. Comedy laced with substance; a winner.
** Overall score (fave-to-least): Sands, Kleypas, Cach, Dain. Overall score = 3.5 stars
I WILL (Lisa Kleypas) --
Having already read this in another collection just recently (in A CHRISTMAS TO REMEMBER), I'll repeat my evaluation. Caroline Hargreaves loathes Lord Drake. He is an intimate friend of her younger brother, Cade, and has led Cade astray (so that he owes huge amounts of money for gaming excessively). Lord Drake needs a faux betrothed because his father has disowned him (because of Lord Drake's hedonistic ways). Drake manipulates Caroline into acting as his love interest for a few months (until dear Papa reinstates Drake in his will). However, after his status is returned in the will, Drake decides to marry Caroline's cousin. Now what?
PUDDINGS, PASTRIES, AND THOU (Lisa Cach) --
Vivian Ambrose is a poor relation. Her previous relation (Vivian cared for her for years), has now died and Vivian has been passed on to the next relation. Unfortunately. Captain and Mrs.Twitchen have a daughter who is about to come out in her Season. Penelope is underwhelmed with the idea of sharing any of her dresses or beaus with Vivian.
Penelope suggests that Vivian find a marriageable partner in the next 10 days (so Vivian did not intrude on Penelope's Season). Vivian says she would marry anyone just to cease being a poor relation. Penelope suggests Vivian set her cap for the only unmarried man at the dinner that night. When Vivian asks Penelope why she didn't set her cap for the guest, Penelope demures. I did not like this story; the whole concept of capturing a man in 10 days was tasteless. Yuck.
UNION (Claudia Dain) --
I didn't the last one could be beaten for stupidity, I was wrong. Clarissa Walignford has 10 older brothers and she knows the game; she must marry soon and she is hunting for a husband. She's attracted to Lord Montwyn, especially when she finds out he has an Irish home. There was too much inner conversation and at the last minute, the author tells us why Clarissa insists on an Irish home. Frankly, it was not very interesting or realistic.
ALL I WANT (Lynsay Sands) --
Prudence Prescott's family is in danger of seeing the inside of a goal. Her father, Lord Prescott has been unable to accept his only son's death a year ago and he has been gambling and drinking himself to the poor house. He sneaks off early every morning and Pru cannot get to him to explain how bad things are getting. She goes to the club where her father gambles and drinks, but Lord Stockton, the owner won't let her into his establishment. But that doesn't stop Pru. Comedy laced with substance; a winner.
** Overall score (fave-to-least): Sands, Kleypas, Cach, Dain. Overall score = 3.5 stars
LIKED IT AS A "FILL " BOOK. IT FILLS THE TIME.
