A Christmas Kiss - A Christmas Kiss was a gentle, sweet, romantic story that helped to put me in the Christmas spirit. It was a Cinderella-style tale of a lowly governess who has nowhere to go for Christmas and then fortuitously gets invited to the country house party of an Earl with whom she almost immediately falls in love. Even though it was based in large part on two of my least favorite romance tropes, a misunderstanding and love at first sight, I still couldn't help but enjoy it. The misunderstanding was more of a humorous comedy of errors than annoying, and the hero and heroine seemed to instantly connect on a deeper level than mere physical attraction which made them falling in love quickly more believable. I didn't even overly mind the huge age difference between them, because Philip seemed a bit younger than his forty-four years even though he had a grown son, and Evalyn was very mature in spite of her youth. Not to mention, from a historical perspective, it wasn't uncommon for a younger woman to marry an older man, so I could justify it in that context as well. The fairy tale theme also helped tremendously as that's one of my favorites.

It is pretty rare in romance for the hero to be above thirty-five, so I actually found it rather refreshing that Philip was a bit more mature in years. I could very much relate to him being a closet writer and an introvert who didn't care much for entertaining. He was a progressive thinker who believed that everyone, from nobleman to servant, should be treated with equality, which made him a very fair and gentle man. He may have badly misconstrued his son's intentions toward Evalyn which led to all sorts of trouble, but I did like that he was self-controlled enough to stay away from her in deference to his offspring after nearly kissing her.

Evalyn was a lovely heroine. I really respected her no-nonsense attitude, and she was an incredibly patient and talented governess who was just perfect with any child she encountered. She also proved she was quite capable of taking care of herself. The beginning of the story where she clocked her employer's son on the head with an atlas for making improper advances toward her was rather funny, but she was also wise enough to know that he was generally harmless and merely meant her action as a wake-up call for him. Evalyn was just an all-around nice person who was very caring, helpful, and always thinking of others.

A Christmas Kiss had a large cast of colorful secondary characters, most of whom had their own point-of-view scenes, making it more of an ensemble cast. I liked all of them except for the jealous Sally who was vying without success for Philip's attentions. She caused a bit of trouble for Evalyn, but got her comeuppance in the end. Phillip's son, Jamie, and his friend, Reggie, were really nice young men to make arrangements for Evalyn to have a dream holiday and help her find another position when she was dismissed without reference. Best of all, there were no less than three other romances going on in addition to Philip and Evalyn's. It was a lot of fun watching each couple go through their own romantic trials and each get an HEA too. I thought the author was very good at creating a beautiful feeling of longing between all of them which made my heart do a few flip-flops.

Traditional Regency authors seem to excel in the area of dialog, and Elizabeth Mansfield is no exception. I loved all the light bantering and gentle humor, and the dialog seemed to be pretty well-balanced with the introspective scenes. Other than a couple of mild profanities, this book had no objectionable content, so it should be appropriate for all romance readers. I really enjoyed reading about all the little Regency holiday traditions: kissing boughs, Yule logs, wassail, the dishes for Christmas dinner, and the games they played on Christmas Eve. There was just enough detail to make it interesting and bring the setting to life without overwhelming the rest of the story. I particularly enjoyed a conversation between all the guests about their favorite holiday traditions which I thought gave everything a nice, homey feel. The only thing that kept this story from getting a bit higher rating from me is that I would have liked Philip and Evalyn to have a few more scenes together. Overall, A Christmas Kiss left me with a smile on my face and a feeling of contentment. It may have been a nice, easy read, but was still quite enjoyable for me. This was my first novel by Elizabeth Mansfield, but it certainly won't be my last. A Christmas Kiss can be purchased as a separate book or as part of this two book anthology. Star Rating: ****

Winter Wonderland - Winter Wonderland is a sweet Traditional Regency romance that got off to a good start. It begins with a prologue where the author gives us a look back at the incident between the then-nineteen year-old hero and heroine which in many ways shaped Barnaby's life. Then it quickly fast-forwards eleven years to a much more mature heroine who has seen a great deal of hardship since then and a hero who has changed from a painfully shy youth into a man who, while no longer bashful, is still on the reserved side and described by many of the young ladies of the ton as forbidding. They chance to meet up again as both are traveling to Barnaby's brother's house, he for the holidays and she to become their new governess. The early chapters where they are journeying by stagecoach, robbed by highwaymen, and then stranded alone together for a couple of days at a small inn were delightfully warm and witty with just the right amount of emotion. Once Barnaby and Miranda were found by Barnaby's brother, Terrence, and returned to his home, I felt like some of the magic they had shared began to fade. Also, the misunderstanding drug on a little too long, really for the entire book, which I usually don't care for, because in my opinion, it takes away from the intimacy that could be building between the characters while they are instead holding themselves at arms-length.

I felt so sorry for poor Barnaby in the opening pages. The cut Miranda gave him at his first ball no less, was absolutely brutal. Having been timid in my youth like Barnaby and the butt of much teasing and jokes as well, I could really relate. In the moment, it was completely devastating to him, but immediately after, he vowed never to let something like that happen again. Since then, he has apparently enjoyed a rather storied career in the military and now works for the home office as a diplomat. Although his sister-in-law seems to be constantly playing matchmaker, Barnaby doesn't appear all that interested in marriage. In fact, he's been scaring away the young ladies with his cold and daunting frowns. When he meets up with Miranda again, Barnaby immediately recognizes her as the girl who humiliated him, and finds that he's still holding a grudge about it. In spite of him still stinging from Miranda's set-down all those years ago, I liked that Barnaby managed to behave like the proper gentleman he was, kindly saving her from both the unwanted advances of their fellow coach passenger and the highwaymen. Also, when they were stranded at the inn, and he got worked up into a pique of temper and was rude to her, he had the decency to feel badly about it later. During these parts, I found Barnaby to be quite funny, because it was obvious that he still liked Miranda and was very attracted to her, but wasn't about to admit it to himself or anyone else. After that though, I thought he allowed his resentment to go too far, even to the point of proposing to another woman just because he was too closed-minded to let himself believe that Miranda could have changed. At this point, I started to loose some respect for him. I know that he had been very hurt by Miranda in the past, but it was obvious to almost everyone but Barnaby that she was a very different woman than she was in her youth. At least, he made something of a comeback at the end, so I still generally liked him after all.

The way Miranda cut Barnaby in the prologue was so rude and obnoxious I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to warm up to her, but the author did an excellent job of making me forgive her almost instantly. It seems in the last eleven years, she has had to eat a huge slice of humble pie. Any happiness she might have had in the marriage she thought would be perfect, was in actuality very short-lived. She herself felt the constant sting of humiliation as her husband gambled away their fortune and ran through a succession of mistresses until he ultimately died in a duel with a husband he'd cuckolded. The uncaring lout didn't even leave Miranda a penny in his will, so after her year of mourning was up, she had to turn over all property to her brother-in-law who was the rightful heir to her husband's estate. He and his wife were going to allow Miranda to stay with them, but it turned out to be a backhanded offer with the wife in particular behaving insufferably toward Miranda until she knew she had to get away from them by making her own way in the world. She had already learned to live with a skeleton staff, doing many of the household chores herself, so applying for a position as a governess didn't seem like much of a stretch. Even the few meager possessions that Miranda called her own were cruelly taken from her, so she definitely was a sympathetic character in spite of her inauspicious beginning. I liked her determination to make lemonade with the lemons life had handed her. She ended up being very good with Terrence and Delia's children even though she had no real experience with kids. I also liked her willingness to sincerely apologize to Barnaby when Delia finally reminded her of her transgression, and that she was properly horrified by her former behavior. I think it all showed that she truly was a changed woman.

Winter Wonderland has a colorful cast of secondary characters, primarily Barnaby's brothers and their wives who seem to have a penchant for meddling in his life to the point of driving Barnaby to distraction. Being the youngest of four brothers by ten years, Barnaby's siblings have essentially lavished him with fatherly affection since he was born, and have always been overprotective of him, never allowing him to fight his own battles. Barnaby's sisters-in-law, especially Honoria, have a penchant for matchmaking. Honoria seems to think it her sworn duty to find him a wife, and she believes she found the perfect mate for him in sweet little Livy, a comely but timid girl who appears to be having trouble finding a husband due to her shyness. I liked Livy through most of the story and was hoping that as the third wheel, she wasn't going to get left out in the cold. I needn't have worried, because as it turns out, she already had a suitor waiting in the wings. Her mother simply thought the man wasn't good enough for her and Barnaby would be a better catch. I wholeheartedly believe that Livy ended up with the right guy, but I do wish that she had shown a little more backbone when making her choice. Her indecisiveness left me with a little doubt about her HEA. Then there were Barnaby's nephews, of whom the youngest, Jamie, reminds Barnaby of himself at that age. The boy is kind of on the shy side and like Barnaby is coddled by his older brothers, so Barnaby tends to show Jamie special attention.

Overall, Winter Wonderland was a pretty good read. The beginning really drew me into the story, and I thought it might end up becoming a keeper for me. It probably would have too, if it hadn't been for Barnaby's grudge and the misunderstandings resulting from it dragging on too long for my liking. He kept going back and forth between being Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and wouldn't communicate with Miranda at all about the incident that left him “scarred for life.” Not being a fan of anger turned to passion moments, their first kiss didn't do much for me either. However, both Barnaby and Miranda were pretty likable characters, and their “starting over” scene was really cute and romantic as was the epilogue, so in the end it balanced out fairly well for me. Elizabeth Mansfield is one of the better Traditional Regency authors I've read, so I'm looking forward to checking out some of her other non-Christmas-y works. Winter Wonderland can be purchased as a separate book or as part of this two book anthology. Star Rating: **** ( )