Lynn Spencer's Reviews > Mistletoe Kisses: A Soldier's Tale / A Winter Night's Tale / A Twelfth Night Tale

This 2006 Harlequin historical anthology turned out to be a solid read. I'm not sure why I hadn't read it before now, but I'm glad I found it while I was doing some rearranging in the basement.

The first story, A Soldier's Tale by Elizabeth Rolls might feel a tad predictable, but it's the kind of predictability that makes for a pleasant comfort read. Dominic, Viscount Alderley, has returned from war and family plans for him to marry a wealthy heiress to restore the family coffers. However, Dominic was horribly wounded in the war, and the one kind, understanding person he encounters upon returning home is his cousin Pippa. Pippa may be the family poor relation, but Dominic has always liked her and now that they are both adults, he is realizing his liking has turned to something more.

The romance in this story has a gentle, fairytale quality to it. Given Dominic's injuries, there are some Beauty and the Beast references, which are both sensitively handled and make sense within the story. And of course, since this is a bit of a fairytale, we've got the horrid relatives and happy ending. This one is a sweet and pleasant, if not earth-shattering, read. Grade: B

A Winter Night's Tale by Deborah Hale was a lovely story. We learn early on in the story that Jonathan Frost and Christabel once loved each other, but Christabel jilted Jonathan in favor of marrying a dashing young officer. Years later, when Jonathan finds his way to Christabel's doorstep, she is now an impoverished widow with a young son, and she is very ill. Jonathan fears for her life and whisks her away to his estate to recover.

As the story unfolds, the author does a good job of showing how Christabel might be led to break her betrothal and yet neither she nor Jonathan were villains in that scenario. She also answers all the questions of how Christabel ended up in such dire straits, why Jonathan never married, and so on without making those answers feel overly contrived. The scenes at Jonathan's home are different from the average Regency romance, and yet there is a warmth suffusing the story that made me want to keep reading. It was obvious that both leads have faced some serious struggles in their lives, as Christabel found herself utterly alone in the world, while Jonathan has had to learn how to compassionately care for a beloved relative with dementia.

As someone who works with the elderly and disabled, some aspects of the storyline involving Jonathan's aunt didn't quite work for me. However, aside from that, I enjoyed this story very much. Grade:B+

A Twelfth Night Tale by Diane Gaston is the final story. I normally enjoy Ms. Gaston's writing quite a bit but this story felt a bit rushed and truncated. This one is a second chance at love story. After a youthful romance, Elizabeth and Zachary were separated as Zachary went off to war. Now, years later, Elizabeth is employed as a governess. Her young charge has been cast out by her parents so Elizabeth is travelling with her in search of safe haven with other family.

They are caught in a storm and end up seeking refuge at what Elizabeth remembered as the home of Zachary's uncle. However, unbeknownst to her, Zachary has inherited and he is in residence. This sets in motion an emotionally charged Christmas romance. I enjoyed the story at first and I wanted to see how this reunion would work out. However, the pacing in this tale felt very rushed and the various threads of plot tied up abruptly and way too neatly. Grade: B-

Sadly, while this anthology was once available as an eBook, it seems to have been taken down (at least on Amazon). Still, it's readily and cheaply available in hard copy from a number of used booksellers and worth tracking down.