Customer Reviews

Christmas Belles

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I loved this Christmas Regency romance book from Susan Carrol, Christmas Belles is one of the most charming romance books that I have ever read and all the characters are very likeable and it was just a real joy to read, I won't bother to give a detailed description about the basic plot about the book because the other reviewer already did that and why repeat what was already said but I just wanted to say how much I like the book, my favorite characters in this delightful book are Chloe Anne Waverly and William Trent and I really think they were a good match! This Book is a keeper and a book I will treasure in my little collection of favorite romance books!

others have summed up the storyline well so I just wanted to add that this shorter (218 pages) Regency-while enjoyable, was certainly nothing special. From the brooding Captain, to the sisters (sensible Eldest sister Emma , Vain, Beautiful Lucy, Bookish Agnes, and the "heart" of the home, and heroine of the story, Chloe), to the storyline-marriage of duty, etc-everything in this story is something I'm sure you've read before, if you've been reading Regencies for any amount of time.



While enjoyably written, the reader cannot help but feel that something's missing. I've read another Regency by this author, Brighton Road, that was more enjoyable, so I'll try this author again, but I wouldn't recommend this particular Regency unless you can get it cheaply.

2.5 stars.

It happened so suddenly: Papa's reappointment to His Majesty's Royal Navy, his sudden death, and then the shocking news that an unknown captain had been appointed guardian of the four Waverly sisters. Chloe Anne Waverly firmly believed that Captain William Trent posed a threat to everyone's happiness.

Emma, being eldest and quite responsible, felt it her duty to accept the captain's proposal of marriage. But Christmas season or no, Choloe Anne would find some way to prevent these nupitals - for she knew Emma's heart belonged to another.

But when had Chloe become so aware of the sad look in the captain's eyes - or realized that behind his military sternness, there was a gentelness and a gallantry? When had her feelings become much too warm for a man who hwas suddenly aware that he'd chose the wrong sister? Before 'twas over, it would be a Christmas none of them would forget....

This book is part of a series of books I have read very recently that had a naval theme. I should add that this was read after Carla Kelly's MISS WHITTER MAKES A LIST (strongly recommended, despite minor flaws) and Nicola Cornick's THE LARKSWOOD LEGACY (reviewed some time ago). The story has been nicely described by others, so let me take a moment to review what I liked and did not like about this book.

For me, the problem is that this book is too slim, and ends too early and definitely too abruptly. The hero, a young captain who has lost his parents very young and who has been raised at sea by a stern maternal grandfather (an Admiral), inherits the estate of an elderly relation who dies to save the hero's life during enemy action. Partly out of guilt, partly out of a sense of duty, the hero betrothes himself to the eldest daughter of his late cousin - by correspondence (only a few letters). And then, he arrives to be married over a very short break. The heroine is not the eldest sister; she is in love with a very poor curate, and she has resigned herself to marriage. Rather, the real heroine is the young and fanciful Chloe Anne, the third of the four sisters. Chloe is convinced that both the Captain and her sister Emma are making a mistake, in part because Emma loves another man. She is also horrified at the thought of changing anything about her beloved estate.

OK - that is just the beginning. Unfortunately, firstly, the Christmas theme does not really follow through. Although there is a holiday celebration, it does not set the Captain reflecting about his life and wondering what is wrong with it. His efforts to free himself from the betrothal are passive to say the least. And Chloe Anne does not stop to reflect on her life either. And *that* is a problem with this romance. Neither hero nor heroine really change that much; although the hero recognizes he is in love with the wrong sister, he makes little effort to change his situation, or for that matter, to question the harshness of Navy discipline in dealing with his deserting steward.

It seems to me that the only sisters who do change are Lucy (a fortune hunter and title hunter at the start) and the youngest, Agnes (a prude and bookworm, a la Austen's Mary Bennett). Nor, of course, do the curate and his love Emma change that much, although both work up the courage to proclaim their love - literally at the altar. [A trifle embarrassing, one would think].

The epilogue seems a little odd, hastily written perhaps, and tacked on as an afterthought. A longer book might have helped; allowing more time for the captain and Chloe Anne's characters to develop and mature (instead of the ghost escapade) might have helped. There were moments of high comedy, but in general, I did not feel that this book lived upto its initial promise.

Rated 3.5