A Regency Christmas Present

Regency Romance
Heart's Desire by Allison Lane is an odd story for a Christmas anthology. Its tone is dark and rather gloomy and it does not brighten until almost the last page. Emma Fairlawn is the widow of a vicar. She is resolved to leave her home - her brother-in-law's wife is a shrew and does not like her, so Emma is looking for a post as a governess. In the meantime, Captain Craig Curtiss is back from the war. His brother has died, he has inherited the title and is going home for the first time in years.

Craig and Emma meet when they are in the same coach and discover that Emma's brother-in-law is an old friend of Craig's. When the coach has an accident, Craig offers to take Emma to his estate, which is full of relatives there for the Christmas season, including Craig's vicious and evil grandmother.

Heart's Desire is named for the woven hearts a little old man had given to Craig and Emma before they met, but the title is a misnomer. While well-written, this is not a particularly joyful story. Craig and Emma are interesting characters but not a compelling couple; there is a lack of chemistry between the two throughout most of the story. And the grandmother is so evil, she is almost laughable. Grade: C+

Regency Romance
Christmas Wish List by Barbara Metzger is light and funny and charming and witty and so wonderful I did not wish it to end. Miss Geraldine Selden and her brother Sir Eustace Selden live in the tiny gatekeeper's house on their estate. Although Eustace is a baronet, the main house is occupied by a cit - Gerry and Eustace's father liked to gamble, you know. Gerry is a cheerful and likable young woman who breeds exotic cats and Eustace is also cheerful and likable - if a bit dim.

Albrett Wouk, Lord Broughten, is not a happy man. His secretary is on vacation, his mistress is getting tiresome and now his little daughter Samantha is ill and wants her daddy. When Brett comes to see Samantha, he fires her quack of a doctor, retires her stiff and prim governess and takes care of her himself. Sammy is soon much better and all she wants for Christmas is one of those unusual little kitties like the ones that nice Miss Selden has. Unfortunately, Miss Selden does not feel very kindly toward Brett seeing as how he and his horse knocked her down in the mud and manure while she had her only good dress on.

Christmas Wish List is so funny I wept tears of laughter. There is a large cast of characters in this short little story and they are all handled with the utmost deftness. Farce is hard to act in and hard to write as well. Barbara Metzger proves herself a mistress of the art. Grade: A

Regency Romance
An Object of Charity by Carla Kelly features a naval hero. Captain Michael Lynch has lost his first mate, David Partlow, in an exchange of friendly fire that has also badly damaged his ship. While Captain Lynch is lodging at a boarding house in Portsmouth waiting for his ship to be repaired, David Partlow's niece and nephew come looking for him - they do not yet know that their uncle is dead. Sally Partlow is a lovely young woman and her brother Thomas is just a young boy. Their parents are dead and their uncle's death has left them destitute. Michael Lynch is the only person who stands between them and the workhouse.

Since Sally and Thomas Partlow cannot stay with Captain Lynch in his lodgings, he decides to go home to see his brother and mother whom he has not seen in years and take Sally and Thomas along with him. Lynch's parting with his family was a bitter one and they have not answered any of his letters over the years. Along the way Sally and Thomas become balm to the captain's spirits and a source of happiness to this lonely man.

The revelation of the story behind Captain Lynch's departure from home is a grim one, but under Sally's kind influence, Lynch learns the value of forgiveness and the letting go of hurts. No - things do not all of a sudden become peachy-keen between Lynch and his family, but he sees his life in a whole new light and knows that he wants Sally in it.

An Object of Charity is somber but not grim and the characters are real and vivid and they grow and change through the story. I closed it feeling more sure than ever that Carla Kelly is one of the finest of all Regency Romance writers. Her loss to this sub-genre will most definitely be missed. Grade: A

Regency Romance
Christmas Canvas by Elisabeth Fairchild tells the story of Dorothea Savage. She is a lovely young woman who has been betrothed to a rich old man by her odious father and brother. They commission Maitland Gregory to paint her portrait as a Christmas gift for her fiance.

Maitland finds Dorothea to be a beautiful young woman who is grateful that her engagement will get her out of the clutches of her horrid family. She feels friendship and respect for her kind old fiance, but as yet she is untouched by love or desire. But not for long. Maitland falls passionately in love with Dorothea and she with him - but a problem arises. Her rich old fiance is Maitland's uncle.

Christmas Canvas is full of intense emotions and shows how well Regency Romance writers can portray sexual tension and intense desire between the hero and heroine while allowing only a kiss. Grade: B+

Regency Romance
The Last Gift by Edith Layton is a very short little story that is based on the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. Skylar Cameron, Lord Cameron, wants to marry an old-fashioned girl. Skye is visiting at a friend's house, and while out riding one day, he comes across two old women and an old house. The house is full of people - all asleep - who are dressed in very old fashioned clothing. Skye discovers a beautiful young woman, sound asleep in one of the rooms. So he kisses her. Skye's kiss wakens the young woman whose name is Mirabelle Roundeville and she proves to be the perfect combination of new woman and old fashioned girl he has been looking for.

The Last Gift has some magical elements and is as charming as a lace doily, but it is so short that the story was over just as I was getting into it. Grade: C+

I recommend this anthology to all who like Regency stories. Even though it is a Christmas anthology, the holiday elements in the stories are fairly subdued. There is not a lot of holly jolly bring in the yule log goings on, so you won't feel odd re-reading this in July and most of the stories are good enough that you probably will want to.

-- Ellen Micheletti

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