After six long years as a Captain in the army, Collin returns to find why is beloved Rose had wrote and told him she released him from the betrothal. He went to the Inn her family owned to find that a distant relative now owned it after the death of her father and brother. Collin traces Rose to a Manor that is falling apart under the disgruntled Lady Dilbeck. Collin brings back Christmas and repairs as the new Steward of Dilbeck as he tries to win his Rose back. A great story of forgiveness and what barriers love can break down.

Warnings: Anti sex-worker attitudes, mentions of classism

Category: M/F

Well, it’s that time of the season! The time in which I read a handful of Christmas romance novels, usually picked up from a book box as I find them. This year I was fortunate to find one of those three in one Harlequins to cover most of my December reading bases, and they’re all historical romances which are some of my favourites! And this first one is definitely the best of this batch of novellas.

WRITING
The writing here is really quite charming. It reads like a Christmas themed Pride and Prejudice style story- while not as complex or in depth as a Jane Austen, Susan Spencer Paul manages to capture the aesthetic and the tone of regency era romance. Complete with classism, misunderstandings and stubborn leads this is a book that I honestly thought could have been well expanded into something far closer to full length and with more depth than it has. The scaffolding is there, but the length restricts it into a short and sweet cheesy romance to be tossed into a 3-4-1 when it easily could have been a large scale epic. The plot concerns two lovers driven apart by circumstances, thrown back together after misfortune had seemingly ruined their chances. Rose has fallen into the servants class and doesn’t believe Collin could possibly marry her now, and so in order to avoid getting hurt she rebuffs his advances until he can convince her he still wants her. It’s a fun story, and it would only have been even better if the misfortunes that drove them apart had been explored within the book’s pages instead of mentioned in dialogue as past events.

EMOTIONAL ENGAGEMENT
I really loved both leads, even when I did feel that Rose was being unnecessarily stubborn. Alternating between the two character’s perspectives, we get a good insight into both of their personalities and mentalities and emotional journeys. Rose has a tragic backstory and skeletons in her closet and Collin is, well- Collin is mostly an all around gentleman archetype but that’s really what this story calls for to offset Rose’s concerns. The story does get a little tacky here as Rose brings up a past living on the streets and thieving for survival as her main cause for concern as to why Collin cannot possibly marry her- but, she makes purposeful mention, she was never a prostitute at least! I wish the story hadn’t gone there, not because it’s inaccurate to assume that would be a dealbreaker to someone in this time period- hell, it could be a dealbreaker to some in ours. But because if the story was going to delve into that can of worms I would want it to be handled with a lot more nuance and sensitivity than a few off the cuff lines to make her feel better about her big tragic backstory.

WORLDBUILDING
Is this work entirely historically accurate? Ehh, well… maybe not. I’m no historian so whether historical romances are accurate or anachronistic isn’t something that I find myself overly concerned with- what’s more important is how immersive they are and how engaging their settings, real or fictional, are. And this book does a good job of feeling like it’s historical which is most of what really matters here. I do question whether the figure of Collin, an upper class gentleman who doesn’t care about the scandal of marrying a maidservant who used to be a homeless thief and whose parents don’t care either, could possibly exist but its sweet and nice and heartwarming and that’s what we’re here for. I also like how the story does incorporate Christmas- Rose works for a grouchy old woman who has banned Christmas celebrations in her home, and together the two of them work to bring Christmas back to the manor and into the lives of all the servants and tenants and indeed the old lady herself. This is cheesy, but very sweet, and I really quite enjoyed it.

STEAMINESS
The only thing this book is really lacking that would have completed the ensemble is some sex! This is, unfortunately, one of those clean Harlequins. (All three of them in this collection are, more’s the pity.) We get little more than a kiss, as well as of course the assurance that Rose is still a virgin. She contemplates sleeping with him at one point after some very steamy makeouts in which Susan Spencer Paul demonstrates that she can write steamy very well, but Collin rebuffs her because he doesn’t want to just sleep with her, he wants to marry her! I honestly do wish there had been sex, because the actual gritty drama of the story is so on the peripherals that the book needed something to round it out and account for glossing over important plot points in expository dialogue. If one could use the excuse that it was just supposed to be cheesy smut that would at least make the less than fleshed out drama more excusable!

All together I really did like this little novella, even if it feels like a first draft to something that could have been amazing and only managed to be quite good. This could have been a bold epic ala Les Miserables, but I don’t blame the author for something that was probably Harlequin’s call. If anything how good this book was is a testament to Susan Spencer Paul’s writing capabilities under formula restrictions, and I think that that should be applauded.

Incidentally, I taught myself book binding after reading this collection, because this one was the best one and the only one I wanted to keep for my own bookshelf, so I separated the books and bound them each into their own volume, keeping A Promise to Keep and putting the other two back in the book box.

Have you read A Promise to Keep? Let me know what YOU thought by leaving me a comment!

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