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A review by bookish_kristina
How the Dukes Stole Christmas by Sarah MacLean, Joanna Shupe, Sophie Jordan, Tessa Dare
4.0
How many Dukes even were there in Regency England?
3.5 stars total.
This is a Christmas anthology containing four short stories by well known historical romance authors. I am familiar with Tessa Dare and Sarah Maclean but haven’t read the other two. I rated each story individually and then gave an average rating for the entire book.
Meet Me In Mayfair - Tessa Dare - 5 ⭐️
Cute, sweet and fast paced, this was a good Christmas story. Tessa Dare writes strong heroines and I can forgive her anachronistic style because I’m used to it by now. Little to no steam, which is unusual for this author, I think Christmas means low detail sex in many circumstances. But the narration was well done and I enjoyed this short tale.
The Duke of Christmas Present - Sarah MacLean - 4 ⭐️
Another Christmas Carol retelling. I guess all Christmas anthologies are obligated to include at least one.
A second chance romance between childhood sweethearts. Eban (dumb name) inherited an impoverished dukedom and drove his fiancée away while working with Scroogelike dedication to bringing his estate out of poverty. She returns twelve (!!) years later and they are reunited. This was bittersweet as so many years were wasted for them to get back together. I never like second chance but I think that’s the only way to retell a Christmas Carol type story. This was very good and well written and had a hopeful ending. But I still hate second chance romances and I always will.
Heiress Alone - Sophie Jordan - 3 ⭐️
The FMCs name is Annis…. Whyyyyy?
So this one was a Home Alone retelling, that’s a first. It stayed pretty true to the movie’s basic premise, if Kevin McAllister was ‘not like other girls’. Annis *which I giggled at every time it was said* is left behind by accident by her family at their Scottish estate before a snow storm. She is then trapped there while brigands rob all the empty houses. Her neighbour, the Duke, comes to rescue her and bring her back to his estate, where they are pushed together by matchmaking servants. Not a complex plot, just your usual forced proximity with a grumpy hero. It was a decent short read but I rolled my eyes at all the stereotypical secondary female characters that were used as juxtaposition to the uniqueness of the heroine. Just gawd, can we please stop with this crap? Anyway not my fave of the reads but now onto the fourth and final.
Christmas in Central Park - Joanna Shupe - 2 ⭐️
This one is a man named Duke, not an actual duke, set in historical New York.
Rose writes an advice column in Duke’s newspaper. She assumes the name Mrs. Walker, a wealthy married woman when she is actually a maiden living in a boarding house.
He pursues her and has sex with her when he thinks she’s married to another man AND she works for him. Not my kind of hero.
The whole premise for this plot is distasteful and I can’t get into it. This isn’t a romantic Christmas story, this is an opportunistic hero with a skewed moral compass who acts like an ass and then blames the heroine for lying. Why does she like him? No thanks.
Overall this is a good Christmas read, I’d recommend bailing after the third story, the fourth leaves a bad taste.
3.5 stars total.
This is a Christmas anthology containing four short stories by well known historical romance authors. I am familiar with Tessa Dare and Sarah Maclean but haven’t read the other two. I rated each story individually and then gave an average rating for the entire book.
Meet Me In Mayfair - Tessa Dare - 5 ⭐️
Cute, sweet and fast paced, this was a good Christmas story. Tessa Dare writes strong heroines and I can forgive her anachronistic style because I’m used to it by now. Little to no steam, which is unusual for this author, I think Christmas means low detail sex in many circumstances. But the narration was well done and I enjoyed this short tale.
The Duke of Christmas Present - Sarah MacLean - 4 ⭐️
Another Christmas Carol retelling. I guess all Christmas anthologies are obligated to include at least one.
A second chance romance between childhood sweethearts. Eban (dumb name) inherited an impoverished dukedom and drove his fiancée away while working with Scroogelike dedication to bringing his estate out of poverty. She returns twelve (!!) years later and they are reunited. This was bittersweet as so many years were wasted for them to get back together. I never like second chance but I think that’s the only way to retell a Christmas Carol type story. This was very good and well written and had a hopeful ending. But I still hate second chance romances and I always will.
Heiress Alone - Sophie Jordan - 3 ⭐️
The FMCs name is Annis…. Whyyyyy?
So this one was a Home Alone retelling, that’s a first. It stayed pretty true to the movie’s basic premise, if Kevin McAllister was ‘not like other girls’. Annis *which I giggled at every time it was said* is left behind by accident by her family at their Scottish estate before a snow storm. She is then trapped there while brigands rob all the empty houses. Her neighbour, the Duke, comes to rescue her and bring her back to his estate, where they are pushed together by matchmaking servants. Not a complex plot, just your usual forced proximity with a grumpy hero. It was a decent short read but I rolled my eyes at all the stereotypical secondary female characters that were used as juxtaposition to the uniqueness of the heroine. Just gawd, can we please stop with this crap? Anyway not my fave of the reads but now onto the fourth and final.
Christmas in Central Park - Joanna Shupe - 2 ⭐️
This one is a man named Duke, not an actual duke, set in historical New York.
Rose writes an advice column in Duke’s newspaper. She assumes the name Mrs. Walker, a wealthy married woman when she is actually a maiden living in a boarding house.
He pursues her and has sex with her when he thinks she’s married to another man AND she works for him. Not my kind of hero.
The whole premise for this plot is distasteful and I can’t get into it. This isn’t a romantic Christmas story, this is an opportunistic hero with a skewed moral compass who acts like an ass and then blames the heroine for lying. Why does she like him? No thanks.
Overall this is a good Christmas read, I’d recommend bailing after the third story, the fourth leaves a bad taste.