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Seasons of Love #3
Winter Fires
The third volume in the delightful SEASONS OF LOVE quartet features three unforgettable Regency heroines in three delectable, entertaining short stories.
It’s cold outside, but the heat of a winter flame can melt anyone’s heart…
SNOW ANGEL
When Miss Celia Dearing goes for a walk in the countryside, the last thing she expects is to be caught in raging blizzard. With no choice but to seek shelter in a cottage, she is even more shocked to see a handsome, half-naked man greeting her with a devilish smile. Even worse, the charming Nicholas Newland is known as a notorious rake.
Celia and Nick are stranded together in the storm, but when the weather clears, will Celia emerge with her reputation—and her innocent heart—intact?
SEALED WITH A KISS
Felicia has always loved the Honorable Mr. Benjamin Littledale, and designs a brilliant plot that will all but ensure his proposal of marriage. But in love, nothing goes as planned, and Felicia causes a scandal that will change her life forever.
Forced into marriage with the enigmatic and mysterious Earl of Kettering, Felicia thinks her future happiness is all but dashed. But with a little help from the Dowager Countess of Kettering—and an ancient love potion—perhaps the flame of passion can melt the ice between two strangers.
TO LOVE A SCANDALOUS LORD
Lady Hannah Sedgewick overhears shocking information about her future, and decides to finally embrace passion and live life to the fullest. She offers herself for one night to the scandalous Viscount Beaumont—unconcerned about the consequences of her actions.
Lord Beaumont accepts, and gives Hannah the most unforgettable night of her life. But in the cold light of morning comes clarity, and Hannah realizes she has made a terrible mistake… until her wicked viscount challenges her to stand up for what she wants in life, and in love.
It’s cold outside, but the heat of a winter flame can melt anyone’s heart…
SNOW ANGEL
When Miss Celia Dearing goes for a walk in the countryside, the last thing she expects is to be caught in raging blizzard. With no choice but to seek shelter in a cottage, she is even more shocked to see a handsome, half-naked man greeting her with a devilish smile. Even worse, the charming Nicholas Newland is known as a notorious rake.
Celia and Nick are stranded together in the storm, but when the weather clears, will Celia emerge with her reputation—and her innocent heart—intact?
SEALED WITH A KISS
Felicia has always loved the Honorable Mr. Benjamin Littledale, and designs a brilliant plot that will all but ensure his proposal of marriage. But in love, nothing goes as planned, and Felicia causes a scandal that will change her life forever.
Forced into marriage with the enigmatic and mysterious Earl of Kettering, Felicia thinks her future happiness is all but dashed. But with a little help from the Dowager Countess of Kettering—and an ancient love potion—perhaps the flame of passion can melt the ice between two strangers.
TO LOVE A SCANDALOUS LORD
Lady Hannah Sedgewick overhears shocking information about her future, and decides to finally embrace passion and live life to the fullest. She offers herself for one night to the scandalous Viscount Beaumont—unconcerned about the consequences of her actions.
Lord Beaumont accepts, and gives Hannah the most unforgettable night of her life. But in the cold light of morning comes clarity, and Hannah realizes she has made a terrible mistake… until her wicked viscount challenges her to stand up for what she wants in life, and in love.
- GenresHistorical Romance
72 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 29, 2016
22 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Michelle McMaster
12 books109 followersMichelle McMaster loves writing about dashing heroes and spunky heroines in her historical romances, and is known for humorous dialogue and memorable characters. Michelle holds a degree in English Literature from Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia. She enjoys travelling, reading, quilting, and gardening. She lives on the east coast of Canada with her husband and their two dogs, a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever and a Border Collie mix. She also writes thriller novels under the pen name Avery Holt: http://www.AveryHolt.com
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 1, 2017
In my opinion Winter Fires was not as good as the first two novellas in the Seasons of Love series. I did not really enjoy the first novella in this one but did like the last two. I believe my favorite was the second one "Sealed With a Kiss". I found you get to know the characters a bit better in that one then in the others. I would recommend this if you enjoy her writing but if you have not read her before I would recommend the first two in the series or her full length novel "Seducing the Bride".
January 2, 2018
A trio of short stories with winter settings - easy to read and utterly forgettable.
Snow Angel - 2 stars
Trope: forced proximity
Celia Dearing decides to go for a walk one day to get away from her unbearable uncle, and winds up walking straight into a blizzard. She seeks shelter at the first place she comes upon, stumbling into a cozy cottage, only to find a half-naked man with an amused grin on his face. He is Nicholas Newland, and unbeknownst to her (until he tells her himself), he is a notorious rake. So notorious that even a hint of their being together alone will ruin her reputation. Considering they are caught in one hell of a snowstorm, she basically has no chance to escape this little episode with her reputation intact. So, he proposes, why not do exactly what everyone will inevitably accuse her of doing while they wait for the snow to melt?
This story was completely devoid of emotion. It was a bit odd to read, in fact. The characters were very flat, and the author's outline was showing. This is one of my favorite tropes, so I was quite disappointed in the result.
Sealed with a Kiss - 3 stars
Trope: mistaken identity
Felicia Cartwright has an understanding with the Honorable Benjamin Little. They were childhood sweethearts, and she is desperate to move forward with their marriage, but he's dragging his feet. Determined to force his hand, she arranges to meet him in the conservatory of Hereford House, where they will just happen to be caught in a torrid embrace. Everything is working perfectly according to her plan - with the bonus of her staid beau being extra amorous - until they are caught, and Felicia realizes she's not netted her prey, but a very big fish instead: the Earl of Kettering.
She is distraught by the idea of marrying a stranger, but has no other choice. The two are married and move to his estate, where he leaves her on his wedding day to attend business in London. Felicia has her new mother-in-law, the Dowager Countess, for company, and the Dowager has Certain Ideas for how Felicia must now behave as the new Countess Kettering, including a surefire way to insure that her womb is fruitful - an awful concoction that "tastes like onion soup with dirt thrown in."
This realization makes Felicia look at her heretofore unwanted husband in a new light, and suddenly being the Countess isn't such a bad lot in life.
This story was delightfully written, with characters exuding a bit of depth and some actual emotions on the page. The Dowager was hilarious. The dialogue was fairly witty, and there was enough oomph in the drama of the betrayal (and the consummation scene) to make this worth reading. The ending was on the cheesy side, but at least I cared about what happened to the characters.
To Love a Scandalous Lord - 2 stars
Lady Hannah Sedgewick overhears a conversation between her sister Alice and Alice's husband, George, discussing obviously terrible news they wish to keep from her. She gets it into her head that she's dying, and once she gets over the shock of this leap of logic, decides that there's no way she's going to die a virgin. She heads out that very evening to the home of James Beaumont, another notorious London rake, and tells him of her fate, and of her fervent wish to know the pleasures of passion before her time is up. As he'd previously proposed to her (only for her to turn him down), he's more than happy to assist her with doing away with her virginity.
The next morning, Hannah awakes, and Alice finally dredges up the courage to tell her the truth: This suddenly changes everything, and Hannah seeks out James to give him this imperative update, and to decide what to do next.
This was an interesting premise for a story, but there was something lacking in the execution. Both Hannah and James are prone to strident monologues that struck me as out of character (rather amazing, considering we are given just the barest character sketches to work with). The denouement and the ending were quite "meh" - this story might have benefited from a fully fleshed out novel to deliver its intended impact.
All in all, this is something of a letdown from the permafree summer collection (Summer Passions).
Snow Angel - 2 stars
Trope: forced proximity
Celia Dearing decides to go for a walk one day to get away from her unbearable uncle, and winds up walking straight into a blizzard. She seeks shelter at the first place she comes upon, stumbling into a cozy cottage, only to find a half-naked man with an amused grin on his face. He is Nicholas Newland, and unbeknownst to her (until he tells her himself), he is a notorious rake. So notorious that even a hint of their being together alone will ruin her reputation. Considering they are caught in one hell of a snowstorm, she basically has no chance to escape this little episode with her reputation intact. So, he proposes, why not do exactly what everyone will inevitably accuse her of doing while they wait for the snow to melt?
This story was completely devoid of emotion. It was a bit odd to read, in fact. The characters were very flat, and the author's outline was showing. This is one of my favorite tropes, so I was quite disappointed in the result.
Sealed with a Kiss - 3 stars
Trope: mistaken identity
Felicia Cartwright has an understanding with the Honorable Benjamin Little. They were childhood sweethearts, and she is desperate to move forward with their marriage, but he's dragging his feet. Determined to force his hand, she arranges to meet him in the conservatory of Hereford House, where they will just happen to be caught in a torrid embrace. Everything is working perfectly according to her plan - with the bonus of her staid beau being extra amorous - until they are caught, and Felicia realizes she's not netted her prey, but a very big fish instead: the Earl of Kettering.
She is distraught by the idea of marrying a stranger, but has no other choice. The two are married and move to his estate, where he leaves her on his wedding day to attend business in London. Felicia has her new mother-in-law, the Dowager Countess, for company, and the Dowager has Certain Ideas for how Felicia must now behave as the new Countess Kettering, including a surefire way to insure that her womb is fruitful - an awful concoction that "tastes like onion soup with dirt thrown in."
This realization makes Felicia look at her heretofore unwanted husband in a new light, and suddenly being the Countess isn't such a bad lot in life.
This story was delightfully written, with characters exuding a bit of depth and some actual emotions on the page. The Dowager was hilarious. The dialogue was fairly witty, and there was enough oomph in the drama of the betrayal (and the consummation scene) to make this worth reading. The ending was on the cheesy side, but at least I cared about what happened to the characters.
To Love a Scandalous Lord - 2 stars
Lady Hannah Sedgewick overhears a conversation between her sister Alice and Alice's husband, George, discussing obviously terrible news they wish to keep from her. She gets it into her head that she's dying, and once she gets over the shock of this leap of logic, decides that there's no way she's going to die a virgin. She heads out that very evening to the home of James Beaumont, another notorious London rake, and tells him of her fate, and of her fervent wish to know the pleasures of passion before her time is up. As he'd previously proposed to her (only for her to turn him down), he's more than happy to assist her with doing away with her virginity.
The next morning, Hannah awakes, and Alice finally dredges up the courage to tell her the truth: This suddenly changes everything, and Hannah seeks out James to give him this imperative update, and to decide what to do next.
This was an interesting premise for a story, but there was something lacking in the execution. Both Hannah and James are prone to strident monologues that struck me as out of character (rather amazing, considering we are given just the barest character sketches to work with). The denouement and the ending were quite "meh" - this story might have benefited from a fully fleshed out novel to deliver its intended impact.
All in all, this is something of a letdown from the permafree summer collection (Summer Passions).
June 1, 2017
Boring
October 24, 2018
Another three lovely stories. Very enjoyable reading.
4☆
4☆
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews