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Gift-Wrapped Governess

(Regency Bachelors #0.5)

Sophia James,

Annie Burrows (Goodreads Author),

Marguerite Kaye (Goodreads Author)

3.57 · Rating details · 260 ratings · 39 reviews

"Christmas at Blackhaven Castle" by Sophia James

In disguise, penniless Lady Seraphina Moreton seeks sanctuary at the Duke of Blackhaven's castle just days before Christmas. Trey swore never again to be beguiled by a beautiful face, but as governess Seraphina gets close to his unruly, motherless children, he wants the festive joy she brings to stay well beyond Christmas Day ...more

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Paperback, 288 pages

Published October 18th 2011 by Harlequin

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Lists with This Book

Quirky List - great romances with 'GOVERNESS' as heroine

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· 260 ratings · 39 reviews

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Dec 16, 2018 Sharon rated it really liked it

Shelves: england, historical-fiction

Dukes. Governesses. Ladies in disguises as governesses. Ladies asked to pretend to be governesses.

These are the characters in the three Christmas novellas contained in "Gift-Wrapped Governess." In each case, the women have been known to the dukes since childhood ... so the seeming insta-love isn't as bizarre as it might initially appear.

Here's the thing; these books always have the anticipated happy ending. You know what you're getting, regardless of the lack of historicity. They're good fun and ...more

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Nov 29, 2019 Rosie Amber rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: regency-romance

Gift-Wrapped Governesses contains three long short-stories all with a Christmas and Regency romantic theme.

These are easy reads and would make an ideal seasonal gift for fans of the genre.

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Dec 09, 2015 Amy rated it it was ok

Three stories in one book. I wasn't really crazy about the three of them.
"Christmas at Blackhaven Castle"--3 stars--probably the best of the three. But it was just okay. Nothing for me to get excited about, but it wasn't completely lacking, either.

"Governess to Christmas Bride"--1 star--Honeysuckle Miller is basically a school teacher and Lord Chestow arrives to insult her and lecture her on how to discipline children. As a former school teacher, myself, I was appalled by this male character tel Three stories in one book. I wasn't really crazy about the three of them.
"Christmas at Blackhaven Castle"--3 stars--probably the best of the three. But it was just okay. Nothing for me to get excited about, but it wasn't completely lacking, either.

"Governess to Christmas Bride"--1 star--Honeysuckle Miller is basically a school teacher and Lord Chestow arrives to insult her and lecture her on how to discipline children. As a former school teacher, myself, I was appalled by this male character telling a school teacher on how to discipline boys by using corporal punishment, and then she had the nerve to feel chastised by this man who had no experience in the classroom himself. (Kind of like legislators who have no teaching experience but make laws regarding teacher--rather irks me). Then this Lord Chestow starts quoting Bible verses as the authority in corporal punishment. I was appalled by this author's ideas. And then Miss Miller is suddenly "attracted" to him soon after he mocks and lectures her. I would have been livid by his disrespect. Not only this, but soon after he has the gall to disrespect her in this manner, he reduces her character even further by viewing her as a mere sex object. The author writes, "If he stood here staring at her bottom for very much longer, he would be saluting her with something more tangible than an imaginary sword," soon after he lectured her about corporal punishment being the correct way to handle boys.
Throughout the rest of the story, Lord Chestow continues to act like an arrogant, immature jerk and only out for himself. He continues to tease and mock Miss Miller. He is not the type of man I would personally ever want as a suitor.

"Duchess by Christmas"--2 stars--The male character in this story is just as bad as the one in "Governess to Christmas Bride." Regan arrives at the home of childhood friend Duke of Blairmore with her 3 half-siblings for the Christmas holiday. But he has decided that, in order to impress 3 potential bride choices for himself, he wants Regan to act in the role of governess to her 3 siblings. His mother, who always has had a horrible attitude towards Regan, also treats Regan with disdain and disrespect. Gabriel (the Duke of Blairmore) never takes Regan's feelings into account. He is another arrogant jerk who is only concerned with himself and his future prospects, never about what Regan wants. ...more

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Sep 27, 2012 Alison rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, signed-by-the-author, christmas-reads

I was given a copy of this book on condition that I write an honest review.

This book is a set of three Christmas novellas, themed to the heroines being Governesses in each story.
Story 1: Christmas at Blackhaven Castle by Sophia James
The first story was a bit hit and miss for me, I found a lot of the detail didn’t feel correct, and this made the characters also jar for me.

I probably liked the pasts of the hero and heroine and the fact that they healed them together more than anything else. Lady S I was given a copy of this book on condition that I write an honest review.

This book is a set of three Christmas novellas, themed to the heroines being Governesses in each story.
Story 1: Christmas at Blackhaven Castle by Sophia James
The first story was a bit hit and miss for me, I found a lot of the detail didn’t feel correct, and this made the characters also jar for me.

I probably liked the pasts of the hero and heroine and the fact that they healed them together more than anything else. Lady Seraphina Moreton is trying to escape her past as much as the Duke of Blackhaven in which it is his house that she finds solace as a governess to his children.

Story 2: Governess to Christmas Bride by Annie Burrows
This was a slight improvement for me in terms of writing, but I didn’t feel that the love story was believable between the hero and heroine. I also didn’t like the hero – he seemed to me to be particularly uncaring of the consequences of what his actions brought about, especially as the person he supposedly loved could easily lose her job because of it.

Heroine Honeysuckle Miller has known the hero Lord Chepstow since childhood and she is the friend of his sister. He also seems to fall in love with her infeasibly quickly, even for a novella!

Story 3: Duchess by Christmas by Marguerite Kaye
This is the best of the three stories I think, and they increase in quality as you read them. Although there are lots of things I questioned in this story, it does reach a satisfying and sweet conclusion.

The heroine is Regan Stuart, who returns to her childhood home posing as a governess to help the hero, another Duke, Gabriel to choose a bride in order to have somewhere for her and her brothers and sisters to stay.

I did enjoy the rags to riches experience of Regan, and Gabriel was a fine tortured hero, but I did not enjoy the secondary characters so much and the story was wrapped up (if you pardon the pun) rather too easily for me.

A mostly enjoyable anthology, especially useful if you are busy over the Christmas period and can only read in small chunks as it is a light read.

I also read A Sinful Regency Christmas at the same time as this one, and if I had to choose only one of them, I would recommend reading A Sinful Regency Christmas as the stories are better in that book.
...more

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Nov 06, 2011 Susan rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, category-romance, historical-romance, anthology

Good stories. In the first, I liked the way that Trey immediately saw that Seraphina was in need of his help. It didn't take him long to fall for her. In the second, I wasn't very impressed with Lord Chepstow. He was too heedless of how his actions affected others, though he was getting better by the end of the story. In the third, the Duke was pretty cold-blooded in the way he was searching for a bride. I did like the way that he treated the children, and that he soon saw that he wouldn't be ha ...more

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Jul 13, 2017 Emily rated it liked it

Shelves: romance, regency, anthology

This was an average collection of short stories about governesses falling in love during Christmas. I found this to a large uninspiring collection, and all of the stories had some pretty flaws in them.

Christmas at Blackhaven Castle by Sophia James - 2 stars

Lady Seraphina Moreton is on the run and disguises herself as a governess. Right before Christmas, she is hired by the Duke of Blackhaven to act as governess for his three sons. Blackhaven is a widower of some years, and his wife cheated on hi This was an average collection of short stories about governesses falling in love during Christmas. I found this to a large uninspiring collection, and all of the stories had some pretty flaws in them.

Christmas at Blackhaven Castle by Sophia James - 2 stars

Lady Seraphina Moreton is on the run and disguises herself as a governess. Right before Christmas, she is hired by the Duke of Blackhaven to act as governess for his three sons. Blackhaven is a widower of some years, and his wife cheated on him repeatedly. His sons, particularly his middle child, have some issues relating to their mother's death, and have scared away all their previous governesses. Blackhaven isn't sure Seraphina is up to the job but has no other choice. However, he quickly realizes that his governess isn't all that she seems, and over the course of Christmas, Seraphina helps the duke's heal and falls in love with the man.

So this was an ok story, but I had a couple of big issues with it. One of my big issues is with Blackhaven's wife. (view spoiler) Seraphina's problems are all resolved off screen with just a quick mention in the epilogue, so I wish there had been more resolution on that front. I also felt that Terence's problems were solved too quickly. He hasn't spoken in years, and then Seraphina shows up, and he's speaking again immediately. I know it was a novella, so there's not a lot of page space, but I think James just had too much going on in this story. The actual relationship between Seraphina and Blackhaven was sweet, but I had so many other issues that I can't rate this higher.

Governess to Christmas Bride by Annie Burrows - 3 stars

Lord Chepstow is on the run from marriage. His friend, Lord Havelock, has recently decided he needs to get married, and Chepstow wants none of that, so he leaves town to partake in a Christmas house party. The governess of his host's children happens to be his sister's old friend, Honeysuckle Miller. Despite not actually liking her, Chepstow decides to check in on her, and over the course of the party, the two of them realize that more than simple hatred lies between them.

This story was actually the reason why I picked up this anthology because I liked Havelock's story. I liked this one better than the first story in this anthology. Enemies to lovers is always a fun trope, and this was a well written example of it, and I liked the sexual tension between the two of them. However, Chepstow wasn't redeemed enough for me. His big flaw, as pointed out to him repeatedly by Honeysuckle, is that he doesn't stop and think about other people. He just does things without worrying how they impact other people, and I don't think that that flaw was ever really fixed. Yes, he was there for Honeysuckle, but I'm not sure his bigger problem of thinking only about himself was ever really fixed, nor can be. He's a bit too dickish for me. (view spoiler)[I also questioned the event that led to Honeysuckle getting fired. A woman who wants to get with Chepstow goes up to the empty schoolroom in the middle of the night and catches Chepstow and Honeysuckle kissing. I just don't understand why she went up there, and it felt like a plothole to me.

Duchess by Christmas by Marguerite Kaye - 3 stars

Regan Stuart and Gabriel, Duke of Blairmore were childhood best friends. However, when her father, Gabriel's father's steward, dies, she has to leave Blairmore Hall. Her mother eventually remarries, but after her mother and stepfather die, Regan is left to raise her younger half-siblings. When Gabriel reaches out to her for the first time in years and invites her to Christmas, Regan wonders if her life might be turning itself around. However, once she gets to Blairmore, she discovers that Gabriel just wants her siblings to pose as his new wards and for her to act as their governess, so he can see how his potential wives react to children. Regan is upset but agrees. However, over the course of Christmas, Gabriel finds himself focusing more on his former friend than his potentials and questions what he really wants.

This was a good story dragged down by another jerk hero. Gabriel and Regan were supposed to be friends, but he never even reached out to her and offered his condolences to her when her father died. She just leaves, and the next time he contacts her, it's when he needs something from her. He just seemed like a flake to me, and it was also rude of him to invite Regan to his home and then spring on her that actually, he needs her to pretend to be a governess and help him choose a wife. I liked the actual progression of the romance, but I hated Gabriel, so I just couldn't really get into it.

I don't think I can really recommend this collection. None of the stories are really good, and only one of them is really a governess story. Two of them are just about women pretending to be governesses. If you have nothing else to read, this isn't bad, but there's better out there. (hide spoiler)] ...more

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Dec 25, 2019 EuroHackie rated it liked it

Shelves: auto-read-author, setting-1810s, i-own-this, auto-buy-author, length-novella, category-historical-romance, plot-moppets, trope-in-love-with-bff-s-sibling, trope-childhood-friends-to-lovers

Christmas at Blackhaven Castle - Sophia James - ⭐
Lawd, but this story was terrible. Not only was it shallow and silly, but what, exactly, was the point of setting it in the 1810s? If you're not going to play within the societal bounds of your chosen time period, then why choose it at all?

That was bad enough, but this story contained a lot of my squicks, including a major power imbalance and a creepy age difference. The heroine spends half the story thinking that the hero was once her mother's lo Christmas at Blackhaven Castle - Sophia James - ⭐
Lawd, but this story was terrible. Not only was it shallow and silly, but what, exactly, was the point of setting it in the 1810s? If you're not going to play within the societal bounds of your chosen time period, then why choose it at all?

That was bad enough, but this story contained a lot of my squicks, including a major power imbalance and a creepy age difference. The heroine spends half the story thinking that the hero was once her mother's lover, and the other half wanting him to be her lover. Ugh, gross! That, plus the employer/employee power differential, was too much. Do not want!

Governess to Christmas Bride - Annie Burrows - ⭐⭐⭐
Ms. Burrows is one of my auto-read authors, and for the most part, I really enjoyed this story. The hero and heroine had known each other since they were children (the heroine is the hero's sister's BFF), though they hadn't always gotten along. The heroine is very prickly (for good reason, mind), and for some reason, this time, the hero is turned on by it instead of off. He takes advantage of her position as the household governess and with his kisses his compromises her reputation, managing to get her thrown out into a storm before Christmas. He runs off gallantly after her, but he doesn't really take 'no' or any of her protestations seriously, which was my major problem with this story. I don't like a hero who takes 'no' to mean 'yes', even when he has the best of intentions towards his heroine. She is her own person, after all, and deserves to have a say in her future. I think the truncated nature of the novella hurts this story, because everything happens so fast that it's hard to feel the love that both main characters proclaim.

Duchess by Christmas - Marguerite Kaye - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The best of the bunch by a far margin, though not without some niggles. The heroine and the hero are childhood friends who grew up together; heroine as the steward's daughter, hero as the heir to a ducal estate. When her father died, her family moved away, and the pair lost touch. 12 years later, the hero contacts the heroine and asks for her help to select an appropriate bride, one who will be a good mother to his future children. His own childhood was abject misery and he's determined that his children when have more than he did. The heroine, with her 3 half-siblings, present the perfect ready-made 'family' of distant cousins on which to try out the potential brides. Meanwhile, the hero and the heroine are reconnecting and remembering their childhood friendship, along with a very adult attraction that has now sprung up between them, and each agonize over their attraction, given that he is supposed to be choosing a different bride.

This story definitely had the most developed characters (both main and supporting cast), and it was the most entertaining to read. The children were adorable; the potential brides each had distinct personalities and weren't all horrible harpies to the children (or the heroine, who was posing as her siblings' governess). I like it when characters have some depth and shades of gray to them.

The ending is predictable, but sweet. I thought the sex scene was extraneous and actually spoiled the romance with lust, and made it seem like they had to marry, even though that's not how it played out in the end. I'm glad there was not Grand Romantic Gesture, though the dialogue during the marriage proposal scene was a bit OTT.

Either way, it was a very pleasant way to spend Christmas afternoon, and I'm always happy to add another story by Ms. Kaye to my 'read' pile! ...more

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Sep 21, 2017 AMP rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I found this set of novellas while I was looking for #2 in a series of books by Annie Burrows. The novella Governess to Christmas bride tells the story of Lord Chepstow who played a role in the beginning of the first book in the series- Lord Harclock's list. The thought of a helping his friend find a wife sends him fleeing to the country and of course he finds his own love. Well written and a cute story. Really want the protagonist to get her come uppance though! That probably would have been a ...more

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Dec 06, 2016 Valerie rated it liked it

Shelves: romance, explicit

Enjoyable fluff to get romance readers in the mood for Christmas. I don't have much else to say besides "I enjoyed it"—some of the thoughts/themes were interesting, but when 3 stories share the space one novel would normally take up there's not all that much room for surprises. That's part of the charm though: simple plots that would be stretched thin in a longer book, but that were enjoyable in shorter stories. ...more

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May 30, 2020 Jo is currently reading it

Shelves: owned, 2020

Governess to Christmas Bride - Forgettable, although it is hard to set up HEA in a short story. I liked how the characters of both hero and heroine are improved by the other. Was a bit surprised by use of the L-word, as I had actually quite enjoyed that they were acting on the potential for love.

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Jul 26, 2018 Sarah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: romance

Ridiculous instant love short stories but great fun.

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Aug 21, 2018 Jazzysmum rated it liked it

Enjoyable read upon a theme, leaving you wanting more.

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Oct 19, 2017 Chelsea rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-romance, anthologies, holiday-related, regency, harlequin-rewards

Christmas at Blackhaven Castle By, Sophia James - 5 Stars
I really enjoyed this story and loved all the characters. The Duke of Blackhaven's sons David, Terence, and Gareth were all really sweet and I loved seeing the relationships between them and both Seraphina as well as their father. I loved seeing how they all came together and became a family while getting ready for Christmas and thought this was a really sweet story and I enjoyed the epilogue at the end as well.

Governess to Christma Christmas at Blackhaven Castle By, Sophia James - 5 Stars
I really enjoyed this story and loved all the characters. The Duke of Blackhaven's sons David, Terence, and Gareth were all really sweet and I loved seeing the relationships between them and both Seraphina as well as their father. I loved seeing how they all came together and became a family while getting ready for Christmas and thought this was a really sweet story and I enjoyed the epilogue at the end as well.

Governess to Christmas Bride By, Annie Burrows - 5 Stars
Connected to Lord Havelock's List
This story was a lot of fun with great characters and I enjoyed seeing how Lord Chepstow and Honeysuckle Miller's perceptions of one another change as they actually start to get to know each other on a more personal level. It was also entertaining to watch as Lord Chepstow started to fall in love with Honeysuckle and then convince her he is sincere about his pursuit of her. I really enjoyed reading this story although it would have been nice if it had an epilogue at the end. I look forward to reading more by this author, especially the connected story Lord Havelock's List.

Duchess by Christmas by Marguerite Kaye - 5 Stars
I really enjoyed this story and think it may have been my favorite in this anthology but it is hard to say for sure since they were all really fun. This is the first story I have read by Marguerite Kaye and I really enjoyed her writing and all the characters in this story were interesting and fun to get to know. I loved seeing how Gabriel learned to interact with Regan's siblings Portia, Land, and Jack as well as seeing how him and Regan got along as well. I also enjoyed seeing how the three Ladies he was trying to pick between as possible future wives (Lady Olivia, Lady Sarah, and Lady Lucinda) interacted with him as well as with the children. I especially liked Lady Lucinda and am glad she wasn't disappointed with how things worked out. I look forward to reading more by Marguerite Kaye in the future. ...more

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Aug 16, 2015 Maura rated it really liked it

Shelves: virgin-heroine, historical-romance, library, georgian-regency-victorian, anthology

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Christmas at Blackhaven Castle – Sophia James – 3/5 – Seraphina is trying to escape some awful incident in London and takes a position as a governess (in disguise) at Castle Blackhaven. Trey, the Lord of Blackhaven, sees through her act in a heartbeat and actually recognizes her within a day (having known her mother). He allows her to stay and she brings all kinds of corny Christmas joy to the family (I refer mostly to the spontaneous snowball fight). She also miraculously brings the children to Christmas at Blackhaven Castle – Sophia James – 3/5 – Seraphina is trying to escape some awful incident in London and takes a position as a governess (in disguise) at Castle Blackhaven. Trey, the Lord of Blackhaven, sees through her act in a heartbeat and actually recognizes her within a day (having known her mother). He allows her to stay and she brings all kinds of corny Christmas joy to the family (I refer mostly to the spontaneous snowball fight). She also miraculously brings the children to life and her dog is the reason the middle one can suddenly speak. Trey soon realizes that he is falling in love and he wants to marry Seraphina. This had quite a few corny moments in it that kind of made me roll my eyes, like when Trey’s sister suggests she’ll look the other way so they can have sex (get to know each other better) or when Seraphina actually asks Trey if he had been her mother’s lover (how old are these people?). It was a very cliché story, but still kind of enjoyable. I liked it, even as I recognized how silly some things were.

Governess to Christmas Bride – Annie Burrows – 3/5 – Lord Chepstow is visiting friends for Christmas and knows that his sister’s friend is a governess there and he stops by to see her. They fight and argue constantly, neither really having a good opinion of the other, but their eyes begin opening. Lord Chepstow (who we find out at the very end is named Martin…) starts out pretty stern and argumentative, even though he’s supposedly very adventurous and lives life to the fullest. Then, after the two characters share a very passionate kiss, he almost becomes comical, as he aggressively pursues her and talks to himself. It was actually somewhat strange. His actions get her dismissed and he has a very difficult time convincing her to marry him. This was just an okay story. I wasn’t too fond of the characters, though I didn’t necessarily dislike them.

Duchess by Christmas – Marguerite Kaye – 4/5 – The best of the three stories iMHO. Regan and Gabriel, now a Duke, were childhood playmates. After a five year separation, Gabriel invites Regan and her half-siblings to his estate, not to renew an acquaintance, but to have them pose as distant relatives, and her as a governess in order to help him choose a bride. But in all of this, Regan forces Gabriel to answer questions about whether he’s considered his own happiness and the possibility of love. It’s always good to see a story where the children are not obnoxious and actually serve a purpose to the story. At first I wasn’t sure I liked Gabriel because of his callousness, but he did learn and begin to understand what Regan kept trying to tell him, but he never really apologized for trying to use her for his own ends. Also, things got a little bit corny when he realized he was in love and I had visions of him skipping through fields of flowers or something. This was a really good story though, with enough angst and emotion to interest me.
...more

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Dec 01, 2012 Tonileg rated it it was ok

Shelves: historical, romance, second-chances, holiday, clean

Three holiday stories about people finding the Christmas spirit and some good loving in Historical English high society.

Story #1 "Christmas at Blackhaven Castle" by Sophia James
Lady Seraphina Moreton seeks sanctuary at the Duke of Blackhaven's castle just days before Christmas. Trey Duke of Blackhaven is a kind but damaged man who was maimed in the last war so his face has been disfigured on one side, but his heart has been broken by his light skirted late wife. Saraphina is a sweet naive twenty Three holiday stories about people finding the Christmas spirit and some good loving in Historical English high society.

Story #1 "Christmas at Blackhaven Castle" by Sophia James
Lady Seraphina Moreton seeks sanctuary at the Duke of Blackhaven's castle just days before Christmas. Trey Duke of Blackhaven is a kind but damaged man who was maimed in the last war so his face has been disfigured on one side, but his heart has been broken by his light skirted late wife. Saraphina is a sweet naive twenty year old, who is running from a bad situation which all comes out remarkably fast but that is unsurprising because Trey is one smart Duke. 2 stars that I read in the tub it was so short, but sweet.

Story #2 "Governess to Christmas Bride" by Annie Burrows
This starts out with a mean putdown to Miss Honeysuckle Miller, the governess from some young debutant that is following around Lord Chepstow. Miss Honeysuckle was in the midst of playing with the children so she wasn't looking her best, so it was so unfair and just plain mean because she can not say anything because she is the hired help. The lavish Christmas house party is going on as the prefect place for Honeysuckle to catch her best friend's older brother Martin (Lord Chepstow) who she has been in love with since she was a little girl. This has only a kiss so it is rated 'G' although there is a funny metaphor that he was 'all grown up' again as she glances at this trouser's buttons. 2 stars for a well written story about a deserving Cinderella finding her prince (or viscount in this case).

Story #3 "Duchess by Christmas" by Marguerite Kaye
Childhood friends that become lovers then get engaged to be married is the plot of this sweet romance story. The young Duke of Blairmore has a plan to get his childhood best friend, Miss Regan Stuart to help him pick out his future wife. Gabriel knows that he must secure an heir and so he must have a proper wife to make this new family so he has picked out three eligible heiress of good birth to choose from during the Christmas holiday. Regan agrees reluctantly to help him with this stupid plan. But all it does is throw the two of them together and the usual follows as they fall in love with their old deep friendship as a foundation. Gabriel makes Regan pose as a governess to her half siblings in front of the three ladies to watch how they treat the 'help' and his 'wards' as a test to how they will be mothers and lady of the manor. 2 stars.

288 pages
2 stars ...more

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Nov 06, 2014 Elaine rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: regency, christmas

Christmas at Blackhaven Castle - Sophia James
A HEA for two lonely people. An excellent story of heart-warming love. Very enjoyable read. My definite fave of the book.
4*
Governess to Christmas Bride - Annie Burrows
I love Christmas house party stories. Guest, Lord Chepstow, falls for the governess of host's children. Lord Chepstow seems a bit scatty at times, but all comes out right in the end. Another enjoyable read.
4*
Duchess By Christmas - Marguerite Kaye
It takes Gabriel quite a time to realise R ...more

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Sep 18, 2011 Jo-Ann Murphy rated it liked it

Shelves: romance, christmas

I was happy to win this book through the Goodreads giveaways. I needed a light diversion at this busy time of year.

A nice light holiday read. This is a collection of three short stories all about 100 pages long that are set long long ago in the days of lords and dukes and horse drawn carriages.

The first two stories were immediately engaging, but I was not as fond of the third, Duchess by Christmas. But all move quickly and lightly and are a good escape during the hustle and bustle of the presnet ...more

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Jul 29, 2015 Shelley rated it really liked it

Over all every good book. Sophia James Christmas at Blackhaven Castle was very entertaining. The first chapter sets it off with Seraphine's dog running scared and doing what's scared little doggies dog. Making people happy. One way to a child's heart. Annie Burrows Governess to Christmas Bride made you want to do some slaping of a certain person or two. But all comes right in the end. Marguerite Kaye's Duchess by Christmas has you wishing she could of put Gabriel in his place more often. Loved t ...more

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Nov 21, 2016 Ylva rated it liked it

Shelves: romance-historical, christmas

First story was 4/5 stars - fluffy, with a tad of insta-love, but overall the Christmas fluff made up for everything else.

Second story was 0/5 stars - i DNF at 50%, and I loathed both main characters equally. They were both just horrid.

Third story was 4/5 stars - didn't like it as much as the first, but heaps better than the second.

This being a collection of short Christmas stories they do tend to feel a bit more rushed - given the format that's to be expected. ...more

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Nov 21, 2011 Samantha rated it really liked it

This was my very first time reading a romance novel and I have to say that it was an enlightening read and I enjoyed this novel very much. I also want to thank Goodreads for giving me the opportunity to win this novel for being a Goodreads winner in a giveaway. It was a wonderful read and I am thankful that I was lucky enough to win it.

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Nov 03, 2012 Sarah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Three charming tales of love and romance Regency style - and at Christmas too. All three were very easy reading, with just enough humour, emotion and thwarted desire to keep me happily turning the pages - if historical romance is your thing you will not regret doling out the cash for this one. Will keep an eye out for anything else by these authors and snap it up forthwith...

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Nov 07, 2011 Joleen rated it liked it

Shelves: first-reads

I received this book from First Reads!

This book has 3 shorter stories in it all about Christmas. In all three stories the governess ends up with the wealthy man from higher society.

This was a fun short pleasure read. Very predictiable stories but nonetheless still fun to read.

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Aug 28, 2012 Sue rated it really liked it

Shelves: christmas

For the type "Novella's" they were all entertaining reads. I'm not fond of novella's because I always feel as though half the story has been skipped, but books set in the Christmas setting often have this treatment. So it's the downfall of reading Christmas romances. ...more

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Oct 01, 2011 Amy rated it liked it

Shelves: romance-historical

Not my favorite read of the year, but still okay. It passes the time.

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Nov 23, 2011 Rebecca (everyday reader) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: christmas, kindle-books, historical-romance

Charming Christmas stories that just goes to show us all that governesses need love too. Good, heatwarmimg read!!

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Dec 07, 2011 Jeannie Lee rated it it was amazing

Shelves: romance

Wonderful feel good stories! I adore these Christmas romance books.

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Dec 09, 2011 Kel rated it liked it

Shelves: romance-historical

Free down-load. I liked the 3rd story best, but all were sweet.

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Dec 24, 2011 Mary marked it as to-read

Very good book. Great for a Christmas read.

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Jan 10, 2012 Steamywindows♥♫ rated it liked it

I am only rating the second to stories in this book, and really I would give them between and 3 and 4.

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Jan 21, 2012 Fedora rated it liked it · review of another edition

Cute trio of historical Christmas romances. Fun reads for the season, but none stood out especially for me.

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About Sophia James

Sophia James

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Georgette Heyer novels formed Sophia James's reading tastes as a teenager lying in the sun on her grandmother's porch overlooking a wild west-coast beach.

Her writing life, however, started in Bilbao, Spain. After having three wisdom teeth extracted she was given a pile of Mills and Boons--filled with strong painkillers she imagined that she could pen one, too.

Many drafts later she thinks she has t ...more

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