Christine Merrill

Overall, an enjoyable trio of holiday stories. I liked the first one the best.

In A Mistletoe Kiss for the Governess by Christine Merrill, Major Frederick Preston is stunned when his daughters' governess is not the stern matron he expects but a beguiling miss who challenges and tempts him!

After five years at war, Frederick looks forward to spending time with his daughters. He's shocked when he discovers the governess he hired (sight unseen) isn't the older woman he expected but a much show more younger one. He's uncomfortable with his immediate attraction to her, which causes him to behave rudely at first. I liked that Charlotte stood up for herself and her actions with the girls. However, Frederick and Charlotte had gotten to know each other reasonably well through the letters they exchanged over the years, which helped Frederick readjust his expectations. During that same period of letter writing, Charlotte developed feelings for Frederick that translated into romantic dreams. Frederick fights his feelings until he finally realizes that Charlotte has had his heart all along.



In The Earl's Yuletide Proposal by Liz Tyner, delivering the news that her cousin is calling off her engagement should be simple for Adriana. Until the earl proposes to her instead!

Adriana is the poor cousin who acts as her wealthier cousin Velma's companion. Velma is spoiled and manipulative. As the story opens, Velma hears a rumor that her fiancé isn't as wealthy as she thought, so she sends Adriana to end their engagement. Adriana is stunned when he proposes to her instead. However, she has strong opinions on marriage and love and turns him down. Lord Philbrook, once he has an idea in his head isn't going to let go of it easily, and persists. Adriana's relationships with the other servants at her cousin's make her reluctant to leave them. Meanwhile, Philbrook quickly realizes he had a lucky escape and won't give up on convincing Adriana to marry him. I liked the ending and the unexpected help he received.



In Lord Grange's Snowy Reunion by Elizabeth Beacon, years ago, Juno fell in love with Lord Nathaniel Grange, then war tore them apart. Will a snowbound night lead to a second chance?

Juno fell in love with the newly divorced Lord Nathaniel Grange five years earlier. Fearing that his scandal would reflect poorly on her, he went to war, hoping the gossip would fade while he was away. But as time passed, his insecurities convinced him he was unworthy of her, so he stayed away, expecting her to move on and marry someone else. Juno never forgot Nathaniel and has never married. When Juno makes an impulsive trip to visit family, a snowstorm strands her at Nathaniel's home. Forced together for several days, they have the opportunity to deal with their pasts and clear the air. Their feelings for each other are as strong as before, but it takes some effort for Nathaniel to let go of his fears. show less

Esme Canville is desperate. She's been subjected to her father's abuse since her mother abandoned them, and now her last hope for escape through marriage is gone: the man her father has chosen to marry her off to is old, and just as cruel as her father.

Banished to her room, she watches out the window and sees a shocking scene: Cpt. St. John Radwell and his mistress having an argument. St. John has let his mistress go, but what's so amazing to Esme, giving her an idea and a glimmer of hope, show more is that despite the mistress screaming and throwing things, St. John remained calm and never laid a hand on her.

St. John needs a mistress; Esme needs an escape. He's a kind man, and while becoming a mistress will ruin her in the eyes of society, she's been kept from society anyway, so it's no great loss.

So she sneaks out of the house at night and propositions him.

St. John, however, has been trying to turn over a new leaf. He's tired of war, and semi-estranged from his family after trying to seduce his brother's bride (in the preceding book, which is still in my TBR pile). The last thing his reputation needs is to seduce a virgin, and a lady. Adding to the urgency is his last chance to make something of himself: an inheritance he'll receive only if he remains scandal-free for a year. So he swallows his pride and bundles her off to his brother's house for safekeeping.

This pair is just so.... likable, and easy to sympathize with. St. John is truly trying to make amends to his family, and he doesn't deny or minimize his sins--in fact, he accepts more blame than he's really due, understanding that his past is the cause of the suspicion.

Esme, too, is strong and brave and... I was going to say self-effacing, but that's not really it. Both of them are distinctly lacking in a sense of entitlement that I found very appealing. They're both trying to improve their lives, but they're trying to do so by their own efforts. I fell in love with them both.

I also really liked the authentic feel of this story. So often in Regency romances, the characters end up flouting society's rules with impunity. Not so, here. For example, they have to come up with ingenious ways to keep Esme out of her father's and his choice of bridegroom's clutches, and to explain her absence, rather than just spiriting her away.

I'm looking forward to digging An Inconvenient Duchess out of the TBR pile, and I'll be keeping an eye open for Chris's next book: A Wicked Liaison. show less

The Christmas Duchess - Christine Merrill

Her daughter recently jilted, widowed Generva feels anything but festive--until the unexpected arrival of Thomas Kanner, Duke of Montford, transforms the Marsh household. Might there be a Christmas wedding after all?

Good story. Generva is coping with the scandal created by the young man who was supposed to marry her daughter on Christmas Day. It turned out that he was already married, leaving her daughter to face the gossip. Two days before Christmas, show more his uncle, the Duke of Montford, appeared with the special license, having no idea of what had happened. Thomas is horrified at what his heir has done and offers to marry the girl himself.

Generva had been widowed for several years and was accustomed to dealing with things on her own. I loved the way she went after Thomas with the broom when he first got there. When she calmed down and heard Thomas out, she couldn't believe that he was willing to go so far. It was also disconcerting to her to realize that he could become her son-in-law, especially when she discovered that she was attracted to him herself. She couldn't see someone like him being interested in her, so tried to keep her emotions under control. It was a losing battle for her.

I really liked Thomas. He was a good man, had a marvelous sense of humor, and wanted to make things right. I loved the way he fit right in with the family. He was patient and fun with Ben, very kind to the jilted Gwendolyn, and very intrigued by Generva. He quickly becomes very glad that Gwendolyn turned down his proposal because Generva appeals to him much more. I loved the way that he spoke to Ben about being the man of the house and how he told Ben about his intentions toward Generva. His actions at the church were funny and sweet.

I really liked that Thomas and Generva are older than the usual hero and heroine. It's great to see more mature couples get happy endings too.

Russian Winter Nights - Linda Skye

Russian princess Ekaterina Romanova sees through the gilded facade of the Winter Court. An intimate encounter with Andrey Kvasov offers a moment of escape, and soon this Yuletide brings the promise of something thrilling…and forbidden.

Ekaterina is the niece of the Empress and stuck in the service of the Empress. She is a kind young woman, disgusted by the actions of her cruel aunt. One day she happens on a young man who is an apprentice architect, working on a special room in the palace. They are instantly attracted to each other, but any contact between them is dangerous.

Andrey is a good man stuck in a bad situation. He wants to be with Ekaterina, but the Empress wants him for herself. If he refuses, both he and Ekaterina could be sent to Siberia or even killed.

I liked the connection between them and the intensity of their feelings. The danger they were in was real, and I was curious to see how they were going to get out of it. Ekaterina had been at court long enough to learn how to be pretty devious, and I really liked the solution she came up with. I would have liked another chapter or an epilogue to show the completed resolution.

A Shocking Proposition - Elizabeth Rolls

Madeleine Kirkby must be married before Twelfth Night--or forfeit her family estate. After a chance encounter with the man she lost her heart to years ago, she has the perfect prospective husband in mind.

Maddy is desperate to save her home from being taken by her nasty cousin. She has until Twelfth Night to marry, but can't marry without his permission until she's twenty-one - on Christmas Day. That doesn't leave her much time to find a willing groom, especially since Edward has succeeded in trashing her reputation among the local men. An encounter with Lord Ashton, newly returned from the war and the man she adored as a child, gives her an idea.

Ash has returned from war plagued by nightmares. All he wants to do is find a small estate along Hadrian's Wall where he can indulge his love of searching for antiquities. He is surprised by the grown-up Maddy and his attraction to her, but feels that he's too damaged to pursue her. He's stunned by her proposal that they marry, saving her home and giving him the perfect place for his searching.

I loved Ash and Maddy. The heat between them was intense, and their shared history gave them the base from which their attraction could grow into love. I really liked the way that Maddy took charge of her own destiny. I loved seeing Ash adjust to the grown up Maddy. Besides her beauty he also loved her independence. His love for her showed through so strongly, especially in the ways that he protected and supported her. I loved seeing him stand up to Edward and the scene in the church was great. His determination to go through with the marriage, even as he worried about what Edward might have done to her, was fantastic. The final showdown with Edward was pretty intense, but it did force Ash and Maddy to admit their feelings to each other.

I also enjoyed the secondary characters, especially the people who worked for Maddy. It was obvious how much they all loved her, which said a lot about her character. I also liked Ash's brother and his attempts to make Ash see that marrying Maddy was right for him. show less

Miranda is gently born but after her father gambles their money away, she works as a maid. The woman who raised her fears that she's growing up too pretty, and so blackmails an old schoolfriend into inviting her as a guest to the ducal house. Because Miranda arrives late in the evening, without a maid, her reputation is compromised. The duke feels constrained to marry her, but leaves the next day to investigate her claims to gentility. Miranda is left in a dusty old mansion with the duke's show more scapegrace brother St.John.

This like a less gothic, Regency-era take on [b:Rebecca|12873|Rebecca|Daphne du Maurier|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327871977s/12873.jpg|46663]. The duke's last wife was breath-catchingly beautiful, and Miranda keeps catching the duke and his brother staring up at her portrait in the gallery. What Miranda doesn't realize at first is that the duke married his last wife under family pressure, and that she was flighty, cold, and controlling. He hasn't married since her death many years ago because their marriage was such a disaster, not out of grief. The characters respond refreshingly sensibly to various romance tropes: for instance, when Miranda is threatened with blackmail unless she meets a man in the library for a tryst, she goes to the library with a weapon, knowing that she needs to nip blackmail in the bud. I also really liked that Miranda's main character trait is her work ethic. Her beauty is mentioned a few times, but what everyone talks about and responds to is how hard she works. Merrill doesn't just tell the reader Miranda is a hard worker, she shows us: her hands are calloused and scarred, she has personal formulas for cleaning wallpaper, she has no musical or artistic accomplishments because she spends her free time doing extra chores.

This book was free on amazon, so my expectations were low. But in fact, I was surprised by how much I liked this. I'm going to search out more books by Merrill in hopes they're as enjoyable as this one. It's so rare but wonderful to find someone who can write Regency romance novels with plots, heroines who are sensible, and heroes who aren't rape-y. show less