Keepsake Christmas Stories, 1993, Set

by Curtiss Ann Matlock, Marianne Willman, Victoria Pade

Three historical romance stories with a holiday setting tell of a rancher who takes in a widowed mail-order bride; a royal imposter aboard a steamship bound for Jamaica; and a town rogue who offers... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0373832613
• ISBN13: 9780373832613
• Release Date: October 1993
• Publisher: Harlequin Books
• Length: 377 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A wonderful collection of Christmas stories

This anthology contains three solid stories; well-written and well-developed, withstrong protagonists. In Once Upon a Christmas by Curtiss Ann Matlock, a widowed Southern lady travels with her two young sons to the untamed Texas territory to marry. Upon her arrival, she discovers that her intended groom died of lockjaw a few days early. She convinces his best friend and business partner to allow her to stay in the ranch that was to be her new marital home, so that the boys won't have to spend Christmas on the road. Sparks fly between the two, however he is determined that he doesn't need a woman in his life. With her optimism, determination and fine cooking, she wins over his enemy neighbors and his hardened heart. A Fairytale Season by Marianne Willman is about a down-on-her-luck Lady who needs passage to Antigua to search for her brother, an academic who's gone missing there. She agrees to accompany a demanding Princess on a trans-Atlantic luxury steamer, however the Princess never makes it aboard. Fearful she'll be sent back to England, she poses as the Princess. There's a jewel thief and lots of quirky characters on this adventure! In Tidings of Joy by Victoria Pade, Linnie's childhood sweetheart returns to town, and she must choose between the man who broke her heart and the promise he made to her, and the solid but boring banker she is currently involved with. This is a nice story about redemption, and about not settling for safe choices.

Two of the three were heartwarming Christmas Stories

I personally enjoyed the first story the most. I felt the characters were more developed, and I the focus of the story was more on Christmas and togetherness than any of the other stories. I tried the recipe for the baker's clay ornaments and it was a lot of fun for me and my children. The second story was not very good at all. There were many typos and the story only mentioned Christmas here and there. It seemed kind of slapped together and I was kind of like "yeah right" when I finished reading it. The third story was good, the characters were believable and likeable. Christmas was definately an important part of the story too. Overall I enjoyed reading this book and it was a great book to read around Christmas time!