Three Sweet Regency Christmas Stories

Lord Bartholomew’s Christmas Bride by Maggi Andersen

Happy holiday! Here are three regency Christmas romance sure to get you in the spirit of the season. I am confident you will find them as delightful as I did. Happy reading from Vikki's Musings!

Publisher & Release Date: Self-published, November 8,2015

Time and setting: 1814, London

Genre: Historical Romance/Regency

Length:  30 pages

Heat Level: 1 Sweet Heart

FREE!

Buy Link:

http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Bartholomews-Christmas-Bride-Regency-ebook/dp/B017S2RHJE/

I truly enjoyed Lord Bartholomew’s Christmas Bride. Even though, it is a very short story, surprising enough, I found it a well developed and believable book. It is true to the regency period, giving the opportunity to fall back in a time gone by.

Lord Bartholomew is getting ready to go to India to take up a new living as Vicar. He needs a wife to go with him. Of course he needed someone who would be a good help meet for him and his parish. He decided to attend ton parties in the hopes of finding the perfect woman.

There is one problem. Bartholomew has met Emily Asherwood, an unacceptable young lady although very alluring. As he moves around in society, he sees Emily at most of the functions and each one only makes her more attractive and the other young ladies less appealing.

Should Bartholomew throw caution to the wind and take Emily to wife, thus having the woman of his heart, or choose the staid miss who on the surface is the better choice?

If you are looking for a sweet romance set in the lovely season of Christmas, one with delightful characters and an interesting story line, then you will enjoy Lord Bartholomew’s Christmas Bride. Happy reading!

4.5 Gold Crowns

A Memorable Christmas by Sheila Rabe

Publisher & Release Date: Self-published, December 12, 2013

Time and setting: Regency, England, Christmas

Genre: Historical Romance/Regency

Length:  54 pages

Heat Level: 1 Sweet Heart

99 CENTS

Buy Link:

http://www.amazon.com/Memorable-Christmas-Regency-Belle-ebook/dp/B00HAQMV6S/

A Memorable Christmas is a lovely sweet regency romance with delightful characters and an interesting story. This is the first time I have read a book by Sheila Rabe, but will not be the last. For such a short novella, the characters are surprisingly well-developed, especially Diana.

Diana, the Countess of Chesterfield has learned her husband has taken a mistress. She is furious of course and not willing to turn a blind eye as most wives of a peer does. Maxim sends her on ahead to their country estate, telling her he will follow in a couple of days.

She fumes the entire way to the estate and is determined to confront him when he arrives. She half-heartedly helps her mother-in-law decorate for the holidays. Maxim arrives and it all she can do to be civil with him. He confronts her and they argue. Diana slips and takes a fall hitting her hand.

Dare she pretend she’d lost her memory and take her husband a much needed lesson? If she does will it earn her his wayward heart?

I loved Diana’s character. I liked her spunk and determination to change the accepted mores of society. I loved how she goes about getting back at her husband for his deplorable behavior.

I did not like Maxim. He let inheriting his title go to his head and doesn’t show proper remorse when he realizes he has hurt Diana deeply by his unfaithful behavior. I don’t believe he redeemed himself. I do not think I would have been as forgiving.

Nonetheless, this story is very entertaining and has several wonderful secondary characters. If you’re looking for a story to get you in the holiday spirit, then I suggest you give A Memorable Christmas a try. Happy reading!

4 Gold Crowns

A Winter’s Knight by Elizabeth Cole

Publisher & Release Date: Skypark Books, November 21, 2012

Time and setting: Regency, England, Christmas

Genre: Historical Romance/Regency

Length:  54 pages

Heat Level: 1 Sweet Heart

FREE

Buy Link:

http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AA46Y06

A Winter’s Knight was an unexpected find. I thought by the title it would be a medieval romance, instead it is set in 1815 the Christmas after the Battle of Waterloo. This is a sweet regency and a great story.

Phoebe Hartridge gets thrown from her horse and a gentleman comes to her rescue and she dubs him her “knight in shinning armor.” She is immediately attracted to him. Could Captain Sterling bring her joy and love at long last?

Captain Anthony Sterling is visiting Norton because a solicitor has contacted him. He has inherited an estate. He lost his leg during the Battle of Waterloo and is not sure what direction he wants to take his life.

When Anthony meets Phoebe, she has him wondering: Should he keep Banstoke Hall and take a risk on love, or should sell it and keep his battered heart intact?

For such a short novella, A Winter’s Knight is surprisingly well-developed. The characters are engaging and the plot is enchanting. The pacing is excellent and this story can easily be read in less than an hour, perfect when one is looking for a heart-warming love story.

If you are looking for a traditional regency, then A Winter’s Knight is exactly what you are looking for. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I highly recommend this delightful tale of a sweet romance. Happy reading!

5 Gold Crowns

Book Review: The Challenge by Kim Iverson Headlee

The Challenge by Kim Iverson Headlee

Publisher & Release Date: Pendragon Cove Press, July 11, 2015

Time and setting: Arthurian Legend

Genre: Historical Fantasy Romance

Length: 22 pages

Heat Level: 1 Sweet Heart

Rating: 4 Gold Crowns

Book Description:

The gauntlet is thrown. One must die. Refusal is not an option.

Arthur, the High King of Breatein has fallen captive of a longtime enemy, the Saxon warrior-princess Camilla, who lusts to avenge the death of her betrothed at Gyan’s hands and will stop at nothing, even the black arts, to achieve her goal. Because Gyan and Arthur have grown estranged, she fears that Arthur may side with Camilla and make her his new queen.

Now Gyan must face all her demons—public as well as private.

Buy Link:

http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ZGROCUQ

Add to Goodreads:

http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ZGROCUQ?keywords=kim iverson&qid=1445797296&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

Excerpt:

The guard drew a long breath. “Your Majesty, it is time.”

Time to face all my demons, private as well as public.

At her nod, he returned to his post outside—a mite reluctantly, she observed.

“Any last advice?” she asked Merlin at the tent’s entrance. She barked a mirthless laugh. “How does one fight a demon?”

“You must not forget your shield.”

She felt her eyebrows rise. “You know I am no novice warrior.”

“I am not talking of wood and metal, Your Majesty.”

Vikki’s Musings

Recently I read Kim Iverson Headlee’s, Liberty, a book set in ancient Rome and Britain and thoroughly enjoyed it. When I was offered a chance to read and review The Challenge, I eagerly agreed to participate in the tour. This book is very short but packs a lot of riveting action from start to finish.

Gyan, queen to the high king, Arthur of Breatein, must fight the evil Saxon warrior queen, Camilla, to the death or forfeit her kingdom, her husband, and her twin daughters. She is placed in a heart-wrenching situation. Does she walk away from all she holds dear, or does she accept the challenge and fight?

Of course she accepts, but when her opponent arrives, she finds out that if she kills Camilla, Arthur decrees that she will still lose her life, which will she choose, to fight or give their kingdom to the sorceress, Camilla?

The challenge is very fast-paced and is over almost before it has started. I enjoyed the battle a great deal. The fight scene is executed with precision and pulled me in. I was rooting for Gyan, even though she will face her husband’s wrath if she wins.

Kim Iverson Headlee has penned an expertly executed short story. Her writing style is smooth and her editing is meticulous. Her ability to set the scene is incredible. I found The Challenge a highly entertaining read.

My only complaint is that the book is so short, 22 pages, it was over before I had a chance to fully understand why the fight was necessary. However, if you are looking for a riveting very short read, then you will enjoy The Challenge. This book would be interesting to men as well as women. Happy reading!

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Kim Headlee lives on a farm in southwestern Virginia with her family, cats, goats, Great Pyrenees goat guards, and assorted wildlife. People and creatures come and go, but the cave and the 250-year-old house ruins—the latter having been occupied as recently as the mid-twentieth century—seem to be sticking around for a while yet.

Kim is a Seattle native and a direct descendent of twentieth-century Russian nobility. Her grandmother was a childhood friend of the doomed Grand Duchess Anastasia, and the romantic yet tragic story of how Babushka escaped Communist Russia with the aid of her American husband will most certainly one day fuel one of Kim’s novels. Another novel in the queue will involve her husband’s ancestor, the seventh-century proto-Viking king of the Swedish colony in Russia.

For the time being, however, Kim has plenty of work to do in creating her projected 8-book Arthurian series, The Dragon’s Dove Chronicles, and other novels clamoring for attention. She has been a published novelist since 1999, beginning with the original editions of Dawnflight (Sonnet Books, Simon & Schuster) and Liberty (writing as Kimberly Iverson, HQN Books, Harlequin).

AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE – http://www.amazon.com/Kim-Headlee/e/B001KE2LK2

This book will be offered FREE on Kindle Oct 27-28

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f1286/