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Slightly Married, by Mary Balogh

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Meet the Bedwyns…six brothers and sisters—men and women of passion and privilege, daring and sensuality…Enter their dazzling world of high society and breathtaking seduction…where each will seek love, fight temptation, and court scandal…and where Aidan Bedwyn, the marriage-shy second son, discovers that matrimony may be the most seductive act of all.…

Like all the Bedwyn men, Aidan has a reputation for cool arrogance. But this proud nobleman also possesses a loyal, passionate heart—and it is this fierce loyalty that has brought Colonel Lord Aidan to Ringwood Manor to honor a dying soldier's request. Having promised to comfort and protect the man's sister, Aidan never expected to find a headstrong, fiercely independent woman who wants no part of his protection…nor did he expect the feelings this beguiling creature would ignite in his guarded heart. And when a relative threatens to turn Eve out of her home, Aidan gallantly makes her an offer she can't refuse: marry him…if only to save her home. And now, as all of London breathlessly awaits the transformation of the new Lady Aidan Bedwyn, the strangest thing happens: With one touch, one searing embrace, Aidan and Eve's “business arrangement” is about to be transformed…into something slightly surprising.

• Sales Rank: #192024 in Books
• Brand: Dell
• Published on: 2003-04-01
• Released on: 2003-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 6.88" h x 1.02" w x 4.18" l, .40 pounds
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 368 pages

Features

• Great product!

From Publishers Weekly
Historical romance maven Balogh (A Summer to Remember, etc.) falls back on the oft-used marriage of convenience formula for her first Bedwyn family installment, but what this whimsical Regency-era romance lacks in originality, it more than makes up for in character and execution. Having promised a dying officer that he'll protect the man's sister "no matter what," Col. Aidan Bedwyn calls on Eve Morris to offer his condolences and aid. Still in mourning over the death of her coal miner father a year earlier, Eve now stands to be turned out onto the street due to a peculiar condition of her father's will. Only by marrying can she save her home, which she shares with several orphans, an impoverished aunt and a staff composed mainly of outcasts. Ever one to honor his promises, Aidan proposes, and Eve accepts. The two plan to separate after saying their vows, but Aidan's eldest brother, the Duke of Bewcastle, insists that Eve be presented to the queen. To Aidan's amazement, Eve proves she has the mettle to stand up to his haughty family. Believable complications and an intriguing clash of personalities ensure the story never grows stale, and Balogh's quirky supporting characters-including Eve's gutsy housekeeper and Aidan's formidable aunt-sprinkle the tale with homespun humor.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Readers will be delighted with Balogh's new series that features the half-dozen members of the Bedwyn family first met in A Summer to Remember. In Slightly Married, the second Bedwyn son, Colonel Lord Aidan, journeys to Ringwood Manor to honor the dying request of one of his men: Aidan is to impart the news of his death directly to his sister, and protect her. Eve Morris does need protection. The death of her brother less than a year after her father's will leave her and her entire entourage of "lame ducks" homeless. To protect her Aidan proposes a marriage of convenience, but soon the secret is out and Eve must take her place as a member of the ton. Diana Tixier Herald
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"Believable complications and an intriguing clash of personalities ensure the story never grows stale, and Balogh's quirky supporting characters�including Eve's gutsy housekeeper and Aidan's formidable aunt�sprinkle the tale with homespun humor." ---Publishers Weekly

Most helpful customer reviews

74 of 75 people found the following review helpful.
More Than Slightly Brilliant
By Jane Given
In this first installment of the story of the Bedwyn family, Mary Balogh takes a plot line that has been used hundreds of times before--the marriage of convenience--and somehow makes it seem fresh and new. This is the story of Colonel Lord Aidan Bedwyn, second son of the late Duke of Bewcastle and brother to the current Duke, whose devotion to duty and honor leads him to find love in a most unexpected place. On a dusty battlefield in France, he promises the dying Captain Percy Morris to do "whatever it takes" to protect the Captain's sister, Eve Morris. When Aidan takes the news of her brother's death to Eve, he discovers that she and her "lame ducks," a menagerie consisting of two orphaned children, an impoverished aunt, a lame dog, and a houseful of unusual servants that no one would else would hire, are about to be turned out onto the streets by Eve's slimy cousin, Cecil. In order to do "whatever it takes" to honor his vow to a dying man, Aidan persuades Eve to agree to a marriage of convenience to save her home and inheritance under a clause of her father's will. Eve feels that she has no choice but to accept Aidan's offer, despite the fact that she is in love with a neighbor who is in the diplomatic service and whom she has been expecting home "any day." What neither Aidan nor Eve can forsee is that, by marrying, Eve will inextricably become part of the Bedwyn clan, overseen by Aidan's brother, the imperious Duke of Bedwyn, and that Aidan will just as inextricably become part of Eve's menagerie of "lame ducks." This is a brilliant and beautifully written story of two very different people--different in temperment, station, and experience--who gradually come to know, appreciate and love each other. Like the talented artist that she is, Mary Balogh does not tell us who these characters are, she lets us discover them for outselves, through their words and their deeds. Aidan and Eve grow more beautiful to the reader with each passing page, just as they appear more and more beautiful and wonderful to each other as they reluctantly begin to fall in love. This novel is a work of great art and great heart, and I am eagerly awaiting the next two novels in the series. Bravo, Mary!

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful.
An Engaging Read
By Shawna Lanne
"Slightly Married" is another great offering from Mary Balogh. While the plot itself is not the most original plot ever, romance readers don't really read for plot, we read for character development. And Balogh delivers some great characters.
Eve and Aidan are two people from radically different backgrounds. Aidan is the younger brother of a Duke and Eve is the only daughter of a Coal Miner made good, fit together like the final to pieces to a puzzle.
The multi-book - family saga deal is really popular at the moment with mixed results. I have found that often the books are repetitive because the characters seem to be carbon copies of each other. Balogh doesn't have that problem. I can't wait to see what happens next.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful.
And so the Bedwyn series begins
By S. Reader
It was so hard to decide how to rate this book. It's wonderful, but after the tour de force that was A Summer to Remember (which I finished the day before I started this one), it seemed somewhat less. Having said that, however, I enjoyed the book and will buy it (the one I read was from the library).
It starts a little slowly (not the first chapter, but afterwards), but the reader is soon drawn into the emotional lives of the characters. This is Balogh's forte: intense, realistic emotion. It is a pleasure to watch Aidan Bedwyn slowly (very slowly) emerge from his cool, harsh demeanor, and it is Eve's sweetness and strength that does it. Unknownst to the other, both give up their private dreams to settle for a marriage of honor and convenience--one that is to never be a real marriage at all. But as they are forced to spend time together, they discover a connection that leads to feelings neither had wanted and a new dream neither dared hope for.
I had disliked Freya Bedwyn (the sister) in A Summer to Remember (in fact, I wasn't crazy about anyone in the family except young Morgan), but she becomes a more rounded character here, as do most of the family, especially the Duke. Thus, I am beginning to like them--or at least be intrigued by them. They are certainly not your usual, too-gorgeous-to-be-real heroes and heroines. Aidan is dour and stiffly formal, but so dear once you see the man underneath. And Eve's surprising rebellion against the formidable Bedwyns could have you cheering for her.
The problems for me were a little too much description, some secondary characters that could have been more fully developed (they were merely walk-ons, really), and the love scenes. There was little passion in the latter; in fact, Aidan's approach tended to suck all the passion and romance from the scene, especially the most important one (the first time, it made sense). If I were Eve, and he did that for the rest of my life, I think I'd smack him upside the head.
Mostly, however, Balogh does a fine job of pulling the reader into the lives of her protagonists, getting into their heads and allowing us to feel their doubts, hopes, and heartbreaks.

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^ Free PDF Southern Lights: A Novel, by Danielle Steel

Free PDF Southern Lights: A Novel, by Danielle Steel

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Danielle Steel sweeps us from a Manhattan courtroom to the Deep South in her powerful new novel—at once a behind-closed-doors look into the heart of a family and a tale of crime and punishment.

SOUTHERN LIGHTS

Eleven years have passed since Alexa Hamilton left the South behind, fleeing the pain of her ex-husband’s betrayal and the cruelty of his prominent Charleston family. Now an assistant D.A. in Manhattan, Alexa has finally put her demons to rest, raising her daughter alone and making a name for herself as a top prosecutor taking on some of the city’s toughest cases.

But as Alexa prepares for her latest case, the high-stakes trial of accused serial killer Luke Quentin, threatening letters addressed to Savannah, her beautiful seventeen-year-old daughter, throw Alexa’s private life into turmoil. Certain that Quentin is behind the letters, Alexa must make the toughest choice of all: to send her daughter back to her ex-husband’s world of southern tradition and memories of betrayal.

While Alexa’s trial builds to a climax in New York, her daughter settles into southern life, discovering a father and family history she barely knows. As secrets are exposed and old wounds are healed, Alexa and Savannah, after a season in different worlds, will come together again – strengthened by the challenges they have faced and changed by the mysteries they have unraveled.

From the gritty chaos of Manhattan’s criminal court system to the seductive gentility of the South, from the rage of a hardened criminal to the tender bond between a mother and a daughter, Southern Lights will catch you off guard at every turn.

• Sales Rank: #50256 in Books
• Brand: Dell
• Published on: 2010-10-26
• Released on: 2010-10-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 6.86" h x 1.13" w x 4.18" l, .46 pounds
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 416 pages

Features

• Great product!

From Publishers Weekly
A veteran of exploring wealthy family dynamics, Steel now flirts with the thriller, introducing two familiar fixtures, the serial killer and the strong single female attorney determined to get him convicted. Unfortunately, her focus quickly shifts away from New York ADA Alexa Hamilton and her conflict with rapist-murderer Luke Quentin to Alexa's 17-year-old daughter, Savannah, and her relationship with her father, Tom Beaumont, who broke Alexa's heart when he divorced her to remarry his first wife. After Savannah begins receiving threatening letters sent from Luke or an associate, Alexa asks Tom to provide Savannah a haven, which he does over his wife's objections. The visit helps Savannah grow closer to her dad and stepfamily; it also gives Alexa, on weekend visits, an opportunity to heal in classic Steel style, but the resulting courtroom drama feels rushed and inexpert. Thriller fans will be disappointed with all the family bonding, though Steel's many readers will, of course, devour this. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author
Danielle Steel has been hailed as one of the world’s most popular authors, with over 650 million copies of her novels sold. Her many international bestsellers include Country, Prodigal Son, Pegasus, A Perfect Life, Power Play, Winners, First Sight, Until the End of Time, The Sins of the Mother, and other highly acclaimed novels. She is also the author of His Bright Light, the story of her son Nick Traina’s life and death; A Gift of Hope, a memoir of her work with the homeless; Pure Joy, about the dogs she and her family have loved; and the children’s book Pretty Minnie in Paris.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Chapter One


The man sitting in the threadbare chair with the stuffing pouring out of it appeared to be dozing, his chin drifting slowly toward his chest. He was tall and powerfully built with a tattoo of a snake peering out of his shirt on the back of his neck as his head shifted down. His long arms seemed lifeless on the arms of his chair in the small dark room. There was an evil cooking odor coming from the hallway and the television was on. A narrow unmade bed stood in the corner of the room, covering most of the filthy, stained shag carpet. The drawers of a chest were pulled open and the few clothes he had brought with him were on the floor. He was wearing a T-shirt, heavy boots, and jeans, and the mud encrusted on his soles had dried and was flaking into the carpet. As peacefully as he had been sleeping, suddenly he was wide awake. He jerked his head up with a snort, and his ice-blue eyes flew open, as the hair stood up on his arms. He had an uncanny sense of hearing. He closed his eyes again as he listened, and then stood up and grabbed his jacket with a single stride across the narrow room. With his head erect, the snake tattoo disappeared back into his shirt.

Luke Quentin slipped quietly over the windowsill and made his way down the fire escape after closing the window behind him. It was freezing cold. January in New York. He had been in town for two weeks. Before that, he had been in Alabama, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky. He had visited a friend in Texas. He had been traveling for months. He got work where he could find it. He didn't need much to live on. He moved with the stealth of a panther, and was walking down the street on the Lower East Side, before the men he had heard coming reached his room. He didn't know who they were, but he was smarter than to take a chance. They were cops more than likely. He had been in prison twice, for credit card fraud and robbery, and he was well aware that ex-cons never got a fair shake, from anyone. His friends from prison called him Q.

He stopped to buy a paper and a sandwich, shivered in the cold, and went for a walk. In another world, he would have been considered handsome. He had huge powerful shoulders, and a chiseled face. He was thirty-four years old and, with both sentences, had done a total of ten years. He had served his full time and hadn't been released on parole. Now he was free as the wind. He had been back on the streets for two years, and hadn't gotten into trouble so far. Despite his size, he could disappear in any crowd. He had sandy nondescript blond hair, pale blue eyes, and from time to time he grew a beard.

Quentin walked north, and west when he got to Forty-second Street. He slipped into a movie house just off Times Square, sat in the dark, and fell asleep. It was midnight when he got out, and he hopped on a bus and went back downtown. He assumed that by now, whoever had come to visit earlier would be long gone. He wondered if someone at the hotel had tipped the cops off that he was a con. The tattoos on his hands were a dead giveaway to those who knew. He just hadn't wanted to be around when they walked in, and hoped they'd lose interest when they found nothing in the room. It was twelve-thirty when he got back to the dreary hotel.

He always took the stairs. Elevators were a trap--he liked to be free to move around. The desk clerk nodded at him, and Luke headed upstairs. He was on the landing just below his floor when he heard a sound. It wasn't a footstep or a door, it was a click. Just that. He knew it instantly, it was a gun being cocked, and moving like the speed of sound, he headed back down the stairs on silent feet, and slowed briefly only when he got to the desk. Something was off, very off. He realized they were behind him then, halfway down the stairs. There were three of them, and Luke wasn't going to wait and find out who they were. It occurred to him to try and talk his way out of it, but every instinct told him to run. So he did, he ran like hell. He was already down the street by the time they made it out the door at a dead run. But Luke was faster than nearly any man alive. He had run track in the joint for exercise. People said that Q was faster than the wind. And he was now.

He was over a fence, behind a building, and grabbed the roof of a garage and swung over another fence. He was in the thick of the neighborhood, and he knew by then he couldn't go back to the hotel. Something was very, very wrong. And he had no idea why. He had a snub-nosed gun shoved in his jeans, and he didn't want to be caught packing arms, so he dumped it in a trash can, and ran behind a building into an alley. He just kept running and figured he had lost them, until he hit another fence, and suddenly a hand came up behind him and grabbed his neck in a viselike grip. He had never felt anything so tight, and he was glad as hell he'd dumped the gun. Now all he had to do was get rid of the cop. His elbow shot into the ribs of the owner of the grip, but all he did was tighten his hold on Luke's neck, and squeeze, hard. Luke was dizzy almost instantly and despite his impressive size fell to the ground. The cop knew just where to grab. He landed a resounding kick into Luke's back, who let out a stifled groan between clenched teeth.

"You sonofabitch," Luke said, grabbing for the other man's legs, and suddenly the cop was down, and they were rolling on the ground. The cop had him pinned in a matter of seconds, he was younger than Luke, in better shape, and he had been waiting for the pleasure of Q's company for months. He had followed him all across the States, and had already been in his room twice that week and once the week before. Charlie McAvoy knew Luke Quentin better than he knew his own brother. He had gotten special permission from an interstate task force to track him for almost a year, and he knew that if it killed him, he was going to get him, and now that he had, he wasn't going to lose him. Charlie got on his knees and slammed Luke's face into the ground. Luke's nose was bleeding profusely when he looked up, just as the two other detectives came up behind Charlie. All three of them were plainsclothesmen, but everything about them screamed cops.

"Easy boys, play nice," Jack Jones, the senior detective, said as he handed Charlie the cuffs. "Let's not kill him before we get him to the station." There was murder in Charlie's eyes. Jack Jones knew Charlie had wanted to make him, and why. Charlie had told him in confidence one night when he got drunk. Jack had promised him not to say anything to anyone when he saw him the next morning. But he could see what was happening to Charlie now, he was shaking with rage. Jack didn't like personal vendettas getting into business. If Luke had moved a hair to break free and run from them, Charlie would have shot him. He wouldn't have winged him or shot him in the leg, he would have killed him on the spot.

The third man on the team radioed for a patrol car. Their own car was several blocks away, and they didn't want to move Luke that far. They weren't going to take that chance.

Luke's nose was bleeding copiously onto his shirt, and none of them offered him anything to stop it. He would get no mercy from them. Jack read him his Miranda rights, and Luke looked arrogant despite the ferocious nosebleed. He had icy eyes, and a stare that took them all in and gave nothing away. Jack thought he was the coldest sonofabitch he had ever met.

"I could sue you bastards for this. I think my nose is broken," he threatened, and Charlie gave him a scathing glance as the other two men pushed him toward the car. They shoved him into the car, and told the cops driving they would meet them at the station.

The three men were quiet on the way back to their car, and Charlie glanced at Jack as he turned on the ignition and then slumped against the seat, looking pale.

"How does it feel?" Jack asked him as they drove downtown. "You got him."

"Yeah," Charlie said quietly. "Now we gotta prove it and make it stick."

By the time they got downtown and into the station, Luke was looking cocky. There was blood all over his face and shirt, but even cuffed, he was strutting his stuff.

"So what are you guys doing? Looking for someone to pin a mugging on, or stealing an old lady's purse?" Luke laughed in Charlie's face.

"Book him," Charlie said to Jack, and walked away. He knew he'd get credit for the collar. He'd been following him for way too long. It was just sheer luck Quentin wound up back in New York. Providence. Fate. Charlie was happy to have nailed him in the city where he worked. He had better connections here, and liked the DA they worked with. He was a tough old guy from Chicago, and more willing to prosecute than most. Joe McCarthy, the DA, didn't care how full the jails were, he wasn't willing to let suspects go. And if they proved everything Charlie hoped they would about Luke Quentin, it was going to be the trial of the year. He wondered who McCarthy was going to assign the case to. He hoped to hell it was someone good.

"So what's the beef you trumped up for me?" Luke asked, laughing in Jack's face, as a rookie shackled him and started to lead him away. "Shoplifting? Jaywalking?"

"Not exactly, Quentin," Jack said coolly. "Rape, and murder one, actually. Four counts of each so far. Maybe you'd like to tell us something about it?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow, as Luke laughed again and shook his head.

"Assholes. You know it won't stick. What's the matter? You got a bunch of murders you can't solve, so you figured you'd do some one-stop shopping and pin them all on me?" Luke looked totally undisturbed, and almost amused, but his eyes were like steel, and an evil shade of blue.

Jack wasn't fooled by the bravado. Luke was slick. They had evidence that he had committed two murders, and they were almost sure of two others. And if Jack's guess was right, Luke Quentin had killed over a dozen women in two years, maybe more. They were waiting for a more conclusive DNA report on the dirt from his shoes that Charlie had gotten out of the shag carpet in Quentin's hotel room. If the dirt was a match, as Charlie hoped it would be, Quentin had just been on the streets for the last time in his life.

"What a crock of shit," Luke mumbled as he shuffled away. "You know you won't make it stick. You're just fishing. I have an alibi for every night. I hardly left my hotel room in the last two weeks. I've been sick." Yeah, Jack thought to himself, very sick. They all were, guys like him, sociopaths who didn't bat an eye after they killed their victims, dumped them somewhere, and then went out to lunch. Luke Quentin was handsome and looked as though he could be charming. He was the perfect type to spot some innocent young girl, and lure her to a secluded spot where he could rape her and then kill her. Jack had seen guys like him before, although if the stories were true about this one, he was one of the worst. Or the worst they'd had in a long time anyway. Jack knew there would be a lot of press on this, and every last detail had to be handled right, or Quentin would get a mistrial on some finicky detail. Charlie knew it too, which was why he had let Jack handle the booking, and after Luke was taken away to be searched and get his mug shot done, Jack called the DA himself.

"We got him," Jack said proudly. "All our hunches paid off, and luck was on our side. That and Charlie McAvoy, who ran his ass off and caught him. If I'd had to run down all those alleys and hit all those fences, he'd have been halfway to Brooklyn before I got over the first one." Jack was in good shape, but he was forty-nine years old, and he and the DA teased each other about their weight. They were the same age. The DA congratulated him for his good work, and told him he'd see him in the morning. He wanted to meet with the arresting officers to decide how they were going to handle the press.

By the time Jack left the station half an hour later, Luke was already in a cell. They had decided to put him in a cell alone. He was being scheduled for arraignment the following afternoon, and Jack knew the press would be all over them by then. Arresting the man who may have killed a dozen women or more in seven states was going to be big news. And if nothing else, it was going to make the NYPD look extremely good at what they did. Now it was up to the DA's office, the prosecutor, and the investigators they used to do the rest.

He drove home with Charlie that night, after they made the arrest. It had been a long day watching the hotel all afternoon. They had seen Luke when he left, and Charlie had wanted to grab him then, but Jack told him to wait. Since he didn't suspect they were onto him, they knew he'd be back. And there were too many people around then, Jack didn't want anyone in the hotel to get hurt. It had worked out just right for them in the end. And not so well for Luke.

Luke Quentin was sitting in his cell then, staring at the wall. He could hear all the familiar sounds of jail. In an odd way it was like coming home. And he knew that if he lost, this time he was home for good. His face gave away nothing, as he stared down at his shoes, and then he lay on his bunk and closed his eyes. He looked totally at peace.


From the Hardcover edition.

Most helpful customer reviews

45 of 47 people found the following review helpful.
Finally...I Have Little To Complain About =-)
By Christa
Danielle Steel is an author that no matter how many times she disappoints, you continue coming back for more in the hopes that she will redeem herself. I must say that I enjoyed this story. She stepped away from the fairytales, and attempted something more edgy and realistic. I loved the tight knit relationship between Alexa and Savannah, and I thoroughly despised the character of Luisa, and pitied the weakness of Tom, which is a testament to the dynamic of Steel's writing, because I loathe a story where everything, including the characters, are sugarcoated and nauseating. I did get a sense that the romance between Alexa and Edward was a bit rushed and underdeveloped, but that's to be expected I guess when writing a book from a couple of different angles. I, too, hope that Steel continues taking the time to craft stories that don't fit the cookie cutter molds she has been cheat sheeting with as of late. Because 'Southern Lights' was a long awaited step foward for her imo.

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
2nd time for me to read!
By Alex N.
Great book. Fast read! You feel like you know the characters as real people not just a story book ending!

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Five Stars
By Amazon Customer
Good read

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On a moonlit winter night, a team of dogs pulls a sled, taking the narrator and readers on a wondrous ride through the snow, into and out of the woods. It is a ride you'll wish would never end.

Through this exquisite prose poem, Gary Paulsen shares the joy, the beauty, and the grandeur of the outdoors. With his joyous text and Ruth Wright Paulsen's exuberant and expressive illustrations, Dogteam is a celebration of nature, a dance that invites everyone to join in.

• Sales Rank: #245800 in Books
• Brand: Dragonfly Books
• Published on: 1995-10-01
• Released on: 1995-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 8.26" h x .13" w x 10.38" l, .29 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The Newbery Honor author, a two-time participant in the Iditarod, describes the thrill of a winter's night run with a team of sled dogs. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3-There are few things more beautiful than a moonlit winter night, and Paulsen has captured that, plus the thrill of speeding across the snow via dogsled, in a text as crisp, clean, and magical as such evenings. It is the dogs' emotions, as much as the narrator's, that are evoked: the animals strain at their harnesses, singing in anticipation of the run. Ruth Wright Paulsen's illustrations show the nuances of canine behavior in the positions of ears, tails, lolling tongues, and flashing paws. The swift, strong, smiling creatures are one with the white and blue-black night; on one double-page spread, the aurora borealis in ghostly greens is their background. Dogteam reads aloud beautifully, but its poetry will be best understood through one-on-one sharing with an adult. All who see and hear it will, for a few moments, join in the winter run. Children who live in areas without snow will experience the wonder of its season through this book. For those living in cold climates, it may inspire a nighttime ski, or skate, or at least a moonlit walk, and they will understand the dogs' dilemma: although it is comforting to come home to warmth and firelight, something in them yearns to run forever.
Carla Kozak, San Francisco Public Library
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Ages 4-7. As Paulsen takes his dog sled for a run on a winter's night, he carries readers along through the moonlit landscape. Immediacy and brevity mark each part of the poetic telling of the adventure--harnessing the exuberant dogs, riding through the woods and across a frozen lake, watching the wolves silently appear and disappear, and returning home. The illustrations include pen-and-ink drawings of the dogs, the sled, and sometimes the driver, tinted with watercolor and set against watercolor backgrounds. The painting is more effective than the pen-and-ink work, and the two art styles don't always blend well. As a whole, however, the book re-creates an experience unusual in picture books. Teachers might try reading it to children who consider themselves too old for picture books, particularly those who know Paulsen's other work. Carolyn Phelan

Most helpful customer reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
Ethereal
By Emily J. Morris
This is a fantastic picture book from the master of the wilderness/dog tales. The words are more accurately told as fantastic prose describing both the movement of the dog sled as well as the surrounding natural world. Are both worth celebrating? Certainly, and I daresay the Paulsens agree with me. The illustrations are a gorgeous balance to this quick and moving story.

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Great Story!
By Amazon Customer
Great Story!

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful.
Stunning
By A Customer
Beautiful illustrations and vivid, descriptive sentences! I purchased this book to teach my first graders about descriptive writing. They were in awe of the book! Living in the south, most of them have never even seen snow or even heard of dog sledding. After having been dog sledding myself I knew I had to find a way to share the experience and this book was it! It is truly one of my favorites!

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Author: Lewis Carroll, James Roger Diaz, John Strejan, Publisher: Dell Publishing A Yearling Book Keywords: book, wonderland, adventures, alice Pages: 12 Published: 1991-10-01 Language: English Category: Classics, Children's ISBN-10: 0440405408 ISBN-13: 9780440405405 Binding: Hardcover

• Sales Rank: #1540897 in Books
• Published on: 1991-10-01
• Released on: 1991-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 12.00" h x 8.50" w x .50" l,
• Binding: Hardcover
• 12 pages

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
Classic tale brought to life
By rayearthpoison
Delightful!

ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND

Based on the original text by Lewis Carroll, this book is a color adaption of the original drawings. Movable as well as pop-up, children and adults alike will delight as each page brings an excerpt from a different scene. Great transition for children who have seen the Disney classic and want to read the tale as most every tale featured can be recognized from the animated film base on coloring and set-up. Includes: Down the Rabbit-Hole, The White Rabbit's House, Advice from a Caterpillar, The Cook and the Duchess, The Grin Without a Cat, A Mad Tea-Party, The Queen's Croquet-Ground, and Nothing But a Pack of Cards.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Three Stars
By Carol S. Sedlak
It's ok.

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#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“Evil is a completely different creature, Mac. Evil is bad that believes it’s good.”
 
MacKayla Lane was just a child when she and her sister, Alina, were given up for adoption and banished from Ireland forever.

Twenty years later, Alina is dead and Mac has returned to the country that expelled them to hunt her sister’s murderer. But after discovering that she descends from a bloodline both gifted and cursed, Mac is plunged into a secret history: an ancient conflict between humans and immortals who have lived concealed among us for thousands of years.

What follows is a shocking chain of events with devastating consequences, and now Mac struggles to cope with grief while continuing her mission to acquire and control the Sinsar Dubh—a book of dark, forbidden magic scribed by the mythical Unseelie King, containing the power to create and destroy worlds.

In an epic battle between humans and Fae, the hunter becomes the hunted when the Sinsar Dubh turns on Mac and begins mowing a deadly path through those she loves.
Who can she turn to? Who can she trust? Who is the woman haunting her dreams? More important, who is Mac herself and what is the destiny she glimpses in the black and crimson designs of an ancient tarot card?
 
From the luxury of the Lord Master’s penthouse to the sordid depths of an Unseelie nightclub, from the erotic bed of her lover to the terrifying bed of the Unseelie King, Mac’s journey will force her to face the truth of her exile, and to make a choice that will either save the world . . . or destroy it.

• Sales Rank: #50441 in Books
• Published on: 2011-08-30
• Released on: 2011-08-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 6.90" h x 1.50" w x 4.20" l, .75 pounds
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 704 pages

Amazon.com Review
A Letter from Author Karen Marie Moning

The Fever Series is all about seeing the truths beneath the illusions and figuring out how to deal with them—or die. While investigating her sister’s murder in Dublin, MacKayla Lane discovers that beneath the beautiful surfaces of nearly everyone and everything she encounters, there’s something else entirely. From the Fae with their deadly glamour, to the siren-call of the Unseelie king’s all-powerful book of dark magic, to Mac herself who starts out young, lovely and innocent only to end up—well, you’ll have to read Shadowfever to find that out—nothing is as it seems.

When I first saw the concept art for the cover of Shadowfever, I was thrilled with how well it encapsulated the entire series in a dual design. Lift the acetate cover of Shadowfever and there’s something else beneath it: a picture of a woman whose back is to the camera (for good reasons, she doesn’t even like to look in the mirror lately) staring off in the distance at something you can’t see (and probably wouldn’t want to anyway) with a tattoo on her back of black wings, like the Unseelie king. But Mac’s human. Isn’t she?

Review
This book concludes the series fantastically and in ways I could never have predicted. A phenomenal book! This really is a must-read urban fantasy series. -- Carolyn Morgan BOOK CHICK CITY

About the Author
Karen Marie Moning is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Fever series, featuring MacKayla Lane, and the award-winning Highlander series. She has a bachelor’s degree in society and law from Purdue University.

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300 of 319 people found the following review helpful.
A fitting end to an amazing series
By A Book Obsession..
This book was very hard to review without spoiling anything. I can honestly say it was the most engrossing book I have ever read. From the beginning, until the very last words I was completely sucked in. In fact, I actually cried while reading the very first chapter, it was that emotional in such a short amount of time. All of the pressing issues are solved and the questions are answered. Only one major question remained at the end of the book, but the answer was something Mac decided she didn't really need to know. I don't have a problem with this as a little mystery makes things much more interesting in the end.

Mac is thoroughly tested over and over in this book, but just as she has in the past, she survives, she endures, and somehow comes out the other side stronger. She has grown so much from the girl that stepped off the plane, yet somehow never once lost who she really was at the core, despite being pulled in so many different directions. I understand now why everyone believed she only had a slim chance of choosing the "good" side of the prophecy. The odds against her were almost insurmountable, and a lesser person would have failed where she persevered. I truly admire her, and her willingness to stand up for what she believes in. I don't think a better person could have been picked for the fate of the world to rest on. Oh, and just as a little side note, she does finally kiss a man that she can't breathe without, and finds that breath is of little consequence. As far as who that man is, well you will just have to read Shadowfever yourself to find out. ;)

I'll admit, as much as I wanted this book, I also was a little hesitant to read it. I wasn't sure how just one book could tie up all of the issues and leave me with a sense of happiness and satisfaction. I am very happy to say that I was wrong and that I should never have doubted the author. The book was every bit as good as the predecessors and left me more than satisfied. Many times after reading a final book in a series I will feel almost hollow and just generally disappointed. Not because the book was bad, but because I just didn't feel any satisfaction in the ending or knowing that I was saying goodbye to the characters. With Shadowfever, this just is not the case at all. The ending is everything it should be, leaving me happy and content, an absolutely rare feat in any final book.

I would highly suggest not reading this book if you haven't read the first four. You need that foundation to give this one the justice it deserves. As the Author promised, it is a story about light, not darkness. However, as they say, the night is always darkest before the dawn and that definitely is the case with Shadowfever. Be prepared for one heck of a roller coaster ride full of countless emotions that will leave you reeling, and desperate to know what happens next. If I could rate this higher than a "five," trust me, I would. I hope everyone enjoys Mac's final trials in life, love, and war as much as I did. My hat goes off to the author for this amazing world she created and the awesome cast of characters. Bravo!

108 of 124 people found the following review helpful.
A Satisfying End to a Stellar Series!
By Letitia
I received the book on Saturday, and am currently starting it again for a MUCH SLOWER reread...

Shadowfever does answer a lot of the questions readers have had through out the series. There is only one question that wasn't answered, that sticks out in my mind, but because of the circumstances surrounding the question and answer - and Mac's acceptance of the fact she may never know and no longer NEEDS to - I don't feel I need an answer either. Vague much? Yes, but the Q&A is too spoilery.

And there is one thing I will strongly caution all the reader's against: DO NOT SKIM THE BOOK. DO NOT GO LOOKING FOR ANSWERS AHEAD. If you must, go ahead and read the last page (front and back), you'll get enough of an answer to one question to keep you satisfied not to seek answers to the rest.

The way KMM has written this last book, with each turn of the page - the theories that we've all come up with are constantly challenged and evolving and half the fun is trying to figure it all out before it's finally revealed.

And KMM has written and woven another magical Fever novel. And it does bring up new questions, which will probably be explored in the spin-off series... But the questions that pertain to Mac and Barrons and V'lane? The three main leads in this series? Those are the answers we get.

I thought this book was a bittersweet end to a much loved series. Steamy, erotic, dark, emotional, torturous, gripping, fantastical... A rollercoaster ride. One I'm already looking forward to revisiting after only finishing it three days ago.

Two thumbs way up, KMM!

92 of 111 people found the following review helpful.
A satisfying conclusion to an amazing story
By Jen (Red Hot Books)
Before I started this book, there was a big part of me that believed there was no way I could be satisfied when I was done. There were simply too many questions to be answered, too many loose ends to ever tie up in a way that both made sense and appeased my need for a happily ever after. I was wrong.

There is so much packed into these pages that when I think back to the question, "Who is the beast?" it seems like a lifetime ago. It's no wonder you don't get much information from the summary, regarding what this book is about (it mostly recaps the series as a whole.) I find that even trying to talk about it in generalities reveals fantastic developments in the plot. So if you haven't read "Shadowfever" yet, I urge you to stop reading here, with my reassurance that it's a fantastic book that left me wholly satisfied and warm inside.

****EARLY STORY SPOILERS AHEAD****

The first chapter of this book shredded me. When Mac thought she had killed Barrons, I cried for her. I ached. Then I watched her put herself together; to take the hard lessons he taught her and live so that his death was not in vain. This is not the Mac of Darkfever (Fever Series, Book 1). She is powerful, but hollow. She finally gets her showdown with the Lord Master with decidedly anticlimactic results.

Mac seemed to learn so much about herself and her feelings with Barrons' death. It was disappointing to see so much of it go out of the window when they were finally reunited. She was ready to end the world for him, yet suddenly, overhearing a phone call makes her regress utterly? It was one of the few parts of the book that left me frustrated. It was hard to see the roles reverse between Barrons and Mac... to see him so vulnerable... And when she finally looked inside his mind and learned what he was feeling while she was Pri-ya... Sigh.

***SPOILERS OVER***

Without spoiling any more, I can tell you some of the questions that are finally answered: What is Mac? Who killed Alina and why? Who is the Unseelie King? Who is the King's consort? Who is the Dreamy-Eyed Guy? Why has Barrons been pursuing the Sinsar Dubh? Who is Cruce? Who was the dying boy in Barrons' memory? What is under the garage? And perhaps the best question of all... who is the real villain in the story? The answer to that last one blew me away.

Karen Marie Moning has created a tale of twists and turns that kept me guessing until the very end. NO ONE should read this book without reading the other books in the series first. And after reading this fifth installment, I'm sure many fans will go back to the previous books and re-read the stories from a new perspective, knowing truths we never dreamed of when it all began. There are enough threads that I can easily see more books in this Fever world, but I promise there is no cliffhanger here. Just a fantastic ending to a creative and enthralling story.

I'd give it more than 5 stars if I could.

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In a pair of classic Regency-era Christmas romance novels from New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh, the holidays herald the greatest gift of all: unexpected, all-consuming love.
 
A CHRISTMAS BRIDE
The very wealthy Edgar Downes has promised his aging father to finally take a bride—specifically, to wed a titled lady by Christmas. London is full of pretty, proper, and eligible misses, but it’s the widow Helena, Lady Stapleton, in a shocking red dress, who captures Edgar’s attention. Helena is intrigued by the seductive stranger—but he’s simply not in her class. Marriage, of course, would never do. But in a season of miracles, something wondrous is about to happen.
 
CHRISTMAS BEAU
Not even the warm, forgiving Christmas spirit can stop the Marquess of Denbigh from settling his score with Judith Easton: The beautiful young widow injured Denbigh’s pride years ago by jilting him for another man. Now that Judith is free from a nightmare marriage, the handsome marquess has her in his sights—and wants her in his arms. But to trust the tender words on his lips, Judith must not only see past the hardness of his heart, but learn once again to trust her own heart’s desire.

• Sales Rank: #832409 in Books
• Published on: 2012-11-27
• Released on: 2012-11-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 6.90" h x 1.10" w x 4.20" l, .55 pounds
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 528 pages

About the Author
Mary Balogh is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous books, including the acclaimed Slightly and Simply novels, the Mistress novels, and the five titles in her Huxtable series: First Comes Marriage, Then Comes Seduction, At Last Comes Love, Seducing an Angel, and A Secret Affair. A former teacher, she grew up in Wales and now lives in Canada.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
1

Mr. Edgar Downes had decided to take a bride.

Doubtless he should have made up his mind to do so long before he did, since he was six-and-thirty years old and had both a high respect for matrimony and a fondness for family life. But the truth was that he had procrastinated. He had felt caught between two worlds. He was not a gentleman. He was the son of a Bristol merchant who had grown enormously wealthy over the years and had eventually purchased and renovated a grand mansion and estate near Bristol and retired to live there like a gentleman. Edgar had been educated at the best schools, had become a respected and successful lawyer, and then had taken over his father’s business.

He was hugely wealthy in his own right. He had received a gentleman’s education. He spoke and dressed as a gentleman. He would inherit Mobley Abbey on his father’s death. He was extremely eligible. But he was not a gentleman by birth, and in certain circles that fact made all the difference in the world.

He had thought about marrying someone of his own kind. At various points during his adulthood he had even singled out a few daughters or sisters of his middle-class acquaintances as possible wives. But he had never felt that he quite belonged in their world--not when it came to something as personal and intimate as marriage. He would have been hard put to it to explain exactly why that was so. There were certain almost puritanical attitudes in the class, perhaps, or a certain vulgar preoccupation with money and possessions for their own sake. Though neither explanation quite accounted for his discomfort.

He had thought of marrying a lady. But there had been obvious arguments against that. And they all narrowed down to one simple fact--he was not a gentleman. It was true that Cora, his sister and only sibling, had married a younger son of a duke seven years before and had become Lady Francis Kneller as a result. It was true, too, that Edgar got along remarkably well with his exceedingly elegant brother-in-law and with those of their aristocratic friends he had met. But though Cora’s marriage appeared to be bowling along very nicely indeed and had produced four bouncing children, Lord Francis would not in the normal course of events have wed her. It was her disastrous tendency to play heroine without pausing for one hundredth part of a second to consider the wisdom of her actions that had forced him on more than one occasion to her rescue and to compromising circumstances at the same time. Finally, poor fellow, he had had no choice--as a gentleman--but to take on a leg shackle and Cora all at the same time.

Lord Francis Kneller and his friends--the Earl of Thornhill, for example, or the Marquess of Carew or the Duke of Bridgwater--might be quite prepared to treat Mr. Edgar Downes, Lady Francis’s brother, as a friendly acquaintance. But would they be happy to watch him woo and wed their sisters or cousins if he so chose, and if there were any such females available? It was a question Edgar could not answer with any certainty since he had never posed it to any of the gentlemen concerned, but he could make an educated guess.

Some lesser gentleman with a daughter difficult to fire off in a more acceptable manner--due to impoverishment or lack of beauty or a shrewish nature, perhaps--might be very willing to ally her to a cit, to a lawyer-turned-merchant who also happened to be as wealthy as all but a few of the bluest-blooded lords in the land and with as much more wealth again to inherit on the death of his father. That lesser gentleman, however, would believe in his heart--and all the genteel world would believe with him--that he had stooped low indeed for the mere satisfaction of seeing his daughter wed.

But at the age of six-and-thirty Edgar Downes had decided to take a bride. A bride of good birth. A lady, no less. And he was going to do it soon. By Christmastime he would either be betrothed or have fixed his choice firmly and confidently enough that he would invite the woman and her family to Mobley Abbey for the holiday and a celebration of the betrothal. It was a promise he had made his father, and he always kept his promises.

The elder Mr. Downes celebrated his sixtieth birthday at the beginning of September. And though it would be difficult to find a healthier, more robust, more mentally agile man of his age anywhere in the kingdom, he had chosen on that occasion to remember his mortality and to declare himself an old man. An old man with a dying wish. Cora had shrieked when he had put it thus, doubtless imagining all sorts of hidden and deadly ailments, and Lord Francis had pursed his lips. Edgar had rocked back on his chair. The dying wish was to see his son wed. Perhaps he would even be spared long enough to see a son of his son in the nursery . . . a man longed for an heir to his heir.

And since Mr. Downes had achieved almost every goal that any man could possibly set himself in the course of his lifetime--including a lamentably short but blissfully happy marriage, the birth and survival of the best son and daughter a man ever had, not to mention a challenging and successful career and the acquisition of the abbey--he had only one more thing to wish for, apart from the marriage of his son, of course, and that was the birth of a son to his son. He could wish that his son would marry well, that he would finally ally the Downes name to one of undoubted gentility.

“You are a gentleman, my son,” he said, nodding his head in Edgar’s direction, his eyes beaming with pride and affection. “Your dear mother was a lady in every sense that mattered to me. But for my son I want a lady by birth. You have deserved such a wife.”

Edgar felt embarrassed, especially since these words had been spoken in the presence of Lord Francis Kneller. He also felt suspiciously damp-eyed. His father meant more to him than almost anyone else in this world.

“And it is high time you married, Edgar,” Cora said. “It is all very well for the children to have an uncle who spoils them dreadfully every time he crosses paths with them, but cousins would be of more practical value to them. And an aunt.”

Lord Francis chuckled. “You must confess, Edgar,” he said, “you have had a good run of it. You are six-and-thirty and only now is your family laying siege to your single state.”

“That is quite unfair, Francis,” Cora said. “You know that every time Edgar has come to Sidley since our marriage I have thrown the most eligible young ladies in his way. You know that I have tried my very best.”

Lord Francis chuckled again. “You are as successful as a matchmaker, my love,” he said, “as you are at your swimming lessons.”

“Well,” she said crossly, “whoever says that the human person--my human person anyway--is not heavier than water and will not sink like a stone when laid out on top of it must have windmills in his head and that is all I have to say.”

“For which mercy may the Lord be praised,” Edgar said, provoking outright laughter from his brother-in-law and a glare followed by a rueful chuckle from his sister.

But his father was not to be diverted from what he had clearly planned as the mission of his sixtieth birthday. Edgar was to marry and to marry a lady. A duke’s daughter could not be too good for his son, he remarked.

“What a pity it is that Francis’s sisters are married,” Cora commented. “Is it not, Francis?”

“Quite so, my love,” he agreed.

But any lady of breeding would do nicely, Mr. Downes continued after the interruption. Provided Edgar could like and respect her--and feel an affection for her. That, it seemed, was of greater importance than almost anything else.

“She does not have to be a lady of fortune, my boy,” Mr. Downes said. “She can come to you penniless, provided she has the birth and breeding and can love you.”

A penniless lady of ton would probably love his money a great deal, Edgar thought cynically. But he could not argue with his father, who looked as if he would live until the age of one hundred with all his energies and faculties intact, but who was, when all was said and done, sixty and aging. It was understandable that his father should need the assurance that all he had worked for through his life would descend to more than just an unmarried son.

And so Edgar found himself agreeing that it was indeed time he took it upon himself to find a bride and that if it would please his father he would choose one who had some distinction of birth. And there was nothing to be served by delaying, he suggested without waiting to be prompted by his father. He had some business in London, a city he hated and avoided whenever it was possible to do so. He had a few connections there who would effect some introductions. He would undertake to choose himself a bride, perhaps even to be affianced to her by Christmas. He would bring her down to Mobley Abbey for Christmas--or at least invite her parents to bring her. By his father’s sixty-first birthday he would be married and be in a fair way to getting his first child into the nursery.

Cora shrieked and clasped her hands to her bosom.

“You are conceiving an idea, my love?” Lord Francis asked, sounding amused. He was frequently amused, having decided long ago, it seemed, that it would be far more comfortable to laugh his way through life with Cora than to grimace his way through all her excesses and disasters. Wise man.

“Francis was not able to have his month in London during the Season this year,” she said. “First we were in the north with Jennifer and Gabriel and then we went with them to Stephanie and Alistair’s, and we were all having such a marvelous time and so were the children--were they not, Francis?--and Stephanie has the most adorable baby, Papa. He even had me dreaming of number five, but Francis insists in that most odious voice he uses when he wants to pretend to be lord and master that four is quite enough, thank you very much. What was it I set out to say?”

“That since I was not obliged to spend a month of the Season in town,” Lord Francis said, “I should be encouraged to take you and the children there for the autumn. I do believe that was where your verbal destination lay, my love.”

She favored him with a dazzling smile. “What a splendid idea, Francis,” she said. “Jennifer and Gabriel and Samantha and Hartley were talking about going there for a month or so after the heat of the summer was over. We could have a wonderful time. And we could take Edgar about with us and see to it that he meets the right people.”

“With all due respect, my love,” Lord Francis said, “I do not believe Edgar is a puppy who needs our patronage. But certainly we will give him the comfort of having some familiar faces to greet at whatever entertainments are to be found during the autumn. And you will stay with us if you please, Edgar. The Pulteney Hotel may close its doors and go into a permanent decline when they discover that they are not to have your business, but we can offer some rowdy nephews and a niece for your entertainment. Who could possibly resist?”

“Edgar will spoil them and make them quite unmanageable,” Cora said.

“Their maternal grandfather has spoiled them for the past two weeks as well as their uncle. We spoil them, my love,” her husband said. “Yet we manage them perfectly well when it is necessary that they be managed. Their rowdiness and exuberance do not denote lack of all manners and discipline.”

Between them they sealed Edgar’s fate. He was to go to town by the end of September, it seemed, and stay at his brother-in-law’s town house. He was to involve himself in the social life of the capital as it was lived in the autumn. There would not be all the balls and huge squeezes for which the spring Season was so renowned, but there would be enough people in residence in the grand houses of Mayfair to allow for a fair sprinkling of social entertainments. Lord Francis would see to it that Edgar was invited to a goodly number of them, and Cora would undertake to introduce him to some likely matrimonial prospects.

He needed their help. Despite the courteous tact of his brother-in-law’s words, Edgar felt no doubt about that. He might have managed it himself, but with far more effort than would be needed if he simply relied upon the fact that Francis was a member of the upper echelons of the ton. Edgar was resigned to forcing his way into ranks from which his birth would normally exclude him. He was prepared for some coolness, even some rejection. But he knew enough about the world to believe that his wealth and his prospects would open a number of doors to him, especially those of people who felt themselves in need of sharing in his wealth.

He did not doubt that it was within his power to win himself a bride by Christmas. Someone of birth and breeding. Someone who would not look upon his own origins with contempt or condescension. Someone pretty and personable. Someone of whom he could be fond, it was to be hoped. He came from a family that set much store by that elusive something called love. He loved his father and his sister and was loved by them in return. His parents had enjoyed a love match. So did Cora and Francis, though the marriage had not appeared too promising at the start. Edgar rather thought that he would like to make a love match, too, or at least a match of affection.

He had until Christmas. Three months.

He was going to choose himself a bride. He traveled up to London at the end of the month, a little chilled by the thought, a little exhilarated by it.

After all, he was enough his father’s son to find a challenge stimulating.



Lord Francis Kneller’s friends were indeed in London. The Earl and Countess of Thornhill and the Marquess and Marchioness of Carew had come down together from Yorkshire with their six children for the purpose of shopping and seeing the sights and socializing at a somewhat less frantic pace than the Season would have allowed. Even the Duke and Duchess of Bridgwater had come up with their new son, mainly because their other friends were to be there. The duke’s sister and Cora’s special friend, the Countess of Greenwald, was also in residence with her husband and family. And they all decided to be kind to Cora’s brother and to take him under their collective wing.

Most helpful customer reviews

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful.
Two great Mary Balogh Christmas books in one - perfect....
By CJ
Christmas Beau
Quite a tough, angsty read in places but one of the best old Mary Balogh Signet regency books. Years ago, when still very young, Judith jilted the Marquess of Denbigh and ran off with a cad and a bounder. Her husband dies and she's left with two young children and then the Marquess comes back into her life. He pursues their acquaintance, she is deeply suspicious of his motives but he gets to her through her children. He invites her to his country house for Christmas and slighly against her better judgement she accepts and joins his house party for the Christmas period. During the ensuing festivities they get to know each other better. She starts to trust him and realises that the dour and morose exterior hides a rather shy man with a good heart. He begins to understand why she jilted him and how miserable her life turned out because of a mistake she made when she was still very young and impressionable. Right up until the end you are never quite sure whether he will be able to complete his planned revenge and she is not always entirely likeable either but its a great character driven story with all of the usual Balogh feel-good Christmas spirit thrown in. Loved it.

A Christmas Bride
If you have read 'Precious Jewel' you don't expect to like the 'heroine' of this book at all but Mary Balogh is very good at taking an unlikely and unlikeable protagonist and getting the reader to see behind the scenes. She leads you little by little to understand that Helena Stapleton is a damaged soul with a hard outer shell with which she protects herself. Edgar Downes is the brother of Cora (Famous Heroine) and has a very passionate one night fling with the dashing widow, Helena. The night has unlooked for consdeuqnces which eventually lead them into marriage - one that no one has very high hopes of. Edgar is a lovely character, lots of old friends appear from previous books and the ending is a happy one - surprise, surprise. Defintely worth reading.

19 of 24 people found the following review helpful.
Emotional drama and also adorable children
By H Waterhouse
I was whelmed.

It is possible that these two novellas suffered from being read back to back, but on the whole, they weren't amazing.

In A Christmas Bride, Edgar Downes decides to marry a well-born woman of roughly his own age. He fixes on an apparently happy widow in a scarlet dress and there is a very low pre-negotiation hookup. Then he discovers that she is Secretly Tortured. And then they get married because... he wants to, and she is too filled with self-loathing to fight him? And then of course there is healing sex. And surprise confrontations at Christmas. Everyone loves that. On the other hand, I enjoyed the interactions of the adult characters with the children, and I thought the aunt was awesome.

In Christmas Beau, Judith is a young widow with two children. Her jilted ex concocts an elaborate revenge plot to make her fall in love with him and then break her heart like she'd broken his. Part of this cunning plan is making her really happy to be having Christmas with him and being nice to her kids and then seducing her. Dastardly! I'm just saying, if I had a stalker ex this bad at communicating his feelings with me and/or accepting rejection, I would be worried. Really worried. Again, the chaperone character and the kids were awfully endearing.

Also, the sex scenes didn't really serve to advance our understanding of the characters. Boring! Or rather, there was not enough character development to justify the level of detail, to me.

Read if: You are an inveterate Christmas Regency reader. You probably won't be bothered by the domineering nature of the male leads. You want more romances with adorable moppets.

Skip if: You have other Christmas Regency books to read. You are not fond of the dude being a coercive jerk. Small children collecting mistletoe leave you cold.

Read instead:
Snowy Night with a Stranger

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
Christmas redemption, Balogh style.
By OLT
2 re-issued Balogh Christmas-themed Regencies for the price of one. Seems like a great deal.

A CHRISTMAS BRIDE (1997) is the story of a very cold, unlikeable, seemingly unredeemable heroine, while CHRISTMAS BEAU (1991) parallels this with a seemingly cold, vindictive hero. Not exactly my idea of warm and fuzzy for Christmas, but Balogh makes it work (up to a point). I can't say I enjoyed reading these two stories very much. As a matter of fact, the 2 main characters of both were so off-putting for me that I could not give the books more than 3 stars, in spite of Balogh's skillful storytelling.

The heroine of A CHRISTMAS BRIDE is widow Helena, the evil stepmother to be found in Balogh's A Precious Jewel. She has some major baggage, unhappiness and huge feelings of guilt about her relationship with her stepson. Instead of trying to repair the breach, she becomes a brittle, cold, lonely, unpleasant, cynical woman. At a party she attracts middle class, wealthy businessman Edgar Downes, brother of Cora from THE FAMOUS HEROINE (The Famous Heroine/The Plumed Bonnet), and the two have a one-night stand, Regency-style. At first, they don't like each other much outside of bed, but it's a romance, so just sit back and enjoy Helena's redemption through the love of a good man. (And Edgar is a good man. Helena doesn't deserve him.)

In CHRISTMAS BEAU Max, the hero, aka the Marquess of Denbigh, was a bit hard for me to stomach. 8 years earlier, Max was engaged to marry Judith, who jilted him to run off with a personable, handsome rake. Now Judith is a widow with two young children. During all this time, Max feels resentment, bitterness and a desire for revenge. One wonders why he couldn't just let it go and get on with his life. But no, he's creepily obsessive and resentful. Something he does to Judith very close to the end of the story (perhaps 30 pages before its close) was unforgivable, IMO. His Christmas redemption was very slow and subtle and not as successful as I would have liked it to be, considering the awful thing he does to Judith when his change of heart is supposedly well on its way to completion.

As usual, Balogh's writing is pleasant. She gives us little glimpses of life in Regency England with era-appropriate behavior and speech. And it's always fun to see how characters in one of her books are related in some way to characters of another book. It doesn't even require 6 Degrees of Separation to find some relationship. Unfortunately, this time the stories were ruined for me because I did not have enough Christmas spirit to forgive the behavior of the heroine of the first and the hero of the second.

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