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Harlequin Historical December 2021 - Box Set 1 of 2
Do you dream of wicked rakes, gorgeous Highlanders and muscled Viking warriors? Harlequin® Historical brings you three new titles in one collection!
This box set includes:
THE DUKE’S COUNTERFEIT WIFE
By Louise Allen
(Regency)
When their ship is commandeered, Nicholas Terrell, Duke of Severton, saves stranger Sarah by claiming she’s his wife! Sarah enchants Nicholas, but as a lady’s companion, she’s completely unsuitable for a duke!
SNOW-KISSED PROPOSALS
By Jenni Fletcher and Elisabeth Hobbes
(Victorian)
In these two Christmas novellas, heiress Fiona finds herself trapped in a remote Scottish tower with deliciously disheveled Angus, and Amy and Anthony reunite after a cruel separation years ago.
THE KNIGHT’S CONVENIENT ALLIANCE
By Melissa Oliver
(Medieval)
When injured knight Sir Thomas Lovent arrives on Brida’s doorstep, the village assumes he’s her long-lost husband. Brida maintains the pretense while she nurses him, but how will she ever reveal he’s not her husband—or that she’s unmarried?
Look for Harlequin® Historical’s December 2021 Box Set 2 of 2, filled with even more timeless love stories!
This box set includes:
THE DUKE’S COUNTERFEIT WIFE
By Louise Allen
(Regency)
When their ship is commandeered, Nicholas Terrell, Duke of Severton, saves stranger Sarah by claiming she’s his wife! Sarah enchants Nicholas, but as a lady’s companion, she’s completely unsuitable for a duke!
SNOW-KISSED PROPOSALS
By Jenni Fletcher and Elisabeth Hobbes
(Victorian)
In these two Christmas novellas, heiress Fiona finds herself trapped in a remote Scottish tower with deliciously disheveled Angus, and Amy and Anthony reunite after a cruel separation years ago.
THE KNIGHT’S CONVENIENT ALLIANCE
By Melissa Oliver
(Medieval)
When injured knight Sir Thomas Lovent arrives on Brida’s doorstep, the village assumes he’s her long-lost husband. Brida maintains the pretense while she nurses him, but how will she ever reveal he’s not her husband—or that she’s unmarried?
Look for Harlequin® Historical’s December 2021 Box Set 2 of 2, filled with even more timeless love stories!
792 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 30, 2021
5 people are currently reading
2 people want to read
About the author
Louise Allen
424 books331 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
This author also writes under the name Francesca Shaw.
I have had my nose buried in a history book - fact or fiction - for as long as I can remember, but even more important to me are the places and the objects that conjure up the past. My first attempt at historical fiction at the age of eight was three pages of improbable medieval drama set in the local castle.
With a degree in geography and archaeology I love to try and 'read' the landscape and the buildings in it for clues about the past. Virtually any place can trigger ideas for plots, but I am particularly inspired by Venice, Burgundy, Mediterranean islands and the Hertfordshire and Norfolk countryside.
I live in England in a village in Bedfordshire with my long-suffering husband. He is not sure whether to be flattered or alarmed to be told he is the inspiration for all my romantic heroes! Whenever possible we escape to our cottage on the North Norfolk coast where Percy, the bossy pheasant, allows us to share the garden.
My resolution every time I start on a new plot is to plan it carefully, make copious notes first and write lots of drafts in a disciplined and orderly manner. What inevitably happens is that the story starts to write itself in my head until it gets completely out of control - meanwhile my study floor becomes a sea of open books, prints and maps and I am found sitting in the car at traffic lights, muttering dialogue. At that point I have to start writing, knowing full well that the hero and heroine are going to take over and sabotage all my attempts at discipline. It is, after all, their story.
This author also writes under the name Francesca Shaw.
I have had my nose buried in a history book - fact or fiction - for as long as I can remember, but even more important to me are the places and the objects that conjure up the past. My first attempt at historical fiction at the age of eight was three pages of improbable medieval drama set in the local castle.
With a degree in geography and archaeology I love to try and 'read' the landscape and the buildings in it for clues about the past. Virtually any place can trigger ideas for plots, but I am particularly inspired by Venice, Burgundy, Mediterranean islands and the Hertfordshire and Norfolk countryside.
I live in England in a village in Bedfordshire with my long-suffering husband. He is not sure whether to be flattered or alarmed to be told he is the inspiration for all my romantic heroes! Whenever possible we escape to our cottage on the North Norfolk coast where Percy, the bossy pheasant, allows us to share the garden.
My resolution every time I start on a new plot is to plan it carefully, make copious notes first and write lots of drafts in a disciplined and orderly manner. What inevitably happens is that the story starts to write itself in my head until it gets completely out of control - meanwhile my study floor becomes a sea of open books, prints and maps and I am found sitting in the car at traffic lights, muttering dialogue. At that point I have to start writing, knowing full well that the hero and heroine are going to take over and sabotage all my attempts at discipline. It is, after all, their story.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 30, 2022
This box set is uneven at best: I loved "The Duke's Counterfeit Wife" for its strong characters and tight pacing. Sarah and Nicholas are compelling both as individuals and as a couple because they're three-dimensional, with histories, values, and goals that the reader can appreciate even if/when it creates friction. I appreciated that although the narrative redresses their losses, it doesn't rely exclusively on these moments to explain Sarah or Nick's choices and that both characters are willing to re-evaluate their first assumptions. In addition to our leads, I was genuinely invested in the supporting cast and I left the book wanting more of all of them. It was a beautiful romance and the perfect start to a holiday collection, but it went downhill from there and so I've rated the story separately.
"The Christmas Runaway" needed more of a plot to work for me: I liked Fiona and to a lesser extent, Angus in theory, but I didn't feel they had nearly enough to do beyond exchange advice and apologies in picturesque settings. While I understand that they had chemistry and a shared affection for Mhairi, it seemed like a flimsy basis for kisses, let alone marriage. I like the idea that Fiona grows on Angus and vice versa after their unpromising start, but I wish the narrative had spent a little more time on Angus's specific appeal as a suitor and less on the unexpected pleasure of genuine male interest. I think it's plausible Fiona would relish his desire for her since men have only ever wanted her fortune or nothing to do with her at all and she's feeling extraneous in her father's house for the first time, but I needed to see a little more here.
"Their Snowbound Reunion" played with genre conventions--Anthony was non-confrontational and anxious, with two kids in his care, whereas Amy is more self-assured and they both had affectionate relationships with their late spouses. It was nice to see characters that didn't conform quite so rigidly to hegemonic gender roles and who were allowed to experience happiness with other people rather than abject misery. I didn't necessarily feel the spark between them, however, and I wish the children hadn't disappear from the narrative as soon as Amy and Anthony reached an understanding.
While medieval romance isn't my typical fare by any stretch of the imagination, I approached "The Knight's Convenient Alliance" with an open mind. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy it. Tom and Brida seemed to fade under the weight of didactic purple prose and their banter never at any point charmed me. I accepted that the curse would have genuine meaning for Brida, but I thought the emotional resolution was less satisfying because it took so long for the narrative to address her secrets. Instead, there's undue attention to the weak suspense plot and the characters spend their spare time in repetitive self-reflection that doesn't truly move the story (or their romance) forward since kisses are left to do that work instead. I wanted to like this story, but in addition to a threadbare plot, the writing style and frequent errors (typos, malapropisms) made it a slog.
"The Christmas Runaway" needed more of a plot to work for me: I liked Fiona and to a lesser extent, Angus in theory, but I didn't feel they had nearly enough to do beyond exchange advice and apologies in picturesque settings. While I understand that they had chemistry and a shared affection for Mhairi, it seemed like a flimsy basis for kisses, let alone marriage. I like the idea that Fiona grows on Angus and vice versa after their unpromising start, but I wish the narrative had spent a little more time on Angus's specific appeal as a suitor and less on the unexpected pleasure of genuine male interest. I think it's plausible Fiona would relish his desire for her since men have only ever wanted her fortune or nothing to do with her at all and she's feeling extraneous in her father's house for the first time, but I needed to see a little more here.
"Their Snowbound Reunion" played with genre conventions--Anthony was non-confrontational and anxious, with two kids in his care, whereas Amy is more self-assured and they both had affectionate relationships with their late spouses. It was nice to see characters that didn't conform quite so rigidly to hegemonic gender roles and who were allowed to experience happiness with other people rather than abject misery. I didn't necessarily feel the spark between them, however, and I wish the children hadn't disappear from the narrative as soon as Amy and Anthony reached an understanding.
While medieval romance isn't my typical fare by any stretch of the imagination, I approached "The Knight's Convenient Alliance" with an open mind. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy it. Tom and Brida seemed to fade under the weight of didactic purple prose and their banter never at any point charmed me. I accepted that the curse would have genuine meaning for Brida, but I thought the emotional resolution was less satisfying because it took so long for the narrative to address her secrets. Instead, there's undue attention to the weak suspense plot and the characters spend their spare time in repetitive self-reflection that doesn't truly move the story (or their romance) forward since kisses are left to do that work instead. I wanted to like this story, but in addition to a threadbare plot, the writing style and frequent errors (typos, malapropisms) made it a slog.
Displaying 1 of 1 review