The Bluestocking Belles’ 2016 Holiday Boxed SetWhen the Duchess of Haverford sends out invitations to a Yuletide house party and a New Year’s Eve ball at her country estate, Hollystone Hall, those who respond know that Her Grace intends to raise money for her favorite cause and promote whatever marriages she can. Eight assorted heroes and heroines set out with their pocketbooks firmly clutched … clutched and hearts in protective custody. Or are they?
The Bluestocking Belles are proud to present eight never before published novellas centered on the Duchess of Haverford’s ball. Her favorite cause is also one dear to the hearts of the Bluestocking Belles, women’s education. 25% of all proceeds will be donated to the Malala Fund.
A Suitable Husband, by Jude Knight
As the Duchess of Haverford’s companion, Cedrica Grenford is not treated as a poor relation and is encouraged to mingle with Her Grace’s guests. Perhaps among the gentlemen gathered for the duchess’s house party, she will find a suitable husband?
Valuing Vanessa, by Susana Ellis
Facing a dim future as a spinster under her mother’s thumb, Vanessa Sedgely makes a practical decision to attach an amiable gentleman who will not try to rule her life.
A Kiss for Charity, by Sherry Ewing
Young widow Grace, Lady de Courtenay, has no idea how a close encounter with a rake at a masquerade ball would make her yearn for love again.
Artemis, by Jessica Cale
Actress Charlotte Halfpenny is in trouble. Pregnant, abandoned by her lover, and out of a job, Charlotte faces eviction two weeks before Christmas. When the reclusive Earl of Somerton makes her an outrageous offer, she has no choice but to accept. Could he be the man of her dreams, or is the nightmare just beginning?
The Bluestocking and the Barbarian, by Jude Knight
James must marry to please his grandfather, the duke, and to win social acceptance for himself and his father’s other foreign-born children. But only Lady Sophia Belvoir makes his heart sing, and to win her he must invite himself to spend Christmas at the home of his father’s greatest enemy.
Christmas Kisses, by Nicole Zoltack
Louisa Wycliff, Dowager Countess of Exeter wants only for her darling daughter, Anna, to find a man she can love and marry. Appallingly, Anna has her sights on a scoundrel of a duke who chases after every skirt he sees. Anna truly thinks the dashing duke cares for her, but her mother has her doubts.
An Open Heart, by Caroline Warfield
Esther Baumann longs for a loving husband who will help her create a home where they will teach their children to value the traditions of their people, but she wants a man who is also open to new ideas and happy to make friends outside their narrow circle. Is it so unreasonable to ask for toe curling passion as well?
Dashing Through the Snow, by Amy Rose Bennett
Headstrong bluestocking, Miss Kate Woodville, never thought her Christmas would be spent racing across England with a viscount hell-bent on vengeance. She certainly never expected to find love…
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This is a nice collection of holiday reads that are entertaining and attention getting. There are seven different authors with eight reads.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
A collection of short stories to while away a few hours!
by sewsummore
This book is actually a collection of stories by different authors. Some of the stories I enjoyed very much and others not to the same degree. The setting is a Christmas Charity Ball and each of the authors have written their own stories which are all connected in some way. As a collection of short reads, I must admit I would have preferred the stories to have more depth but if you are looking for stories to while a few hours away at different times this collection works well.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
This is a collection of stories centered around a Christmastide house party thrown by a the Duchess of Haverford. Jude Knight did a wonderful job on her story “A Suitable Husband” interspersed a chapter at a time between each of the tales. “ The Bluestocking and the Barbarian” is a lovely story that will make you laugh and warm your heart. Jude Knight has a way of touching your heart with her tales of sweet romance and love.
All in all this is a wonderful collection of story sure to warm your heart. In it I found some new authors and as always, I love to read Jude Knight’s delightful prose.
One Odd, Annoying Quirk
In general, I enjoy the stories of the Bluestocking Belles. I have read several collections of their stories. Like most collections, this one is a bit uneven. Some stories are just better than others. But this book had one feature that just annoyed the heck out of me. In any nonfiction book or anthology like this, I always thumb through the table of contents to get a lay of the land. For an anthology, I look to see who the authors are, the titles, and any extra stuff that might be in the book. This book’s table of contents had me confused, as it appeared as though the first story by Jude Knight was scattered throughout the book. That couldn’t be true, could it? I thought it had to be a formatting error of some sort. But, no, the way this story is told is a chapter at a time in between the other books! Honestly, I found that so annoying. I’m a person who reads fast—everything is an easy read after nursing school textbooks—and I just like to binge-read a book. I don’t want to be waiting through one book to get to the continuation of another. So what I ended up doing was reading that book in sequence because I generally like Jude Knight’s books. But to do so because of this contrivance, I had to go up to the table of contents for every single chapter. Seriously irritating!
But enough of the griping! One thing I do like about this book is that it not only has stories with the typical lords and ladies that we see in Regency romance but also a fair number of stories dealt with people who were usually more marginalized in Regency times (or at least in Regency fiction), like a chef, a solicitor, a companion, an actress, and a teacher. It was fun to see these atypical Regency characters take the spotlight—though I did still enjoy the stories with the lords and ladies, of course. If you enjoy Regency romance with a holiday flavor, you may very well enjoy this compilation of 8 stories.
I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.
I received a free copy of this box set via booksprout and I’m voluntarily leaving a review.
The story lines caught my attention at the very beginning and kept me interested throughout the entire book.
I loved the characters.
Good holiday collection of entertaining stories with witty dialogue and interesting characters. All the stories are great and embrace the holiday as a background for page turning stories. Would recommend.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This is a wonderful collection of eight sweet romances written by a group of very talented authors. The storylines were all artfully crafted with well defined characters and kept me hooked until I finished. So many great stories and wonderful characters, I had to pace myself as I wanted to read all in one sitting! This is truly a gem of a collection and if you love Regency romances, especially holiday romances, you definitely will want to add this to your collection!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This was an excellent set of books. I loved them all. Love, romance, passion… It was perfect. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book in exchange for a free copy.
These stories revolve around a Regency house party that is set up to raise money to fund the education of girls. Every story included a kitten. They were instant or relatively quickly falling in love romances. Some I liked better than others. It was an interesting set up to include a chapter at a time before it each story about the romance between the Duchess’s companion and her French chef with an attitude. The first two stories are about widowers with teenage girls who fight marrying again, but find love and their daughters at first are not thrilled about it. The third had a gothic feel to it with deceased relatives and an evil cousin. The main character is a promiscuous pregnant actress who is bisexual. I wasn’t expecting that. The fourth story was about a foreign born lord and a feud that keeps him from the woman he falls for. In the fifth story, Lady Anna is infatuated with a Duke, but her mother wants her to set her up with the son of one of her friends. Jasper was a rude bore several times in the beginning and even when I found out why it didn’t excuse his behavior and the fact that her mother saw nothing wrong with it. He changes, but it was hard for me to get past his first impression. The sixth story had Jewish characters and discussed Jewish traditions. The last story was about a Viscount and a school teacher. Her brother elopes with his sister and he drags her along on the chase after them.
This is a wonderful collection of holiday romances. They’ve all been invited to the Duchess of Haverford’s Yuletide party at Hollystone Hall where she will raise money for her causes and make a few matches with marriage in mind. Let the fun begin as eight couples find their matches. I enjoyed these fun, heartwarming stories. I received an arc of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
A great collection.
This collection is interspersed with a chapter of A Suitable Husband between each novella. It works. There are stories of widows and widowers and working people as well as aristocrats. Really enjoyed and can highly recommend.
Holly and Hopeful Hearts is another installment of the Bluestocking Belles Collection, by different authors. All the eight stories are related to Yuletide house party and a New Year’s Eve ball at the Duchess of Haverford’s country estate, Hollystone Hall, events held to get donations for building schools. They also have kittens showing up around the estate and the guests.
The stories describe how The Ladies’ Society members have to overcome their problem and even prejudices in order to get their HEA. I enjoyed reading the book, but I confess I missed the feeling of charity and help present in another installment by the Belles, “Fire & Frost”.
I do hope the Belles can come up with other ways the Duchess of Haverford and her protégés may help the ones in need Regency England.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This is a delightful group of matchmaking romance stories that also highlights charitable contributions to women’s education. Each story is written by the different authors who contribute their time and talent to provide a collection of Christmas stories each year. This particular collection is from 2016.
Each story setting is the Duchess of Haverford’s Yuletide house party and New Year’s Eve ball at Hollystone Hall. Although the individual stories present a sweet and unique romance between two of the characters, the stories will intermix as all of the characters in the collection are staying at Hollystone Hall.
I loved this collection of sweet romance stories! It contains some authors that I already love and I happily discovered a few new ones to add to my favorites! Pages are filled with love, romance, and occasionally a little drama and suspense to tweak your interest! A wonderful opportunity to find something special for everyone!
This was a wonderful collection of short romances. They have a common thread in that all take place at the Duchess of Haverford’s house party and all involve marriage. They are all perfectly wonderful even if albeit a little unorthodox. All have an HEA and are very romanctic. Just lovely!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
ONE MAGNIFICENT BUNDLE!!!
Sensational! This immensely talented and imaginative group of impressive authors deliver one thrilling bundle, imparting one brilliantly composed work of art, enchantingly satisfying with all the feels, frills and spills, wrapping this baby up sleek, shiny and tight. Lines blur and boundaries crossed, limitations are bent and balanced, springing this gem forward without a single hitch, kicking it into overdrive, throwing it into a tailspin with a mind-blowing culmination. Vexing mishaps and baffling circumstances showcase the formidable trials and taxing tribulations, noting the shocking twists and wicked turns, rocking this baby to it’s core and testing our characters in ways they could have never envisioned. Rolling with the drama, intrigue, tension, turmoil, mounting suspense and perplexing situations along with a boatload of chaos, you have one mind-blowing experience. The characters, banter, dialogue, interactions and charged atmosphere along with relatable qualities and individual traits, blend and flow, transforming into genuinely charismatic personalities. The scenes are strikingly sharp with abundant details and depictions creating a colorful backdrop that makes the storyline pop. Amazing job guys, thanks for sharing this little treasure with us.
A wonderful way to spend my afternoons.
This collection was a joy it has gotten rather warm here in Florida so the afternoons are kind of lazy so it is an excellent time to spend with some goods books. This collection by the Bluestocking Belles was a wonderful way to spend many of my afternoons. I loved all the tales, the characters were great, and the writing was splendid. It is not just one or two pieces that stood out but Jessica Cale, Nicole Zoltack, and Amy Rose Bennett are new authors for me and I found their stories very engaging and first –class. Jude Knight one of my favorite authors her pieces A Suitable Husband and The Bluestocking and the Barbarian was grand. I cannot forget Susana Ellis, Sherry Ewing, and Caroline Warfield for I loved their tales too. If you are looking for some great stories may I suggest that you pick this book up I just know you will enjoy it as much as I did. I did receive a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.
A wonderful boxed set. As we know loves wins out in the end and each tale was full of great characters. It’s the journey along the way that keeps you turning pages and wanting more.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
What is better than an offering by one of the restocking belles? A book full of their tales! Anthologies are a great way to sample several author’s works especially ones not familiar to the reader. What I particularly love about this anthology and others by the Belles are the way their stories are interconnected. This one even has a story being told in between the other novellas. How very unique! So the interconnections has its own interconnection. Although characters may be introduced in one story, at some point one of the authors will give them their own story. The characters are very likeable, each heroine a bluestocking lady not in the first blush of her life, active in a charity near and dear to her heart. Each meeting and falling in love with the one who is just perfect for her. The Duchess of Haverford is quite the matchmaker without even trying. Her Yuletide house party is the place to be to find the one you are meant to be with. Our couples seem to fall for each other quickly, but then again it is the magic of Christmastime. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
An incredible book set that will kept you reading until the end…
Short stories with strong Bluestocking heroines and surprising hero…
Twist, surprises and love…
A book set for all that love romance and Regency…
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Wonderful, heartwarming stories of finding love at Christmas. These stories were all interconnected and many of the characters are in all or most of the stories. They are about ladies and gentlemen finding love at Christmas and the connection is raising charity for orphanages and foundling homes. And the Duchess of Haverford’s Ball. Some of these couples met each other months before but get to know each other better and admit their love during the Christmas ball, and others meet and fall in love in just two weeks. Some of these ladies are from titled families, others are poor distant relatives of the wealthy, and one is a former actress and mistress to another man. But their stories are all the same. Finding the person perfect for them. The person who will love and support them unconditionally for the rest of their lives. And I love the sub romance that is told over the entire book, in bits and pieces at the beginning of each story and is wrapped up, along with the rest of the happy couples, at the end. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review