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A Regency Holiday Romance #1
His Christmas Nymph
Miss Caroline Griffiths is absolutely miserable. She wants a Christmas like the ones she enjoyed as a child. Except she's twenty-four years old and the life she enjoyed as a child no longer exists for her. Her mother has died and her two brothers were killed in the wars against Napoleon.
Her father has married a shrew who only wants to see her married to a man who smells like a pig, and her best friend is set to marry a Naval Officer in the the spring and she fears she will never see her again.
Her father spends his days holed up in his office and rarely comes out because he can't even stand the woman he's married. And then one day, everything changes.
She goes to her favourite reading spot on the sprawling estate of Whitney Park and sits on the bench in the Greek Temple Folly. While there, Edward Rochester, The Duke of Whitney spies her and believes that he has seen his very own Christmas Nymph.
He goes out to introduce himself to her and before he knows it he's proposing to her - knowing only one thing - his Christmas will not be happy unless he's married the woman who has besotted him - Caroline, his Christmas Nymph.
Her father has married a shrew who only wants to see her married to a man who smells like a pig, and her best friend is set to marry a Naval Officer in the the spring and she fears she will never see her again.
Her father spends his days holed up in his office and rarely comes out because he can't even stand the woman he's married. And then one day, everything changes.
She goes to her favourite reading spot on the sprawling estate of Whitney Park and sits on the bench in the Greek Temple Folly. While there, Edward Rochester, The Duke of Whitney spies her and believes that he has seen his very own Christmas Nymph.
He goes out to introduce himself to her and before he knows it he's proposing to her - knowing only one thing - his Christmas will not be happy unless he's married the woman who has besotted him - Caroline, his Christmas Nymph.
88 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 3, 2014
20 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
Marly Mathews
52 books31 followersMarly Mathews resides in Ontario, Canada with her family and their two Yorkshire Terriers, Shylah and Brynna. Marly writes romances, with Alpha kick ass heroes, and Alpha kick ass heroines. Her romances have drama, comedy and adventure all mixed into one. Marly writes historical, paranormal, fantasy, futuristic and contemporary romance.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 13, 2014
This story reads like a badly rushed dramatic play that no one bothered to write dialogue for, so all the actors are ad-libbing. Oh, and they're all scenery-chewing windbags, so their "lines" end up being stilted, awkward monologues.
I have so many issues with what I read here. So many. It's almost difficult to get them all into one review, but I'm gonna try.
First, it would appear Marly Mathews has absolutely no idea how to write believable characters. Caroline is perfect. She's angelic. Beautiful, noble, intelligent, kind, self-sacrificing, obedient, etc. She's all the good traits of every human being crammed into a fairy-like body. Her stepmother, Gertrude, on the other hand, is every possible failing any person could ever have. That's how you know she's the villain. She's trying to marry Caroline off to Gertrude's cousin, a man who "smells like a pig" and baths maybe once a month. But Caroline ain't havin' none of that. And neither is her father, Benjamin, the feckless, irresponsible, judgmental-but-he-means-well layabout. I could not understand where Mathews was trying to go with Benjamin...but then, since I'm half-convinced this entire story was written during the throws of a pretty heavy fever, I'm not sure "getting" any of it is even possible.
There are bits of dialogue in this seething mass of word diarrhea that take up entire pages. An entire page of one person talking, without pause. It's insanity. So from here on out, I'll let the writing speak for itself.
'She was a literal dragon lady.'
(I can totally see why Benjamin married her.)
'Zeus was attempting to stick his head into her basket, which meant she had food in her basket.'
'"Thank you," she looked furtive.'
'"Ah," he said. "So you are Lady Margaret's daughter." "Yes," her voice shook noticeably, "I was Lady Margaret's daughter."'
(If your parent dies, you're no longer their child...?)
'"The death of my brother Christopher took her will to fight away."'
(Took her will to fight away what?)
'She eyed him warily. "My father made the mistake of remarrying two years ago. Life has been difficult since his new wife came into my life. She doesn't like me, and makes me wish I could join my mother and brothers almost every day."'
(She just met this guy. She eyes him warily...then proceeds to tell him she's been contemplating suicide.)
'...she would be on equal footing with the duchess, who at that point would be known formerly as the Dowager Duchess of Whitney.'
(Formally. She would then be known formally as the Dowager Duchess.)
'Now she knew why she'd always been kept away from Whitney Park. Now it all made sense.'
(Actually, no, nothing makes sense since her father was perfectly fine with her traipsing off to Whitney Park completely alone to read.)
'His eyes burned with longing, and he literally exuded his extreme want for her.'
'His beautiful eyes literally ate her up.'
'"There is no need for you to deny it. I can see how much you want to walk with me in your eyes."'
(Let's take a walk in your eyes, darling. It'll hurt, but it'll be an adventure!)
'...she murmured, averting his gave.'
(No. You avert your own gaze.)
'"While I'm very happy living with my aunt, and her husband and her children."'
(Yup, that's a sentence in this book.)
'They were married on a crisp and cool morning on the morning of Christmas Eve.'
'His raw masculinity shone through as he twirled her about.'
(He's not a real, honest-to-gods manly man if he can't twirl you about, ladies.)
Now, aside from the absolute shitstorm that is the actual wordsmithing, there were so many inconsistencies and historical inaccuracies that by the time I was nearly through with this literary monstrosity, I felt like I was losing my mind. Lady Georgia, who was presumably married to a plain Mr., would no longer be referred to as Lady Georgia. She would be plain Mrs. Whatever. Caroline would be able to marry whether her father agreed to it or not since she was three years past the age of majority. Caroline's father and her aunt Georgia both address Edward as "Duke". "I was wrong, Duke." His name wasn't Duke, and the correct form of address would be Your Grace. I have never, I mean never read anything quite this inept. I was reading in bed and desperately trying to laugh quietly to myself so as not to wake my husband. It was rather difficult. Especially after I thought about the title a little more, and realized that His Christmas Nymphomaniac would have been a much more compelling tale.
I have so many issues with what I read here. So many. It's almost difficult to get them all into one review, but I'm gonna try.
First, it would appear Marly Mathews has absolutely no idea how to write believable characters. Caroline is perfect. She's angelic. Beautiful, noble, intelligent, kind, self-sacrificing, obedient, etc. She's all the good traits of every human being crammed into a fairy-like body. Her stepmother, Gertrude, on the other hand, is every possible failing any person could ever have. That's how you know she's the villain. She's trying to marry Caroline off to Gertrude's cousin, a man who "smells like a pig" and baths maybe once a month. But Caroline ain't havin' none of that. And neither is her father, Benjamin, the feckless, irresponsible, judgmental-but-he-means-well layabout. I could not understand where Mathews was trying to go with Benjamin...but then, since I'm half-convinced this entire story was written during the throws of a pretty heavy fever, I'm not sure "getting" any of it is even possible.
There are bits of dialogue in this seething mass of word diarrhea that take up entire pages. An entire page of one person talking, without pause. It's insanity. So from here on out, I'll let the writing speak for itself.
'She was a literal dragon lady.'
(I can totally see why Benjamin married her.)
'Zeus was attempting to stick his head into her basket, which meant she had food in her basket.'
'"Thank you," she looked furtive.'
'"Ah," he said. "So you are Lady Margaret's daughter." "Yes," her voice shook noticeably, "I was Lady Margaret's daughter."'
(If your parent dies, you're no longer their child...?)
'"The death of my brother Christopher took her will to fight away."'
(Took her will to fight away what?)
'She eyed him warily. "My father made the mistake of remarrying two years ago. Life has been difficult since his new wife came into my life. She doesn't like me, and makes me wish I could join my mother and brothers almost every day."'
(She just met this guy. She eyes him warily...then proceeds to tell him she's been contemplating suicide.)
'...she would be on equal footing with the duchess, who at that point would be known formerly as the Dowager Duchess of Whitney.'
(Formally. She would then be known formally as the Dowager Duchess.)
'Now she knew why she'd always been kept away from Whitney Park. Now it all made sense.'
(Actually, no, nothing makes sense since her father was perfectly fine with her traipsing off to Whitney Park completely alone to read.)
'His eyes burned with longing, and he literally exuded his extreme want for her.'
'His beautiful eyes literally ate her up.'
'"There is no need for you to deny it. I can see how much you want to walk with me in your eyes."'
(Let's take a walk in your eyes, darling. It'll hurt, but it'll be an adventure!)
'...she murmured, averting his gave.'
(No. You avert your own gaze.)
'"While I'm very happy living with my aunt, and her husband and her children."'
(Yup, that's a sentence in this book.)
'They were married on a crisp and cool morning on the morning of Christmas Eve.'
'His raw masculinity shone through as he twirled her about.'
(He's not a real, honest-to-gods manly man if he can't twirl you about, ladies.)
Now, aside from the absolute shitstorm that is the actual wordsmithing, there were so many inconsistencies and historical inaccuracies that by the time I was nearly through with this literary monstrosity, I felt like I was losing my mind. Lady Georgia, who was presumably married to a plain Mr., would no longer be referred to as Lady Georgia. She would be plain Mrs. Whatever. Caroline would be able to marry whether her father agreed to it or not since she was three years past the age of majority. Caroline's father and her aunt Georgia both address Edward as "Duke". "I was wrong, Duke." His name wasn't Duke, and the correct form of address would be Your Grace. I have never, I mean never read anything quite this inept. I was reading in bed and desperately trying to laugh quietly to myself so as not to wake my husband. It was rather difficult. Especially after I thought about the title a little more, and realized that His Christmas Nymphomaniac would have been a much more compelling tale.
October 22, 2014
Miss Caroline Griffiths is a strong willed heroine determined to settle for nothing but true love. The hero, the handsome, Edward Rochester, The Duke of Whitney is equally determined to marry her. But the past makes their union difficult. There are some pretty nasty characters that stand in their way, but a champion from an unexpected quarter arrives to help her. The author knows the period and there's nothing anachronistic to draw you out of the story. I enjoyed the very human observations in this story, portraits of selfishness and human weakness, and a need to believe in yourself.
June 16, 2019
A romance story.
This was my first time reading a book by this author. I throughly enjoyed this story. If you like Victorian romance stories you are bound to enjoy this one. The story moved along at a good pace as I found myself routing for Edward to win his bride to be and for Caroline to have that joy returned to her after all that she lost. I read this book in a day and a half!
Rose Matthews
This was my first time reading a book by this author. I throughly enjoyed this story. If you like Victorian romance stories you are bound to enjoy this one. The story moved along at a good pace as I found myself routing for Edward to win his bride to be and for Caroline to have that joy returned to her after all that she lost. I read this book in a day and a half!
Rose Matthews
November 10, 2017
Amazing Whirlwind romance
This book has heartbreak, love, family. It truly will showcase all the emotions. But in the end it's a story about love and finding that one person who makes life better.
This book has heartbreak, love, family. It truly will showcase all the emotions. But in the end it's a story about love and finding that one person who makes life better.
November 4, 2014
I didn't like that within moments of meeting the "hero" that he asked the "heroine" to marry him. I couldn't get past the first chapter.
November 28, 2015
Just about got through the 88 pages. Not very Chrismassy at all. Big disappointment for me. It was just o.k.
January 26, 2016
Fun short novels. I felt for the rush of marriages were right for the decade the books took place in.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews