Customer Reviews

A Christmas Keepsake

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

 

 

If you like time-travel AND Christmas romance stories, this is a must-read. The characters are well-developed and likeable, and humourous parts are frequent, even during suspenseful moments. The author has provided good descriptions of the clothing, settings, and holiday customs of that time, as well as some British history.

The political intrigue tended to drag on a little too long, while the ending could have been stretched out more, since it left me wanting for more details.

Altogether, I would recommend this book, and will probably read it again next Christmas.

I felt I had to write a review after the criticizing one before me as I've considered this as one of my favorite books that I find myself reading nearly every Christmas. I always found the story delightful, both the characters and their situation. Christine is a down to earth woman (who I never once found crass or annoying), a bookseller who comes across a witty and fun book by a James Holborn that, unnervingly, past a certain chapter the text shifted between two versions--one a humurous accounting of an upperclass party and the other of revolution and bloodshed in the streets. Unnerved, she tries to find an explanation for it and is further upset when no one else sees the changing text. She is bewildered further when she finds herself in London, 1810 and the first man she meets is none other than the writer of the book himself. Through Christina, you have a 20th century girl's perspective of the time as she struggles to make due and figure out how to return. Unfortunately, the only thing she knows the history of is her chocolate chips... of which would be a long time until their invention. It's a charming, easy read that's not your average regency romance. Amidst being torn from falling in love with a man in a time centuries before her, homesickness for her family and own time, and the increasing danger of intrigue as someone seems set to kill James Holborn (who, with an interesting twist, finds out he's more than what he thought). Overall, I really recommend this book and never really found it dragging or lacking.

This book has a brilliant premise. Unfortunately the characters, style and narrative direction don't support it.

The heroine travels from the present back to Regency England to influence history by averting dreadful bloodshed and political turmoil. She is a modern American, very conscious of her casual maners and lack of social knowledge for the time. That's fine. That she is, in fact, pushy, stupid and loud, is not. Ms Bennett joins the multitude of authors who mistake blatant stupidity, crass behaviour and vulgarity for confidence or "sassiness".

The hero, of course, finds this behaviour charming. We don't know why, he just does. The romance between the two continues to progress in this way - we don't know why they like each other, or why they are sexually attracted to each other, they just are. Any meaningful scenes between the two are always interrupted by external forces; usually his would-be assassins who seem to attack at least twice a day. That the heroine comes through these encounters - running through the London stews, climbing over rubble, hiding in hedges - with her meagre wardrobe unscathed is nothing short of a miracle. But that is just one of the absurdities in this book.

I agree with the reader below that the political turmoil drags on too long. As I said above, the premise, which is based on this turmoil, is brilliant, but it is never developed. Ms Bennett circles around the one basic point for much of the book, and since the romance takes a back seat to the political events "A Christmas Keepsake", in the end, seems to offer nothing.