Reviewed
by Christy
In this Victorian Christmas novella, Dr. Jonas Grantham is in
love with Lydia Charingford and her near-constant cheery disposition. Lydia,
however, believes Jonas to be judgmental of her scandalous past and has no
interest in his friendship, let alone anything more. In an effort to spend more
time with her, Jonas wagers Lydia that his work can damper even her good
spirits. He invites her to come along with him on a few of his house calls
before Christmas. If he wins, he gets a kiss. If he loses, she never has to
speak to him again.
I thought this was an absolutely
delightful story. The characters have a realistic obstacle to get over in their
relationship and good chemistry to see them through. Jonas not only is not the stereotypical macho man
pervasive in much of romance fiction, but he also doesn’t subscribe to
Victorian ideals and primness. Even Lydia’s father is quite progressive for the
time. In Victorian society, it would’ve been perfectly acceptable for him to lock
her away for her teenage indiscretion but he doesn’t. Instead, he treats her
with the love and respect he always has. His love as a father took precedence
over what was expected of him. It was quite refreshing.
I also really enjoyed the winter
setting with little bits of the characters’ Christmases past sprinkled throughout.
I probably could’ve done with even more
Christmas but that usually seems to be the case. This was a fun, cozy read and
the perfect length (long enough to get to know the characters but short enough
so it didn’t feel like there were miscommunications just for the sake of it).
Though I don’t normally read novellas, I will definitely be hunting down more
Christmas ones this holiday season.
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