A Song of War by Kate Quinn, Christian Cameron, Libbie Hawker, Vicky Alvear Shecter, Russell Whitfield, Stephanie Thornton, & S.J.A. Turney

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Obtained from: Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours

Read: August 31, 2016

Troy: city of gold, gatekeeper of the east, haven of the god-born and the lucky, a city destined to last a thousand years. But the Fates have other plans—the Fates, and a woman named Helen. In the shadow of Troy's gates, all must be reborn in the greatest war of the ancient world: slaves and queens, heroes and cowards, seers and kings... and these are their stories. A young princess and an embittered prince join forces to prevent a fatal elopement. A tormented seeress challenges the gods themselves to save her city from the impending disaster. A tragedy-haunted king battles private demons and envious rivals as the siege grinds on. A captured slave girl seizes the reins of her future as two mighty heroes meet in an epic duel. A grizzled archer and a desperate Amazon risk their lives to avenge their dead. A trickster conceives the greatest trick of all. A goddess' son battles to save the spirit of Troy even as the walls are breached in fire and blood. Seven authors bring to life the epic tale of the Trojan War: its heroes, its villains, its survivors, its dead. Who will lie forgotten in the embers, and who will rise to shape the bloody dawn of a new age? 

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Trends in historic fiction are changing. I’ve read the genre for the better part of the last two decades and I’ve never seen a format grow in popularity the way anthologies and continuities have. I’ve no problem admitting that I've avoided both for as I typically find the stories unbalanced and the authors poorly matched, but books like A Day of Fire and A Year of Ravens have gone a long way in changing that opinion.

A Song of War is the third release from The H Team and I personally think it the strongest of thus far. Unlike the earlier books, the magnitude and scope of the Trojan war allowed each author to explore a pivotal event in the conflict and afforded each contributor a moment to shine in a way the earlier books hadn’t. The stories are intrinsically connected and follow the well-known course of events, but I liked how each author had their own platform and how of their individual voices were showcased within the larger chorus.

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The Apple by Kate Quinn

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Kate Quinn penned the first Song from the dual perspective of Hellenus and Andromache. I was vaguely familiar with the former, but had never given him much thought and was surprised by how quickly the quiet Trojan Prince grew on me. I found Quinn's characterization intensely relatable and I enjoyed how his personally played off her interpretations of his more recognizable siblings. Unlike her counterpart, Andromache was familiar to me and I greatly appreciated and enjoyed Quinn’s interpretation of the character. I found Andromache’s genuine emotion and personal challenges endearing and enjoyed seeing her come into her own and revel in a few moments of pure joy as the cloud of war gathered on her horizon.

Hector, Paris, Helen, and Odysseus made notable appearances in the first Song. Though they aren’t explored in significant detail, most of the narrators are introduced in Quinn’s submission and I appreciated how the effort facilitated transitions between submissions as I made my way through the book. I was also amused by how many secondary myths and stories were referenced in The Apple and appreciated how the piece set the stage for the conflict ahead.

* Best Moment in A Song of War – Kudos for a long overdue double bitch-slap. *

I wondered if Aphrodite was laughing at me, up on Olympus. How the goddess of love had played with my future: if I ever held the girl I loved, it would be over the corpse of the brother I revered.

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The Prophecy by Stephanie Thornton

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Quinn is one of my favorite writers and I pitied the author tasked with following in her wake. Or I did, until I discovered who it was. I’m a big fan of Stephanie Thornton and actually laughed out loud as I knew her story, regardless of subject, would hold its own. Quinn’s signature humor is unrivaled in my mind, but Thornton’s command of language has left me speechless on more than one occasion and while I knew the tone would take a dramatic turn in Song two, I was confident that Cassandra’s story would be as layered and memorable as Hellenus and Andromache's had been.

I found the second Song deliciously dark and strangely addictive. Thornton’s exploration of Cassandra’s family situation and the demons that haunted her tickled my imagination and I was fascinated by how author chose to illustrate Cassandra’s madness. Cassandra is obviously damaged, but there is genuine fire in her and a selflessness that no other character in the narrative rivals. Atmospherically I felt this one of the strongest submissions and I greatly admired the intensity and intelligence of the action and dialogue Thornton presented.

* Best Surprise in A Song of War –Apollo’s Temple… Grotesque, but surprising and satisfying. *

They called me mad because I uttered truths no one wished to hear.

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The Sacrifice by Russell Whitfield

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Russell Whitfield put himself on my radar when I read A Year of Ravens. I’ve actually reread that submission a couple of times since reading the book and could kick myself for not having acquired his solo publications, but long story short, I was excited to see he’d contributed to A Song of War.

That said, I was wholly unprepared for his take on Agamemnon. I’m not a fan of the character and my mind’s eye always flashes on Brian Cox when I read the name, but Whitfield turned that mental image upside down and challenged me to see his protagonist as a man burdened by guilt, alerted by grief, and embittered by years of war and responsibility. Agamemnon’s annoyance with Achilles is palpable, but it was the relationships he shares with Iphigenia and Chryseis that cut to my core. Whitfield’s Agamemnon is a man who gave everything to the campaign and lost his soul for his trouble. It’s a harsh story and brutal on a number of levels, but the presentation and the ideas it explores are a true testament to Whitfield’s creativity, vision, and talent.

* Best Character in A Song of War – Writing a hero is easy, reinventing a villain is an achievement. *

Lust - for women, for gold, for power. Men were base creatures. Ironic then, that he had to place their welfare and their objective first and foremost.

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The Duel by Christian Cameron

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Christian Cameron was the first of two contributors with which I was not previously familiar. I’d no idea what to expect from his writing, but I knew where we were in the story and I swore I’d rake him cross the coals if he didn’t do right by Hector. The outcome was a given, but the Trojan Prince is my favorite character and I didn’t need to see him slaughtered without putting up a decent fight. I’m a passionate reader and I make no apologies for it. I was going to love this submission or hate it, there was no middle ground.

I expected an intensely masculine story and was caught off guard when I realized Cameron had centered his story on Briseis, but I was floored by what happened next. Cameron’s submission was the first to show a different side of a previously established character and I was captivated by how Briseis’ opinions of Achilles contrasted Agamemnon’s. As a character Brises defied traditional gender roles and I loved how Cameron's choice of narrator allowed his to authentically illustrate the expanse of the battlefield. I formed a deep appreciation for the action itself, but Cameron capitalized on the enormity of the conflict and gave his readers a truly remarkable point of view.

* Best Battle Scene in A Song of War – Hand to hand combat between two ‘worthy’ opponents. *

War is brutal, but it is far more brutal to women than men, who, mostly, can only die when their bodies are torn asunder, rather than live on with their lives torn out like the entrails of an antelope taken by dogs.

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The Bow by Libbie Hawker

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I’d stumbled over Libbie Hawker’s work prior to reading A Song of War, but The Bow marks my first time reading it. As with Cameron's work I didn't know what to expect from the writing, but I knew where the story was going. I'd opinion about the material, but I was fairly open minded in regard to how it should play out which is why I was surprised to discover The Bow was the most personally challenging of the entire novel.

I didn’t care much for Penthesilea and struggled to engage in her arc. I liked the general idea, but as with the The Queen by Stephanie Dray, I felt this character could carry her own story and didn’t feel right about it being condensed to so short a piece. I thought Priam had some very interesting moments at this point in the story, but I was confused by Paris, Helen, Andromache, and Cassandra as Hawker’s interpretations weren’t entirely consistent with those of the authors who’d introduced them earlier in the novel.

That said, Philoctetes proved a breath of fresh air. Straight off the boat, he didn’t exude the war weary aura that had settled on much of the cast and I think his perspective allowed Hawker to explore the field in a way none of her peers could. I felt she took full advantage of the opportunity this afforded and applauded her for illustrating homosexual affection without effeminizing her protagonist in the process.

* Best Iconic Moment in A Song of War – Hawker popped the weasel! *

Life without honor is not worth living.

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The Horse by Vicky Alvear Shecter

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Vicky Alvear Shecter is not a new author for me, but as far as I’m concerned, The Horse left the rest of her work in the dust and I’m not just saying that because she had the guts to tackle my second favorite character. Odysseus is easily the most iconic voice in A Song of War and I honestly thought Shecter crazy for attempting to write him, but her interpretation blew me away and left me in absolute awe of her imagination and skill.

Troy is primed and ready to fall in these scenes. Alliances are shifting, some characters are breaking and others are showing their true colors. There’s a lot going on in this piece, but Shecter made it work while drawing the novel towards its climax in a way that complimented both the vision of her peers and the original source material.

* Best Submission in A Song of War – Finest adaptation of original story. *

How do I explain that I would not dare shed blood— especially the blood of the goddess’s servants— lest she curse me and my family for generations for the sacrilege? His approach would only beget an endless cycle of bloodshed. And yet because I shed no blood, I should be ashamed?

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The Fall by S.J.A. Turney

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S.J.A. Turney was in the hot seat from the beginning. His submission anchors the narrative which is challenging enough, but Shecter’s story upped the ante threefold. Aeneas is an interesting character, but Shecter’s Odysseus was untouchable and I wondered if Turney could possibly close the novel in a way that didn’t fizzle in the wake of its predecessor.

It was a legitimate question in the moment, but the concern proved entirely unfounded. Turney’s adaptation of the material didn’t inspire my imagination the same way Shecter’s had, but the emotional aspects of The Fall were nothing short of brilliant. Turney’s prose is my favorite of all the author featured in A Song of War and beautifully emphasizes the intense and powerful themes of his submission. His descriptions are stark and often crushing, but there is a candle flame of hope in his story and I loved how his conclusion tied A Song of War to the entirety of The H Team’s existing catalogue.

* Best Tone in A Song of War – Amazing illustration of human emotion. *

I straightened with a frown. ‘While there is still a Troy to save, I have to save it,’ I said with an air of finality. I do not know even now whether it was pride that drove me to turn my back on the notion of flight, or whether it was the call to duty that every warrior feels, for I suffer from both in equal measure. All I do know, as I look back on that decision, is that it was made in defiance of the urging of both men and gods, against the weaving of the Fates, and it brought us only more pain.

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1066 Turned Upside Down by Joanna Courtney, Helen Hollick, Annie Whitehead, Anna Belfrage, Alison Morton, Carol McGrath, Eliza Redgold, G.K. Holloway & Richard Dee

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Personal Kindle Library

Read: September 5, 2016

Ever wondered what might have happened if William the Conqueror had been beaten at Hastings? Or if Harald Hardrada had won at Stamford Bridge? Or if Edward the Confessor had died with an heir ready to take his place? Then here is the perfect set of stories for you. ‘1066 Turned Upside Down’ explores a variety of ways in which the momentous year of 1066 could have played out differently. Written by nine well-known authors to celebrate the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings, the stories will take you on a journey through the wonderful ‘what ifs’ of England’s most famous year in history.

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Harold's death as depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry

It’s unusual for me to spend a month reading a book, but that’s how long I spent working my way through 1066 Turned Upside Down. I’d looked forward to the book, I’d even pre-ordered a copy ahead of the release, but I have to admit that the reality of the volume left me with mixed feelings.

To be fair, most of the month I spent with 1066 Turned Upside Down was dedicated to not reading it. I devoured the first story the day the book arrived on my kindle, but my mind swam when I realized the second submission was wholly unrelated to the chapter that preceded it. The second author utilized an entirely different twist and the strain of keeping everything straight quickly threatened to overwhelm my imagination. Was Harold King in this version? Was he alive? Was he dead? Did the Vikings invade? There was simply no way I could keep the actual history and twelve alternate realities straight so I resolved to tackle the book a chapter at time and consider each submission as a standalone piece which accounts for the long gaps in my completion of the volume.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but this approach actually worked well as it complimented the structure of the book. Each chapter starts in a specific month and opens with a brief description of historical events. This factual refresher is followed by an intro to the story, the alternative fiction, an author’s note, and a set of discussion questions. Most reviewers have omitted any comment on this, but I personally felt the format made it difficult to enjoy the stories back to back as each author bounced between fiction and non before asking me to pause and critically consider their work. The breaks seemed natural to me and I had no trouble losing myself in other books between chapters.

That said, the actual fiction had it's own set of challenges and while I’ve no trouble recommending the volume to other readers, I don’t hesitate to caution that I found the stories unequally balanced. I've very genuine appreciation for much of the material, but I was disappointed that so few ventured into wholly original content. Playing it safe by revisiting familiar ideas and characters was their choice, but as a reader I was disappointed that so many failed to capitalize on the creative opportunity this project afforded. I might have felt differently if the authors had limited themselves to subtly nodding at their independent titles or used an existing supporting character to explore new themes and ideas, but as it stand I feel there was too much repetition within these pages and found myself distracted by the creative decisions behind several chapters.

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To Crown a King & In the Wake of the Dolphin by Helen Hollick

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Helen Hollick is an author I’ve wanted to read for some time, but 1066 Turned Upside Down marks my first experience with her work. She’s one of two authors to have contributed two stories to the anthology and I while I quite enjoyed both for their content and prose, I was curious at her decision to submit adapted content from Harold the King/I Am the Chosen King. I enjoyed her take on Edgar and William and will be seeking out her work again in the future, but her submissions definitely left me wondering what she'd have done with a blank slate.

Uncle Edward was not the stuff of being a kind when he returned from exile in Normandy. My father, when Harold, here, escorted him - us - home to England would not have made a suitable king either, yet, had he still lived, would we be having this discussion? He would have been king by right of birth. I am his son. I am the last in the blood-line of Cerdic of Wessex, why then, should I not be your king?

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A Matter of Trust by Annie Whitehead

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Annie Whitehead is another author I’d never read, but she put herself on my radar with her take on Edwin and Morcar. I found an added bonus in a light moment of humor involved an aged Godiva and I appreciated how complete her submission felt despite its modest length. There was obviously room to take it further, but I liked how she developed her twist and didn’t leave her readers with a simple ‘what if’ scenario. Her character felt developed and distinct and one could easily imagine what might have been once the story ended. So far as I can tell, her submission was not based on her prior work and I thought the risk spoke well of her range and imagination.

This has naught to do with kingship, or loyalty. The bastard is on our lands, and he need to be shoved off them.

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Emperor of the North & Hold England Firm by Joanna Courtney

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Joanna Courtney was new to me, but I was so impressed with her prose that I ordered a copy of The Chosen Queen on completing Emperor of the North. This fact wouldn’t mean much under other circumstances, but in looking at her work I realized that her stories tend to feature female protagonists. I found that very interesting as it was her male leads that captivated me in 1066 and, contrary to some close-minded individuals might preach, female readers have no trouble appreciating well-written male protagonists. Courtney’s world-building is also worth mentioning and I was quite impressed by the ‘what ifs’ she speculated over.

We were wild enough to earn for battle and arrogant enough to believe we could seize England, the jewel in Europe's crown - a land so sure of itself that all man longed to hold it.

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The Dragon-Tailed Star by Carol McGrath

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Carol McGrath incorporated a lot of personal detail into her story of Thea. I liked the portrait her submission drew of Harold’s domestic life and complex personal affairs and I thought the detailing of Halley’s Comet fun, but here again I found myself at a loss. I enjoyed McGrath's prose, but like Hollick, McGrath seemed to be revisiting her own work and I was caught up in questioning why she didn’t venture out of her comfort zone and tackle people and concepts she hadn’t played with before. I've not read the Daughters of Hastings series, but the themes of The Dragon-Tailed Star appear to emulate the ideas on her standalone titles and I was distracted by the similarity.

She shuddered and hurriedly crossed herself. Surely better for Uncle Edward that he was a star in the night sky, than facing the terrors that lay between Heaven and Hell?

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If You Changed One Thing by Richard Dee

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Richard Dee was another new author for me, but his submission stood out for a couple of reasons. Unlike his fellows, Dee put a bit of a sci-fi twist on 1066 and wrote a story that is set largely in the modern world. It was a dramatic shift and it threw me at first, but looking back I think the submission one of the strongest pieces in the anthology. I thought it was fun, I thought it was creative, and I liked how it allowed the reader a unique vantage point and perspective.

He looked at me and said nothing, but his eyes were full of tears. He was shaking his head as if the weight of the world was on him. I didn't understand why, perhaps he would tell me later. After all: I still had to hear how he had escaped without changing history.

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A Roman Intervenes by Alison Morton

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Alison Morton is one of the four authors I was familiar with on picking up 1066 and while I quite enjoyed seeing the Roma Novans once again, my enthusiasm was tempered by having considered so much of the thematic material on my own. Morton’s Roma Nova series centers on the world where Roman Culture never died and as before, I recognized a certain degree of repetition in her submission. The story was new and I liked it for what it was, but conceptually the material felt safe.

'Sometimes we must do dreadful act to prevent greater disasters, but at least history will record that the Galilean year of 1066 was not the one in which Northman William invaded Saxon England.

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The Danish Crutch by Anna Belfrage

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Anna Belfrage made a name for herself with time slip fiction and is currently working on a series set against the Despenser War which made her submission for 1066 interesting as it was not a time she’d written about before. Her submission features a strong female heroine and I liked how the story was driven by action and theme without incorporation of a heavy romantic relationship. I’ve never had an issue with Belfrage’s presentation of love and affection, but I expected to see a couple headlining this story and was pleasantly surprised to see Belfrage challenge herself by placing emphasis elsewhere.

She clutched at the amulet round her neck depicting Thor's hammer while mumbling a few lines of the Pater Noster - she did that a lot, hedging her bets by invoking both the gods of old and the new god - and begged them to spare her from ever becoming this man's wife.

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The Battle of London Bridge by G.K. Holloway

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The Battle of London Bridge marks my second encounter with author G.K. Holloway. I read 1066: What Fates Impose back in 2014 and remember being impressed with Holloway's command of the political landscape. The Battle of London Bridge plays on that same strength, but in the opposite direction and causes the reader to really question the long term implications of a failed Norman invasion. All the stories made me think, but I really liked how this one paired the alternative reality with the strength England's roots.

The English are celebrating their victory against this foreign foe. Now they think, with relief, that they have a leader in whom they can have faith.

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The Needle Can Mend by Eliza Redgold

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Last, but not least is Eliza Redgold's The Needle Can Mend. The story explores the origins of the Bayeux Tapestry and stands as my favorite in terms of subject matter. I've a deep appreciation for the relic and grinned when I realized it made it into 1066, but here again I found myself in a familiar seat. Redgold's heroine is a older version of her own Lady Godiva and while I was entranced by the ideas explored in this fiction, I couldn't help feeling Redgold had short-changed herself by opting to work within an established comfort zone.

Some women, widows, mothers of lost sons, gave pieces of wool. Some send needles, sharp as knives. My own beloved daughter, Nest, made for her part a read dragon, the creature of Wales. Harold's older sister Edythe worked with skill and speed, often by my side at the convent. She joined together the pieces as it grew, like a banner unfurled.

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Drinking with Dead Women Writers by Elaine Ambrose, & A.K. Turner

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Obtained from: Personal Kindle Library

Read: July 27, 2012

Essays on drinking with Louisa May Alcott, Jane Austen, Erma Bombeck, The Bronte Sisters, Willa Cather, Emily Dickinson, George Eliot, Margaret Mead, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Margaret Mitchell, Carson McCullers, Flannery O'Connor, Sylvia Plath, Ayn Rand and Virginia Woolf. Most early female writers used pen names because women weren't regarded as competent writers. Margaret Mitchell wrote only one published novel in her lifetime, but Gone with the Wind won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937 and sold more than 30 million copies. Emily Dickinson was so paranoid that she only spoke to people from behind a door. Carson McCullers wrote The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter at age 22. Her husband wanted them to commit suicide in the French countryside, but she refused. Ambrose and Turner explore these and other intriguing facts about the most famous (but departed) women in literary history.

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Some of you may know that I am addicted to kindle freebies. I’m ashamed to say my digital library is flooded with titles I’ve downloaded at no charge. Thing is, I’ve found that most of these books are decent at best. I try to review them, give my honest feedback and all but I’ve made it a sort of personal mission to find something worth recommending. Usually, I come up short and occasionally I have to concede defeat but I have found reason to hope. Ambrose and Turner’s Drinking with Dead Women Writers is amusing, creative and, in my opinion, worth the 2.99 it is now going for on Amazon.

In a nutshell, the book is a compiled set of mock interviews between the Ambrose, Turner and some of the most well-known literary women of the underworld. Chapters are short, a few pages each but distinctive. I had worried Ambrose and Turner would run out of steam but this wasn’t the case. I was as tickled by Margaret Mead as I was Ayn Rand. Dorothy Parker and Erma Bombeck literally had me giggling through my lunch break. Giggling I tell you! Really my only quibble is the final line of Ambrose’s sit down with Margaret Mitchell. Rather than channel her own work into her dialogue as do our other interviewees, the deceased opted to advertise her appreciation for artistic license and screen legend Clark Gable. It’s funny really; I never would have thought the author would prefer the film adaptation to her own work. Go figure.

Engaging and revealing, but most of all, flat out funny. Will definitely be on the lookout for the next installment, Drinking with Dead Drunks, this fall.

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Come and see me sometime at Winchester Cathedral. I’ll be hovering over the nave, making fun of pompous people.

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A Summons From the Duke by Jerrica Knight-Catania, Lilia Birney & Samantha Grace

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Author

Read: Nov. 18, 2011 

The powerful Duke of Danby summons all of his wayward grandchildren home for the holidays. Book two of the Regency Christmas Summons Collection.

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This review is different than most of the books I feature here as it is an anthology collection. I feel commenting on the entire book as I do with most of my reviews would be unfair so I have opted to review each piece individually. My overall rating reflects my opinion of the book in its entirety.

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Loving Mr. Lockwell by Jerrica Knight-Catania

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First off I want to acknowledge both Knight-Catania and Stone. If you are going to write parallel story lines the details need to correspond correctly. Loving Mister Lockwell and The Counterfeit Summons blend seamlessly from plot twists to dialogue. As I read the Regency Christmas Summons books in order I could not give credit to Stone my review of The Counterfeit Summons and I beg indulgence for high-jacking part of this review to do so. 

Knight-Catania’s story is simple and assuming you’ve read book one of the series, highly predictable. The title alone told me where this story was going. I would be lying if I said it didn’t make me a little nervous but first impressions can be deceiving. The brilliance of this short is in the telling. Izzy and Lockwell’s relationship is reminiscent not of Romeo and Juliet but Benedict and Beatrice. It didn’t matter that I knew the outcome because it was so thoroughly entertaining. Certain lines put me in line of Lord of the Rings, Becoming Jane and Aladdin but even so, I found Loving Mister Lockwell both clever and engaging. 

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A Second Chance for Christmas by Lilia Birney

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How do you spice up a sweet regency era romance? You open your story with attempted suicide, drug addiction and death. I love the distinctly dark direction of Birney’s opening and though I don’t consider myself much of a judge, I think the sex scene was noteworthy in terms of content and because it is the raciest thing to appear in the series thus far. Unfortunately the piece as a whole felt half-baked. Flesh out the back story, gift Emily and Philip a little depth and this is easily one of the strongest installments of the entire collection. As it stands I feel A Second Chance for Christmas falls just a hair short. There is tons of potential here, I mean loads of it. This is not a two bit writer who was thrown in with the big boys. As a reader I am frustrated and yes, these comments sound awful but I beg you to keep in mind where they are coming from. This is so stinking close to awesome it hurts. I applaud the effort but it is just so frustrating to be short changed by an author who is so obviously capable of more. 

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Twice Upon A Time by Samantha Grace

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I have to say I was bored with the beginning of this one. Two individuals with a shared past and a certain attraction to one another. No offense meant, but it had a certain resemblance to Julie Johnstone's contribution, A Gift of Seduction in book 1 of the Collection. Thankfully, Samantha Grace's Twice Upon A Time wasn't a mere rehash. Julian and Felicity's relationship is distinctive and entertaining, especially when you consider Felicity's propensity to issue scholarly diatribes at the most inappropriate of moments. Predictable, but charmingly unique. 

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"Grandfather!" Julian stepped forward to rescue her. "There are some things even a duke must not ask."
"I am a grandfather. I may ask anything I like."

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A Summons From Yorkshire by Ava Stone, Aileen Fish & Julie Johnstone

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Author

Read: Nov. 7, 2011 

The powerful Duke of Danby summons all of his wayward grandchildren home for the holidays. Book one of the Regency Christmas Summons Collection.

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This review is different than most of the books I feature here as it is an anthology collection. I feel commenting on the entire book as I do with most of my reviews would be unfair so I have opted to review each piece individually. My overall rating reflects my opinion of the book in its entirety.

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The Counterfeit Christmas Summons by Ava Stone

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I don’t consider myself well versed in the genre but from time to time I’ve been known to pick up the odd regency romance. Occasionally one will surprise me, but by and large I find the stories altogether fluffy. Case and point, the opening chapter of the Regency Christmas Summons Collection. Stone does a wonderful job introducing the premise of the series, but I wasn’t really impressed by the details of her contribution. Emma and Heathfield felt like the stereotypical regency couple. They just didn’t jump off the page for me. Neither did the events of their story for that matter. It started out strong with Emma luring the viscount to Danby Castle under false pretense but the simple misunderstandings between the couple weren’t exactly unique. The short is well-constructed and I appreciate the light humor but not a particularly noteworthy piece. 

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The Viscount’s Sweet Temptation by Aileen Fish

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It is a universal truth that regency lit always ends with a happy couple. Not a lot of suspense there. That being said I really liked the premise of Fish’s contribution. Harriet’s flight from what she assumes to be a loveless marriage is a plot much to my liking and Morley’s lack of enthusiasm regarding his forced involvement in her escape offered an amusing twist to the story. The romance felt a bit contrived but a cute piece nonetheless. 

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Gift of Seduction by Julie Johnstone

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Easily the strongest of the three shorts that make up book one of the Collection. I’m not an editor and I have absolutely no expertise but I would have opened the volume with this piece. Neither of the other two contributions came close to including this much plot, characterization or depth. Personal opinion of course, but Johnstone shines by comparison. Charlotte is determined and strong despite the tragic romance that determined the direction her life was to take. Drew is heartbroken and full of remorse as he returns to Danby Castle having never settled his feelings regarding the woman he abandoned. Their whole situation, ripped apart by societal expectation, as well as their reintroduction caught me hook, line and sinker. 

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She was not above the need to be admired and wanted. She had earned that small bit of vanity the day she had picked up the millions of jagged pieces of her broken heart that Drew had left on his bedroom floor.

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