Under The Mistletoe

Five engaging and touching stories about love and reconciliation.

I'm kind of bummed writing this second review after having lost my first, along with my power for the last 2 days, to our most recent ice storm. However, I was not bummed out by reading this anthology :-)

In this anthology of five short stories by Mary Balough we are treated to recurring themes of discovering love in places you never expected (like with your current spouse), the meaning of the nativity story and the delights of standing under mistletoe. Somehow despite the redundancy of some plot elements each story manages to be touching and romantic in its own original way.

My favorite tale was "The Best Gift" where a school teacher who has never experienced Christmas is taken in by a Lord to chaperone his teenage niece and, much to his surprise, also became caretaker to his young daughter. This story was both heart wrenching and sweet. I didn't even mind that it made me cry a little. Even if I hadn't enjoyed the other stories (which I did) this one would have made the entire book worthwhile.

The last story "No Room At the Inn" was probably my least favorite being a little heavy handed with the religious overtone and parallels. Although I liked it the least, it was still an interesting read in that it brought together many different people who had to all learn to interact and work together towards a common goal.

Altogether a very seasonal and Christmacy romance anthology that I enjoyed very much. I'll certainly keep an eye out for more historical romances by this author in the future. ( )

Compilation of 5 Historical Romance stories, all with the magic of Christmas.
* A Family Christmas: It was an arranged marriage, he agreed to it to make his father happy, she agreed to help her parents pay off the bills. Edwin and Elizabeth Chambers hosted the family Christmas, the holiday spirit might be enough to unite this couple that never really came together before.
* Star of Bethlehem: A ring that holds the heart of Allan and Estelle, the Earl and Countess of Lisle, but they didn’t realize it until a dirty little chimney sweeps climber, Nicky, found the broken ring an took it. Would the return of the ring be enough to bring the estranged couple together, with the help of the holiday spirit.
* The Best Gift: Getting stuck with his niece for the holiday, Warren Nash, Viscount of Buckley, needed help and Jane Craggs, the teacher, would be just the type. Arriving at his home with the girl and her teacher in tow and finding one more left on his doorstep had the Lord of the manor at a loss as to how to deal with the holiday. “Did one ever pass the age of dreams?”
* Playing House: Past hurts effect Stephen West, the Marques of Bedford, when a childhood friend, Lilas Angove, asks for a favor for her family. Granting her request and then his own daughters requests, continues to bring both families together to make a special holiday for all.
* No Room at the Inn: Stranded by a rainstorm at an uncomfortable Inn, many people come together, some will become friends, some will be more. All will be able to see the true meaning of Christmas for the first time in many years, if they ever really understood it at all.

Short stories make characters harder to form, but in this group, Mary Balogh has created many characters that have great qualities. As usual with short stories, I wish it had lasted longer, some of the stories moved too quickly, but these stories were a nice change of pace and a good read. ( )

This is a charming collection of short stories. My favorite two were "A Family Christmas" and "Playing House." While these are quite good stories, I must say that I prefer her longer novels, where she takes the time to truly go in depth with the relationship between the characters and make their love real to the reader. I think Mary Balogh's true strength lies in doing that, and I think it's obvious in these short stories. While they're enjoyable and worth reading, certainly, the love sometimes seems to pop out of nowhere because it seems she just doesn't have time to develop it properly in sixty pages. Still, I enjoyed this fun holiday collection. ( )

Enjoyable regency set, Christmas-themed short stories. ( )