A Regency Yuletide
Becky Lower
Historical Regency/Holiday
After a disappointing season in London, Sophie Davenport returns home without a marriage proposal. No sooner does she settle back into her country life than she learns her uncle has arranged for her to marry the local vicar’s son, a respectable and utterly forgettable man. He’s returning home immediately after the Christmas holiday and they will wed. She sets about making this last Christmas with just she and her mother memorable.
Jeremy Wyatt hatches a plan to help his friend Thomas and his love, Emma, escape to Gretna Green and marry before her father comes after them. What he’s really doing is avoiding heading to his parents’ home, where he is the son who is always making the wrong choices. But their carriage becomes hopelessly mired in the mud from the incessant rains so Jeremy sets off to find shelter for them at the first house he comes to.
Sophie welcomes the wet and weary travelers, and her mother agrees to house them temporarily until they can free the carriage. Sophie forms a bond not only with Emma, but with Jeremy. However despite the sparks they ignite in each other, they have to maintain their separate paths.
But love and mistletoe have a way of upsetting even the best-laid plans.
Uncaged Review: A very charming regency with enough of a story to pull me right in and read from start to finish in one setting. Even though it’s novella length, it’s still a very nice addition to anyone’s holiday reading fare. Even though Jeremy is footloose and free, he hatches a plan to get his best friend Thomas and his lady, Emma spirited off to get married, as Emma’s father is trying to marry her off to an undesirable older man. After their carriage gets stuck in heavy ruts from rains, they find shelter in a cottage with a lady and her daughter Sophie. Jeremy is struck by the simple beauty and intelligence of Sophie, and with a meddling mother afoot, they get more alone time than is really proper.
The author did a wonderful job, drawing you into the story with enough description to set you inside the parlor, instead of looking through a window. The romance is quick, but it works. This is a nice feel good story perfect for the season and historical romance lovers. Reviewed by Cyrene
4 Stars
