Library Loot Review: Regency Christmas Liaisons

The plan was to have Regency Christmas Liaisons by Christine Merrill, Sophia James and Marguerite Kaye read before Christmas, and that didn't happen.  Instead I finished reading it after the New Year and it's a rare anthology where there's not a single dud in the bunch.  Oh sure, some stories I liked more than others, but this is a very solid holiday anthology with just enough angst to keep sugary holiday sweetness in check.

Unwrapped Under the Mistletoe by Christine Merrill finds our spinster, poor-relation heroine, Daphne Bingham, preparing for holiday guests.  When her parents died when she was young, Daphne was taken in by the Duke and Duchess of Twinden. Slapped with the odious, ill-fitting nickname "Daffy," she had one season that did not take. Now she's the Duchess' fetch-and-carry girl, chaperone for her cousin, and all-around cat magnet. The household cats adore her. The fly in the ointment as far as the Duke and Duchess are concerned is that Daphne keeps filching shiny baubles. They are found in her a room and she has no memory of taking them. They're worried about Daphne's light fingers with holiday guests arriving so naturally instead of helping the poor girl they ask thief-taker, Charles Pallister, to play the role of a distant relation and catch Daffy in the act. Instead, what naturally happens, is that Charles is smitten from the jump.

Merrill spins a classic Cinderella tale while not making the villains cartoonishly evil (oh, they're all terrible but they're not of the twirling mustache variety).  Daphne is the complete opposite of her nickname; smart, resourceful, level-headed.  Charles is very good at solving puzzles but finds the fact that he's been hired to catch Daphne red-handed extremely distasteful. Instead of helping the poor girl, her family is basically throwing her under the carriage, all while taking her for granted and relying on her to make their lives easier.  A very nice romance with a cozy feel, and I loved the cats!

Final Grade = B

If I have one quibble about One Night with the Earl by Sophia James is that it's a story that flew right out of my head after reading it. Case in point, I had to read a couple other reader reviews to jog my memory since Harlequin's back cover blurbs on anthologies tend to be light in the pants.  It's still a good read, just not one that stuck with me for very long.

Elizabeth Martin was at a convent school when Guy Martin swept her off her feet and straight to Spain. The marriage started floundering almost immediately, and while she took care of their twins, Luis and Jenny, Guy had numerous affairs and eventually was killed in a duel. With nowhere else to go, Elizabeth and the children come back to England and Guy's childhood home, where his reputation was well-known. She makes the acquaintance of her closest neighbor, Lord Alexander Grey, when he stumbles across Luis getting beat up by bullies. He takes the boy back to his mother, and having known the boy's useless father, suggests he teach the boy to box. He's got family coming to visit for Christmas and he has a nephew roughly Luis' and Jenny's age.  He invites Elizabeth to join them, also recognizing that she could use a friend and ally of her own.

This is a nice story. Alexander is a good guy and Elizabeth is a widow licking her wounds. Jenny is so desperate to see her mother happy she's taken to leaving notes for the fairies to find and Luis is part boy who wants a mother's love and part angry young man still smarting from his father's general jackassery.  

Final Grade = B-

A Most Scandalous Christmas by Marguerite Kaye is a quiet story where not a lot happens, but it's got a tricky happy-ever-after to pull off.  Lady Silvia Merton is in her 30s and divorced. Her husband was a notorious philanderer who didn't even have the modicum of decency to be discreet. She realizes that if she doesn't leave him, he's slowly chip away at her self-esteem and self-worth until there's nothing left.  So she divorces him. A tricky endeavor since she's a woman and therefore is, essentially, her husband's property. He has to bring the case for the divorce and naturally the way to do that is to accuse his wife of the very behavior he's taking part in. Since Silvia has been unable to produce an heir, he readily agrees to set the wheels in motion.  Once divorced the consequences are swift. Silvia is persona non grata to even her family and has taken up residence in the Yorkshire Moors. She wanted her freedom, and what she got was a life of seclusion. She decides to take a trip to York only to feel uncomfortable and hurry back home after one day. It's on her way back to the moors that she meets up with Ellis Wyn-Jones, a second son and inventor of some note.

Ellis met Silvia years ago at a dinner party where her husband's loutish behavior was on display (the man was openly flirting with his mistress in front of his wife!).  He was taken with Silvia immediately, but naturally nothing ever came of it. Now they meet again and get to talking. She's dreading another Christmas alone and he's dreading the boorish family gathering at his brother's home where another "suitable" marriageable miss will be paraded before him. So our two misfits come up with a plan - they're spend the holidays together at Silvia's home on the moors. No expectations. No boorish family traditions.  Just the two of them. Alone.

This is a nice story about two well-matched people. The story itself basically boils down to Silvia and Ellis spending time together, talking, getting to know each other.  The fly in the ointment is that Ellis thinks he's not interested in marriage and even if he were?  Silvia's divorce means she cannot marry again.  Which begs the question - how is the author going to work out the happy ending?  Turns out, quite well. It's really lovely.  It's one of those stories where the characters make their own happy ending. Society may brand her scandalous and him eccentric - but they love each other - and love will find a way.

Final Grade = B

This was a nice, cozy anthology with the right amount of angst.  I'm not sure if it was intended, but the authors all delivered stories featuring alienated, misfit heroines who end up finding their perfect matches. Not a bad way to kick off my reading in 2022.