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A Christmas Promise

3.7 of 5 stars 3.70 · rating details · 780 ratings · 123 reviews

A love that cannot be bought or sold proves to be the greatest gift of all, in this heartwarming classic that demonstrates once again why New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh is among the most celebrated authors of historical romance.

Weddings are supposed to be joyous occasions—especially when a couple seems as well matched as Randolph Pierce, Earl of Falloden, a...more

Paperback, 304 pages

Published October 26th 2010 by Dell (first published December 1st 1992)

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Jan 13, 2013 Miranda Davis rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

First, Mary Balogh is just so darn easy to read. (I have a recent re-issue so the cover is different.) Lovely delineation of characters and their conflict. In this case, an extorted, arranged marriage brings together a cit's proud, pugnacious daughter honoring her father's dying wish and an honorable earl who inherits crushing debts from his predecessor. Both have every reason to dislike the other but they marry because each must.

Neither understands the other, each believing the worst interpret...more First, Mary Balogh is just so darn easy to read. (I have a recent re-issue so the cover is different.) Lovely delineation of characters and their conflict. In this case, an extorted, arranged marriage brings together a cit's proud, pugnacious daughter honoring her father's dying wish and an honorable earl who inherits crushing debts from his predecessor. Both have every reason to dislike the other but they marry because each must.

Neither understands the other, each believing the worst interpretation of ambiguous statements and reactions from their different class perspectives. He assumes she is cold; she assumes he is condescending and profligate. However, she remains prickly and combative far longer than he does. For a long time. A long, long time. (Warning: I have realized I have a kink about saintly-ish men and the bitchy women they love despite a ridiculous amount of bitchiness and this falls into that crevice.) Lots of misunderstanding ensues and persists without let up. Much of the book's middle was assumptions and inner monologues at cross purposes, with very little, antagonistic dialogue or anything else for that matter. They yearned silently to themselves for detente but never say a peep. Wore me out.

However, Balogh brings the warmth, wonder and hope of the season to life in wonderful scenes with him meeting and hosting her huge, boisterous family once, all have gathered for the Christmas holiday at the earl's country house. Man and wife slowly see one another fairly, without the blinders of bias. Thank God. That was lovely.

Balogh explores the same class conflict turf here as in A Matter of Class (wonderful), that being the discomfort of the old-line, cash-strapped aristocracy facing the up and coming social ambitions of rich 'vulgarians' in England at this time. Here, there is more stereotyping and a less nuanced and elegant examination. The Transomes are hard-working, loving, expressive while the earl is stiff, bound by tradition and emotionally constipated by his rigid, unaffectionate upbringing. But he loosens up and, when she pulls the stick from her ass, and all is joy.

Not my favorite. For what it's worth, A Matter of Class has the edge for me.

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Dec 04, 2011 Virginia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-romance, read-2011

As a reissue, this book is about 100 pages shorter than current romances. However, despite fewer pages to get us into the story, I never missed them. The narrative voice of this book is lonely, wistful, and somewhat aloof - like both protagonists.

What I loved most about this story is the coming together of two extremely lonely, prickly individuals who start off, due to misunderstanding and desperation, truly detesting one another. But after an arranged marriage and the requisite growth, they co...more

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Dec 19, 2011 Nell rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

I am a Mary Balogh fan but not of this book. It's a dismal Christmas story. A wealthy middle class father arranges a marriage for his daughter with an aristocrat drowning in inherited debts. It's hate at first sight. Each stereotypes and believes the worst of the other. They marry and the father dies the next day. One thing I found implausible was that the daughter, Ellie, believes that her father who had doted on her and been devoted to her would arrange a marriage with someone as dissolute as...more

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Dec 25, 2010 Julie rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: mary-balogh, fiction, historical-romance

This book started out very, very slowly. Overall, it was a difficult read because of all the internal monologues. As a writer and a reader, I'm a fan of dialogue, so all the introspection didn't exactly work for me. I also think it was hard to read because of all the animosity between Randolph and Ellie, and all the repetition of "But they're from different classes! And they hate each other! And it's a marriage of convenience!" But as soon as Randolph and Ellie go to the country for Christmas, a...more This book started out very, very slowly. Overall, it was a difficult read because of all the internal monologues. As a writer and a reader, I'm a fan of dialogue, so all the introspection didn't exactly work for me. I also think it was hard to read because of all the animosity between Randolph and Ellie, and all the repetition of "But they're from different classes! And they hate each other! And it's a marriage of convenience!" But as soon as Randolph and Ellie go to the country for Christmas, and Ellie's loud, boisterous family shows up, the story improved. I read the rest of the book pretty quickly after that. I still felt slightly disconnected from the story, though.

The animosity does make sense in the context of the story: Ellie's father's dying wish was that she be married, and he asked Randolph, an earl, to marry her in order for Randolph's debts to be forgiven. They meet once before they get married. Ellie is only nineteen. So it does make sense. It's just annoying as hell to read.

As a warning, I was a little grossed out by the wedding night scene, which is, um, rougher than most romance novels. Which is fine, but the scene is WEIRD and borders on dubious consent. Meanwhile, it's because of all the sex they have that they fall in love. I would rather have seen the characters actually get to know each other instead of sex being the basis for their connection.

The romance was the weakest part of the book for me. I liked seeing Ellie and Randolph's barriers break down, but after reading about their disdain and misconceptions about each other for almost 200 pages -- and getting sick of reading about the disdain and misconceptions -- the turnaround happened a little too quickly.

I enjoyed A Christmas Promise in the parts with Ellie's family, and when Randolph and Ellie weren't at each other's throats or having some huge misunderstanding, they were good together. But just as soon as you think they've made it past a hurdle and can work things out, nope! They start fighting again!

I'm struggling to see why this book has been so highly praised on some review blogs. I let my mom borrow it after I finished it, and she read it in about a day and had the same reaction to it that I did.(less)

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Dec 28, 2012 Sharyn rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It is fun to read these old Regency's that have all been reprinted. I know my reviews are not so insightful as some. I just like people to know what they are getting if they read a book, and if I liked it. "A Christmas promise is another lovely story about an Earl in debt and a Coal merchant father who wants his daughter to be happy. He buys up the debt and forgives it if the Earl will marry his daughter. Once again misunderstandings abound. She thinks he ran up the debt and he thinks she wants...more

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Mar 17, 2012 Lady Wesley rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Lady Wesley by: DearAuthor.com

Shelves: favorites, amz-rev

I generally don't care for Christmas-related romances, but Mary Balogh overcame all of my prejudices with this one. I'm surprised at myself, but this truly deserves five stars.

Eleanor Transome is a cit, the daughter of a fabulously wealthy coal merchant. Although she has been educated to be a proper lady, she has no desire to elevate her social standing and yearns only to marry her second cousin Wilfred. He, however, is a mere clerk and has told her that he cannot marry her as he has no prospect...more I generally don't care for Christmas-related romances, but Mary Balogh overcame all of my prejudices with this one. I'm surprised at myself, but this truly deserves five stars.

Eleanor Transome is a cit, the daughter of a fabulously wealthy coal merchant. Although she has been educated to be a proper lady, she has no desire to elevate her social standing and yearns only to marry her second cousin Wilfred. He, however, is a mere clerk and has told her that he cannot marry her as he has no prospects and refuses to live off of his wife's wealth.

Randolph Pierce has recently succeeded his spendthrift cousin as Earl of Falloden. He is virtually penniless, but he cannot bring himself to sell his beloved ancestral home Grenfell Park. When Eleanor's father buys up all of Randolph's debts and offers to forgive them if Randolph marries Eleanor, Randolph is repulsed but tempted. He knows that his true love's father will never let her marry an impoverished earl.

Randolph reluctantly decides to marry Eleanor, and Eleanor agrees to marry Randolph, but only because her father is on the verge of death and she will do anything to make him happy in his final days.

At this point, experienced romance readers may spot a resemblance to Georgette Heyer's A Civil Contract, one of her best Regencies. While that book, however, is largely melancholy, this one takes a more optimistic turn.

Neither Randolph nor Eleanor is happy about this marriage, and they get off to a terrible start. When Eleanor's father dies shortly thereafter, Eleanor can't even grieve, and Randolph decides that she is a cold, social-climbing bitch. She thinks him equally an equally cold, wastrel snob.

Things begin to change, however, when they journey to Grenfell Park for Christmas. To spite Randolph and to obey her father's request that she let off mourning and celebrate Christmas, Eleanor invites her entire extended family for the holiday -- twenty loud, boisterous, vulgar aunts, uncles, and cousins. Randolph has already invited four aristocratic friends who have nowhere else to go, thinking that they five will get in a lot of shooting.

At Grenfell Park, Eleanor and Randolph begin to develop an unwilling attraction, but they continue to spar with hurtful words and actions. There is a lot, perhaps too much, internal dialog, as both spouses begin to see one another in a new light. The arrival of Eleanor's family brings in lots of humor; my favorite being their addressing the earl as "Randy."

Balogh sets out an entirely credible story, as Eleanor and Randolph gradually change and eventually fall in love with one another.

This book made me smile. I'll bet you will too.
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Jan 19, 2012 KatiD rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: a-review-ish

The truth is, I generally loathe holiday themed novels or novellas of any kind. Most particularly Halloween stories, followed closely by Christmas. But in November, Dear Author featured a joint review of A Christmas Promise by Mary Balogh which intrigued me.

Weddings are supposed to be joyous occasions—especially when a couple seems as well matched as Randolph Pierce, Earl of Falloden, and his bride-to-be, Eleanor Transome. Ellie brings to the marriage a vast dowry, while Falloden, though distant...more The truth is, I generally loathe holiday themed novels or novellas of any kind. Most particularly Halloween stories, followed closely by Christmas. But in November, Dear Author featured a joint review of A Christmas Promise by Mary Balogh which intrigued me.

Weddings are supposed to be joyous occasions—especially when a couple seems as well matched as Randolph Pierce, Earl of Falloden, and his bride-to-be, Eleanor Transome. Ellie brings to the marriage a vast dowry, while Falloden, though distant, is handsome, tremendously desirable, and possessed of a title most young ladies can only dream of sharing.

Yet Ellie is not most young ladies. She knows that she must honor her dear father’s dying wish for her to wed the proud earl, but she dreads a lifetime in a union without love—and how can Falloden claim to love her when he married her only for her fortune? As Christmas descends upon the Falloden manor, the warmth of the season may yet melt away the trappings of duty and wealth, leaving behind only a man and a woman destined for each other’s arms.

Ellie's father has bought an Earl for her. You see, he is dying, and wants nothing more than his beloved daughter settled and cared for after his death. To that end, he has bought all of the debts entailed to the Earl of Falloden and basically forced him to marry his "cit" daughter. The Earl agrees, but is put off by the crassness of the request and the worry that Eleanor will be uncouth and embarrass him.

When he meets Ellie, he finds her to be a lovely, but decidedly cold woman who shows no emotion, even in the face of her father dying. In fact, Ellie feels so much that she literally shuts down when faced with too much emotional strain. Which is why Falloden believes her to be cold and unfeeling. But as the holidays approach, and Ellie's entire family descends upon Falloden's quiet country home, the Earl gets to know Ellie better, and slowly falls in love with this prickly, argumentative, warm and caring woman.

Balogh is very hit or miss for me. If I read something that works for me by her, I don't just like it, I LOVE it. If I read something I don't like, I hate it. I think it's because when Balogh works for me, it's utterly, so it's always a profound disappointment when she writes something that I don't like. In the case of A Christmas Promise, it's LOVE.

The story features Balogh's delicate touch at character development. The two main characters are such disparate people, from such different backgrounds, that it's hard as a reader to figure out how Balogh will find a way for them to come together. Their relationship is like a "real" relationship, going in fits and starts, with a variety of mis-steps by both characters. But they are both so well developed, and their introspection is such that we root for them to find a way. The novella is short, about 180 pages in my eReader, but at no time did I feel rushed, or that Balogh took any short cuts in the development of the story. The secondary characters are delightful and add color and life to the story, offering insights into both characters without seeming like "exposition only" characters.

Overall, A Christmas Promise is a well written, sweet holiday themed romance that offers a quick and completely satisfying romance.

Final grade: B+
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Dec 13, 2011 Ann has a dirty mouth rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical

I only gave this book three stars, but It is really closer to a 3.5 for me. Darn goodreads and their no half stars.

One thing that I love about Mary Balogh books in general and this book in particular is that the Regency period comes to life. When reading newer books by Julia Quinn or Stephanie Laurens, it can seem like the past is a blur of balls and parties and walks in the park. Mary Balogh never lets you forget that the class divide is ugly and that history has some gritty parts as well. Man...more

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Aug 19, 2011 Booklover rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: cheating-grovel, blackmailed-deal, divorce-separated-reunion-2nd-chanc, emotional-tear-jerker, historical, love, mistress-secretery-lover, misunderstanding, parents, sibblings-best-friends, moc-mob

Such a wonderful read,Randolph-Eleanor both are forced to marry,both despise each other there's misunderstanding between then which leads them to think worse of each other but as time passes by these two start to understand each other,respect each other and fall in love with each other but then still there's the misunderstanding and the persons whom they thought they loved but then they realise it was not love just attraction/infactuation

Randolph thinks Eleanor is cold marble who does'nt feels a...more

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Jan 03, 2011 Ana T. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2010

After reading A Christmas Bride how could I resist picking up another Christmas story. Especially one that has been OOP for so long but has now been reprinted. I really couldn't and I am really happy I read it. Once again Balogh grabs a familiar situation - an impoverished lord marrying a rich Cit's daughter - but manages to write very original characters and situations.

Eleanor Transome's father is dying. He wants’ to leave her under the protection of a husband and he chooses the Earl of Fallode...more

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Dec 13, 2010 Megan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: romance, historical

I'm not really sure how I feel about this story. On the one hand it's Christmas, yay! I did enjoy the H/H Randolph aka Randy and Eleanor aka Ellie...except for those times when I hated them. This was a story chock FULL of Big Misunderstandings and it became very old, very fast.

That is really my one and only complaint though. When Randolph and Ellie were allowing themselves to be open to each other and not defensive at every turn, they had an obvious accord and the potential for great love. Elli...more

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Nov 24, 2010 Kristine rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, mine, romance-historical

I loved this book! A lot of books go with the premise of a misunderstanding or lack of communication as the catapult for conflict. And with most of those book, I'd rather slap the characters than continue turning pages. However, with A CHRISTMAS PROMISE, I truly understood why the characters were behaving the way they were and acutally sympathized (and probably would have reacted the same way).

It is a very sweet learning-to-love story about Ellie and Randolph. Randolph is an Earl, who inherited...more

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Nov 10, 2010 Hannah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A Christmas Promise takes familiar tropes and themes and presents them in a way that feels totally new and unique. I've heard Balogh's books referred to as "high concept" and after reading several of them, I understand why.

This story had a lot more angst than other Christmas-themed romances I've read recently. I found that Ellie was more prickly than other "nouveau riche" heroines I've encountered. While this meant it took me a long time to warm up to her, in the end it made her seem more of a c...more

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Jan 30, 2012 Gina rated it 2 of 5 stars

Eleanor and Randolf, Earl of Falloden, hate each other. This complicates things since they're married. Eleanor is the daughter of a very wealthy coal merchant, and Randolf is impoverished after inheriting the title and some serious debt. Eleanor's father buys the debts in an effort to force Randolf to marry her, thereby making her a Countess, and see her settled before he dies. This book features three plot devices I love in historical romance: 1. The couple are married before they fall in love....more

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Dec 14, 2010 Crista rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 3-star, historical, holiday, regency, tear-jerkers

This one was a difficult read for me. I can say that Mary Balogh certainly isn't afraid to "push the limits" of romancelandia, and she certainly does so with A Christmas Promise.

This marriage does not start out good...at all. It is an arranged marriage. Randolph will marry for money in order to get out of debts, and in return, Eleanor will become a member of the peerage. They have an intense dislike, even hate, for each other right off the bat.

******Warning****** for those that hate cheating in...more

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Dec 05, 2010 Willow Brook rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical

2 Stars for a romance
3 Stars for an interesting story

This is the first Mary Balogh I've read so I'm not sure how typical this is of her work. And I will choose the next book by her very carefully, I think. My biggest problem was I didn't care for either the hero or heroine who treated each other very shabbily, even terribly at times, for much of the story. I didn't find either Randolph, the impoverished Earl or Ellie, the wealthy coal merchant's daughter he is forced into marrrying to be "Romanc...more 2 Stars for a romance
3 Stars for an interesting story

This is the first Mary Balogh I've read so I'm not sure how typical this is of her work. And I will choose the next book by her very carefully, I think. My biggest problem was I didn't care for either the hero or heroine who treated each other very shabbily, even terribly at times, for much of the story. I didn't find either Randolph, the impoverished Earl or Ellie, the wealthy coal merchant's daughter he is forced into marrrying to be "Romance material."

I could live with their prejudices and misconceptions about each other. He thinks she is grasping, cold and status seeking. She thinks he is an arrogant, self-centered spend-thrift. That's standard Romance stuff. It was the unkind, even cruel things they said and did to each other. And the believable, mundane ways they were so mean that made the book often feel very unRomance-like.

Whenever feeling threatened, frightened, in pain or belittled, Ellie's response is to become hard as stone and/or lash out. And since she is only 19 years old, just lost her beloved father, and married to a man she thinks disdains her class, she is cold, unpleasant and nasty constantly at first. A few times she thinks "I'm becoming a shrew." Becoming? Ay, yi, yi!

Randolph would be fairly likeable except for the awful way he treats Ellie in bed. The first sex scene is disturbing and weird. Their next couple sexual encounters aren't a whole lot better. Yet it is supposed to be in their sexual relationship that they begin to fall in love. Ok. Takes all kinds, I suppose.

Most of the story takes place as Randolph, Ellie, his friends and her family gather to celebrate Christmas. During the magic of the season, the unhappy couple change their behavior, discover the better qualities in each other and begin to fall in love. There are lots of scenes showing everyone decorating, romping in the snow, singing, playing games, etc. At times I found the descriptions went on a bit too long but overall they were fun to read and advanced the story of two miserable people discovering happiness and love.

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Dec 25, 2011 Trisha rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: christmas-romance

This book would have been perfect if not for a couple of things that bothered me very much. I didn't like that Ellie was so cold every time Randolph was around it didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. When her father dies which is a very emotional scene but Ellie was just a cold statue no emotion at all. It was no wonder that Randolph didn't like her for awhile she showed no hint that she had feelings and wasn't a robot. I had to warm up to Ellie as did Randolph had to. I liked Randolph but he...more

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Jan 07, 2013 Carrie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical, fake-relationship-moc, manipulative-friends-family, read-2013, humorous

3.5*
Grade B/B-)

This was a mostly enjoyable, sometimes humorous, story of a marriage across the strict social divide of regency England. There are some similarities to Heyer's book, A Civil Contract, although A Christmas Promise is more light-hearted overall and with an HEA solidly planted in Romancelandia. One of the things I like about A Civil Contract is the believability of the emotions and the fact that, in the end there is a comfortable contentedness about the marriage. Here we get all the...more

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Jan 26, 2013 Cindy rated it 4 of 5 stars

This story starts out unpleasant & sad. Ellie's father is a rich coal merchant who is dying of cancer. He wants his daughter taken care of, with a title to boot, so he picks out Randolph, who is an Earl (impoverished). He buys out Randolph's debts & forces him to agree to a marriage to Ellie, after which he'll be rich beyond imagination.
Ellie & Randolph dislike each other - intensely. Ellie believes him to be an aristocratic snob who has a gambling problem. He thinks she's cold, o...more

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Jul 13, 2012 Sita rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Felt like reading something light and frothy and this fits the bill. Plus, at less than $2, it's a total steal :D

I'm a conservative at heart. Though I understand that not everybody in the world shares my conviction it is nice to read a romance novel where the lead characters are married, to each other. Oh yes, this being set in ye merry olde england, there's a bit about mistress here and there but it's just a bit of spice. All of the bedroom scenes except maybe one or two are all done by our new...more

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Dec 22, 2010 Beth rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: romances

This is a hard one to rate for me. I felt that the initial feelings of the hero and heroine were completely believable and understandable, but as I got to know the two characters, I started to sympathize less and less with the heroine. I got the feeling that, if she were real, she would be one of those people who reads insults into every comment, no matter how kind. It wasn't too hard to reach this conclusion, as she takes offense and becomes rude every time she's unsure of where she stands with...more

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Dec 09, 2010 Linda G rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: christmas-romance-seasonal

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Aug 20, 2011 Emily M rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I liked the idea of a couple working through their issues as a married couple. The absence of a villain, besides their own misconceptions and prejudices, was refreshing. I enjoyed how Randolph and his friends learned from Eleanor and her family, though I would have liked to see more about hoe HE changed her. Everything, especially the secondary character romances, tied up almost too neatly in a bright Christmas bow. The weeks leading to the concluding scenes at the Christmas gathering seemed as...more

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Jan 02, 2013 Andree rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013

So, I did find reading this as a library book on my Kobo awfully convenient. And I found that the last third of the book was probably the strongest. I did think there was a bit too much stupid fighting to no purpose. By which I mean that both parties should have known that the other wasn't actually insulting them more than once. It just felt like there was a bit too much contrivance to keep them apart. And I had issues with the cruelty to each other in the first third.

But it ended up being fun,...more

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Dec 09, 2010 Nicole Romine rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: romance, historical-fiction

A thoroughly predictable regency romance. An arranged marriage during the Christmas season between the daughter of a coal merchant and a Lord leads to an obvious plot-line – they hate each, they misunderstand each, they love each other, and they really LOVE each other. I was quite annoyed with the repeated squabbles caused by the stubborn silence of both the hero and heroine. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed the Transomes, i.e. the working class family, and their sense of humor and light-hearted fu...more

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Dec 27, 2011 Tracie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-romance, regency, traditional-regency, read-in-2011

I really liked this story. It was a little different for me since the H/h seemed to be a little detached from one another. I put the story in its context and their thoughts and feelings were a more accurate portrayal of 2 strangers who find themselves married after only 1 meeting when it was a marriage neither of them wanted.

I liked how they slowly grew more comfortable with each other and eventually grew to love one another. The romance was a little more on the lower level for the story, but th...more

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Nov 04, 2010 Joy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, romance

Re-release of an old Signet Regency . A wealthy, dying merchant arranges the marriage of his daughter and an impoverished, debt-ridden Lord. The hero thinks the heroine is only trying to improve her social status; she thinks he's a wastrel. The truth is much more complicated. The book starts off with them loathing each other; the wedding night scene was actually kind of rough to read. Yet as they go to his estate for Christmas, the relaxed setting and the presence of the heroine's large, gregari...more

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Jan 14, 2013 Rosemary rated it 3 of 5 stars

I really liked the premise of this book, but was less enamored of the execution.

Still, in the great, wide world of Regency romance writers, Mary Balogh is one I can rely on to respect the English language and her readers. Her prose is always good, and her plots are never stupid. She has a deft hand with giving minor characters depth, and manages to avoid getting so detailed in descriptions of the scene and artifacts that the stories leave center stage.

So, all in all, worth the time I put into re...more

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Nov 25, 2010 Barbara rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: romance

Standard Marriage of Convenience story--she has money, but her father is a coal merchant. He has a title, but a ton of inherited debts. Her father engineers the match on his death bed. And so on. Eleanore and Randolph each bring a boat load of emotional baggage to this marriage, as well as definite prejudices about the other, based on the class differences.
Balogh pens a nicely sentimental romance, with most of the action taking place around Christmas.
I am not sure if I believe in the romance, bu...more

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Apr 04, 2013 Gerrie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: class-differences, romance-historical, romance-regency, arranged-marriage-or-marriage-of-co

It pains me to give this book a three star rating. The author is the terrific Mary Balogh, and she infuses this book with so much of her magic. The description of the Christmas house party alone is worth five stars. She creates a large cast of secondary characters, and gives them each personality and individuality. I wanted to jump into the book and be part of the wonderful festivities.

I expected that I would see the surface of the hero and heroine as the book opened. Then, as each chapter progr...more It pains me to give this book a three star rating. The author is the terrific Mary Balogh, and she infuses this book with so much of her magic. The description of the Christmas house party alone is worth five stars. She creates a large cast of secondary characters, and gives them each personality and individuality. I wanted to jump into the book and be part of the wonderful festivities.

I expected that I would see the surface of the hero and heroine as the book opened. Then, as each chapter progressed, I expected the author to take us past the surface into the cores of who these characters truly are, layer by layer. Balogh always does this so beautifully; she certainly did it here.

So, why only three stars? This is a story of an arranged marriage. Eleanor is a "cit," the daughter of a self made man, a coal merchant. Randolph is an earl, who has inherited a debt-ridden estate, and he can't possibly pay off the debts. Eleanor's father buys up Randolph's debts, and tells Randolph he will cancel all the debts, as well as settle a fortune on the young earl, if Randolph marries his daughter. Understandably, the hero and heroine really resent each other in the beginning. Further, they have misconceptions about each other that aren't really cleared up until nearly the end of the book, far too long for these misunderstandings to go on. They should have been worked out sooner.

My major problem with the book was the heroine. She was always striking out at the hero, and it went on for far too long. Throughout the book Eleanor is referred to as warm and generous. Yet her behavior to the hero is so nasty I just could not like her. She definitely has some justification in the beginning, especially when she finds out he has a mistress, and he has made no secret of the fact that he's unhappy about the marriage. However, even after Randolph has told Eleanor that he's broken it off with his mistress, and continues to offer her olive branches, Eleanor slaps him away. I can't give a high rating to a book where I find either the hero or heroine unsympathetic. And here I found the heroine extremely unsympathetic.
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avg rating	preview: A Christmas Promise Goodreads rating: 3.70 (780 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7682972-a-christmas-promise?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320527422l/7682972.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7682972-a-christmas-promise?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]A Christmas Promise by Mary Balogh[/url]

A Christmas Promise

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Trivia About A Christmas Promise