Beloved Eleanor

I was given a copy of this book for an honest review. Part of the Castonbury Park continuity series, this book stands alone, but numbers third in the series. *likely spoilers ahead*

Lady Kate Montague, always a square peg in a round hole was never going to be conventional, despite her privileged upbringing. Bring in former slave Virgil Jackson and you have a huge scandal on your hands.

This book for me, was something of a surprise – though in a good way. It begins with a prologue which explains some of Virgil’s history as a slave and is brutal indeed, a real eye opener.

Kate and Virgil meet via the Wedgwood family – who were famously abolitionists, and as they meet they strike sparks from one another. Virgil is now a wealthy businessman with contacts high up in English society, and Kate has already scandalised society by a broken engagement. Despite the forbidden nature of their relationship the more they meet, the more they are attracted to one another intellectually and otherwise, resulting in some sensual scenes and adding to the scandal!

Both claim they are not in love with one another, but it became clear to me that in spite of their very different backgrounds they were both very lonely people wanting to love and trust another. Throw in the fact that this is a multi-racial relationship and set in the Regency period with such an potentially explosive and emotive subject as slavery, this makes it a very unusual book indeed and quite a poignant one, love triumphs but some large sacrifices must still be made.

If you only read one of the Castonbury Park series, this one is highly recommended.

This review can also be found on my Goodreads page.

I have recently read the wonderful The Lady Who Broke the Rules by Marguerite Kaye, Condensed Histories Volume One: Histories From England by Greg Chapman and Christmas Is Cancelled by Aurelia B. Rowl.  Reviews for these will be posted very soon.

Next I will be reading and reviewing The Hammock: A novel based on the true story of French painter James Tissot by Lucy Paquette, so do stay tuned for all of these.

Once again, if you want me to review something, check out my ‘Book Reviews’ tab at the top of the page and contact me via email for more information.

I was given a copy of this book on condition that I write an honest review.

This is obviously – given its title – a collection of Christmas novellas set in the Regency period. There are a total of five stories contained in this book. I should also point out that all of the stories have previously been available as Historical Undone! ebooks. *Spoilers ahead*

Story 1: One Wicked Christmas by Amanda McCabe
I really enjoyed this story, as it was a well written, sexy tale and suited the novella format. I also warmed to the hero and heroine and their story was also rather sweet, but not saccharine.
It has as its heroine Lady Cassandra Osborne, a widow who is secretly in love with the hero, Sir Ian Chandler a friend of her late husband. Daringly attending the wicked Christmas house party of one of her friends Cassie finally has the chance to act upon those feelings and seduce Ian.

Story 2: Virgin Unwrapped by Christine Merrill
I normally really enjoy Christine’s stories, but I’m afraid I found this story very disjointed and didn’t like either the hero or heroine and wasn’t bothered if they ended up together. It didn’t really have a Christmas feel, or a Regency one for that matter for me.

The heroine is the rather oddly puritanical figure of Anne Clairemont and the hero Robert Breton, a figure I felt we didn’t really get to know. Anne is engaged to be married to save her family fortunes, and Robert is a temptation who finds it incredibly easy to seduce her out of it.

Story 3: An Illicit Indiscretion by Bronwyn Scott
Another rather sweet story that I enjoyed, featuring the heir to an Earldom and a young lady who both feel that they will need to marry for duty, but have rather a surprising meeting when the young lady escapes from a window from the house he is visiting and they go on an adventure together.

The heroine is Elisabeth Becket and the hero Dashiell Steen. I particularly loved the fact that the heroine had such unusual interests, and the hero helped her pursue them.

Story 4: A Rake for Christmas by Ann Lethbridge
This is a very sensual story, but amusing and poignant too, which is a great mix.

The slighty scandalous Lady Eugenie Hardwick’s neighbour, a rake, Lord Richard Townsend is driving her crazy with the sounds of passion she can hear through the wall of their rented accommodation!

Story 5: Spellbound and Seduced by Marguerite Kaye
I really enjoyed this tale, as it was particularly intimate and magical as the hero and heroine are isolated throughout most of the story in a very snowy Scotland in a cottage in the middle of nowhere. It is quite different from the others also, as the heroine is a witch, and believes that she is cursed for her husband to die, and is scared to love anyone. The hero knows nothing of this, but has come to claim the castle that is connected to the terrible curse on the heroine’s family from centuries ago.

Jura Mcnair is also a rather different heroine as she is not a titled lady, but a healer of sorts. The hero, Lawrence Connaught is looking to make a change in his life after growing tired of the life he has been leading in London.

I really enjoyed this collection and felt that even though there were five stories contained in the book, they were still long enough to be satisfying. Please note that all the stories have a high level of sensuality/sensual scenes.

At the time that I read this I also read Gift-Wrapped Governesses, and if I had to chose only one from the two, I would definitely chose this book.

This review is also available on my Goodreads page.

I was given a copy of this book on condition that I write an honest review.

This book is a set of three Christmas novellas, themed to the heroines being Governesses in each story.
Story 1: Christmas at Blackhaven Castle by Sophia James
The first story was a bit hit and miss for me, I found a lot of the detail didn’t feel correct, and this made the characters also jar for me.

I probably liked the pasts of the hero and heroine and the fact that they healed them together more than anything else. Lady Seraphina Moreton is trying to escape her past as much as the Duke of Blackhaven in which it is his house that she finds solace as a governess to his children.

Story 2: Governess to Christmas Bride by Annie Burrows
This was a slight improvement for me in terms of writing, but I didn’t feel that the love story was believable between the hero and heroine. I also didn’t like the hero – he seemed to me to be particularly uncaring of the consequences of what his actions brought about, especially as the person he supposedly loved could easily lose her job because of it.

Heroine Honeysuckle Miller has known the hero Lord Chepstow since childhood and she is the friend of his sister. He also seems to fall in love with her infeasibly quickly, even for a novella!

Story 3: Duchess by Christmas by Marguerite Kaye
This is the best of the three stories I think, and they increase in quality as you read them. Although there are lots of things I questioned in this story, it does reach a satisfying and sweet conclusion.

The heroine is Regan Stuart, who returns to her childhood home posing as a governess to help the hero, another Duke, Gabriel to choose a bride in order to have somewhere for her and her brothers and sisters to stay.

I did enjoy the rags to riches experience of Regan, and Gabriel was a fine tortured hero, but I did not enjoy the secondary characters so much and the story was wrapped up (if you pardon the pun) rather too easily for me.

A mostly enjoyable anthology, especially useful if you are busy over the Christmas period and can only read in small chunks as it is a light read.

I also read A Sinful Regency Christmas at the same time as this one, and if I had to choose only one of them, I would recommend reading A Sinful Regency Christmas as the stories are better in that book.

The review is also available on my Goodreads page.