Author: Victoria Alexander
Publisher: Kensington
Publication Date: October 2012
Genre: Christmas / Historical Romance
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Description: Camille, Lady Lydingham, requests the pleasure of your company at a festive house party in the English countryside, as she endeavors to coax a marriage proposal from Prince Nikolai Pruzinsky of Greater Avalonia. Given the nature of the hostess’s eccentric relatives, they will be played by a troupe of actors hired to impersonate a proper Victorian family. What a clever way to fool the prince! And gate-crashing, distractingly handsome first loves like Grayson Elliott are most unwelcome.
But nothing about Camille’s charade goes as planned. Tonight, at Millworth Manor, games will be played, motives will be revealed, the masks will come off, and hearts will be lost—and won—in the most romantic, magical season of all.
My Thoughts: I’m not saying that the Regency time period does Christmas better than any other time period, but this book really pulls the reader in and surrounds them with the beauty and the spirit of the holiday. I can certainly see why Camille was so insistent on giving Nikolai the full effect of an English countryside Christmas as I was completely drawn into the elegance, charm and beauty of the home and the Christmas finery and frippery.
I loved that Camille’s so-called brilliant plan is so full of holes and nearly every time she manages to catch her breath, something else happens to make this undertaking all the more tasking. Of course, hiring a troupe of actors to play one’s family is definitely not a clever idea, especially when the actress portraying your mother can’t remember her name! Of course, the arrival of your first love, the man who broke your heart eleven years ago and vanished without a word is bound to add a few unplanned complications.
I loved Camille and Grayson individually and as a couple. There’s a lot of unresolved hurt and anger they need to work out, but it was so clear they were perfect for one another and though eleven years have elapsed since they have seen or spoken to one another, it felt like no time had passed at all. I couldn’t pick a side as they both are carrying pain from the past, but Camille is definitely the more stubborn of the two.
In addition to the madcap behaviors occurring at Millworth Manor, the spirit of the holiday is keenly felt as decorations are put up, a fresh evergreen is cut down and brought inside and there is ice skating at a nearby frozen pond. Everyone has a role to play to pull off this Christmas charade and it was so much fun to watch it all unfold.
My Final Verdict: I highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy Christmas themed stories as well as historical settings that really bring the traditions of the period to light. Christmas is a time for new beginnings and what better way to begin again than with a second chance at love?
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