A Christmas Bride

Rating:
Summary: Delightful twist on the amnesia theme.
Review: Timothy Crawford has been writing to his grandfather with tales of the woman he loves--Serenity Adams. His grandfather has asked Timothy to bring this paragon of womanhood home to meet the family. Unfortunately this paragon is not real, and Timothy realizes that he will have to reveal that truth to his grandparent during a family gathering. As he and his cousin are en route to the family estate, they come upon a carriage accident and discover one survivor. It is a woman who fits the physical description of Serenity perfectly. When she awakens, she has no memory of anything.. Jo Ann Ferguson has written another wonderful novel. She mixes just the right amounts of humor, sentiment, passion, and adventure to guarantee a story to enchant her audience from page one until the final word.

Rating:
Summary: Delightful twist on the amnesia theme.
Review: Timothy Crawford has been writing to his grandfather with tales of the woman he loves--Serenity Adams. His grandfather has asked Timothy to bring this paragon of womanhood home to meet the family. Unfortunately this paragon is not real, and Timothy realizes that he will have to reveal that truth to his grandparent during a family gathering. As he and his cousin are en route to the family estate, they come upon a carriage accident and discover one survivor. It is a woman who fits the physical description of Serenity perfectly. When she awakens, she has no memory of anything.. Jo Ann Ferguson has written another wonderful novel. She mixes just the right amounts of humor, sentiment, passion, and adventure to guarantee a story to enchant her audience from page one until the final word.

Rating:
Summary: The author's best novel yet!
Review: Timothy Crawford may be a viscount, but he loves to build things. So even though his grandfather, the Earl of Brookindale, continuously tells him to let the business men run the family businesses, Timothy just has to keep his hands in the work. To sooth the Earl, Timothy and his cousin, Felix Wayne, tells the Earl that Timothy has found the woman of his dreams. Timothy names this non-existent lady Serenity Adams. When the Earl insists on meeting the woman Timothy knows he is in trouble. He is expected to present his wonderful fiancée during the Earl's seventieth birthday celebration on Christmas Eve. Fearing he will be disinherited, Timothy still decides to do the right thing. He will go to the Earl and tell the truth. So Timothy and Felix depart on a journey to Cheyney Park.

"Fate" is not only a fickle lady, but one with a sense of adventure. This is proven when the two gentlemen find an overturned carriage. All within the carriage are dead. However, one lady had been thrown out. The men believe her to be the lady's maid of one of the deceased. There is nothing around to identify any of them. The sole survivor did not escape totally uninjured. She has no memory. Since she matches the image of the fantasy fiancée, Felix seizes the opportunity that Fate has given them and convinces the woman to masquerade as Timothy's "Serenity" until after the holidays.

***** This is, in my opinion, the BEST regency romance that Jo Ann Ferguson has written thus far! Readers may enjoy this tale at any time of year, because Christmas is only mentioned during the scenes of decorating and because the Earl's birthday is around the same time. The author focus on the main characters, Timothy and Serenity, and not on the season.

Many authors add a child to the story so s/he will touch the heart of the reader. Usually, the child is mean, spoiled, or mute. Apparently the author is as tired of these scenarios as the readers are. Yet the holiday season seems more special with children around. This dilemma is neatly stepped around by what must be a wonderful brain storm on the author's part. Meet Theodora who is ten-years-old but looks six. For reasons revealed in the story, "Uncle Timothy" and the Earl placed the child in the care of a nurse since birth. She cannot use her legs. One arm/hand does not work. The other arm/hand has limited movement. She is friendly, smart, very observant, and definitely NOT mute. You cannot miss what you never knew, so she is content in her room. Of course, Serenity is NOT content and goes about changing things for the better.

Did the author stop there? She could have and this would have still been a "five star" regency tale. Instead a subtle sub-plot is added. This novel proves that Jo Ann Ferguson has a shining talent for writing in the Regency genre! Highly recommended for ANY time of year. I recommend that it be read during the colder season for atmosphere though. *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable mixture of ingredients --
Review: Why I didn't find this book last Christmas is a mystery. Better late than never, however. It is certainly a book that can be read--and enjoyed--at any time of the year. There is the customary family get-together, new traditions (a tree in the house! an idea from Germany) as well as old ones (ringing the chapel bell once for each year since the birth of Christ, 1818 peals in all.) There is a sometimes irascible grandfather who longs to see his oldest heir married. And a mystery. Who is the young woman known as Serenity Adams?

The two cousins, Timothy Crawford and Felix Wayne are on their way to Christmas with their grandfather, the Earl of Brookindale, at Cheyney Park in the north of England when they come upon an accident. Of the three inhabitants of the carriage that has gone over the side of a hill, two are dead. The other, a young woman, has suffered a severe blow to her head, which has resulted in amnesia. Purely by chance, the young woman greatly resembles the imaginary fiancée the the young man have created for Timothy, in lieu of the real thing.

For Timothy is an enlighted young man, devoting many hours each day to the care and enlargement of his grandfather's business interests. Such activity has discouraged several young ladies in the past, so he has created the perfect example in Serenity. The young man is not at all looking forward to his grandfather's seventieth birthday party on Christmas Eve, at which time he'll have to confess his falsehoods.

But the young woman, not knowing her real identity nor where she belongs, dressed as she is in servant's clothing, agrees to accompany the men to Cheyney Park. This is as much to recuperate as to set in motion the inquiries that will hopefully find her own real family and allow her to go home once again.

In spite of not knowing who she is, what she is quickly becomes very evident: a young woman of quality. Timothy is soon head over ears in love with her, and hesitantly, she reciprocates, knowing full well the relationship may well have to be abandoned if she is not worthy to be a countess.

This is very much a feel-good book, and when the villain gets his comeuppance, you'll chuckle in spite of yourself. And probably shed a tear or two when a very young lady takes her 'turn'. An added enjoyable ingredient is the author's own variety of Regency slang, or language, not usually encountered in other books. All in all, a book that should live on for several more Holiday Seasons.