Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful
Review: Definitely not your usual regency romance. Ms. Balogh's wounded heroine and her conventional but oh so wonderful hero make for the perfect holiday read. This book will brighten your Christmas lights.
Rating: 
Summary: Abhorrence. 2.5 Stars.
Review: Even brilliance can falter. Usually Mary Balogh writes spirited stories edged in a romantic flare. However, here the pen was too harsh for that sensual burn. Again, Balogh illustrates the wide line dividing English society during the Regency era. Ancestral descent is the key to unlocking the upper ranks of society, not the possession of money. Edgar Downes has wealth and middle class roots. Having achieved great success in business, this dynamic man focuses on London. His aim: to add a blue blood bride to his lifetime schedule. The widow, Lady Helena Stapleton, is a very perplexing woman. She is indifferent, aloof, and hate is her favorite word. The reader soon learns the lady's reserve stems from the inability to forgive herself for a past indiscretion. Upon their meeting, we step into passion, a passion fueled with the seduction of romance. Just kidding! We step into passion, but Lady Stapleton has fueled this intensity with HATE, scorn and conflict. The Stapleton Hate Draft Involving Mr. Downes:
I hated you, when I seduced you,
I hated you, when you apologized,
I hated you, when I carried your child,
I hated you, when we married,
I hated you, when we had sex,
I hated your kindness, I hated your understanding. Guess what? This lady hates our hero. Balogh's point, The lady doth protest too much, methinks. Good grief! Mary Balogh by the end of your story, I didn't care who doth the protesting. Your heroine and her "H" word are just too unpleasant. Grace Atkinson, Ontario - Canada.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Different & Interesting Read
Review: I have mixed feelings about this book. For one, Helena's behavior is neither admirable in the past or for that matter, for the first half of the book. Yet Balogh shows her as a living breathing human being with her own needs and desires. I could not understand however why she married a much-older man unable to fulfill her needs (perhaps I missed something here or in A PRECIOUS JEWEL?). Helena's past behavior has been despicable, even though understandable, because she took advantage or tried to take advantage of a vulnerable young boy. [If you consider that a stepmother attempting to seduce her teenaged stepson is *not so bad* then I wonder how you would feel about a stepfather]. attempting to seduce his teenaged stepdaughter]. At the same time, it is clear that she has been punishing herself over the years with the memory of her indiscretion, and her fears that she has so destroyed her stepson that he was willing to marry a prostitute, believing himself unworthy of a decent wife [ref: A PRECIOUS JEWEL]. This book is not for the queasy. Helena succumbs to temptation and has a torrid but short-lived affair with a gentleman-merchant (the son of a merchant who has been educated with gentleman: ref - THE FAMOUS HEROINE). Unfortunately for her, the affair results in a pregnancy, when she had long believed that she could not become pregnant. Since an illegitimate child is out of the question, she decides to give the baby away after having it in secrecy. Unfortunately or fortunately for her, her secret is discovered by her erstwhile lover, Mr Downes (brother-in-law of the younger son and brother of dukes), and she is obliged to marry him at Christmas. Hence the title. The nice thing about this book is that we get to see a semi-happy ending for Gerald and Priscilla (of A PRECIOUS JEWEL) and we see many other couples brought together in prequels to this book. I had mixed feelings about Helena however. She was too given to her own wishes and needs, and she was not entirely likeable. Perhaps it is the fact that she is a passionate heroine (a stereotypical merry widow) that is the problem. But I don't think so. I did not have similar problems with heroines who have premarital or extramarital affairs in other books. For me the real problem with this book is that Helena is *selfish* and *self-centered* although not completely so. She believes that Gerald married a woman of dubious reputation because of her actions, that Edgar became her lover because of her murky reputation, and so forth. She also decides not to inform Edgar about her pregnancy, and this I found hard to take. It was understandable that she did not wish to be pushed into marrying again, and marriage without love. I felt that to the very end, she did not trust Edgar, and that Edgar would not have married her if she had not become pregnant. There was little sense of love developing between them. The epilogue written by Ms Balogh on her website shows Helena post-birth, but does not really resolve this issue for me. Compared to the rest of the series (DARK ANGEL, LORD CAREW'S BRIDE, A FAMOUS HEROINE, THE PLUMED BONNET) this book is a disappointment. In those books, I "felt" the heroines grow, mature, and change, and learn to trust their partners. I felt the same about the heroes, even though the marriages had often been forced upon both of them. I really did not get the same feeling in the Christmas party atmosphere of the latter half of this book. If you want to be re-assured of a happy ending for Gerald and Priscilla (of A PRECIOUS JEWEL), in that they and their children will be accepted into certain social circles, read this book. Otherwise, unless you are totally committed to reading all of Balogh's books, you might want to skip this book. Review = 3 stars (taking off points for the unsatisfactory pseudo-romance between the couple); this is not really a romantic book, more about the heroine needing to forgive herself and win forgiveness from her stepson.
Rating:
Summary: Problematic book...
Review: I have mixed feelings about this book. For one, Helena's behavior is neither admirable in the past or for that matter, for the first half of the book. Yet Balogh shows her as a living breathing human being with her own needs and desires. I could not understand however why she married a much-older man unable to fulfill her needs (perhaps I missed something here or in A PRECIOUS JEWEL?). Helena's past behavior has been despicable, even though understandable, because she took advantage or tried to take advantage of a vulnerable young boy. [If you consider that a stepmother attempting to seduce her teenaged stepson is *not so bad* then I wonder how you would feel about a stepfather]. attempting to seduce his teenaged stepdaughter]. At the same time, it is clear that she has been punishing herself over the years with the memory of her indiscretion, and her fears that she has so destroyed her stepson that he was willing to marry a prostitute, believing himself unworthy of a decent wife [ref: A PRECIOUS JEWEL]. This book is not for the queasy. Helena succumbs to temptation and has a torrid but short-lived affair with a gentleman-merchant (the son of a merchant who has been educated with gentleman: ref - THE FAMOUS HEROINE). Unfortunately for her, the affair results in a pregnancy, when she had long believed that she could not become pregnant. Since an illegitimate child is out of the question, she decides to give the baby away after having it in secrecy. Unfortunately or fortunately for her, her secret is discovered by her erstwhile lover, Mr Downes (brother-in-law of the younger son and brother of dukes), and she is obliged to marry him at Christmas. Hence the title. The nice thing about this book is that we get to see a semi-happy ending for Gerald and Priscilla (of A PRECIOUS JEWEL) and we see many other couples brought together in prequels to this book. I had mixed feelings about Helena however. She was too given to her own wishes and needs, and she was not entirely likeable. Perhaps it is the fact that she is a passionate heroine (a stereotypical merry widow) that is the problem. But I don't think so. I did not have similar problems with heroines who have premarital or extramarital affairs in other books. For me the real problem with this book is that Helena is *selfish* and *self-centered* although not completely so. She believes that Gerald married a woman of dubious reputation because of her actions, that Edgar became her lover because of her murky reputation, and so forth. She also decides not to inform Edgar about her pregnancy, and this I found hard to take. It was understandable that she did not wish to be pushed into marrying again, and marriage without love. I felt that to the very end, she did not trust Edgar, and that Edgar would not have married her if she had not become pregnant. There was little sense of love developing between them. The epilogue written by Ms Balogh on her website shows Helena post-birth, but does not really resolve this issue for me. Compared to the rest of the series (DARK ANGEL, LORD CAREW'S BRIDE, A FAMOUS HEROINE, THE PLUMED BONNET) this book is a disappointment. In those books, I "felt" the heroines grow, mature, and change, and learn to trust their partners. I felt the same about the heroes, even though the marriages had often been forced upon both of them. I really did not get the same feeling in the Christmas party atmosphere of the latter half of this book. If you want to be re-assured of a happy ending for Gerald and Priscilla (of A PRECIOUS JEWEL), in that they and their children will be accepted into certain social circles, read this book. Otherwise, unless you are totally committed to reading all of Balogh's books, you might want to skip this book. Review = 3 stars (taking off points for the unsatisfactory pseudo-romance between the couple); this is not really a romantic book, more about the heroine needing to forgive herself and win forgiveness from her stepson.
Rating:
Summary: A lost soul who finds redemption. . .
Review: I like this one because usually the lost soul is the hero. This time it's the heroine. She was the "wicked" stepmother of "Precious Jewel". . . but this is her story and not her stepson's. She gains humanity in the eyes of the reader and wins the love of a good man (the brother of the Cora from "The Famous Heroine"--the one who thought Francis was gay.)
Rating:
Summary: I really loved this book. A very good sequel to a favorite.
Review: I really,really loved this book.This is a sequel to "A Precious Jewel".I really liked the way Ms.Balogh made Lady Helena Stapleton very un- lovable so that her reconciliation with her step son and his wife was all the more believable.Hel- ena Stapleton reminded me of Lord Edmond Waite of "The Notorious Rake" in his hard shell of cynicism that hid a very wounded heart and soul.
Rating:
Summary: A Christmas Bride
Review: If you check out Mary Balogh's Web site, you will find that she has written an end to the great story. This is a follow up to A Precious Jewel which is also a great book. I recommend it highly.
Rating: 
Summary: overly dramatic
Review: Lady Helena Stapleton, the wicked stepmother from "A Precious Jewel" is, once again, made out to be rather unlikeable. She really was not that wicked to begin with - her behavior with Gerald was not rape, please. Not even close. She was lonely, young, unhappy, and Ms. Balogh makes what happened to be a graver sin than it was. That is why I hated that other book. In this book, Helena ends up marrying Cora's brother, Cora from "The Famous Heroine", Edgar Downes, a wealthy, handsome merchant, who is a really good guy. He actually deserved someone nicer than she. Her constant smirking was overly done. Her constant feelings of being unlovable because of one instance of non-sex with Gerald was overplayed to the point of lunacy. I like regencies that do not have the standard silly milk and water virginal misses. This book could have been much better. Helena was a great conversationalist, smart, attractive and it would have been more interesting to allow her to be, well, real without always haveing to be wicked or for her to always feel wicked.
Rating:
Summary: overly dramatic
Review: Lady Helena Stapleton, the wicked stepmother from "A Precious Jewel" is, once again, made out to be rather unlikeable. She really was not that wicked to begin with - her behavior with Gerald was not rape, please. Not even close. She was lonely, young, unhappy, and Ms. Balogh makes what happened to be a graver sin than it was. That is why I hated that other book. In this book, Helena ends up marrying Cora's brother, Cora from "The Famous Heroine", Edgar Downes, a wealthy, handsome merchant, who is a really good guy. He actually deserved someone nicer than she. Her constant smirking was overly done. Her constant feelings of being unlovable because of one instance of non-sex with Gerald was overplayed to the point of lunacy. I like regencies that do not have the standard silly milk and water virginal misses. This book could have been much better. Helena was a great conversationalist, smart, attractive and it would have been more interesting to allow her to be, well, real without always haveing to be wicked or for her to always feel wicked.
Rating:
Summary: Stunning and Original
Review: There's certainly a gamut of opinion about this book, as evidenced by the reviews here, but, for my money, this is one of the more memorable romance novels ever written. Balogh breaks a lot of rules in this book, especially with her portrayal of the heroine, but she makes it work and gives us a deeply affecting and original story. I bought every word of it. It's a testament to just how gifted Mary Balogh is that she can make this story so moving. As another reviewer has suggested, Helena's guilt over her treatment of her step-son doesn't seem so overwrought if we change the sex of the characters. If it was a 35 year old man regretting his attempted (more than once, remember) seductions of a five-years-junior stepdaughter we would judge him very harshly indeed. Helena's guilt and self-loathing is deserved and her attempts to cope with that guilt very believeable to me. Edgar Downes is perfectly portrayed. What a hero! Balogh gets their "cannot be resisted" attraction, and Helena's refusal to allow herself happiness with the man, just right. Of course this is a romance novel and the ending is unrealistic but romance novels are fairy tales reworked. To take them literally is fatal. Their message--their importance--lies in the truth at the heart of the tale. And the truth here is that forgiveness for any crime is possible. Bravo to Mary Balogh for creating a memorable, beautiful work!
|
