Customer Reviews

A Christmas Promise (Signet)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This story by Mary Balogh is the only one in which I have cried at the end, and I don't usually cry over books. The book starts out unpromisingly with an aristocrat being blackmailed into marriage by a dying merchant. He finds the merchant's daughter to be cold, title-obsessed, and unfeeling - and also surprisingly passionate. She sees him as a gambler and a wastrel, and remembers only that he has shown her no love nor sympathy. The marriage therefore starts off unpromisingly, especially when the father-in-law dies shortly afterward and the heroine refuses to wear mourning for longer than a month.

However, both have severe misconceptions about each other. The hero, Randolph, is not a wastrel. The heroine, Eleanor, is not cold nor unfeeling. How they come to these realizations without the usual Big Misunderstanding dominating the story-line is what I will leave you to discover. Suffice it to say that there is a wonderful sled race, some rather amusing relatives of the bride, and no less than three minor romances that nevertheless do not take our attention away from Randolph and Eleanor as they struggle to a better understanding of each other.

And as to why I cried? Well, it has something to do with why Eleanor did not cry at her father's death and what finally happens in the conservatory.

There are no villains, just some remarkable misconceptions based on initial behavior at a very trying time. As such, this book is both refreshing and yet oddly touching. If I could find a copy of this book, it would be definitely a keeper.

Eleanor Transome loved her father dearly. He called her his treasure. He only wanted her happiness. Eleanor Transome's father was dying. So he bought Eleanor a husband!

Randolph Pierce, the Earl of Falloden, is on the brink of ruin, he needs money quickly. He must preserve Grenfell Park, the debt-ridden home of his youth. With much reluctance, the Earl of Falloden accepts the coal merchant's terms. He will wed Eleanor Transome, a young woman he has never met.

Two very different people from two very different worlds. Two very separate entities. They were man and wife, a stranger from a class she hated and she from a class he despised. Yet, there was more to it than that. They had to make a life together. They could derive mutual satisfaction from each other. He would take pleasure from her and she would take pleasure from receiving him. For Eleanor did not want to be alone. Eleanor wanted to love someone, Eleanor wanted children.

Balogh again hits the jackpot. A CHRISTMAS PROMISE is delightful. It is a quiet story about two people who: meet, observe, and fall in love with each other. Nothing unusual -- except these two people are already married. Balogh relies on a Christmas theme to enhance her story delighting her readers with the traditions of Christmases past. A time when families gathered, for days, to celebrate the joy of the season. A time when Christmas celebrations revolved around life's simple pleasures: horse drawn sleighs, sledding at night, gathering yule logs, or rejoicing in a star-filled Christmas sky.

Again Mary Balogh proves she can write a romance book. At the end of A CHRISTMAS PROMISE, Mary Balogh wisely chooses her poignancy pen. Quietly I wept as Eleanor opened her father's final gift and then I rejoiced when the hero offered his heart. A CHRISTMAS PROMISE is a Signet Regency Romance book and is currently not in print; presently an interested reader must obtain it on the secondary market. Grade: A

Grace Atkinson, Ontario - Canada.

Mary Balogh writes some truly wonderful books, and this is definitely one of them. Randolph, Earl of Falloden, is struggling under the vast mound of debt left to him by his spendthrift cousin, the previous earl. He is astonished when a cit, a *coal merchant* of all people, comes to visit him to inform him that he's bought all Randolph's debts. And he will write them all off, and give Randolph half of his fortune, if the Earl will marry his daughter. (...)

This is a lovely, poignant love story, in which a couple who seem completely unsuited to each other in the beginning gradually come to understand, and to love, one another; and it's set in the magical season of Christmas, a time which Mary Balogh does so well. If you can find a copy of this somewhere, snap it up!

I just have to disagree with the 3-star reviewer who said this was "not Balogh's best but still readable"...I put this book right up there with "A Temporary Wife" and it IS one of her best, absolutely! Randolph & Eleanor have a difficult emotional time before they find happiness and that's REAL. That's what makes this story so good - its characters' feelings are rooted in reality. Following their arranged marriage, they have to learn about each other; more importantly they learn about themselves. It makes their love story all the more satisfactory at the end.

This marriage has a horrid beginning. The first love scene is a bit rough. The characters do indeed hate each other. In fact with as much as they hate each other in the beginning, they have no right to be as in love with each other as they are by the end. Actually, I'm amazed that Balogh pulled it off. I liked both characters by the end despite how terrible they were at the beginning, and that has to take talent. Not Balogh's best, but still very readable.

Mary Balogh is one of my favorite regency romance writers since I discovered by chance "Indiscreet". I do not usually pick one of her books when I'm in the mood for a very easy read because her books are much more about feelings and interesting characters than about speed of action and love/ sex scenes. Just to clarify, I am not a fan of all her books, but "Christmas promise" was a splendid example of how good she can be. The story is of a coal merchant daughter and an impoverished lord forced in matrimony for interests each of them wrongly assume for the other. What makes Mary Balogh style is the way an arranged marriage developed beautifully and pretty realistic. I did not felt that Ellie was colder than circumstances would have made her, nor that Randolph behaved in a way different from the expectations of his class. Mary Balogh characters are introvert most of the times, with a very clear expectation to behave according to Regency England's code of behavior. While the forced couple hated each other in the beginning, their way to express it was cold, distant and polite. Under this circumstances I did not felt like the wedding night was anything else than expected: started as a physical act seen as a duty by both parts and ended in something fierce due to their battle of wills.
By chance I've read this shortly after Christmas, with snow in front of my window... And I really felt like I was in the country, enjoying a wonderful Christmas with a very special family living life to fullest. I was totally engrossed in the story and I highly recommend it.

I couldn't stop reading A Christmas Promise because I wanted to see Eleanor and Randolph finally warm up to each other. Some might say that they didn't like the characters because of their initial coldness, but the early tension between them kept me very interested in the story. It was compelling. For much of the story, they saw only glimpses of each other's true characters until the final few scenes when they realize how much they misjudged each other early on.

I also enjoyed reading about all of the Christmas festivities that took place throughout the story. The snow, the scenery and the amusing cast of supporting characters all added to the mix to create a very good holiday read.

mary balogh has argued that different authors can take similar plots and produce very unique stories. "a christmas promise" as one such effort - a fresh rewrite of georgette heyer's "a civil contract." i liked that balogh made her heroine eleanor more self-confident, attractive, and spirited than the heroine in the original heyer novel, and that she tried to make eleanor's father a more politically correct character (instead of being a 'vulgar' individual obsessed with getting a title for his unattractive daughter, he is transformed into a warm and loving father who wants to see his daughter well-situated before he dies of cancer). there were other aspects of the story i liked less, mainly that the characters' transition from mutual dislike / formality to being in love seemed a bit abrupt and not fully convincing. the resolution of the hero's previous "love" also seemed a bit flat. still, an entertaining read, and a nice remake of a difficult plot premise. i enjoy most of balogh's work and i'm very much looking forward to "the secret mistress" when it comes out this summer.

The arranged marriage was to benefit both parties but neither thought it anything but a duty. But circumstances contrived to force two diverse social classes into spending four days of Christmas together in the country. We kept rooting for the H/h to actually like each other even if they couldn't fall in love. The Christmas gathering proved enlightening for all those in attendance which is what made this book a delightful read for the holidays. Holiday Romantics rejoice! You will want to create a fun party of your own.

I think this book represents Mary Balogh at her finest, and I rate her as one of my favorite authors. I have a copy that is completely tattered from the repeated readings it has received over the years. I am thrilled that I will be able to buy another one to give it a rest (maybe even two). Eleanor Transome's father, after finding he has little time left to live, buys a husband to take care of her after he's gone. Randolph Pierce, Earl of Fallodean, is appalled to find himself in the position of having to marry a coal merchant's daughter, but has very little choice in the matter. For her part, Eleanor feels just as bitter about being required to marry him. After marring virtually as soon as they meet, Eleanor's father passes away leaving her in the hands of a stranger whom she resents, and who feels the same way about her. To fulfill a promise to her dying father, Eleanor sends invitations to her family to celebrate Christmas with her and her new husband. The Earl had already invited friends of his own and made the mistake of telling her to invite whomever she wanted. Eleanor's family is loud, boisterous and treat Randolph in a very familiar manner. One of my favorite parts of the books was when Eleanor's uncle refers to Randolph as "Randy." As the holiday unfolds, the couple gradually starts seeing what each had missed in the other. Eleanor's family are warm, loving and help to create a magical Christmas for all, especially Randolph who has never known one. There are different story lines that evolve with Randolph's friends that help to bring the richness and depth that Mary Balogh is so known for. I always cry at the wonderfully touching scene at the end of the book.