Lord Nightingale's Christmas

Lord Nightingale #4

by Judith A. Lansdowne

A GENTLEMAN HOPES HIS OVERTURE....
Neil Spelling, man-about-town and desirable bachelor, is in a pickle. He has fallen desperately in love with Lady Alice, but her father, the Duke of Sotherland, calls him a dunderhead--and unsuitable for a son-in-law. Now an intimate holiday house party may provide the perfect occasion for Neil to appear dashing...daring...and irresistibly darling. If only a stranger hadn't intruded, a sinister plot hadn't developed, and the irascible Lord Nightingale hadn't piped up...

...WILL WIN A LADY'S HAND!
Lovely Lady Alice doesn't know what to make of Mr. Spelling! In town he is so polished, and now he appears so shy. Worse, Lord Nightingale is making him a mockery. What is a lady to do? Lady Alice is ready to offer a kiss...when an unexpected guest makes her tremble. Villainy is afoot during this Yuletide, and Mr. Spelling may prove a hero...if discord can be ended, a father's heart softened, and love is able to conquer all with a Christmas surprise!

Genres: Romance, Regency Romance, Regency, Clean Romance, Historical Romance, Historical

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 1, 2000

About the author

Since the publication of Amelia's Intrigue in 1995, Judith A. Lansdowne's Regency romances have received critical acclaim, garnered awards and entertained thousands of romance readers. Ms. Lansdowne began writing full-time in 1992, but it was only after her daughter introduced her to Regency romances that her work was published.

She grew up in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Following graduation from St. Joseph High School, she attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, then spent several years touring the country as an actress and puppeteer with Nicolo Marionettes and the Sid and Marty Krofft organization.

Tiring of the constant travel, she returned to Kenosha to attend the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, where she met her husband Al, a retired submariner, and graduated with highest distinction. Following graduation she worked variously as a journalist, instructional television writer/producer, textbook production editor, college instructor, and television news videographer. When her husband finally got a real job, she settled down to writing full time, producing a horror novel, a vampire novel and a Restoration historical novel, all still unpublished, before finally "making it" with Regency romance. When her husband retired (he didn't like the real job) they moved to the shores of Lake Guntersville, Alabama, where she is pursuing a career in fishing and he moves dirt around the yard. They write when the weather is bad.

Reviews

[QNPoohBear · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Earl of Wickenshire and his family and friends are gathered at Willowsweep for Christmas. Among the guests are the lovely Lady Alice and her father, the irascible Duke of Sotherland. Nicky's cousin Neil Spelling begs to be invited and this time he promises no more mischief. He's fallen madly in love with Alice and is determined to win her love. It's not easy with her father declaring he intends to marry her to a title and Lord Nightingale declaring "bitevillainbite" every time he sees Neil. Then two other prospective suitors emerge: the dashing Mr. Sayers, on whom Alice had a schoolgirl crush and the mysterious Mr. Duncan, who can not remember his name or who he is. Each of the three men has a selfish motive for coming to Wickensweep and one has a sinister motive. When the guests hear bumps in the night coming from the walls, rumors start to swirl about the Witch of Willowsweep. Will this be a merry Christmas or will danger and broken hearts prevail? Meanwhile, dear little Delight (assisted by some new human friends) plans a very special Christmas surprise for her family. She has big plans for Lord Nightingale's Christmas too.

This story reads a lot like an inspirational novel without the Scripture quoting. The theme of the story is redemption with Alice as the savior. I didn't like the character development of some of the characters. I found it too cheesy and unrealistic. I also didn't like all the extreme coincidences that made the plot rather hokey. I loved Lord Nightingale, as usual. He steals every scene he's in. He is especially funny in this book. Sweet little Delight once again manages to charm her way to center stage. I was more interested in what she was up to than what the adults were doing. It was great to catch up with Nicky and Sera. I found them very annoying in their extreme innocence. Sera is still kind of drippy. I missed Eugenia who is away on her wedding trip. I didn't like Alice all that much. She's too perfect and good. I didn't find her romantic plot realistic or at all interesting. I did like the plot about her family background and the secrets and lies that ate away at her family. I felt sorry for her to be in the middle of it all.

If you liked the other books in the series, you should probably conclude with this one. If you don't want to read it but you want to know about Nicky and Sera's baby....

It's a girl, born early on Christmas. Joy Noelle. Personally, I thought it should have been a boy, Nicholas, Jr. They basically already have a daughter in Delight.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a Christmas book, I would give this one five stars because it is the most Christmassy book I've ever read, particularly the last third. I loved reading about the Devon Christmas traditions and only hope they are true. The story itself wanders randomly and is hard to get a handle on. At first I thought Lady Alice was a bit ditsy, then she comes across as very aware. Neil was also hard to get a handle on, switching from being his usual scheming self to a man in love and at sea over it. Mr. Duncan's part was very difficult to comprehend, another sea-change in the middle. Very confusing story.

[MLL · Rating 3 out of 5]

This author made some real errors in age and continuity. In the last book of this series a girl who is between 18-22 clearly remembers a man who died 20 years or more before. A girl who for two books was an orphan and a bastard is suddenly not. Her father claims he was married to her mother which means 1) he was married to two women at once. Or 2) he married her mother when this girl was 14 after his first wife died but she never met him or her mother or knew who they were. Or 3) she and her brothers have the same mother but they never knew their mom had a daughter and they never met her, and the mother abandoned her daughter to her own mother at birth and never saw either of them in the next 14 years until her death. It really makes no sense. Either way it happened they never explain it. If it wasn't for these and other age inconsistencies this woud be a fantastic series I mostly overlooked them until ths last book but enough is enough. Some things I did like about this series include it is clean. Most of the villains are redeemable. The animals and little girl are funny.

[Lynne Tull · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sorry to say this is the last book of the Trilogy that was really four books. Of course, everything is wrapped up all neat and tidy at the end. It's the journey after all:) The journey of the series and this book especially was like reading fairy tale when you were little. Then, you really didn't know it was just a story. Now even when you do...you get caught up with the story and the characters and forget it isn't real! It will make you smile! Have fun with this one!

[Cornelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little bit boring.

[Christa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this series. Have reread several times. It just makes me happy.