The Christmas Rose

The River Maid #3

by Dilly Court

Standing on London’s Victoria docks with the wind biting through her shawl, Rose Munday realises she’s been abandoned by her sweetheart.

She had risked everything to get to London but, stumbling through the peasoup fog, she has nowhere to go, and no one to turn to.

Scared and alone, Rose steps straight into danger, only to be rescued by two women with even less to their names – a woman of the night and her young sidekick, Sparrow. With only a cluster of love letters to her name and all hope of her sweetheart’s return fading, Rose finds herself forging a new life with her unlikely companions.

But when a good deed turns sour, a dangerous enemy threatens to ruin them all. Will Rose be able to save her new friends and her future? If she can, a Christmas gift awaits that will change her life forever…

The third book in the stunning ‘River Maid’ series from Sunday Times bestseller, Dilly Court!

Dilly Court's book 'The Winter Belle' was a No.2 Sunday Times bestseller w/c 2025-10-20.

Genres: Christmas, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Romance

529 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 1, 2018

About the author

Dilly Court grew up in North-east London and began her career in television, writing scripts for commercials. She is married with two grown-up children and four grandchildren, and now lives in Dorset on the beautiful Jurassic Coast with her husband. She is the author of eighteen novels and also writes under the name of Lily Baxter.

Reviews

[Andrea]

Another great read from Dilly Court,This book is the third and final book in this series.Rose came to England from Australia she fell in love with Max who was supposed to meet her.she had nothing and no where to go. until she met couple of prostitutes who helped her.she found a job in a mans world, with the help of eugene but how does she survive.she meets many characters in this read.will there be a happy ending.

[Kylie Dowers]

I have adored and been unable to put down every Dilly Court book I've ever read. I've always easily finished each one and not given up on it or lost enjoyment of it and The Christmas rose was no diffrent. I also adored the short story, The Christmas tree, at the end and feel sad it's not a full book as I think it would be such a good one. Dilly is the only author I have ever loved very single book of and found addictive and enjoyed the whole way through, never growing bored. I enjoyed this trilogy but something about rose makes her my favourite of the three. I'd love to be an author one day, and use Dilly as part of my pen name. If I can be half as good as Dilly I would be happy and I know in that case if do well. I already have an idea for my first story. I realised recently I have been reading the treasures that are Dilly's books for 10 years now, starting with 'The constant heart'. I instantly fell in love with Dilly.

[Lozzaaa✨]

More than just a Christmas book! This installment by Dilly Court can be read as part of the series or stand alone. The character development of main character Rose is one every reader will feel proud of witnessing, a true inspiration and female advocate- not just a pretty young lady. The tale sees Rose travel to London to marry her soon to be fiancé Max, but things just aren't as easy as that. This whirlwind of a book sees Rose having to go outside of the periods gender norms to provide for herself whilst she waits to be reunited with her childhood sweetheart. But will things be the same when he gets back after she's had to survive without him? Has his time in the Egyptian war changed him? A truly captivating read once again by Dilly Court! Definitely deserving of the 5 stars.

[Tracey]

Another stunning book by Dilly Court. The story is centered on Rose Munday, who after a long voyage from Australia to London finds herself alone. The tale is an adventure as Rose is constantly travelling from one place to another as she builds a career for herself, helps her new friends and rescues a child from the streets. The story is fast paced, easy to read and endearing.

[Helen]

I didn’t realise this one was part of a series at first, it’s actually the final one in a trilogy by Dilly Court but luckily it reads well as a standalone. The female protagonist, Rose, is strong and her storyline develops well and she wins the heart of the reader quite quickly. I loved how she challenged the restrictions on her gender at the time and took a job for herself and I was happy with how all the romances panned out in the end. It’s a perfect Christmas read and I’ve gone 4 stars. It’s only because it’s not something I’d re-read in future and that it was quite predictable in places that it doesn’t gain the full 5.

[Katie]

It took me until half way through to enjoy this book. I loved the strong female character and her heart for those less fortunate. Although I had read the previous two books it wasn't until afterwards that I made the connection between the characters so it's possible to read these as stand alone books. A nice read though not very Christmassy if your looking for something seasonal

[Jane]

Great series nice rounded finish

[Brenda Anderson]

Really good series.great ending love reading her books highly recommend.

[natalie bowes]

A lovely ready as per her previous novels. Great trilogy

[Karen Jarvis]

Predictable, but a nice easy Christmas read

[Justine Hodgson]

Audio book, third in series. Dilly Court books lovely easy reading/listening. Enjoyed the characters in this trilogy.

[Ria]

The third instalment of the River maid trilogy tells the story of Rose who left for Australia as a child and who returns to London to marry her fiancé Max who is supposed to meet her but he lets her down.
Terrified and alone she meets two prostitutes, Cora and Flossie and they help her to carve a new life for herself including taking on an u loved little girl called Sparrow.
Amazingly Rose does well for herself but still yearns to find what happened to Max, until that is she meets the dashing Eugene and things begin to change...
A lovely conclusion to a great historical saga in the vein of Cookson and Cox.

[Chuck]

4.5 I really enjoyed this Christmas novel, as usual Dilly Court writes in such an authentic way that you really become immersed in the time period. The only downside for me was that the plot of this book was almost identical to the plot of the only other book of hers that I've read: The Christmas Card. The protags are different and the situations are different but it all boiled down to the same plot underneath it. The whole thing felt very formulaic and that ruined it a tiny bit for me. But overall it was still a good heart warming read.

[Cecilia Donnigan]

I was pleasantly surprised by this book, it took some getting used to reading a book based in 1882 but I have to say once I got used to it I was hooked. This story touched my heart many times and I had a huge smile on my face many times, its such a good heartwarming story. It touches on some very heartaching subjects and truly makes you feel so many emotions for all the characters. I loved this book more then I expect too. I highly recommend anyone to read this.

[Trudie]

My last book of 2018 and the last in the river maid series. This story centres on Rose Munday, the girl taken in by Sadie and Laurence who emigrated to Australia when she was 9. Book 3 starts when she arrives back in London 9 years later in search of her fiance only to find he's not waiting for her! I think this is the best book in the series and wish there had been a book 4!

[christine]

A saga that sweeps you along like the Thames in full flow

Three books that end with the Christmas road a sweeping tale that flows through many places all with there story sometimes it stutters but you soon get lost in the colour and feel of countries it tells of the people and Anne finishes the tale a strong woman in a male world

[Ali Bookworm]

I love Dilly Court books and having read the previous two in the trilogy earlier this year I could not wait to read this. It did not disappoint. What a lovely lovely read and so perfect for this time of year.

[c m bolton]

Christmas Rose

I enjoyed reading this wonderful book from the first page. Rose, Gene, Max and the rest of the family have fabulous characters. I love them all. A fantastic book. Thank you Dilly x x x

[Janet Fitch]

Wonderful story

This book I could not out down. A wonderful story about a woman who is such a strong character but warm and living and able to hold her own in difficult circumstances.

[Joyce]

The last of the trilogy, and most definitely was a brilliant series loved all these books. Would have been more than 5 stars if i could have given them all more. Tead tjis last book in a few short days as i couldnt put this one down.

[linda farmer]

Fabulous story and what I loved they are all connected through family but very individual stories about each person, the stories for me were very hard to put down until I came to the end well done Dilly Court

[Vickie Tate]

I very quickly found myself swept up in Rose's story; a girl whose determined yet generous-hearted character meant that she was able to face her own hardships face on as well as putting right the problems of others. Such a heart-warming story - I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

[Joy]

A good end to the river maid trilogy.

[Kiona18]

Lovely way to finish the river maid series. Have enjoyed going through the different timeline of the characters

[Deborah]

Brilliant loved it

[Michele Hinton]

Michele

As always the books are great love reading them can't put them down would like to hear how Rose gets on in her new life

[Janice Hallam]

Good easy reading story. Good storyline to keep your interest.

[Linda Leedham]

Interesting book the finish is how I wanted it to end, but there were lots of twists and turns along the way would recomend

[Mrs Margaret Maher]

This is a very good book

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book by Dilly Court so much that I have just ordered another one. Well worth reading.

[Annemarie Farthing]

I enjoyed the way the chapters flow in to each other...
I was a little taken aback the way the story ended. I had turned the page looking forward to a new chapter but the story had ended.