Ms. Kelly has presented everything that refined readers could possibly ask for in this scrumptuous package:
1. literate prose without so much as a hint of stiltedness
2. careful editing except for a few rare mechanical errors
3. well developed characters
4. an age gap romance
5. a coming-of-age story
6. sharply witted humor
7. a thoroughly researched comprehension of the history and language of the Regency Era
8. a realistic family and village
9. minutiae of Christmas Past, and a nod to the future via a delightful spoof on Dickens
10. an original plot not already overdone by other neo-Regency authors
***SPOILER ALERT***
I suggest skeptical readers bear in mind the full context surrounding the Hero, so as to judge him fairly:
He is in love with a young lady who will be old enough for her debut on the marriage market in less than three months, and who was already legally old enough to wed in that period with parental permission. What parent would have turned down the likely financial benefit from such association with an Earl when faced with losing the family's hereditary home?
Furthermore, the Hero's resorting to bedding the spy in service to his country was the culmination of an assignment from the Crown dating back a number of years prior to his even meeting Marian, and it was stated that the villainess's subsequent capture and arrest, along with the interception of the note, prevented information about ally movements from falling into enemy hands, presumably saving an untold number of young men serving away from home at Christmas. His actions regarding the spy tryst also begged for Marian's trust, which her character arc eventually permitted her to grow into, as she left behind the insecure girl to become a woman in love.
Additionally, there is an implied likelihood that the hero had been tortured by the enemy, as Marian discovered numerous identical burn marks in the brand pattern on his body when he was unconscious, though no attempt is made to explain them away by this author who respects our intelligence enough to allow us to infer from reading between the lines. And finally, our Hero proves to be moral at the core in his vehement insistance that Marian and her brother attend midnight Mass in spite of having just completed an exhausting ten mile journey on foot in the snow.
OR
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Reviews with images
Hilarious and sweet.
Actually laughed out loud numerous times while reading. Something I rarely do.
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