The Regency Christmas IX (Signet Regency Romance) [Paperback]

Sandra Heath (Author), Carla Kelly (Author), Edith Layton (Author)

Book Description

Series: Signet Regency Romance | Publication Date: September 2002

This Christmas, cozy up with five all-new Regency tales!

From five award-winning and bestselling Regency authors comes an all-new collection of Christmas stories that capture the warmth and magic of the holiday season.

Sandra Heath
Carla Kelly
Edith Layton
Amanda McCabe
Barbara Metzger

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Romance anthologies allow readers to sample writers new to them, or writers they've lost track of, and this holiday batch is particularly lively and varied. A Regency Christmas is a sugarplum treat for fans of the classic Regency. In Edith Layton's delightfully witty "An Amiable Miser," a spinsterish bookstore clerk discovers her own present in the shape of the nobleman who helps her search for the owner of a treasure left in a book. Barbara Metzger uses an abandoned young girl to bring together an impoverished nobleman and an unconventional gentlewoman in her charmingly sweet "A Home for Hannah." A competition based on a popular Christmas carol has some unexpected romantic results in Amanda McCabe's polished "A Partridge in a Pear Tree." An elf prompts a formerly engaged couple stranded together in a snowstorm to rethink their relationship in Sandra Heath's magical "The Solid Silver Chess Set." And a lady suffering a reversal of fortune is dreading the holidays until she meets a man who shows her the true meaning of Christmas and romance in Carla Kelly 's poignant, superbly written "No Room at the Inn." John Charles
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Signet (September 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451207254
• ISBN-13: 978-0451207258
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #468,539 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Have you ever read a book and wished you could write one too? Have you ever followed someone else's characters and thought you would have them behave differently? Well, that's how I was. I read and read and read, especially historical fiction, but I secretly yearned to write a title of my own. Strangely, it took my three-year-old daughter's urgent admission to hospital with meningitis to finally get me going. She was so ill and I was so distracted, that after a while my father gave me a little portable typewriter 'to help take my mind off things'. By the time my daughter Sarah came out of hospital, well on the road to recovery, my first book was also well on the road.

I wrote and wrote and wrote, standing in the kitchen on one leg like a stork, with the typewriter on a work surface while my daughter played around my feet. My first ten books were medieval historicals set in England, and since then I have mostly written in the English Regency period - for which living in Britain is a definite advantage! I love romantic stories, and if I can weave history, traditions, myths, legends and sometimes Gothic elements into them, I'm happiest of all. These were the sorts of story I couldn't get enough of before I became a writer, and I'm glad to say my readers like them too.

Sandra Heath isn't my only pen name, for you'll also find me as Sandra Wilson, Jeannie Machin and Sarah Stanley. Some of these titles you'll recognize from before, but some you won't. Most of my medievals were written as Sandra Wilson, and as Sarah Stanley I've produced two new sensuous Regencies, STAR-CROSSED SUMMER and MIDWINTER MARRIAGE, which follow the same characters and should be read in the order of the titles. I hope to follow them with two more in the same series, but at the moment I have so much else to write that it may be a little while.

Sooo, over sixty-five books after my first ever title, I'm still wearing out keyboards, and loving every minute of it.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Magnum of Holiday Cheer, November 20, 2002

By 

kellytwo "kellytwo" (cleveland hts, ohio) - See all my reviews

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

This is the fourteenth Regency Christmas Collection issued by Signet. From the very first edition, the quality has always been high, although to be sure, some have been higher than others. To me, this one is the very best of the bunch. It is as though each author has gone a little beyond her normal wonderful skills, and created something a bit more special than usual for this year of 2002. Four of the authors are favorites from past years; Edith Layton was in the very first book, so it's only appropriate that she lead off. Sandra Heath, Carla Kelly and Barbara Metzger have each been in several of the books, while Amanda McCabe is a worthy newcomer to the collection.

In some years, the books have had a theme, but this year they're just wonderful, heart-warming stories. Edith Layton's "The Amiable Miser" gives us a different look at a miserly sort of fellow, but one with the proverbial heart of gold. And even though he didn't really have to spend any of his valuables, he was still able to provide his niece with her heart's desire.

Barbara Metzger turns from her usual menagerie to the 'infantry' in the delightful "A Home for Hannah". Hannah is an orphan, or so she and the rest of the world thinks, until one day in the park, she spies a likely candidate to be her new 'Papa', thus setting in motion all sorts of interesting activities. Her new Papa is a penniless gentleman who discovers that love can indeed conquer all.

"A Partridge in a Pear Tree" by Amanda McCabe proves that the eye of the beholder may not always see the same things as the rest of the world, but in the end, it is the one who sets the rules that wins the game. Simplicity is, in many instances, much better than grandiose ideas, as established by Lady Kirkwood with her competition. Of course, the Lady wins out, bringing together two young relatives, Allison and William, who discover the true meaning of Christmas.

Certainly there are elves afoot at Christmastime; if you have doubts, you need do no more than read "The Solid Silver Chess Set" by Sandra Heath. If you then still have doubts, you can have no heart, no soul, and no sense of humor, either. The trials of poor little Bramble Bumblekin will bring a smile to your heart if you will but let them, and your soul will be warmed by the reunion of the formerly-fickle Miss Julia and her erstwhile suitor, Philip. Even young Bramble's holiday is made brighter by the inventive imagination of the author.

And finally, Carla Kelly unveils the solution to a mystery in "No Room at the Inn", allowing the young Mary to find not only her identity but her family as well. Twice over, in fact, when Joe also settles her into a love-filled home she'd never thought to have.

Any of these stories will provide a magnum of holiday cheer; together they'll warm your chilly nights and make you think of happy holidays! Enjoy!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Signet always does these best!, January 12, 2003

By 

Susan Smith (A small rural village in the English Midlands) - See all my reviews

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

Signet Regency Christmas collections are the best on the market if you like this sort of thing and I do - very much. However, this year's was not the best but, still, anything by Kelly, Layton and Metzger is a Must Read for me. They did not let me down.

Sandra Heath's contribution, "The Solid Silver Chess Set" irked me, sadly, although it was clever and amusing enough. I just don't like fantasy and especially not mixed with Regency fare. Sorry - this one gave me indigestion! Elves. Yeech!

Amanda McCabe's "Partridge in a Pear Tree" is better. She has used a tried and perfected "winner takes all format" where through the machinations of a rich elderly relative, a poor woman and a poor man trump everyone and walk away with the prize of the inheritance. Using a "scavenger hunt" (in England more likely to be called a treasure hunt) a couple win the ultimate prize as well as riches - true love. Well enough done.

Edith Layton's story is a reworking of the Scrooge story with a twist. A poor woman (and not in her first youth!) wins her love when she is set up by her particular Scrooge. There is sparkling conversation here and a fun few pages. Layton always does this sort of thing well.

You can rely on Barbara Metzger for comedy and wit. Here is a sample "His lordship (our hero) was known to be pockets-to-let, seeking to repair his tattered fortune with a dowry darning needle". And another: "She (our heroine) was used to Hanbury House and Ravencroft, not a ramshackle residence for rats and bats and down-at-heels aristocrats". Enough said - this story is delicious and peopled with amusing characters. Gregory and Claire deserve each other and it was fun to watch them!

Carla Kelly is simply one of the best in the business and she NEVER lets you down. Her story of Mary McIntyre, suddenly set adrift from all she has ever known, and Joe Shepard, a not-so-ordinary simple man from a humble background, is peopled by wonderful secondary characters all of whom add to the story in a tight-knit tale of love, greed, humility and acceptance - all in a few short pages which sum up so well all that is important about Christmas. This woman never ceases to amaze me with her huge talents.

A lovely Christmas holiday read; highly recommended particularly for the Layton, Metzger and Kelly contributions.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Christmas Warmth and Happiness, October 8, 2002

By 

Rica Quinn (Florida) - See all my reviews

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

A book containing stories by my favorite authors makes for a wonderful taste of Christmas. All are beautifully written, as would be expected from five of the most experienced Regency writers around, and the feel-good factor is as plentiful as the holly and mistletoe. If I have to choose a winner, the elf gets to the line first! Sandra Heath's Bramble Bumblekin made me laugh while he played my heartstrings, but Amanda McCabe's partridge fluttered up fast on the inside rail, with the other three neck-and-neck for third place.