Customer Reviews

Father Christmas

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

 

 

Of course this is a good book because it's a Metzger but also because it's a FLIPPING REPRINT. Dagnabit, publishers, give Metzger a contract for a short trad. regency, okay? Stop making her write the longer ones. They're fine and dandy, but she isn't at the top of her game with them. By not letting her loose with the perfect shorter length, you're stifling the absolute master at this genre. And face it, as we all wearily slog through this financial crisis, we need all the lovely fluffy fun we can get. Get her started on new trad regencies!
Grr! GRRR!

I loved this book. I'm tired of reading trashy porn novels that have no good literature in them whatsoever. This book gave me a good feeling inside when I finished it. I would recommend reading it. Especially this time of year.

Father Christmas is an cute, if somewhat light regency about a widow Graceanne with two twin boys who falls for a local nobleman. I enjoyed the beginning, but I began to lose interest after the first half. The story meandered and I just didn't care what happened to Graceanne and the duke. The antics of the twins, Prue, and Leland just didn't captivate me like the editorial review suggested. The romance itself was rather tepid and a lot of time was spent with the twins, the sister and other minor characters. I confess I did not finish and gave up after 3/4 of this.

This Barbara Metzger book is great, funny and charming. But dont be fooled by that 2008 date. This is an old one. Cheat

It was an excellent story. I enjoyed it very much and would definitely recommend it for Barbara Metzger's fans.

I went into reading this story by Metzger knowing that it was of the light old short regency type but I can understand why these types have died a death to most readers. There was absolutely no sexual tension in this story, that the h/h finally came together in the end was more of a " so what, who cares". One doesn't need intimacy to make a romance story work but we as readers need more than just cardboard characters and an outline of what could be a good romance. The two young boys who added some well needed humor were the only plus to this stale over used plot of misunderstandings.

Maybe Ms Metzger wanted to paint a story on a broad canvas but her writing in 250 pages would need to be a lot tighter than this was. The story took place over too long a time period to make this tale even remotely enjoyable in so few pages, it seemed to rush to an ending that was not in the least enjoyable and too expectedly boring . Certainly there is a place for authors who want to write the "sweet historicals" but for heaven's sake give the readers a romance that they can sink their teeth into rather than this over processed drivel.

Romance readers want a story with characters we can care about long after that last page is turned, and an author who can create a story that grabs the heartstrings and doesn't let go until the end, having intimate scenes has nothing to with that. This one fell short on so many levels we have to wonder why this was a Christmas story as it was no gift to romance readers.

I consider Barbara Metzger one of my favorite authors... but this book was awful!!! It was choppy, hard to get into, didn't explain things very well & jumped a lot.

I see there are complaints here that this is a reprint but it wasn't impossible to tell by looking at the listing or inside the cover of the book before buying. Anyway, I bought it despite having a very old first edition from 1995 which is falling to bits. And I see complaints that there wasn't enough sexual tension. That did surprise me a little because that is a thread I see running through the story as our hero and heroine struggle with the depth of their true feelings for each other.

Graceanne Warrington is a war widow with 3 year old twin sons. She has returned from the peninsula following the death of her husband and gone back to the vicarage where she was brought up. Her father is a "hellfire & damnation" clergyman with a secret passion for collecting books to the point that he both defrauds and ignores his family. Our heroine is slowly becoming a household drudge and her children are being sidelined. Graceanne has a younger sister, Prudence, who is about to kick over the traces as they say. And, her late husband's cousin is a wealthy duke who has had two marriages, neither of which was happy. He longs for an heir for the obvious reasons (and has conceived of a rather high-handed way to get one) but the magic in this story is that by the end of it he longs for a family, not just an heir, and Graceanne's children are gathered into a loving family life which he will provide for them.

There are the usual turns of Metzger's humour with the crazy servants, silly dog and assorted hangers-on. Watch out for the duke's aunt and his best friend - two zany characters.

The story commences with a Christmas that is full of problems and ends with one a year later full of promises. I like the way it unfolded without rushing, allowing us to get to know the characters and for them to act out the story in a realistic way. I feel this is "real romance" because it is more true to life than some of the silly stories we get these days where the impossible seems to happen over night. It was a slower way of life than we know today and that's part of the charm for me. Graceanne is a new widow when we meet her but she has deep feelings and they very soon turn into attraction for Leland, Duke of Ware. He, too, feels the pull but there are issues that need to be resolved for both parties until the final denoument.

I like this book and enjoyed reading it again as we head towards Christmas. Leland and Graceanne are people I would like to know. The child characters were very well done and the scene involving sliding down bannisters made me laugh out loud.

Life is fast, confusing and rushed these days. Nice to step into a quieter world where life seemed to have more time to unfold. For those who like trad regencies, you will enjoy this.

It is a pleasue to have a light hearted, but exciting book to read like this. It was a fast moving book and it kept me laughing until the end.