“You shall go to the ball!” …with these three Christmas Cinderella stories!In Sophia James’s Christmas with the Earl, usually composed Ariana burns up like a Christmas candle at the infamous Earl of Norwich’s touch! Next, in Virginia Heath’s Invitation to the Duke’s Ball, a festive country house party is a bore for lady’s companion Eliza, until she meets a dashing Duke. And in Catherine … Catherine Tinley’s A Midnight Mistletoe Kiss, Nell’s life of drudgery is about to change after a Christmas kiss with the handsome gentleman Tom Beresford…
From Harlequin Historical: Your romantic escape to the past.
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This was a hard one to rate or review. I really liked the Virginia Heath and the Catherine Tinley stories. But then they are two of my favorite authors. I did not care for the Sophia James story. I did not relate to the H\h and the story was too steamy. I would like to see a follow-up story for Ms. Heath’s Julius and Ms. Tinley’s Lady Cecily. They were both interesting characters. (hint hint). 3.5 stars rounded up.
Three novellas by three of my favorite authors. What’s not to love. Sophia James brings us Arianna & Nash’s story about forgiveness and redemption. Catherine Tinley’s story of Nell & Tom involves the not so wicked, but selfish, stepmother. Virginia Heath’s story of Eliza & Marcus is a superlative take on the Cinderella theme, including a self-serving wicked aunt, a hopeful great aunt, a fairy godmother, & a rapscallion brother (who I hope gets his own story), a color blind hero, and a heroine who secretly wishes to be a scandal worthy of being in The Times. This trio of stories is just perfect for cozying up with a cup of warm chocolate in front of the fire.
Christmas Cinderellas
Sophia James
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Virginia Heath
https://www.facebook.com/virginiaheathauthor/
Catherine Tinley
https://www.facebook.com/CatherineTinleyWriter/
Release date 11/01/2020
Publisher Harlequin Historical / Mills&Boon Historical
“You shall go to the ball!” …with these three Christmas Cinderella stories!
In Sophia James’s Christmas with the Earl, usually composed Ariana burns up like a Christmas candle at the infamous Earl of Norwich’s touch! Next, in Virginia Heath’s Invitation to the Duke’s Ball, a festive country house party is a bore for lady’s companion Eliza, until she meets a dashing Duke. And in Catherine Tinley’s A Midnight Mistletoe Kiss, Nell’s life of drudgery is about to change after a Christmas kiss with the handsome gentleman Tom Beresford…
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Will their past unit them or tear them apart…
This is my first read by the author and much loved this tale of second change for these damaged couple with tainted reputation.
The main plot is more about finding about the secrets they hide behind their society mask than about Christmas time.
Ariana was a victim of her circumstances and because of some mistakes was labeled unfairly a light skirt or bad news, yet at the same time she is known as a termagant fighting for women’s rights and respect.
Christopher too bears the brunt of his family’s shame, making him the mark for all gossiping tongues. He paid a dear cost to the tribute of his duke’s name.
Yet there will be no possible happiness until they find a way to set free from the ghosts of their past.
A moving tale.
5 stars
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Will they find their way to one another …
I am a great fan of the author, so I was sold to this tale from the first page.
A fun and humorous Cinderella retelling with instead of the fairy godmother, a bunch of meddling characters all to happy to help the lovers and thwart the efforts of the disparaging aunt.
Eliza is no demure miss nor quiet, she is outspoken and quite blunt. Much to her discomfiture when she learns with whom she had a lengthy talk about haughtiness and duke’s behavior.
Marcus is not the usual full of himself peer, he cares for his people and trusts he treats everyone equally. He is more on the shy side and certainly not a rogue. Yet he is unprepared for the straightforward miss who lands in his office and turn his world upside down.
A humorous tale of missed opportunities, invasive personas, interfering families and lovers afraid to shatter their dreams by speaking out loud their sentiments.
5 stars
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An other author’s discovery, with a miss wrongly used by her stepmother and a man who has locked all emotions in a box and thrown the key.
This is probably the story the closest to the fairytale, yet it is still different.
Eleanor or Nell slowly let her stepmother take the ascent on her, her griefs prevented herself from fighting her when she could have stand against her. Her stepmother is no true villain, more a heedless egoistical mind, all is in the appearance.
Thomas has made himself the man he is now after his father left him and his older brother nearly destitute. But the loss which impacted the more his view of life was his mother’s passing when he was a child.
When Eleanor dreams of a romance like her parents, Thomas sees only pain and devastation. Will Nell’s pure heart awaken the knight languishing in some obscure part of his soul.
As their biggest enemy is his fear to inflict emotional pain to someone else, to repeat his own trauma.
5 stars
This set of three novellas is a great bundle, each unique in its manner to plot the characters dilemma and the best outcome possible.
I was granted an advance copy by Mrs Virginia Heath, here is my true and unbiased opinion.
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Three heartwarming Christmas Stories.
In Christmas With An Earl, Ariana and Christopher both have undeserved reputations. Both need each other to reach goals, and along the way realize they need each other for more.
Invitation To The Duke’s Ball finds Eliza attending a house party as her aunt’s companion. She is disgusted by the other women, hides in the library and meets a man also hiding. Of course….who else would he be? A fun story with an evil stepmother but an eventual HEA.
Nell meets Tom when he comes to her stepmother’s holiday house party in A Midnight Mistletoe Kiss. Sparks fly. Tempers fly too when she finds out who he really is.
Read these fun stories as a great way to get in the holiday spirit.
Virginia Heath never fails to entertain and in Invitation to the Duke’s Ball, she delivers a charming tale set at a house party at Christmas. Virginia’s heroine, Eliza is a companion to her Great-Aunt Violet and as so has no expectations of a pleasant Christmas at the Duke of Manningtree’s house party. She sneaks away to find something to read and away from the crowd eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Marcus, the Duke of Manningtree. In the library Eliza is surprised to finds someone else avoiding the crowd with his nose buried in bookwork. Sparks fly. Charming characters, vivid setting and superb dialogue are something that I always enjoy about Virginia Heath’s books and Invitation to the Duke’s Ball is no exception. What’s not to love about a heroine who would rather be reading a good book. We can all relate to that!
Sophia James’s Christmas with the Earl has interesting and believable hero and heroine, Christopher Northwell and Ariana Dalrymple are well matched couple. Intrigue and Christmas joy rediscovered make this novella entertaining read.
Catherine Tinley’s A Midnight Mistletoe is recognizable as a Cinderella story with a twist. The hero, Mr. Beresford and the heroine, Nell are both disillusioned with Christmas and their road to a happily every after is filled with drama.
If you love Christmas novella’s and a Cinderella story you won’t want to miss this trio.
Invitation to the Duke’s Ball — This was my favorite story in this collection. I enjoy Virginia Heath’s writing and humor very much, and this story was an excellent example of why I read her work. Eliza has been dragged to a house party as a companion to an older family member. She can hardly stand the tedium and longs for a book. She heads to the library and starts a crazy chain of events. Eliza and Marcus have the best conversations, and the secondary characters add depth and fun to the story. I laughed all the way through it! Also, the use of color through the story is expecially inventive.
A Midnight Mistletoe Kiss — Bless Tom’s heart, he has no idea what he is looking for in life. He is completely blindsided by Nell and her warm heart. He struggles to change his course, but true love wins in the end.
Christmas with the Earl — Cinderella stories by definition have sad beginnings, but this story was excessively sad. For personal reasons, I didn’t read all of it, so I am not including it in my rating. I did skip ahead and see that it ends happily.
Sophia James’s Christmas with the Earl, usually composed Ariana burns up like a Christmas candle at the infamous Earl of Norwich’s touch!
Virginia Heath’s Invitation to the Duke’s Ball 5 Stars
A festive country house party is a bore for lady’s companion Eliza, until she meets a dashing Duke who she thinks is a book keeper. I read this enthralling short in a sitting & I loved it, it had me laughing out loud at the antics of some of the house party guests & sighing at two wonderful people falling in love. I loved the out spoken Eliza & Marcus the unassuming Duke who hated having to attend his house party. Wonderful characters & a well paced story had me glued to my kindle
Catherine Tinley’s A Midnight Mistletoe Kiss, Nell’s life of drudgery is about to change after a Christmas kiss with the handsome gentleman Tom Beresford
I love novellas & so far have only read the one story but if the other two are any where near as good then I’m in for a wonderful treat
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read
Whats not to like about this anthology, nothing. They were such a delightful and fun way to spend a few hours. Each was a quick read which I found hard to put down and although they were not connected, they all had you feeling great at the end. They were also very different so you didn’t feel like you were reading the same story over again. The first did have a little sex in it but the last two were just very sweet romances. Each was written with warmth, humor and feeling. Having not read any of Catherine Tinleys book, I will now be looking at reading more of hers. Of course, Ms James and Ms Heaths stories were are you would expect and I wasn’t disappointed. An overall great read for Christmas or any time of the year. I received this as an ARC and freely give my review.
If you feel the need to escape into a good historical romance (or three), love the magic of Christmas and enjoy fairy-tale inspired stories, then get thee a copy of Christmas Cinderellas! This anthology contains three equally delightful holiday stories – Christmas with the Earl by Sophia James, Invitation to the Duke’s Ball by Virginia Heath, and A Midnight Mistletoe Kiss by Catherine Tinley. Each story is a heartwarming tale of glad Christmas tidings, happiness and finding the glass slipper that truly fits.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of Christmas Cinderellas in eBook format directly from one of the authors in exchange for an honest review. The opinions and observations I share here are mine and mine alone and were in no way influenced by the format or method in which I received the book.
I am voluntarily posting an honest review after reading an advance reader copy of this story.
Christmas Cinderellas is an anthology of holiday novellas by three popular romance writers. All three of the stories were lovely, easy to read and romantic. I found all the characters to be likeable but I will admit to having a favorite heroine. Eliza Harkstead in Invitation To The Duke’s Ball was the most downtrodden Cinderella of them all. Her family was a hot mess and I wanted to kick them all in the back end for treating Eliza so awful. Thankfully all three ladies had handsome men to rescue them from a life of lonely meals alone. The best part is they saved the men right back. All’s well for Christmas.