Reviewed by Charlotte
The book’s premise-
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.
*****
My Review-
It was interesting to learn from Ms Lower’s profile at
Amazon she has written a series of novels with American settings and themes,
and how Regency Yuletide is her first English Regency romance.
What I liked best about this sweet novella was the way the author threw London’s seasoned soirĂ©es out of the carriage window. Instead a bleak Cumbrian landscape is where the heroine’s story opens the door on her life. It was a nice change to meet a heroine who cringed in expectation of a forced second season of attendance at soirees in the City of London. And thank goodness Ms Lower avoided a popular and ludicrous plot of young suitors on wild chargers in Hyde Park in pursuit of rebellious heroines. Wise move Ms Lower to steer away from that old trope, and her version of an elopement plot has a refreshing twist to it as well. Poor Sophie is a country girl at heart, and destined as wife to the local vicar’s son. I say poor Sophie because I was rooting for excitement to explode into her life. And Sophie’s dismal prospects then turn for the better when a young man rocks up on her doorstep asking for help. Enter the hero Jeremy who has two companions stranded in a coach and its bogged down in mud and snow. Better still it’s Christmas and with a runaway couple heading for Gretna Green a cottage in the middle of nowhere is suddenly a godsend. And within a short while and seasonal charity Sophie’s little haven of tranquillity becomes a hotbed of lusty dreams, joyous cheer, and budding romance. Oh what a lovely time is had by all. But all good things must come to an end and it does. Poor Sophie is left pondering what if? And after a little heartache and soul searching that what if comes full circle and Sophie has her happy ending. I did like this story very much. It’s simple. It’s sweet. It’s a charming yuletide tale. Well done Ms Lower. Cumbria is a bleak place.
What I liked best about this sweet novella was the way the author threw London’s seasoned soirĂ©es out of the carriage window. Instead a bleak Cumbrian landscape is where the heroine’s story opens the door on her life. It was a nice change to meet a heroine who cringed in expectation of a forced second season of attendance at soirees in the City of London. And thank goodness Ms Lower avoided a popular and ludicrous plot of young suitors on wild chargers in Hyde Park in pursuit of rebellious heroines. Wise move Ms Lower to steer away from that old trope, and her version of an elopement plot has a refreshing twist to it as well. Poor Sophie is a country girl at heart, and destined as wife to the local vicar’s son. I say poor Sophie because I was rooting for excitement to explode into her life. And Sophie’s dismal prospects then turn for the better when a young man rocks up on her doorstep asking for help. Enter the hero Jeremy who has two companions stranded in a coach and its bogged down in mud and snow. Better still it’s Christmas and with a runaway couple heading for Gretna Green a cottage in the middle of nowhere is suddenly a godsend. And within a short while and seasonal charity Sophie’s little haven of tranquillity becomes a hotbed of lusty dreams, joyous cheer, and budding romance. Oh what a lovely time is had by all. But all good things must come to an end and it does. Poor Sophie is left pondering what if? And after a little heartache and soul searching that what if comes full circle and Sophie has her happy ending. I did like this story very much. It’s simple. It’s sweet. It’s a charming yuletide tale. Well done Ms Lower. Cumbria is a bleak place.
