At the Countess of Marsden’s house party, she plans to marry off her family and friends. But when the Duke of Harlow strides into her bedroom on Christmas Eve, Gertrude’s ready to continue the charming affair they began last summer. Even though she’s a lady of a certain age. Even though she’s never loved any man other then her dear departed husband! Harlow’s enchanted by Gertrude. He’s done with … with mourning-and he’s ready to laugh again! But he wants more than a few nights with her. When he tells her, what will she say? Can she love him? At his age? Imperfect as he is? Loving her as he does?
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Aunt Gertrude’s Red Hot Christmas Beau by Cerise Deland is the 6th book of Christmas Belle’s. It is a Wonderful well-written and very enjoyable story! With old friends getting together for The Countess of Marsden 8 day Christmas house party. Gertrude sends Duke Harlow a very special invitation her party. A heart warming story with delicious passion, drama, a little laughter, and the push and pull of a romance waiting to happen! It hooked me from the start and kept me turning the pages to the very end.turning the pages to the very end.
There are not enough romances with mature couples in them. This is the story of two people who have lived their lives and when their loved ones pass on they are not necessarily looking for another match but love sometimes works out that way. I also loved that they each loved their former spouses (not enough of that in stories either). A lovely romance between Gertrude and Harlow that shows that we do not wither away, we become more attuned with our feelings and want to share that with someone else.
I received a complimentary copy from the author.
Gertrude (Trudy), Countess of Marsden has matchmaking expertise & is having a Christmas House Party at her estate – she is hoping to bring together her 3 nieces with their loves, her stepson, Griff & there may be a few other surprise matches. She has been widowed for many years & once her charges are all married, she will no longer have any family responsibilities & the invitation for a companion of her own might prove to be a lovely Christmas present to herself. She is inviting the Duke of Harlow who has been a widower for a year & they had run in to one another a few months ago & had a short affair but had not had any contact since then. They had talked, laughed & discussed the loss of their first loves & the faithful years they had spent with their respective spouses. Now, Trudy wrote Harlow a scandalous invitation to her Christmas House Party that indicated some romantic interludes.
What a fun house party – attempted kidnapping, an arrest of a smuggler, 3 nieces engaged, her stepson engaged, Harlow’s son reconnected with his first love, with a lot of emotional happiness that moves along at a quick rate. I loved the characters & loved the second chance at true love for Trudy & Harlow – it was a well written, entertaining story that I highly recommend.
I am so glad I decided to get this book. I have the previous ones in the series although I have yet to read and review the last work. Aunt Gertrude’s Red Hot Christmas Beau was a lovely second-chance-at-love read. Gertrude (Trudy) is the widowed Countess of Marsden. She is known as the ultimate hostess and matchmaker and has planned eight days of Christmas festivities for select friends and family. Her goal is to see her nieces engaged to men they love as well as any others who are stung by Cupid’s arrow. Trudy has no plans to remarry but she has invited George, the widowed Duke of Harlow to her gathering. They’d had a lovely dalliance the summer before and she is ready to renew their acquaintance. Cerise DeLand has managed to imbue this tried and true trope with just the right amount of humor, emotion, excitement, and happiness. This work is a delightful, fast-paced read about an older couple who had both had good marriages and weren’t expecting to find love again. Read it. You’re sure to enjoy it!
At the Countess of Marsden’s house party, Trudy plans to marry off her family and friends. But when the Duke of Harlow strides into her bedroom on Christmas Eve, Gertrude’s ready to continue the charming affair they began last summer. Even though she’s a lady of a certain age. Even though she’s never loved any man other then her dear departed husband! Harlow’s enchanted by Gertrude. He’s done with mourning—and he’s ready to laugh again! But he wants more than a few nights with her. A truly lovely conclusion to the series & all ends are tied up but it’s the love story of two older people finding love again which was just sighworthy. A well written novella that I read in a sitting & I was charmed from the first page to the last. I first read this lovely book in the anthology Snowed in with a Rogue, which I bought so that I could read this story
There aren’t enough love stories about characters with some miles on them–not to mention wit, wisdom, and an abiding sense of wonder. This is a terrific one.
Gertrude, Countess of Marsden is hosting a house party during Christmas. When George, Duke of Harlow arrives unexpectedly, it wasn’t that he wasn’t invited, but because he had originally declined. Age doesn’t matter when the heart knows otherwise. As her family, friends and even the staff celebrate Christmas, they also find love and happiness.
Ahh…. a book worthy of praise. I loved reading about a very mature couple finding love again. The story of Gertrude and George. Gertrude is a unique personality. Trustworthy, thoughtful, fun, loving, wise, diplomatic and a bit eccentric. George a strait-laced gentleman who inside his austere personality was dependable, loyal, considerate, demanding and most important a generous lover. It moved me when Gertrude became self-conscience of how age changed her body but when George said he loved her as she was saggy knees, double chin, saggy breasts. He loved all of her inside and out. I smiled reading that but at the same time wanted to cry for such a deep and honest love was hard to forget. The secondary characters had their own stories and they were as heartwarming as George and Gertrude. A wonderful story and I highly recommend it.
Absolutely Wonderful & Delightful Story
A very Wonderful & Delightful Story.
I enjoyed reading this Book. It was nice to read about an older couple who had both had Wonderful & Loving spouses before they passed away.
A couple who were faithful in their marriage & find one another.
I searched my library because I know I’ve read this before still enjoyable second time.
We have an older couple who have both lost their spouses, who they were both faithful too. Neither of our couple went looking for love. The H has 3 children, with the oldest being 31, she never had children but has been raising her nieces.
Our h has a Christmas Ball and most everyone seems to have fallen in love, 3 marriages which is what she hoped for. But, our H/h rekindle a passion they found during the summer. It was heart warming to see a couple in late 50’s somewhere in 60’s finding love.
Lovemaking, outside of marriage, heat level 2 out of 5. Interesting side stories too. A lot packed into this novella, plus a great epilogue to wrap up everyone’s stories.
No cheating, romance, HEA and a tad of spice. (ljb)
The sixth book in Cerise De Land”s Christmas Belles Series is a delightful book of second chance love. A Christmas Ball is planned to celebrate life after the war and love.
Countess Gertrude Marsden has planned a Christmas house party and ball to help her three nieces come together with the loves of their younger days. She herself would love a chance at that as well, but alas her past summer romance turned down her invitation. She is determined to have the best party ever. Trudy is definitely on track to do that when at the end of the first evening her beau shows up unexpectedly. Also unexpectedly the local constable shows up with a warrant for someone’s arrest, her niece is discovered missing from her room, and her beau’s son discovers that his father is there, thus perhaps ruining his chances of reuniting with his own first love. This story is fast moving, page turning and delightful and soul filling happy. The Duke of Harlow is done mourning and ready to live , laugh and love again, Trudy is the one that he wants , and not for just the weekend. Given all of the obstacles in their way, real and imagined, these two have a real chance at forever love.
Kudos to Aunt Gertrude! The Duchess of Marsden has thrown the best Christmas house party ever. By the end of it she was able to announce the engagements of her three nieces, Delphine, Marjorie and Belinda Craymore. A few other couples got together as well. Best of all the Duke of Harlow arrived to warm the Countess’ bed and her heart. I really enjoyed reading about Gertrude getting her Happily Ever After. This has beena super fun sreies to read.
When Gertrude, the Countess of Marsden decides to hold a Christmas house party, she hopes to use her matchmaking skills and help her nieces become betrothed to gentlemen they love. After all, their lives have been hard and they deserved to be happy! But Trudy also wants a little happiness for herself and pens a scandalous invitation to the Duke of Harlow. A widow, she knows what she wants and it is more time with Harlow after their delightful interlude. But she also wants love again as she had with her husband.
High emotions, a little intrigue, arrests, a kidnapping and several love matches make this such a fast paced delightful story. I fell in love with Trudy and Harlow. Happiness can be found anytime in life and they proved just that!! This is a new book and part of a series that all take place at the same time so you will see or hear about other characters. Simply scrumptious! But that is a given with this author!!!