Christmas Carrolls

by Barbara Metzger

Book Overview

Can three Christmas belles...If Lord Carroll had one wish, it was to see his lovely daughters, Joia, This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0449225100
• ISBN13: 9780449225103
• Release Date: September 1997
• Publisher: Ivy Books
• Length: 215 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 4.2" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

Yuletide Pleasure

Good tidings of splendid joy!

Sweet

Why it's like a Christmas anthology with four stories - Lord Carroll has three marriageable daughters and due to his own meddling, there are three romances to read about. Three? What is the fourth story? Why his own romance with his lovely wife Bess. You will enjoy a wonderful afternoon of reading with this book. Very light, not too much tension. The girls are lovely and the romances all are sweet. Not a lot of worry over finances and marriage settlements. The men are all gentlemen - except maybe the very mildly villainous Oliver, Lord Carroll's heir. But even Oliver's story doesn't end too badly. The references to Christmas are throughout the book and of course being a Metzger - there are animals galore. There are also helpful, watchful servants who shake their heads at the ton's escapades. Delightful escape.

A Delightful Romp

I really enjoyed this novel, but couldn't give it a 5 because some of the characters were a bit shallow and not as drawn out as I would have liked. Also, the sudden romance emerging between the Carroll sisters and their respective suitors felt somewhat premature. However, as a light romp, this book was very much worth the read, and in fact I could not put it down. What I particularly enjoyed was the differences between the 3 sisters, Joia, Holly and Merry. Though all 3 were independent and intelligent, each had her own personality. Joia, the beautiful, serene, sensible type. Holly, the bookish intellectual who dreamed of adventure in faraway lands. And Merry, the tomboy. The one thing that absolutely "made" the story for me however was the relationship between Lord and Lady Carroll. While Metzger rather skimped on the development of the romances of the three daughters, she portrayed the love and need between their parents in such a way that touched my heart. The love between them seemed real and alive, and their story at the end was the most touching of all.

Very good

This book is extremely excellent except for some parts in Adeste Infidelis, which I found rather hard to swallow (maybe it's just me) and the ending makes up for it. The other sections in this book were well-written. For regency fans of romance this is a definate must-buy. I've re-read it several times and still enjoy it. The characters are very real and the emotions well-written. There is a lot of by-play and interaction between the characters which gives them a depth several other romance novels I've read are lacking. I especially loved the story of the middle sister.

A bit of merry mayhem --

What's an Earl to do when he has three daughters of marriageable age, but no sons -- to speak of, that is? Lord Carroll and his lady are the happily-wed, proud parents of Joia, Hollice and Meredyth. What goes with Joy, especially at the Christmas Holiday time? Why Lord Comfort, that's who! It doesn't hurt any that the about-to-be-former rake is the son of a Duke, and we just won't pay any attention to the fact that he and Joia get along like, well, oil and water. But a good father knows his own child. Unfortunately, Mr. Rendell hardly knows his son Evan, having gone to India to make his fortune, leaving the babe behind with his mother and her parents. It's the Squire and his wife who end up raising the boy, after their daughter dies suddenly. Evan has always been like the son the Earl never had, and a father can't be blamed for hoping that his Holly might someday -- but, then again, sometimes it's the older and wiser heads that prevail. And Merry? Hers is a Silent Knight. Well, Sir Max can speak, but hesistantly. His bravery was never in question, until he met up with the red-haired, green-eyed elf. And that son? Well Noel might have been -- but then, as the earl read from the good book during his Christmas lesson, "And lo, unto them that day a son was born . . ." What matter that the son was already some ten years old, and born on the wrong side of the blanket? THE CHRISTMAS CARROLLS is Barbara Metzger at her very best. And that is very good, indeed!