Task the Sixth:  The Hanukkah:

- Let the dreidel choose a book for you: create a list of four books, and assign a dreidel symbol to each one (Nun=miracle; Gimel=great; He=happened; Shin=there, i.e. Israel). Google "spin the dreidel," and a dreidel comes up for you to spin. Give it a spin and read the book that the dreidel chooses!

 

 

Not to sound all "get off my lawn!" but reading older published stories (they have their problems too) is sometimes very refreshing; it's amazing how much story can be created in favor of just hurriedly working to get the leads into bed. I like my sexy times but purpose and dialogue, y'all. These were all short, sweet, and nothing beyond kissing regency holiday stories.

 

“The Merry Wanderer” by Nancy Butler

 

3 stars

 

But as often as he'd willingly played the fool for his master or his mistress, he had never yet played the fool for love.

 

This one had a magical feel to it with Robin Goodfellow, Merlin, faeries, and an Arthur sighting. The heroine's family guards a very important faerie book and Robin visits to make sure the heroine is up to the task of guarding it. It was a bit slow moving but fairy tale fun.

 

 

“The Wexford Carol” by Emma Jensen 

 

3.5 stars

 

"Is that what you will wish for, then? My speedy demise?"

"Goodness. A jest. Very good, Captain."

As he watched, surprised, charmed, and increasingly warm, she removed another sprig of holly from her pocket, tucked it into a buttonhole on his coat, and briskly patted his chest.

"As you could easily guess, I will make a wish for Hollymore."

With that, she stepped back, draped an arm around the cherub, and surveyed her handiwork on Rhys's coat. She gave a satisfied nod. In that brief moment, Rhys was enchanted to his toes.

 

This was a super sweet and funny story but was little bit lacking in the showing the relationship build between leads (these were all pretty short stories). The hero and heroine spend a week together with the hero's cheeky nephew, mistaken identities, semi-villain relatives and a house with more character than stable walls. It was lovely and being set in Ireland, gave it a beautiful Irish Christmas spirit.

 

“High Spirits” by Edith Layton

 

4 stars

 

He'd never be thought of as handsome, except in a certain light and at certain moments, when anyone could see he was much more than that.

 

My favorite from the series because the author was able to build and create a relationship between the leads in the short amount of time allotted. The heroine is having her season but super nervous so her brother advises her to imbibe a bit for Dutch courage. Hero is sent by his sister and aunt to call on heroine to warn her away from his cousin who they want to marry someone else. Hero is charmed by her and calls on her during the day, falling love. At night he is shocked by her flirty different attitude at balls, figures out she is drinking, takes her to a pub to show her alcoholics, and gives her a come to Jesus talk. It sounds preachy but the heroine's shyness and the hero's melting stoicism makes this a very sweet story.

 

“The Christmas Curse” by Barbara Metzger

 

 

2 stars

 

" 'Til Death do you part, lad?" he said with a  smile and a wink for his own beloved. "That's not the half of it."

 

This one has ghosts for "spirits" with a medieval couple haunting a castle, able to actually affect things during the week of Christmas, because the husband in a jealous act jousted someone but died and the wife had made curse that if he didn't return her ring to the castle they would never rest. Their heir and hero is a battle scarred war hero and our heroine is a widow with a horrible aunt. There's guilt, shame, anger, fear, and love but the characters and story all felt a bit disjointed. We get great flushed out backstories for the heroine and hero but current scenes with them together were missing, I wanted to see them fall in love.

 

“A Gathering of Gifts” by Andrea Pickens

 

3.5 stars

 

Indeed, the more they spoke, the more intriguing she became.

 

This involved a Duke's daughter who started off a total spoiled brat and an ex-soldier who wouldn't give into her whims. Heroine injured her ankle so has to stay at the hero's manor, where they bicker and snark themselves into falling in love. The hero's sister, nephew, heroine's cousin, and others gave this a great fun cast of characters. I really liked how it was shown how the hero and heroine caused each other to grow and become better, very charming story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meh. It’s a regency romance, but the writing is below average, with lots of telling instead of showing, and the heroine’s naivety is almost unbelievable. The book is also very uneven. Some scenes are lovely, while others could use a lot of polishing or a complete re-write. I’m not inspired to read more of this writer.

First time I read a book from BM. I've read so many good reviews and I am glad to say it it lived up to my expectations. It really is a Regency romance, unlike other books that seem more contemporaries romances disguised as Regency romance. It is not entirely clean, since there are R rated words and innuendos of sex, but at least, it is not explicit.

Both characters are very improper, in improper situations. Carissa is a widow with a young daughter, living in a mansion with an old gentleman. People think she is his mistress. She is not. But she claims she is a widow, which is not true.

Lesley is a rake who finds himself suddenly with a baby at his doorstep: one of his mistresses decided to give up their daughter since she is a princess and cannot take care of a baby. Besides the child, he has an improper dog and an improper butler (tattoos and all).

Since he needs help with the baby, Carissa and Lesley get to an understanding, until finally, she comes to his house to work as a housekeeper. More improper situations. Including a cat, new staff and a maid breast-feeding the baby. All town is scandalous.

Although the improper situations and behavior, the characters were likable enough -especially Lesley, who is not a Heartless rake at all. Rake yes, heartless, not even close-, and the situations, while not original -such as the missing will, or Carissa being actually a Lady instead of someone of lesser means, or Lesley changing for good thanks to the girls- it was a nice read. Not too dramatic, not too light. I do think, however, that the end was a bit rushed, and I would have loved if Lesley said the 3 little words. As it was, I still have his words in mind, that when the time comes for him to have mistresses, he would be careful.

The dismissal of the husband was too easy and short; it took like, 2 pages. The same with Mason, the butler of Sir Gilliam. This book needs an epilogue.

As Fall settles in, it is apple season around here. 

 

It is easy to see a love story play out in the orchard. 

 

Here are some wonderful Romances set in Orchards.

 

 

1. The Fig Orchard by Layla Fiske

 

In an isolated, tradition-bound village high above the Jordan River, balancing delicately amidst age-old superstitions and religious orthodoxy, Nisrina Huniah, a fifteen-year-old girl, is torn between innocent imaginings and looming apprehensions as she marries a man she has never met – only to fall in love on the night they are wed. 

Her joy, short-lived, takes a heart-wrenching turn when the encroaching World War fiercely shatters her reality, propelling her on an unexpected journey where she develops unlikely friendships that ultimately alter her perception of herself and the world around her.

 

2. A Season for Tending by Cindy Woodsmall

 

Old Order Amish Rhoda Byler’s unusual gift and her remarkable abilities to grow herbs and berries have caused many to think her odd. As rumors mount that Rhoda’s “gift” is a detriment to the community, she chooses isolation, spending her time in her fruit garden and on her thriving canning business.  
 
Miles away in Harvest Mills, Samuel King struggles to keep his family’s apple orchard profitable. As the eldest son, Samuel farms with his brothers, the irrepressible Jacob and brash Eli, while his longtime girlfriend Catherine remains hopeful that Samuel will marry her when he feels financially stable.  

 

3. The Charmer by C.J. Archer

 

andsome. Charming. Devastating. He was the last man she needed, but the only one she wanted. 

Orlando Holt has never assassinated a woman before. The lovely, feisty Lady Lynden will be his first. She's supposed to be a vicious murderess, but when Orlando begins to have doubts, he sets out to discover the identity of the person who hired him. What he learns will turn his world upside down, and propel him headlong into love with a woman who's immune to his charms. 

Twice widowed by the age of twenty-four, Lady Susanna Lynden has had enough of charming men. Her last husband knew all the right things to say to get her to the marriage bed…then made her life miserable. Money may be scarce and her house falling down around her, but the exotic fruit from her orange trees will keep poverty away. Except someone is thwarting her at every turn. Someone who may even want her dead. 

 

4. Conor's Way by Laura Lee Guhrke

 

Olivia Maitland needs a man. Determined to hang onto her family’s Louisiana farm no matter what, Olivia knows she needs a big, strong man to help her, a man who’s not afraid of hard work. But in the aftermath of the Civil War, men like that are hard to come by, and when she finds ex-boxer Conor Branigan lying unconscious in the road, Olivia takes him in, even though the hard, brawling Irishman isn’t exactly what she had in mind, especially when he ignites a passion in her she’s never felt before.
Conor knows what it’s like to pour all your hopes, dreams, and sweat into a piece of land only to have it come to nothing. He’d already seen his family destroyed and their lands taken during the Irish famine when he was a boy, and he has no intention of sticking around long enough to watch a corrupt man with power do the same thing to Olivia. But she and her three adopted daughters touch dreams in Conor he thought he’d forgotten long ago. Can he let go of the bitterness of his past and make a new future with Olivia? Can he believe in love again, or is it just too late for his cynical heart?

 

5. Sugar Creek by Toni Blake

 

 

 

10. Sweet Hush by Deborah Smith

 

Her Harvard-student son just eloped with the First Daughter. CNN is parked on the road to her apple orchards. Secret Service agents have commandeered her country kitchen. The irate First Parents are threatening to have her taxes audited. The President's handsome, tough, ex-military nephew is setting up camp in her guest room. Hush McGillan's quiet Appalachian world of heirloom apples, country festivals, and carefully guarded family secrets has just been flipped like one of her famous Sweet Hush Apple Turnovers. What do you do when your brand-new-in-laws are the First Family, and they don't like you any more than you like them? And what happens next when you find yourself falling in love with the man they sent to unearth all your secrets?

 

Have more? Vote on my Goodreads list! Orchards in Romance Novels 

A light, fluffy traditional regency romance, with colorful characters and a touch of paranormal. Maylene, her mother and aunt run a house that holds seances. There they are visited by several characters that want to talk to their dead relatives or find lost love ones. Socrates -what a name for a hero!- Hyatt is a distrusted rake that is there with his soon-father-in.law to find his lost fiancee.

I liked the banter between Maylene and Hyatt. I also liked that there is never a dull moment; there is always a seance, or a ball, or a walk in the park, or a short trip to Bath. And it is never just Maylene and Hyatt alone, but always surrounded by the secondary characters.

It is a mostly clean romance, meaning, no more that kisses. But also "mostly" because there are several mentions of mistresses (like Hyatt's) and more than a few less-than-chaste kisses between Hyatt and Maylene. Their attraction to each other is very passionate.

I did not like the way they ended up telling each other they love the other. Like, it was a bit out of nowhere. They are discussing and fighting and trying to deny their attraction, and then they are confessing their love and discussing their marriage. That part was a bit MEH.