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.
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Love IS All Around If You Believe
Beautiful wrap up of the series. Loved this family of characters, and definitely recommend for an entertaining holiday read.
Joy to the Duke by Darcy Burke is book Three in the Love is All Around Series. This is the story of Felicity Garland and Calder Stafford, the Duke of Hartwell. I have read the previous books which added to my enjoyment of this one, but I feel you can make this a standalone book if you wish to do so. Felicity and Calder where young and in love but they were torn apart. Calder thought that Felicity had chosen money over him and Felicity thought that Calder had turned cold toward her. So Felicity had left Hartwell to go on with her life and ended up marrying someone else who has since past on. Now she is back years later in Hartwell. Felicity has returned to care for her mother which has put her back in the site of Calder. Calder is now a scrooge of a man left harden by his lost love and when he learns she is back in town he seeks to see her.
Loved this second chance at love story.
Calder was a very nasty person but I just don’t really believe that the love of a “good ” woman is always enough to change someone that drastically. Some people are just too damaged by their past. I guess it’s a nice fairytale but not very realistic. But it was an ok story.
Joy to the Duke by Darcy Burke is the third book in the Love is All Around series and definitely worth reading if you love historical Christmas romances. I loved this series, but this book was my favorite! It is a perfect second chance romance for two people who deserve to finally get their HEA.
After their fathers made sure that their relationship would go no further Felicity married another man who was much older who eventually made her a widow and Calder held resentment toward everyone involved which impacted every facet of his life.
When Felicity returns home after being gone for so many years she finds Calder so changed and does everything possible to help him find his old self and in doing so they rekindle the love they have always had for each other along with all of the wonderful holiday festivities.
I was given an ARC from the author/publisher. All conclusions are mine and mine alone.
Joy to the Duke is the third and final book in the new series Love is All Around. The series is based on the Duke of Harwell (Calder) and his two sisters, Bianca and Poppy. They can be read as a standalone, but they are better if they are read in order. They take place around the Christmas holiday and Calder’s story is based on A Christmas Carol.
Calder is Ebenezer Scrooge in the story. He lost the woman he loved due to his father’s interference and once he gained the title, he quit supporting the things his father loved. He has isolated himself from his sisters and has refused to host the annual St. Stephens Day celebration that the Duke of Harwell’s have hosted for years. He has withdrawn the financial support to the Hartwell House that is a home for women and children.
Widowed Felicity Garland has returned to Hartwell to help her mother and is surprised by Calder’s attitude. She is upset when she learns of their father’s interference in their youth, but she is determined to help him open his heart to the joy of the season and his family.
The book was short but still wonderful. Calder’s attitude in the two previous books was cold and unfeeling and left the reader wondering what had happened in his past to cause him such pain. It was great to finally read his story and see him get his happy ever after.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The third in a holiday trilogy, this is a delightful story about two people who experienced the joy of young love only to have it torn from them by the actions of another.
Calder is the son and heir of a duke. Ten years ago he lost Felicity, the love of his life and the daughter of a local farmer. Calder’s father decided his heir was too important to marry a girl with such a paltry lineage and intervened in a heinous manner.
Now the old duke has passed, Calder is an angry, lonely man and Felicity, a widow, has returned to the village to care for her ailing mother.
Felicity’s return brings Calder full circle in this homage to Dickens’ Christmas Carol, as he dreams of the past , future , and present. Can her return bring about a change in Calder that is enough to change his heart?
This is the third in a holiday trilogy by this author. Calder is present as a character in each book and it’s wonderful to read story in the culmination of the series. I highly recommend the book and the series- perfect for the season.
Sweetly thrilling, sexy fun, action packed and engaging journey filled with relatable charters, witty banter and undeniable passion… a great read from beginning to end. Really enjoyed this heartwarming adventure!
A story that will bring you happy tears. Calder has perfected his icy demeanor to everyone including his siblings. He is hurting from the ill treatment by his father and a decade of separation from the one woman he had loved. Felicity is back in her hometown to take care of her I’ll mother and discovers secrets that had changed the path of her life. This is truly a story of redemption as Calder’s heart melts under Felicity’s determination and love. All the characters are wonderful and you will feel enormous joy at this Christmas miracle.
A sweet ending to a fun holiday novella series!
Calder had his work cut out for him in this book–he was a wretched human being in the first two books, and the novella-length format doesn’t give him a lot of room for error–but fortunately for him, Ms Burke got right to making him work on his own redemption. Not that he was at all interested in even trying at first–thankfully, Felicity has the tenacity of a bulldog and won’t give him a moment’s peace. She’s going to drag him back to his long-buried last bit of humanity kicking and screaming if she has to.
In keeping with the underlying theme of the series (holiday stories loosely inspired by classic Christmas tales), it’s a Christmas Carol-style episode that finally gives him the final nudge he needs to start fighting for his own HEA and sets the reader up for a super sweet epilogue. If needed this novella could work as a standalone, but since each story builds slightly on the one before it, you’ll get a more complete story by reading them all in order.
I don’t know about you, but where I am the weather is perfect for three sexy but sweet historical holiday novellas–so grab a cup of tea, a cozy blanket, and start reading 🙂
Rating: 4 stars / B+
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
Calder Stafford the Duke of Hartwell has little joy in his life. Denied the woman of his dreams Felicity Garland after his father’s meddled in his life. He offered her money and she never looked back, while he showed Felicity a letter from Calder breaking off with her, since she wasn’t good enough to be his countess. Calder is determined to enact his revenge against his father by abolishing the holiday traditions his father loved so well.
Felicity Garland was his one love who left him ten years ago and now she’s returned to Hartwell to care for her mother. Felicity learns of the deception by his father to keep them apart and sets out to win back Calder and his love, to bring joy back into his life. I love these two they have both been wronged and find their way back to each other. I loved these stories of the Strafford siblings. An excellent story I loved and I voluntarily wrote a review.
I was looking forward to finally finding out why Calder was so mean and unhappy! I didn’t think that the reasons, an abusive father and being jilted, were enough to justify why he behaved the way he did. Felicity did manage to get through to him. I enjoyed this series and look forward to more from the author. I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.
What a fascinating twist on A Christmas Carol. Calder and Felicity had the last ten years of their happiness stolen from them when his father schemed to keep them apart. My heart broke for this pair over the grief and pain caused by the old duke, but I loved watching all the trouble Felicity went to in order to thaw Calder’s heart back out. And in a scene worthy of The Grinch, we even witness Chill’s heart grow three sizes by the end. Now I’m kind of sad to say “goodbye” to these siblings and their extended families.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley.
A beautiful novella about Calder Stafford, Duke of Hartwell, he became a bitter and cold person. He was also rude and uncaring. His father had told him he had paid his one true love off and they had moved away to never see him again. The old duke was quite cruel to his only son.
Felicity Templeton Garland was a beautiful lady, who loved Calder. She had been taken away after she read a forged note supposedly written by Calder and saying she was not good enough to be his duchess. They were both heartbroken. Ten years later she comes back to town to take care of her mother and they meet again.
They are angry at each other and they need to talk. This was a well-written story with great characters. There is sadness, cruelty, and envy. It is very sad in spots, but it keeps you reading. You want to know what is going to happen. There is also sex, it should probably be read by eighteen-year-olds and over.
I received this ARC from the author and voluntarily reviewed this wonderful novel.
This is the third and final book in Darcy Burke’s new Love is All Around holiday Regency romance series about three siblings. While all of the stories interconnect, each book focuses on one couple and can be enjoyed on its own. This was the most Christmassy of the three, and I really liked how it incorporated elements of A Christmas Carol.
Poppy and Bianca’s brother Calder, the Duke of Hartwell, was portrayed so disagreeably (such a Scrooge) in the previous books that I wondered how Ms. Burke would redeem him. She handled his redemption via “ghosts” of the past, present, and future with aplomb. Calder and Felicity were both portrayed as likable characters, and I was rooting for their second chance romance to succeed.
While this book deals with some dark themes (parental death, child abuse, poverty), it also includes some laughs and the love of a very good dog.
This is a fun holiday romance. I recommend it to anyone who won’t be offended by the inclusion of mild profanity and a couple of explicit sex scenes.
I received an ARC of this book from the author and volunteered to provide an honest review.
He’s a tough nut to crack.
Calder, now a duke, was set to marry Felicity ten years ago. Instead, he thought she was paid off by his father. He’s cold, a real Scrooge, an one tough but to crack.
Felicity believed that Calder didn’t want her due to a letter his father presented her. She married someone else and is now widowed and back in Hartwell.
She’s pushing Calder to host the St. Stephens’s festival and teaching him to feel and care again. He had raised hell in London and lost everything.
Will her tenacity rebuild him?
I really enjoyed this book.
Recommend
Finally, we find out why Calder has become a miserly, cold man. Well… Scrooge. For ten years Calder has made himself forget the woman who betrayed him, until she shows up in the village as a widow. Felicity is determined to find the man she loves inside the cold man who pushes her away.
These short books in the trilogy are a pleasure to read. I recommend reading in order.
What a wonderful holiday story of Calder, The Duke of Hartwell and his transformation from the man he felt his father created to the man he wanted and needed to be. With the help of his two sisters Bianca and Poppy but especially by the persistence of his former love, Felicity, he faced his demons, shared his pain and began anew with his family. A quick and excellent read. I highly recommend it. I received an Advanced Readers Copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
A story of redemption and a reunion at Christmas? Yes please. Ms Burke packed a ton into this story and I just kept turning the pages needing to know how everything was going play out. I, personally, could have used just a touch more as I felt it wrapped up a bit too neatly and abruptly. But that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the story.
This is the third book in this series, and I haven’t read the others… and I don’t feel like I was missing anything. That said, I might just have to go back since I *think* the secondary characters in this book were the leads in the prior ones and my curiosity is piqued.
I’ve enjoyed all the books I’ve read by Ms Burke in the past and this is another winner. I look forward to reading more from her in the future.
In full disclosure, I received an advanced copy of this book. But all thoughts are my own.
This is a story of reunions … between Felicity and Calder and Calder and the rest of the world. The author brings back memorable and much loved characters from an earlier book in this series and finally pulls back the curtain to let the reader know why Calder has spent the last ten years of his life suffering and in turn, making anyone in his orbit suffer along with him. Felicity and Calder are well drawn and in Calder’s case – redeemable. With an open heart, Felicity shows how smart and strong she is where Calder is concerned. With the help of Calder’s family and the people who have not given up on him, that journey makes for an excellent and heartwarming story. Highly recommend.
Ten years ago, Felicity and Calder were in love and ready to commit to a life together. Calder’s father, the Duke of Hartwell, felt that Felicity was not who he wanted for his son’s wife. After all, she was the daughter of a local farmer. (Ugh, sometimes I hate dukes.) Now to the present time…Felicity is back in Hartwell to care for her sick mother. Calder is in a deep funk because of the Christmas holiday and the feelings that he associates with the time of year. We met Calder in the first book of this series (The Red Hot Earl) and he was a like a lion with a thorn in his paw. Grumpy, mean, and just not nice to be around. Felicity and Calder confront each other about what went wrong all those years ago. And, that’s right, the old duke was a real SOB with assorted deeds of bribery, forgery, and good ol’ lying to break the young lovers apart. Felicity wants to mend the broken parts; Calder would rather not feel…anything. But this is not a Christmas story for nothing. Calder has 3 disturbing dreams of Christmas past, present, and possible future. And a near-miss with frostbite. Felicity melts Calder’s frozen heart and Calder, in turn, melted my heart with his generous spirit that was always there.