Denied the woman of his dreams by his father’s meddling, Calder Stafford, has spent the last decade proving himself to be self-sufficient, austere, and utterly uninterested in joy. Now that he is the Duke of Hartwell, he’ll enact his revenge by abolishing the holiday traditions his father loved so well. His sisters will not sway him and neither will the woman–newly returned to town–who was … stolen from him.
Returning to Hartwell to care for her mother, widow Felicity Garland is delighted to be back home, especially for the holidays. However, the jolly festivities she expects are nowhere to be found. When she goes to the source of the problem–the duke–she’s astonished to see how much the young man she once loved has hardened. It’s up to her to break through the impenetrable fortress around his heart–not just to save Christmas, but to save him.
more
Calder is a heartless man who refuses to celebrate and help the downtrodden. Once Felicity returns after being widowed some hard truths and secrets come to light. Ten years ago his father successfully parted them. With Felicity gone and married, Calder had no reason to be good anymore. Felicity now widowed is determined to help Calder whether he wants it or not. With the flicker of love smoldering will it ignite like the Yule log for this couple to have a second chance? I received a complimentary copy and I am voluntarily reviewing.
This is Darcy’s version of Scrooge’s story. She did a very creative rendering of the classic Christmas Tale. I’ve enjoyed her retelling of old Christmas stories we all grew up with. This is Duke Calder Stafford’s happily ever after. We learn what has made him into the withdrawn miserly lonely man.
Widowed Felicity Templeton Garland has returned to town after 10 years to care for her mother. She finds her hometown the same but different. She left when her true love, Calder, rejected her at 18 as he was the heir to the dukedom in the area and she but a lowly farmer’s daughter. She went on to marry a man who was 10 years her senior died and they had no children. When she bumps into Calder’s sisters Poppy and Bianca she finds Calder is not the man she remembers. After she left he became a wastrel and moved on to an arrogant miser with no interest in joy. His sisters are beside themselves being unable to reach his heart to help him find joy. With Felicity back in town they hope she can rekindle their lost love and restore Calder back to them and the community that needs his leadership and financial support. Felicity takes on the challenge in spades with persistence. She refuses to leave him alone and he slowly melts under her attention and managing. She’s determined to save a holiday celebration, a local institution and him. She knows he can be the Joyful Duke.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
My oh my. Calder, the brother of Bianca and Poppy, featured in the first two books in this series, is very much a ”Scrooge” of a Duke. After reading the first two novellas in the series, I formed a very unfavorable opinion of him as he seemed to have no redeeming character. I knew Ms. Burke would have to craft a very special and enlightening tale about him to get me to change my opinion and like the man. Voilà! She did it wonderfully. There were several times when his story was so heartrending on how he became such a cold and unforgiving man like his father, that I wanted to cry tears. I felt his loneliness and understood why he thought he didn’t deserve someone like Felicity. She was warmth and brightness and cheer and he wasn’t. She is the one who manages to rescue him from his darkness. Their story held my interest until the last page was read.
I recommend the entire series and suggest potential readers read the first two works before Joy to the Duke. The first two could be read out of order but this one needs to be last. I was provided an ARC of this work and submit this voluntary and unbiased review. All opinions stated are my own.
Loved this series!
What I liked:
The writing style
The characters
Part of a series: Love is All Around
Standalone
HEA
Epilogue
I always look forward to reading Darcy Burke’s next book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC.
While a somewhat predictable ending to the series I did enjoy reading this. Calder’s transformation within a few days/a week or so is a bit extreme after 10 years of bitterness. I know, it’s fiction. Felicity is a powerhouse who bowls Calder over; she sort of asks him to accept this and that to save the St. Stephen’s Day celebration, then simply maintains he’s in agreement because she does not give him much of a chance to refuse. She manages him, and he seems to like it.
I voluntarily read an advanced copy of this book. The thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
Whether contemporary or historical Burke gives the heart what it wants. Joy to the Duke reads like a beautiful love song searching for it’s melody. Calder and Felicity are afraid to be vulnerable, but therein lies their greatest strength. No one speaks heartache like Darcy Burke. Emotion runs deep but the end result is an unforgettable, unpredictable and refreshing breath of fresh air.
I enjoyed this story of a couple separated by the lies of their fathers. When she returns ten years later, the lies are slowly unraveled. I received an ARC of this book.
I think this may be my favorite in this series! We finally find out what turned Calder so cold and the extent of that will surprise you. They were meant to be together and Felicity wasn’t going to let him continue on the downward spiral. When they came face to face again the sparks flew and I knew it was going to be a journey for them. The ending was perfect and I loved seeing the family together again.
Felicity is a strong-willed woman that isn’t going to give up and will fight him all the way. I loved her from the start because she saw the man she loved was still inside him. She brought joy back into his life.
Calder is bitter and pushing everyone that loves him away because of the past. Once you find out why he is the way he is you will understand him and love him as time goes by. He needs joy back in his life.
Copy provided for an honest and voluntary review
This is the 3rd & last of the trilogy of Christmas books that Darcy Burke has magically created for the Christmas Holiday & what a grand job she has done! I have hated Calder Stafford the Duke of Hartwell since the first book in the series. Yes, he has a hard life with a deplorable father that was kind to his two sisters but absolutely evil to Calder – to the point of using forgery, blackmail & payola to end Calder’s chance to marry the lady he loved. Since the loss of love 10 years ago, Calder has been lived a life of debauchery, has been cut off by his father & has now rebuilt his wealth without his father’s assistance but has become a hard, unhappy, uncaring & miserable man. His father is dead & Calder vows to never do the things his father loved & supporting Hartwell House or hosting the St. Stephen’s Celebration every year would be his first things to eliminate. Until his lost love returns to town – she is now widowed & has come back to care for her ill mother. But no one will change his plans for redemption including his sisters, as much as he loves them, & most definitely not Felicity Garland. Will they both find what happened in the past? Can they forget what they had 10 years ago or will they even remember? This was such a sweet, some maddening, tear-jerking journey with Calder & Felicity with amazing secondary characters to end this trilogy on a high note with a wonderful Christmas HEA – don’t miss this trilogy of entertaining holiday stories!
I was gifted the Advanced Reader Copy of this book & all opinions are my own & have been voluntarily given.
Gave me all the “feels”!
Calder Stafford, Duke of Hartwell, is a cold and stubborn man who was emotionally hurt by his father and the woman he loved. Felicity Garland a farmer’s daughter, now a widow has returned to Hartwell to take care of her ailing Mother just in time for Christmas. Just 10 years ago she was in love with Calder until he sent her a letter telling her she could never be his duchess. He believes that 10 years ago she took money from his father and left him. She finds that Christmas in Hartwell is not what it use to be because of the Duke’s chilly (he was know as Chill due to his previous title when he was younger) and unsympathetic behavior.
This is a second chance at love story where the main characters were wronged and separated by other(s). Felicity makes it her mission to help bring Calder peace and happiness in his life. It is a sweet yet sensual love story that gave me all the “feels” and made me feel so many emotions for these characters. It made my heart ache and then warmed it. This was a great book to wrap up the series and made me happy that Calder and Felicity were able to have their HEA along with his sisters.
Favorite Quote: “She was going to catch a chill—and not just from the near freezing temperature. He was Chill……”
Be still my heart! I was really excited to read Calder’s story because I knew there had to be something terrible from his childhood or youth that made him the torchered, immovable man he had become. My favorite type of trope because it is always so wonderful to see them find their happy ending when they feel they least deserve it.
In the previous two books Calder was definately “Scrooge” in that now he had the title of Duke of Hartwell, he was not going to have the annual St Stephens Day celebration that was a tradition. Even though his sisters had implored him to relent.
But then he learns that Felicity Templeton Garland, the woman who had left Calder heartbroken, is back in Hartwell to take care of her mother. She soons sees the changes in him and thus the journey begins.
Wonderful, heartwarming, teary and emotions off the chart, this was one of the best holiday stories I have read this year, along with the first two in this series. As I said to begin with, Be still my heart.
Joy To The Duke by Darcy Burke
Love Is All Around #3
Holidays past, present and future are looked at by Calder in this historical Christmas romance that provides him a second chance with Felicity. The two were parted abruptly ten years before and the intervening years have changed them both in a variety of ways. With so much time lost between them it might be difficult to rekindle their feelings…or then again…perhaps not. Both had misconceptions and hurt feelings over what transpired in the past and to get over them honesty and conversation will be needed.
This story has the second chance romance idea flowing along with a rather Scrooge-like person in the character of Calder. Felicity is a woman who won’t give up and wants to help Calder return to the man he once was. There is a Christmas fete to plan, friendships to rekindle, a wonderful dog, some charming and less charming children and a wonderful story to read that will leave you in the holiday spirit.
Thank you to the author for the ARC – This is my honest review.
4 Stars
A lovely story to finish the Love is All Around trilogy. Calder is scared emotional from losing his great love Felicity along with the cruel upbringing by his father. Felicity is back in his life to save him from himself while also saving others. This was a pleasurable book to read. The only exception I had was the name of Calder’s dog — Isis.
Terrific book! Calder and Felicity were separated ten years ago. Now she is back, but Calder is a different man. He has turned into a Scrooge. I loved the subtle take on the Christmas classic. Calder was cheated outed of his love so he is determined to never show love again to anyone. Felicity comes back and is determined to change that. Just as in the story of Scrooge little Annie is there to help. This is definitely a must read story!
St. Stephen’s Day was approaching, as was Christmas, and the sisters Bianca and Poppy, along with their husbands the Earl of Buckleigh and the Marquiss of Darlington respectively, were focused on making the party a success.
This tradition was always offered by the Duke of Hartwell, but since Calder inherited the title many things have changed.
He was cold and distant from his tenants; He refused to offer the party, just as he was not interested in doing the necessary works at Hartwell House, the house run by Mrs Armstrong that welcomed poor women and their children.
Something very serious had happened to Calder many years ago that had cooled his heart, and to his dismay the cause of all his change had returned to the town.
Felicity Templeton – now Garland, widow – was in town to celebrate the holidays with her widowed mother. Hartwell offered the best parties, especially St Stephen’s. But as soon as they arrived in town, Felicity found that the event would take place far away, making it almost impossible.
On meeting Calder at the Assembly Hall, he was grumpy and demanded of her to know how long she would be in town, clearly showing that he didn’t want her there.
Deep down, Felicity was pretty sure the man she loved had changed terribly, but the sad thing was that this change of his was affecting everyone.
Determined to help everyone – especially Calder – Felicity comes to his house and soon learns that their separation in the past had been orchestrated in a way and by people who should have protected them. The damage was done and ten years had passed.
Still, Felicity wanted to see Calder smile again.
He had become a beast, and he was proud of it.
Gradually, Felicity is inside his heart again and makes him feel and remember the plans they had and how good it was to love.
All this change causes Calder to go into deep despair – not feeling worthy of that love. But now it was impossible to deny that even after so long, they still loved each other and could have a new chance.
In the first two books, not knowing exactly what had made Calder become such a cold person, I confess that I felt very angry with him. He was belligerent, grumpy. But here, we understand all the pain he suffered for so many years; the love that was denied to him.
It is a story of new chances; Christmas spirit; impossible loves.
Thrill to this story so well told, with vivid and touching scenes.
More than 5 stars
Ten years worth of lies ….. And, whispers of Scrooge….
Just how much and what or rather who does it take to change a ‘Scrooge’ into a loving and caring man?
In this remarkable story we have two amazingly different characters in Felicity and Calder who were forced to separate and go their own ways for ten long years and when they meet again they are fortunate enough to have a second chance – if only he weren’t so stubborn and set in his ways.
I just loved the whole thing. The main characters, his beloved dog, the children at the Home, the lies and hardening of hearts and then later the melting of icicles around his heart.
Oh my! What a wonderful story and definitely one that you should read as soon as you can!
I read an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) and my voluntary review above is unbiased.