Christmas Belle (Signet Regency Romance) [Paperback]

Mary Balogh (Author)

Book Description

Series: Signet Regency Romance | Publication Date: November 1, 1994

Reunited former lovers Isabella, the toast of the London stage, and Jack Frazer, a rakish libertine, rediscover the painful wounds and burning passion of old love.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Summoned from town life to his grandparents' estate for a family holiday gathering, elegant rake Jack Frazer suspects that his grandmother has decided that his single days are about to come to an end-and when the charming, innocent, and highly suitable Juliana Beckworth appears on the scene, he's sure of it. However, what he doesn't expect is the arrival of another holiday guest, the acclaimed actress Isabella Gellee, who was his mistress years ago and the one woman he could never forget or forgive. While the milieu is classic Regency, the level of sensuality and the heroine's occupation and background are not. A popular writer of Regencies that stretch the boundaries, Balogh also writes historicals (Tangled, Topaz, 1994) and short stories. Readers who enjoy her work (hardcover backlist titles of which are available through Severn House) might also find books by Jo Beverley and Mary Jo Putney of interest. (Balogh lives in Saskatch-ewan, Canada.)
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Signet (November 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451179544
• ISBN-13: 978-0451179548
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #230,543 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mary Balogh is the New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed Slightly novels: Slightly Married, Slightly Wicked, Slightly Scandalous, Slightly Tempted, Slightly Sinful, and Slightly Dangerous, as well as the romances No Man's Mistress, More than a Mistress, and One Night for Love. She is also the author of Simply Love, Simply Unforgettable, Simply Magic, and Simply Perfect, her dazzling quartet of novels set at Miss Martin's School for Girls. A former teacher herself, she grew up in Wales and now lives in Canada.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars One big epilogue for all the previous books in this series..., July 7, 2010

By 

readsalot (NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Christmas Belle (Signet Regency Romance) (Paperback)

I won't rehash what other people have already said, I know skimming through the same thing gets tedious.

I love this author, but this wasn't one of her better novels. The main plot, second-chance love, got lost among the horde of the secondary characters, and their children and grandparents and their servants, and..... you get the idea. You really see very little story about the main couple.

If you've seen these people in the previous novels, it may interest you, but if you have not, like myself, you will find yourself being bored to tears. Sorry to say, I couldn't finish this.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A flawed book, but still worth reading, November 29, 2001

By 

cija (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Christmas Belle (Signet Regency Romance) (Paperback)

A great actress, Isabella Gelle, Comtesse de Vacheron, is invited to spend Christmas at the country home of the Duke and Duchess of Portland. The widowed Isabella and her two children will be honored guests at the family gathering; Isabella has also been asked to present a short program as part of the Chtistmas Day entertainment.

Isabella is anxious about accepting the invitation, aware that the Duke and Duchess's grandson, Jack Frazer, is also likely to be present. Years before, at the start of her career, they had been lovers, but they had parted bitterly. Now Isabella is both hoping - and dreading - that Jack will be there.

This is one of a series of novels and short stories set around Christmas in Regency England by Balogh, and, as always, the description of the festivities is wonderful. She handles a large cast of characters with ease: I particularly liked Isabella's young daughter, Jacqueline, whose passion for the violin Isabella tries to suppress, in a mistaken attempt to protect her daughter from the hurt she herself has suffered in pursuing her own gifts. Jacqueline finds an unexpected champion, and the relationship that develops between the two is touching.

Jack is under pressure from his grandmother to find himself a wife. He finds it enormously difficult to deal with Isabella's unexpected presence at his family's gathering. She is the only woman he has ever loved, and he was deeply hurt when she disappeared from his life.

Isabella and Jack's resolution of the bitterness of their past, while under the ever-watchful eyes of his vast family, is emotionally wrenching. In the end, secrets are revealed and family expectations are satisfied in unexpected ways.

What spoiled this book for me, a little, was Jack's intemperate language when talking to Isabella. It made him less likeable, and flawed an otherwise moving story.

[Note: some of the same characters appear in The First Snowdrop.]

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sweet Holiday Story, December 4, 2004

By 

Linda27 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Christmas Belle (Signet Regency Romance) (Paperback)

Another good Mary Balogh book about family reunion at Christmas -love lost and then found.