The Great Christmas Ball

by Joan Smith

While translating what she believes is nothing more than a love letter written in German, Miss Cathy Lyman uncovers top secret information about Napoleon, and, with the help of Lord Costain, she plunges into the world of international intrigue.

Genres: Regency, Romance, Christmas, Holiday, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Humor

Mass Market Paperback

First published October 4, 1993

About the author

Joan Smith is a graduate of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, and the Ontario College of Education. She has taught French and English in high school and English in college. When she began writing, her interest in Jane Austen and Lord Byron led to her first choice of genre, the Regency, which she especially liked for its wit and humor.
Her favorite travel destination is England, where she researches her books. Her hobbies are gardening, painting, sculpture and reading. She is married and has three children. A prolific writer, she is currently working on Regencies and various mysteries at her home in Georgetown, Ontario.
She is also known as Jennie Gallant

Reviews

[Elaine]

Sweet and charming story. For me, it's not one of Joan Smith's best.

[P.]

A very enjoyable read. The hero and heroine are good characters but the heroine's brother steals the show.

[Maggie]

It is fairly well written but overall since the heroine is such an immature character as Cathy it was a dismal read. It stands on a pretty flimsy premise but nonetheless one which could have been developed very well. However due to the silliness of the main female character, I found myself disengaged with the story. Her brother Gordon is portrayed as a bit immature and silly from the start so that was alright, good for a chuckle or two here and there. However, instead of Cathy displaying some maturity which, as she is from a diplomatic family would not have been so out of keeping with her character, or trying to keep Gordon out of trouble along with Costain, it meanders to her having doubts about the main male character on very flimsy premises and instead shows herself to be untrustworthy I thought. Someone who feels somehow entitled to expect a man's admiration that she would take it on herself to hold a grievance, betray a secret etc., is not a worthy character. ""Costain's 'perfidy' is so much in her head, it is so juvenile. She wants him to flirt with her so feels let down when he pays attention to a 'suspect' and becomes suspicious of Costian because of that, malicious information from someone else (Burack) and her own half baked speculation with her brother. 'Cathy listened, an image of Burack at the back of her mind. She did not think Burack had lied to her. He had seemed very sober and sincere, with his demand for secrecy, and his warning that the welfare of England was in her hands. That struck her as the proper behavior, and not this carefree carrying-on of Costain’s.' ""
The book completely ignores social mores of interactions between young women and men of the time period. Anyway the loose ends are hurriedly tied up in the last few pages for a HEA ending.
It was a headachey read, not worth my time.

[Patrizia]

Perché si legge Joan Smith? Semplice: per farsi due risate e per sottrarsi alla pressione degli eventi quotidiani. Non sempre l'autrice riesce, ma con questo romanzo 'di spionaggio' (che vede in azione una poco credibile maliarda e un giovanissimo 007 ante litteram) coglie in pieno l'obiettivo, raggiungendo il livello di umorismo di un 'medio' Wodehouse. Con i miei sentiti ringraziamenti.

[Flo]

Started this Regency romance by Joan Smith almost 2 months ago and finished it today. A very silly, funny romance which I enjoyed tremendously. Smith can sneak in witty remarks so innocently one is just amazed. I loved reading The Great Christmas Ball although this one is about spies, espionage and love. A fun read.

[Lazy Lisa]

did not like the characters.

Hard to enjoy a story when the characters are just annoyingly making one error after another. Cathy was silly, not being able to trust the hero and then believing someone else…. I did not enjoy the story. Her brother Gordon was amusing and annoying. I thought the uncle was pretty good.

[Mia]

Not so well-written like other JS books. There were repetitive settings and dialogues and too much angry banter between H and h. The mystery was OK though. The best part of the book was the last 10 pages.

[Noe]

3.5 almost 4

[Cathy]

This gets 3 stars for the mystery and 4 stars for the romance.

[LemontreeLime]

This could have used another 50 pages, but as it is, it's a quick holiday themed love and spy story.

[Michael Patterson]

Sass

Humor and wit. This brother is funny. T h e family relationships are polished. The hero cool and also funny. Good dialogue.