On A Cold Christmas Eve

Tales From Seldon Park #0.5

by Bethany M. Sefchick

Lady Lucy Cavendish is in a bit of a quandary. Her uncle, the current Earl of Wellsford has abandoned her at a coaching inn outside of London with no money and no way to contact her contracted fiancée, Archibald St. Vincent, the younger brother of the Duke of Enwright. Except that Lucy quickly learns that not only is Archibald not coming to claim her, but that a far worse fate than abandonment awaits. She is to be sold to a house in Covent Garden to work as a prostitute rather than marry anyone. Desperate and alone, Lucy strikes out on her own, hoping to make her way to Fairhaven, the spring residence of the duke, and throw herself on his mercy. Or the mercy of his staff, at least, for as it's nearly Christmas, it's doubtful that the duke would be anywhere near a home he only uses a few weeks out of the year.

Adam St. Vincent, the Duke of Enwright, is furious. His brother has concocted yet another nefarious scheme, and this time, he doesn't think he can buy his brother's way out of trouble. Things become even more complicated when the lady in question arrives at Fairhaven where Adam is waiting for his brother. Cold and wet, it's clear the lady is ill and needs medical attention, so Adam whisks her off to his home at Overlook Hill to recuperate. He might be called the Devil Duke, but he's certainly no monster! Not to mention that it's the only proper and decent thing to do. Only things are never quite as uncomplicated as they appear and soon, it becomes clear to Adam that he must marry Lucy in order to keep her safe and out of Archibald's hands.

Can Lucy, a woman of so-called "tainted blood," due to her partially Indian heritage, ever come to love a man like the Devil Duke? And will Adam ever allow anyone in to see past his icy facade and to the warm and caring man beneath? When family members on both sides return in an attempt to ruin the fledgling romance, more than a little Christmas magic is required for Lucy and Adam's happily ever after.

This 31,300-word short novel is written in the modern, adult romance style for a slightly hotter read. It may not be appropriate for younger audiences.

Genres: Romance, Christmas, Historical Romance, Historical, Novella, Regency, Holiday

86 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 17, 2013

About the author

Making her home in the mountains of central Pennsylvania, Bethany Sefchick lives with her husband, Ed, and a plethora of Betta fish that she’s constantly finding new ways to entertain. In addition to writing, Bethany owns a jewelry company, Easily Distracted Designs.

When not penning romance novels or creating sparkly treasures, she enjoys cooking, scrapbooking, and lavishing attention on any stray cats who happen to be hanging around. She always enjoys hearing from her fans at: bsefchickauthor@gmail.com

Reviews

[Aou · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring...

[Belinda Vlasbaard · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,25 sterren- English Ebook

Quote: To her left, she could see a woman with steel-gray hair tucked up under a cap snoozing peacefully in a chair.  She was snoring so loudly that Lucy had no idea how she'd not heard that before.-

Quote: With one final shrug, Amelia glared at him and Adam knew her anger was only contained, not cooled.  "Had you not let him get away with it the first time, there would not have been a second."  -

Quote: Damn.  If the Home Office was involved, then that meant the Prince Regent knew Archibald was up to no good again.  Much as Adam despised his brother, he didn't truly want to see him hang, even though he might deserve it.-

Loved this short christmas romance. A demsell in distress and a knight in shining armor. But both have also another side. Witch comes up when needed.

[Debby *BabyDee* · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very nice beginning to kick off my holiday spirit with this holiday read. A delightful and enjoyable novella that made me love the courage of the hero/heroine a lot and their journey to overcome prejudices because of their mixed race. Enjoyed this short read.

[Vikki Vaught · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so glad I found this excellent novella by Ms. Sefchick. This is a very well-written story with a delightful ending. On a Cold Christmas Eve is FREE on Amazon, and suggest you take advantage of this and download the book for your reading pleasure.

Lady Lucy Cavendish is left stranded at an inn by her uncle and has to make her own way to the Fairhaven estate on a bitterly cold night. When she collaspes in the arms of the Duke of Enright, he knows he has to right the wrong his half-brother has perpetrated against this innocent young woman.

Can this relationship starting out of obligation possibly bring true love to Lucy and Adam, or will her evil uncle keep them apart?

For a novella, the characters are extremely well developed and the plot is believable. Even though the romance happens very fast, I could easily see the love between this enchanting couple. I loved the sexual tension between Lucy and Adam. It simmers from their first encounter and only grows stronger as the story progresses.

If you enjoy and fast-paced tale with a good deal of suspense, then you will love On a Cold Christmas Eve as much as I did. Happy reading!

4.5 Gold Crowns

[Patrice · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first story by author Bethany Sefchick. It is a novella that had all the right parts and great characters! I thouroughly enjoyed this lovely story about Lady Lucy Cavendish and Duke Enwright. Especially as Lady Cavendish has some backbone and is not one of the "simpering misses" of the time period. Thanks for a nice escape Ms. Sefchick. I will definitely be looking for more of your books.

[Lady Nilambari Reads HR · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded off to 4 Stars!

I read this novella as a part of the BOTM challenge in HRBC.

Plot Summary
The blurb is pretty descriptive and accurately sums up the plot
Adam, the Duke of Enwright is known in the realm as the Devil Duke. When his younger brother's latest trouble lands on his doorstep in the form of Lady Lucy Cavendish, ill, cold and almost about to die, he saves her the only way he knows how by marrying her. Villains show up, confrontation happens, Adam & Lucy declare their love and live HEA.

My Thoughts
- This is my first book by this author and I may be inclined to read her other books. The writing style was a little too descriptive for my taste, especially considering it was a novella. But, it was written well.
- The plot was darker for a Christmas time love story, abandonment by younger brother is understandable, but plans for the heroine to be sold into prostitution? That took a turn to morbid pretty quickly.
- Pacing is cyclical, for an insta-love trope of sorts, they do go around "he loves me, he loves me not" for quite a bit. But if it hadn't been for this, the story would have ended 10000 words sooner I guess.
- Adam & Lucy were likeable characters, strong, honourable and fighters and their love was kinda sweet. Amelia, the duke's sister was also an interesting character, she has her own story.
- It was an almost clean book, closed-door steam, disappointing after the buildup.
- Redistributing the back and forth word count, about being in love, to flesh out the villains would have made it better.

My Recommendation
- A quick two-hour read, I enjoyed this book. May pick up Amelia's story in the future.

[T’Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

The story: Lucy finds herself in a precarious situation after her uncle leaves her with nothing and she's supposed to wait for her fiance ... to avoid ruin, she walks to her betrothed's brother's house ... Adam, the Duke of Enwright realizes this woman almost became another victim of his brother's greed. He decides that he must protect Lucy the best way he can....

This was a short Christmas novella that had a lot going on but didn't feel very exciting. It was fine. Lucy and Adam are immediately drawn to each other and their marriage seems the obvious solution. Of course they start to care a lot about each other but I never really felt invested in the relationship.

[Robin is it summer yet · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was great. No simpering found. ❤️

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (9/8/2020)! 🎁

[Midniteillusion · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars rounded up

Lots of typos.

I felt like something was missing with the Devil Duke, like I should have known his devilish/scary side from another book or something. He was only nice and kind in this book. He took care of Lucy but that doesn’t make him a “devil”. Seems like the author wanted him to be scary and mean but never went in that direction with his personality.
Aside from that it was a sweet love at first sight kind of story. Not much Christmas feel to it other than the mention of it being the holiday season.

Maybe would try another book by this author.

[One more page with Sienna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick little historical romance set during Christmas time. This was by no means perfect but it was a cute little story that was rather entertaining. It was a little insta lovey but being a novella that is quite common. Overall it was a nice little start to my week of Christmas books

[Deborah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining read.



Since the synopsis for this book is so good there's no point in me giving my usual summary so I'll keep this review short.
I really enjoyed this read, I loved the two main characters and the story it kept me entertained and if I'm being honest I was a bit disappointed when it finished I would have liked more.
I generally read fairly quickly and therefore small errors don't usually bother me but this book had a lot and I do mean a lot of mistakes which made reading slow going at times.
Historically this book was a mess and several reviews have blamed lack of research this may be true but again it's a romance not a history book so I let a lot slide but it was difficult to come to terms with Adams uncertainty when he's a Duke and a Duke held tremendous power, he could more or less have done as he pleased and no one would stand in his way.
The only thing which bothered me was all the self doubt and wallowing, he'll never love me, she'll never love me, no one could love me, I'm hideous... Ok hideous isn't a quote but you get my drift and maybe it's me but it seemed a bit overdone and got on my nerves a bit but apart from that it's a good entertaining read.

[pmatch1104 · Rating 1 out of 5]

I downloaded this ebook for free, and all I can say is thank goodness I didn't pay good money for it. It starts out okay and seems to be well written, but then you start to see typos and incorrect/missing words to the point it becomes distracting. It's like the book was only partially proofread. I felt the character lacked development and the inconsistencies in the story became annoying. For instance, right after their wedding breakfast, they go into the library and drink brandy. Adam gives Lucy a huge glass which she DOWNS. Okay to me when someone downs a full glass that means they drink all of it. A couple of paragraphs later she is sipping her drink. What? Poor proofreading again. As the daughter of an earl, Lucy should also know that dukes and duchesses are referred to as Your Grace. I admit that I skimmed the last 25 pages or so because I got tired of reading ... then they did this, then they did that with virtually no dialogue between the characters. Please the dialogue was overly familiar to be historically accurate for me. This book started off good but then fell flat on its face. A definite pass in my judgment.

[Lauren Whitman · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a free Kindle book, and I'm thankful I didn't pay for it! Actually, the story line was interesting and I did come to care what happened to the two main characters but . . .

Too many errors got in the way. Does this author truly not know the difference between compliment and complement? Or for that matter, breathe and breath?

There were a lot of minor characters and sometimes it was difficult to recall who was whom in some of the scenes.

I don't know that much personally about how things work with the British royalty - the hierarchy of titles and how everyone should be addressed, but according to another review I read, the author doesn't know much either.

Overall this book makes me want to try to my own hand at writing books like this. Ha!

[Karen_Lee_Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

On A Cold Christmas Eve - The Seldon Park Christmas Novellas

Adam St. Vincent, Duke of Enwright is a little mad. A man who really has no business hanging around Fairhaven Estate continues to insist he is waiting for the Duke’s brother Archibald St. Vincent to arrive with some package an exchange of payment. Adam has no idea what he is talking about but he knows his brother Archibald is not one a person can count on and is constantly in trouble. Trouble that Adam has had to get him out of before. As bad as that trouble was (he a defiled an innocent) Adam knew this was going worse, far worse.

Adam of course was not about to let this man hang around and not tell him what was about to happen, managed to get that information and was ready when Lady Lucy Cavendish comes walking up the entry road to Fairhaven. Having been left at the inn in the town of Fairhaven by her so called uncle, with no money to her name as he stole her reticule and left, leaving her defenceless on a cold, rainy/snowy December night. Lucy makes it as far as walking up towards Fairhaven, Adam rushes out of the house and she collapses in to his arms.

Poor Lucy not only is sick but still doesn’t know the truth about what her so called Uncle and Archibald had planned for her. She is ill and abed for a fortnight before waking up only to find they are no longer at Fairhaven but at Overlook Hill, Adam’s country estate. Christmas is closing in and Adam and his men have discovered the total of the plans that Archibald and uncle, James Strathmore Earl of Wellsford. It is the worst of course including a marriage at Gretna Green, a return to London for Archibald to sell his wife to a brothel, and Archibald and her Uncle sharing her dowry and the money left to her.

Not the nicest of men were they. Over the next few days as she recovers more, Adam know he is going to have to do something to protect her, that those 2 men having contracted with each other, would just try to kidnap her and follow through with their plan. The end result means to protect Lucy, Adam must marry her. As he does just before Christmas Eve.

There are a few twists and turns but in the end Adam and Lucy do have a HEA ending.

This was a short novella and was easily read in just a few hours. Also, a nice short story for the Holiday Season

[Deborah Layne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unique story line assaulted by verbal diarrhoea

The plot promises much but repetition of empty ideas, contradictions of observations and an absurd notion of falling in love in 7 days of conscious relationship.
If you disagree with public opinion why is a handsome man with no physical defects being disparaged as a devil? What is this white religious fascination with wicked, devil and handsome as sin? A piece of art marred by cultural, literary and editorial expectations that make no sense.
This is a shorter story presented as a short story, assassinated by internal dialogue instead of boosted by action and substance.
If this book is rewritten it would be a huge success. The idea presented in the plot is stand alone superior. The demonstration of that idea is inferior or run of the mill. If you are brilliant enough to create such a plot, that's a superior imagination. But the composition of the text demands remaining outside the box. That's how peer pressure ruins a good book.

[Desislava Yordanova · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a sweet story, but I feel the choice to present it as a novella didn’t quite do it justice. The pacing felt rushed, and the limited length didn’t allow the narrative to fully develop. The main hero, dubbed the Devil Duke, is described with a menacing title, but what we actually see is a kind and sweet man. While that characterization is delightful, the novella didn’t provide enough time for his darker, shadowy side to emerge—something that would justify his fearsome reputation. It’s one thing to say he’s the Devil Duke, but another to show it.

The story attempted to convey some angst, but the brevity meant there wasn’t enough room for the emotions to deepen or the plot to achieve a satisfying level of complexity. As a result, it felt caught in the middle—missing structure and definition.

That said, I’m intrigued by the rest of the series, especially the book focusing on Harry’s story. I plan to explore more of the author’s work, as her knack for crafting sweet romantic tales is undeniable.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short novella had a wonderful mixture of tension, romance, villainy and love. Even though the heroine Lucy is left in a very precarious situation, I loved how the author instilled her with pluck, courage and an element of independence. Adam the Duke of Enwright is written with just the right balance of a knight in shining armour and a curmudgeonly devil. The villains were exactly that and I was so cheering for a happily ever after for the hero and heroine and an appropriate punishment for the villains. My only negative - I wished that there was an epilogue to Adam & Lucy’s story. All in all, this is a clean and entertaining novella that introduces a new series. I hope that we learn more about Lucy and Adam in the future books.

[Deb Diem · Rating 5 out of 5]

On A Cold Christmas Eve by Bethany M. Sefchick is a fairly quick read, a great choice for historical romance fans with limited reading time. Ms. Sefchick has delivered a well-written book. Adam and Lucy's story is packed with drama, suspense, action, humor and sizzle. My favorite part of the story though is the outstanding cast of characters. I enjoyed reading On A Cold Christmas Eve and look forward to reading more from Bethany M. Sefchick in the future. On A Cold Christmas Eve is book 2 of The Sheldon Park Christmas Novellas Series but can be read as a standalone. This is a complete book, not a cliff-hanger.

[BonnieL · Rating 1 out of 5]

A self-published disaster - even if the author can't afford an editor, an entry-level proofreader could have helped - at least with the spelling and grammar. Words were missing, there actually is a difference between "breath" and "breathe", riding "astride" is not the same as riding "at side", titles were messed up and no where in the entire English aristocracy would someone with the hero's title and background be an outsider and considered "exotic" because his mother was an Italian and Catholic. The author needs to take a break and read and re-read Georgette Heyer, Mary Balogh and other excellent Regency authors to actually learn British history.

[Wendy Tavenner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another beautiful Christmas Love. Lucy believes she is to marry Archibald and when she is dropped off at an inn with nothing but the clothes on her back by her uncle she knows something is not right. When she talks to the inn keeper she gets a picture of her would be fiancé. She then decides to trudge in the bad weather to find the answers. What she didn’t expect was to faint dead away in his brothers arms the Devil Duke “Adam”. A beautifully written short story of survival, longing, passion and love all wrapped up in a Christmas romance.

[Sieravonne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just find the passage below over acting. It's not like he was a cold-hearted murderer in the past. He was simply cold; the devil duke, but not a monster.

In that moment, Lucy could see all of the Devil Duke, the reason why her husband was so feared. There was no humanity in him just then, no sense of reason. There was only rage, black and curling, taking over every bit of his mind, and she knew that if he killed Wellsford, he would finally and completely lose his soul. She refused to be the reason Adam gave up his humanity. She wouldn't allow it.

[Vani · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are several issues with this story, the simplest of which is the language. It requires thorough proofreading. The next is that the realities of being mixed race and living in a society so concerned about racial purity do not feel organic. No one but a white person would ever describe someone of Italian descent as exotic. However, the chemistry between the characters is good and the setting is vividly described. I enjoyed the descriptions of a country estate in the middle of winter and during Xmas celebrations.

[Sandra Moreira · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was nice, nice story, nice characters (except the bad ones, of course!), overall a nice reading!

I liked Adam St Vincent (I really have a thing about this English name!!), I liked his strong character and his sense of honour. His ability to fix his brother wrongdoings leads him to Lucy, a also strong woman, sadly caught in the traps of awful people, one of them her one uncle... I should read it an make an opinion.

PS But whatever you do please forget that you saw this cover!!!!! What's wrong with this publisher?! The couple in the cover aren't definitely the one in the book. I don't understand, did they think people wouldn't notice??? Seriously...

[Christiane Robillard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing

When I started reading this book, I was intrigued and moved by the dreadful situation in which our heroine found herself. I was sure I would enjoy this story. Unfortunately, it was a great disappointment. The entire story was fairytale-ish … not a bit of realism anywhere. The emotions expressed by the characters, the dialogue as well as the actions were so far fetched, so illogical and nonsensical, the story became a farce. Very disappointing. Would give it a 2.5

[Becca Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book I have read from this author and I enjoyed it.
I love Adam, I think he makes a great hero. I felt for him having to make the decisions he had to about his brother, but his brother deserved it. Lucy was saved from an evil fate and deserved to be loved, she was the perfect match for Adam.
Overall a quick and easy read that I very much enjoyed!

[Olivia]

Book Club Read: November 2021

Considering this is a novella and not a full blown novel, I am not sure how to rate it.

For its shortness, it was pretty entertaining.

But it some aspects I think the story was a bit too dark/deep to fully work as a sort of short story.

I might rate it later. But for now this is all I have to say.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Devil Dukes turn

In the second book, Amelia's twin brother Adam, The Devil Duke gets a chance for love when he rescues a Lady from the evil clutches of his criminal brother Archibald and her sinister uncle. After getting her the medical care she needs, he discovers he is drawn to her, he strength and her spirit call to him. Short and sweet fun read.

[Debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great

Short and sweet and a little bit of everything I enjoy this book you are good and I'm sure others will agree. Thanks for the magic of falling in love.
Best regards. DH from New York City

[Judy Kieffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

I am not sure which book is better but when his sister finally appears the connection is made if you didn't read the first book you will find that you're missing a lot of detail.