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Christmas Keepsakes
Christmas Keepsakes by Mary Balogh\Julia Justiss\Nicola Cornick released on Sep 27, 2005 is available now for purchase.
A Handful of Gold / Mary Balogh --
The Three Gifts / Julia Justiss --
The Season for Suitors / Nicola Cornick.
A Handful of Gold / Mary Balogh --
The Three Gifts / Julia Justiss --
The Season for Suitors / Nicola Cornick.
416 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 1, 2005
2 people are currently reading
411 people want to read
About the author
Mary Balogh
200 books6,353 followersMary Jenkins was born in 1944 in Swansea, Wales, UK. After graduating from university, moved to Saskatchewan, Canada, to teach high school English, on a two-year teaching contract in 1967. She married her Canadian husband, Robert Balogh, and had three children, Jacqueline, Christopher and Sian. When she's not writing, she enjoys reading, music and knitting. She also enjoys watching tennis and curling.
Mary Balogh started writing in the evenings as a hobby. Her first book, a Regency love story, was published in 1985 as A Masked Deception under her married name. In 1988, she retired from teaching after 20 years to pursue her dream to write full-time. She has written more than seventy novels and almost thirty novellas since then, including the New York Times bestselling 'Slightly' sextet and 'Simply' quartet. She has won numerous awards, including Bestselling Historical of the Year from the Borders Group, and her novel Simply Magic was a finalist in the Quill Awards. She has won seven Waldenbooks Awards and two B. Dalton Awards for her bestselling novels, as well as a Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award.
Mary Balogh started writing in the evenings as a hobby. Her first book, a Regency love story, was published in 1985 as A Masked Deception under her married name. In 1988, she retired from teaching after 20 years to pursue her dream to write full-time. She has written more than seventy novels and almost thirty novellas since then, including the New York Times bestselling 'Slightly' sextet and 'Simply' quartet. She has won numerous awards, including Bestselling Historical of the Year from the Borders Group, and her novel Simply Magic was a finalist in the Quill Awards. She has won seven Waldenbooks Awards and two B. Dalton Awards for her bestselling novels, as well as a Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
December 27, 2020
If you expect 3 christmas story's you are going to be very disappointed . Only Mary Balogh's story is a true christmas story and this gem is totally worth the purchase of the book , I have it in my possession for some years now and I read A Handful of Gold every year around christmas time , christmas is just not complete without it !
The other 2 story's are nice but have nothing to do with christmas and should not have been in this book .
The other 2 story's are nice but have nothing to do with christmas and should not have been in this book .
December 4, 2014
While reading the descritptions I realized I had already read 2 of the stories! Mary Balogh's "A Handful of Gold" and "The Season for Suitors" by Nicola Cornick were also published in the book The Heart of Christmas. So, my review of those two novellas will be the same that I have already wrote for The Heart of Christmas.
A Handful of Gold by Mary Balogh- 3 stars. Okay story, I just didn't like either H/h. Verity Ewing is pretending to be someone else in order to make money for her widowed mother and sick sister. Enter Julian Dare who has a compromising Christmas holiday deal for Verity... can she resist the temptation of all that money? But, more important of all, is how she is going to protect her heart.
The Three Gifts by Julia Justiss- 3 stars. Just another ok story. Edwina Denby, a widower, reluctantly agrees to marry the dying new viscount Miles Hampden. Miles wants to marry so that if he dies his sister-in-law and his niece (or was it nephew? not that it matters, we didn't meet either) will be destitute because the next in line to inherit is a scoundrel and sounds like a down-right scum-bag. Only, Miles Hampden doesn't die, he lives, so Edwina wants the marriage annulled, her first marriage was terrible, and doesn't want to be ruled by men. Miles realizes she's a fantastic woman and wants to keep her as his wife... however, he has to convince her of that. A very abrupt "I love yous" at the end.
The Season for Suitors by Nicola Cornick- 3 stars. Clara Davenport has made it her mission to finally win over London's most notorious rake Sebastian Fleet, whom she has asked for advice in how to not fall into other rake's traps. Fleet is extraordinarily hard headed though, how many times can Clara face rejection before she gives up? Okay story, Fleet is a donkey's rear end who doesn't deserve Clara. To make matters worse they already know each other (I'm just not a fan of already established relationships in a romance book).
A Handful of Gold by Mary Balogh- 3 stars. Okay story, I just didn't like either H/h. Verity Ewing is pretending to be someone else in order to make money for her widowed mother and sick sister. Enter Julian Dare who has a compromising Christmas holiday deal for Verity... can she resist the temptation of all that money? But, more important of all, is how she is going to protect her heart.
The Three Gifts by Julia Justiss- 3 stars. Just another ok story. Edwina Denby, a widower, reluctantly agrees to marry the dying new viscount Miles Hampden. Miles wants to marry so that if he dies his sister-in-law and his niece (or was it nephew? not that it matters, we didn't meet either) will be destitute because the next in line to inherit is a scoundrel and sounds like a down-right scum-bag. Only, Miles Hampden doesn't die, he lives, so Edwina wants the marriage annulled, her first marriage was terrible, and doesn't want to be ruled by men. Miles realizes she's a fantastic woman and wants to keep her as his wife... however, he has to convince her of that. A very abrupt "I love yous" at the end.
The Season for Suitors by Nicola Cornick- 3 stars. Clara Davenport has made it her mission to finally win over London's most notorious rake Sebastian Fleet, whom she has asked for advice in how to not fall into other rake's traps. Fleet is extraordinarily hard headed though, how many times can Clara face rejection before she gives up? Okay story, Fleet is a donkey's rear end who doesn't deserve Clara. To make matters worse they already know each other (I'm just not a fan of already established relationships in a romance book).
May 9, 2013
Three great little stories that I realized after two pages, I'd read before! oops. Oh well. There is something reliably predictable about regency romances - they follow rules, they have rakes, they have guys who are good at heart, they're slightly sentimental and they make me smile. If I'm down, I know they'll cheer me up and this is exactly what these three stories did. I'm not one for outlining the plots - the blurbs do that but they were easy quick reads and each as good as the other.
October 3, 2020
Lovely holiday romances!
November 2, 2021
I had read two of the stories before and really enjoyed Mary Balogh's story the most. I recommend this.
December 10, 2020
This is a Christmas anthology from 3 very special authors.
Each story gives the reader an introduction to people who feel distant from Christmas. And in each story the same people learn that the true meaning of Christmas is always love.
Anyone who is looking for stories to bring a sense of joy for the season should try this book.
Ms Balogh’s story teaches that appearances may be deceiving.
Ms Justiss gives the reader the realization that surviving may be the greatest gift of all.
And Ms Cornick reminds us that love can allow people to find the love they feared they did not deserve.
All in all, each of the stories are gifts for a reader.
Each story gives the reader an introduction to people who feel distant from Christmas. And in each story the same people learn that the true meaning of Christmas is always love.
Anyone who is looking for stories to bring a sense of joy for the season should try this book.
Ms Balogh’s story teaches that appearances may be deceiving.
Ms Justiss gives the reader the realization that surviving may be the greatest gift of all.
And Ms Cornick reminds us that love can allow people to find the love they feared they did not deserve.
All in all, each of the stories are gifts for a reader.
May 18, 2020
3 great historical romances with a lot of twists and turns. You will get drawn into the Christmas season and how each story brings about love in different situations. Mary Balogh, Julia Justiss, and Nicola Cornick each give their own spin to these stories and each are truly enjoyable
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April 21, 2023A Handful of Gold by Mary Balogh ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
The Three Gifts by Julia Justiss ⭐️ ⭐️
The Season for Suitors ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Balogh’s is the only real Christmasy one of the bunch.
The Three Gifts by Julia Justiss ⭐️ ⭐️
The Season for Suitors ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Balogh’s is the only real Christmasy one of the bunch.
July 29, 2023
Read this one years ago, still charming.
September 28, 2023
Handful of Gold only - 3.75
November 16, 2024
The first two novellas were great - 5/5. But the third was a snoozefest
December 26, 2024
A nice light collection of short stories perfect for the holiday season.
August 9, 2024
Unashamed fun. I used to dislike books with steamy sex scenes but now I don’t mind and enjoy them for what they are. A holiday for the mind. Of the three short stories, I enjoyed Mary balogh’s the best.
December 23, 2019
Only Mary Balogh’s book was “Christmas-y”.
October 14, 2011
This was a pleasant little book-- I love to have books like this around to read -- short stories/novellas for when I don't want to start something too big or long--like late at night ! I enjoyed Mary Balogh's story and Nicola Cornick's stories the most.
December 6, 2012
Book rating (average of three stories)= 3.33 stars
A Handful of Gold by Mary Balogh
3 stars
The Three Gifts by Julia Justiss
3 stars
The Season for Suitors by Nicola Cornick
4 stars
A Handful of Gold by Mary Balogh
3 stars
The Three Gifts by Julia Justiss
3 stars
The Season for Suitors by Nicola Cornick
4 stars
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January 9, 2010Romance
January 24, 2016
I enjoyed all three stories but Balogh and Justiss' were my favorite.
May 15, 2015
Cute Christmas story by Mary Balogh who is one of my favorite authors.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews