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The Holiday Present
Now together for the first time, Johanna Lindsey's two classic Christmas tales, long beloved by her fans, available with a beautiful keepsake Christmas ornament!
The Present (Malory-Anderson Family #6)
The love story that began the Mallory dynasty. Miracles have been known to happen in this season of peace and giving and love, as this dramatic story of a mysterious exotic gypsy that became the bride of a duke shows.
Home for the Holidays
A treasured gift of love, tenderness, and ecstasy unbound. An enchanting story of a young impoverished gentlewoman and the mysterious gentleman whose heart is melted by her beauty.
The Present (Malory-Anderson Family #6)
The love story that began the Mallory dynasty. Miracles have been known to happen in this season of peace and giving and love, as this dramatic story of a mysterious exotic gypsy that became the bride of a duke shows.
Home for the Holidays
A treasured gift of love, tenderness, and ecstasy unbound. An enchanting story of a young impoverished gentlewoman and the mysterious gentleman whose heart is melted by her beauty.
480 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 25, 2003
97 people are currently reading
1104 people want to read
About the author
Johanna Lindsey
148 books7,267 followersJohanna Helen Howard was born on March 10, 1952 in Germany, where her father, Edwin Dennis Howard, a soldier in the U.S. Army was stationed. The family moved about a great deal when she was young. Her father always dreamed of retiring to Hawaii, and after he passed away in 1964 Johanna and her mother settled there to honor him.
In 1970, when she was still in school, she married Ralph Lindsey, becoming a young housewife. The marriage had three children; Alfred, Joseph and Garret, who already have made her a grandmother. After her husband's death, Johanna moved to Maine, New England, to stay near her family.
Johanna Lindsey wrote her first book, Captive Bride in 1977 "on a whim", and the book was a success. By 2006, with over 58 Million copies of her books have been sold worldwide, with translations appearing in 12 languages, Johanna Lindsey is one of the world's most popular authors of historical romance.
Johanna's books span the various eras of history, including books set in the Middle Ages, the American "Old West" and the popular Regency England-Scotland. She has even written a few sci-fi romances. By far the most popular among her books are the stories about the Malory-Anderson Family, a Regency England saga.
Johanna Lindsey died on Oct. 27, 2019 in Nashua, N.H. She was 67.
In 1970, when she was still in school, she married Ralph Lindsey, becoming a young housewife. The marriage had three children; Alfred, Joseph and Garret, who already have made her a grandmother. After her husband's death, Johanna moved to Maine, New England, to stay near her family.
Johanna Lindsey wrote her first book, Captive Bride in 1977 "on a whim", and the book was a success. By 2006, with over 58 Million copies of her books have been sold worldwide, with translations appearing in 12 languages, Johanna Lindsey is one of the world's most popular authors of historical romance.
Johanna's books span the various eras of history, including books set in the Middle Ages, the American "Old West" and the popular Regency England-Scotland. She has even written a few sci-fi romances. By far the most popular among her books are the stories about the Malory-Anderson Family, a Regency England saga.
Johanna Lindsey died on Oct. 27, 2019 in Nashua, N.H. She was 67.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
July 25, 2011
first The Present: its good but only if you love the Malory's, if you don't know who they are do not start with this story it will only confuse you. At first I thought Lindsey was loosing her finesse with the family, but then I took it for what it is a present to those who wanted to know more about the family.
Second Home for the Holidays: not her best, probably why it is connect with a legendary Malory novel. But is has some good points.
Second Home for the Holidays: not her best, probably why it is connect with a legendary Malory novel. But is has some good points.
February 25, 2018
A story about a romance of a beautiful Gypsy named Anastasia Stephanoof and Christopher Malory the second Marquis. I love how it was love at first sight and so it started the their relationship although they were from two different environments. Their love story the began of their family tree had been hinted for years. The mystery of this was solved from finding an old journal verifying that the Malory’s grandmother was a gypsy. This book held my interest from the beginning and like the ancestors I wanted to find out about the diary.
August 8, 2012
modern things that should NOT be in a historical book.
-bone 2pick w/him. aint.toddlers. "where's my hug,puss." beg2 differ. u want a piece of me? put a lid on it.rant&rave.when he flies thru the roof.(meaning he's mad).caught in the act. chickened out. what a whopper.lame excuse. hells bells. are we doing laundry(meanin r we brining up the past). ill buy that.im game.moot point.vice versa. badger you.ur such a stick.he was game2 try nething new.greater scheme of things.put her on the spot.jokester. crashed the party.if you get my drift.square away.shout it from the rooftops.gigantic.moot point.
johanna seems2 forget that shes in england,not in western america.so why have them talk like westerners &cowboys?! this isnt the 1st regency romance ive read by her that sounds like a western romance either.
its impossible 2keep up w/ this family.
why wud u name ur daughter jack?!
jasons longtime mistress,the housekeeper. wth!?
jason "was willing create 1 in giving his wife,frances,the divorce she wanted,just 2 keep her from revealing what she knew about molly."
this sotry is turning out2 be totally dif. than i thought it wud.
we flip 2the next chapter in the book &its n the mistress' perspective.just what i wanted2 read.
ok so the housemaid "was not goin2 be the cause of yet another malory scandal.she hadnt been raised that way.&besides she was already more a wife2 him than frances had ever been." u hadnt been raised 2cause a scandal but u had an affair w.the gentry resulting n a child. &u also continued that affair when he was married.do u grasp the concept of scandal? because all that is more scandalous than u marrying a noble person.just a lil heads up there.&idc if his wife was a shrew,u dont cheat on her.whether u consummated the marriage or not.
&while we're on the subject,how was the marriage not consummated when jason had more kids?! unless he married sum1 else,which the book has not mentioned yet.so he prob.cheated on yet another wife.
why wud we wanna read in jasons(the father,grandfather,w/e) perspective&his mistress?! ugh!
u'd have2 read all the books n the malory series 2keep up w/the characters.cuz im lost.
idk why this is even n the serires.she shud have just left it off instead of addin this.
idr james malory being a rake.it seems like every guy in the family is.which is ridiculous. james dint seem like rake material neway.cuz hes a big man.not the usual sort of rakes u read about. &why bring up his past now that hes married?! -"haunt some of the more disreputable waterfront establishments in your day."
poorly written sentences-
"stallion that looked annoyed2 have his brisk ride curtailed, if his tossing head,stomping feet, and,finally rearing up on his back legs were any indication."
how r we supposed2 like sum1 who deliberately uses cheap tactics2 basically force the man into marrying them because they have2 get out of a betrothal??
&how can u honestly make someone marry u n a wk??
the guy starts out respectable &then instantly follows her because she said "few unique services we offer."
&then he says "i am intoxicated enough by the sight of you" which is not only an idiotic thing2 say but it sounds modern.
the style of writing in here is just not good.¬hing in here is romantic.
she refuses2 sleep w/him unless he marries her.bravo 4that line of thinking,but then we flip the page after the dance thing &shes naked under his sheets even though they didnt sleep together because he fell asleep because he was drunk.why are you naked?!
this 'love story' isnt even sweet.johanna manages 2 suck all the romance out of her books. 1st in a man2 call my own,then in rogue of my own or w/e its called.
he's having all these feelings like "she gave him emotions after so long" when hes known her for a day.actually, he was only around her for several minutes.
no fast love story is believable or likeable.
&then he wants2 make her the ridiculous offer to be his mistress.which already costs him some points in my book.basically i dont like these people at all.
this is the 3rd book ive read by johanna that i can remember where the virgin acts like a whore. whats up with that? &since when are gypsies completely comfortable with talking about sex &everything. i mean,im sure some of them are embarrassed about it.especially a virgin.
she said she wont sleep with im unless they're married &does the exact opposite.she goes &sleeps with him &they're definitey not married.its 2 days after they've met.
whats up with johanna having misunderstandings between characters? like in here he thinks shes lying about being half gypsy and being the daughter of a russian prince or w/e.&hes just not likable.she isnt either.
johanna chops off the beginning of sentences,like "beg to differ" nstead of "i beg to differ." which i highly doubt ppl talked like in england back then.
one gypsy in the family &suddenly every1 is like "thats where my insight comes from" and "thats where my judge of people comes from." &when one guy said they didnt inherit anything from the gypsy besides looks,they're like "you got her charm." like wth.as if u couldnt have all of that on your own.it all had to come from the gypsy.like suddenly every1 had a trait from this one ancestor.
anastasia's insight makes no sense. she has2 write their story down cuz "it'll help their children's children."
the dialogue in here is just bad.its really exhausting at times.it doesnt flow and its kind of spastic.it literally left me exhausted at times.like when molly was explaining how she foind the present in the attic.
the little children in here sound like grownups.&the grownups sound like young ppl.u think ur readin about a young person&it turns they're actually someone's aunt or uncle or father or mother.
its funny,The Present was supposed to help anna's and christopher's descendants,but it rlly didnt. i mean,yeah,jason and molly ended up together but i dont rlly see how the book truly helped. molly still didnt wanna create a scandal &she was still a housemaid,so the book didnt change nething. &it was kind of a stupid way to get two ppl together.
anna's and christopher's story wasnt even sweet.
i didnt even care to read the 2nd story in this book.
-bone 2pick w/him. aint.toddlers. "where's my hug,puss." beg2 differ. u want a piece of me? put a lid on it.rant&rave.when he flies thru the roof.(meaning he's mad).caught in the act. chickened out. what a whopper.lame excuse. hells bells. are we doing laundry(meanin r we brining up the past). ill buy that.im game.moot point.vice versa. badger you.ur such a stick.he was game2 try nething new.greater scheme of things.put her on the spot.jokester. crashed the party.if you get my drift.square away.shout it from the rooftops.gigantic.moot point.
johanna seems2 forget that shes in england,not in western america.so why have them talk like westerners &cowboys?! this isnt the 1st regency romance ive read by her that sounds like a western romance either.
its impossible 2keep up w/ this family.
why wud u name ur daughter jack?!
jasons longtime mistress,the housekeeper. wth!?
jason "was willing create 1 in giving his wife,frances,the divorce she wanted,just 2 keep her from revealing what she knew about molly."
this sotry is turning out2 be totally dif. than i thought it wud.
we flip 2the next chapter in the book &its n the mistress' perspective.just what i wanted2 read.
ok so the housemaid "was not goin2 be the cause of yet another malory scandal.she hadnt been raised that way.&besides she was already more a wife2 him than frances had ever been." u hadnt been raised 2cause a scandal but u had an affair w.the gentry resulting n a child. &u also continued that affair when he was married.do u grasp the concept of scandal? because all that is more scandalous than u marrying a noble person.just a lil heads up there.&idc if his wife was a shrew,u dont cheat on her.whether u consummated the marriage or not.
&while we're on the subject,how was the marriage not consummated when jason had more kids?! unless he married sum1 else,which the book has not mentioned yet.so he prob.cheated on yet another wife.
why wud we wanna read in jasons(the father,grandfather,w/e) perspective&his mistress?! ugh!
u'd have2 read all the books n the malory series 2keep up w/the characters.cuz im lost.
idk why this is even n the serires.she shud have just left it off instead of addin this.
idr james malory being a rake.it seems like every guy in the family is.which is ridiculous. james dint seem like rake material neway.cuz hes a big man.not the usual sort of rakes u read about. &why bring up his past now that hes married?! -"haunt some of the more disreputable waterfront establishments in your day."
poorly written sentences-
"stallion that looked annoyed2 have his brisk ride curtailed, if his tossing head,stomping feet, and,finally rearing up on his back legs were any indication."
how r we supposed2 like sum1 who deliberately uses cheap tactics2 basically force the man into marrying them because they have2 get out of a betrothal??
&how can u honestly make someone marry u n a wk??
the guy starts out respectable &then instantly follows her because she said "few unique services we offer."
&then he says "i am intoxicated enough by the sight of you" which is not only an idiotic thing2 say but it sounds modern.
the style of writing in here is just not good.¬hing in here is romantic.
she refuses2 sleep w/him unless he marries her.bravo 4that line of thinking,but then we flip the page after the dance thing &shes naked under his sheets even though they didnt sleep together because he fell asleep because he was drunk.why are you naked?!
this 'love story' isnt even sweet.johanna manages 2 suck all the romance out of her books. 1st in a man2 call my own,then in rogue of my own or w/e its called.
he's having all these feelings like "she gave him emotions after so long" when hes known her for a day.actually, he was only around her for several minutes.
no fast love story is believable or likeable.
&then he wants2 make her the ridiculous offer to be his mistress.which already costs him some points in my book.basically i dont like these people at all.
this is the 3rd book ive read by johanna that i can remember where the virgin acts like a whore. whats up with that? &since when are gypsies completely comfortable with talking about sex &everything. i mean,im sure some of them are embarrassed about it.especially a virgin.
she said she wont sleep with im unless they're married &does the exact opposite.she goes &sleeps with him &they're definitey not married.its 2 days after they've met.
whats up with johanna having misunderstandings between characters? like in here he thinks shes lying about being half gypsy and being the daughter of a russian prince or w/e.&hes just not likable.she isnt either.
johanna chops off the beginning of sentences,like "beg to differ" nstead of "i beg to differ." which i highly doubt ppl talked like in england back then.
one gypsy in the family &suddenly every1 is like "thats where my insight comes from" and "thats where my judge of people comes from." &when one guy said they didnt inherit anything from the gypsy besides looks,they're like "you got her charm." like wth.as if u couldnt have all of that on your own.it all had to come from the gypsy.like suddenly every1 had a trait from this one ancestor.
anastasia's insight makes no sense. she has2 write their story down cuz "it'll help their children's children."
the dialogue in here is just bad.its really exhausting at times.it doesnt flow and its kind of spastic.it literally left me exhausted at times.like when molly was explaining how she foind the present in the attic.
the little children in here sound like grownups.&the grownups sound like young ppl.u think ur readin about a young person&it turns they're actually someone's aunt or uncle or father or mother.
its funny,The Present was supposed to help anna's and christopher's descendants,but it rlly didnt. i mean,yeah,jason and molly ended up together but i dont rlly see how the book truly helped. molly still didnt wanna create a scandal &she was still a housemaid,so the book didnt change nething. &it was kind of a stupid way to get two ppl together.
anna's and christopher's story wasnt even sweet.
i didnt even care to read the 2nd story in this book.
October 24, 2020
Two lovely Historical Christmas romance stories!
The Present was a great story of the telling of the Mallory family ancestors own love affair.
The Home for the Holidays is about a man driven to ruin the man who he thinks caused his brothers suicide.
The Miracles and Love at Christmas always makes me happy.
The Present was a great story of the telling of the Mallory family ancestors own love affair.
The Home for the Holidays is about a man driven to ruin the man who he thinks caused his brothers suicide.
The Miracles and Love at Christmas always makes me happy.
January 10, 2018
Two great stories
I bought this book for the Mallory continuation but I must say the second story was just as enjoyable. You just can not beat Johanna Lindsey for historical romance.
I bought this book for the Mallory continuation but I must say the second story was just as enjoyable. You just can not beat Johanna Lindsey for historical romance.
February 17, 2018
The Present
The Malory clan finds a journal that reveals the courtship of their ancestors.
Home for the Holidays
Vincent is out to get Larissa's father as he thinks he is to blame for his brothers demise.
The Malory clan finds a journal that reveals the courtship of their ancestors.
Home for the Holidays
Vincent is out to get Larissa's father as he thinks he is to blame for his brothers demise.
January 11, 2020
Family
When the Mallory family gets together you know it's going to be a rowdy good time. As the family gathers together for Christmas a mysterious present and everyone is so curious about it. They are about to find out their history without even knowing it.
When the Mallory family gets together you know it's going to be a rowdy good time. As the family gathers together for Christmas a mysterious present and everyone is so curious about it. They are about to find out their history without even knowing it.
July 4, 2024
Two great stories of Christmas presents. First, the Mallory's find out about their great grandparents and the woman buried on their land. Second was a story of revenge gone wrongly and the love shared actually brings forgiveness and healing
October 11, 2017
Jason Mallory currently 3rd Marquis of Haverston finally marries housekepper and true love Molly Fletcher.
December 14, 2017
Always loved Johanna Lindsey historical novels
Because it was a great read and enjoyed the suspense. Loved the character's that brings out the story. Also the series of the books.
Because it was a great read and enjoyed the suspense. Loved the character's that brings out the story. Also the series of the books.
December 20, 2018
Pretty ridiculous fun. I liked the big boisterous family in the first one and all the ridiculous twists and turns in the second.
April 3, 2020
One of the best writers. Filled with Historical romance. It was a great read and enjoyed the suspense.
December 20, 2020
Great read
Read
January 25, 2021Great holiday read
Another hit by Johanna Lindsey, she's been a favorite of mine for many years now. I can't out her books down until I finish them .
Another hit by Johanna Lindsey, she's been a favorite of mine for many years now. I can't out her books down until I finish them .
December 27, 2021
Please see individual stories for review.
January 3, 2022
How army it took me long to finish cuz I kept getting I’m distracted during the second story! The first story was quite okay but the second one was not as Christmasy as expected :/
April 18, 2022
Great book
November 22, 2022
Actually 2 stories in one book. Both very good reads!!
January 8, 2023
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ for The Present
⭐️ for Home for the Holidays
⭐️ for Home for the Holidays
October 10, 2016
The present : 4
It's good to see I still have the same fun reading about the Mallory's family that I had when I discovered them 5 years ago. Everybody is here, or almost. Anthony and James still love a fight and he may be in trouble with his wife. Jason is trying to convince the woman he loves to forget convinience. In the midst of all this, the Mallory find a present who will enlighten them on their ancestors romantic encounter. The only thing missing for me is except for being set in Christmas time, it didn't have a Holidays vibe.
Home for the Holidays: 2
I found the hero despicable. He wants revenge (for an irrelevant reason) from the heroine' father and plan to seduce and ruin her. That's after he ordered her and her sick brother out of their home. I never believed in his redemption or in his sudden feelings for Larissa. She is pretty naïve and I didn't like how easily her father accept the situation when he learn about Vincent's plan.
It's good to see I still have the same fun reading about the Mallory's family that I had when I discovered them 5 years ago. Everybody is here, or almost. Anthony and James still love a fight and he may be in trouble with his wife. Jason is trying to convince the woman he loves to forget convinience. In the midst of all this, the Mallory find a present who will enlighten them on their ancestors romantic encounter. The only thing missing for me is except for being set in Christmas time, it didn't have a Holidays vibe.
Home for the Holidays: 2
I found the hero despicable. He wants revenge (for an irrelevant reason) from the heroine' father and plan to seduce and ruin her. That's after he ordered her and her sick brother out of their home. I never believed in his redemption or in his sudden feelings for Larissa. She is pretty naïve and I didn't like how easily her father accept the situation when he learn about Vincent's plan.
March 4, 2023
I really do love a good Christmas romance and this did not disappoint!
I especially loved The Present. A traveling group of gypsies hasn't been overdone and I especially enjoyed the details the author included about their superstitions and way of life. The Mallory family dynamic was very interesting as well. I haven't read any of the Mallory books prior to this one, but now I want to!
It took me a little while longer to get into Home for the Holidays, but once the story really started moving, I truly enjoyed the characters.
I especially loved The Present. A traveling group of gypsies hasn't been overdone and I especially enjoyed the details the author included about their superstitions and way of life. The Mallory family dynamic was very interesting as well. I haven't read any of the Mallory books prior to this one, but now I want to!
It took me a little while longer to get into Home for the Holidays, but once the story really started moving, I truly enjoyed the characters.
December 27, 2009
It was an OK read, just in time for the holidays. I specifically read it on Christmas day so the yuletide feeling would be in sync. The two short stories were very well condensed. I especially liked the Malory family, although I don't know what time frame it was set because the first Malory novel I read was about Jeremy. So, on to the review:
The first story is about a mysterious present in the Malory household and it's about their ancestors, a half-Gypsy, half-Russian woman named Anastasia Stephanoff, and Christopher Malory. The moment they set their eyes on each other, the attraction was palpable. I didn't like the way they got married, and if I were the woman I wouldn't take it in stride, but if I were a desperate woman like Anna, maybe I would. The classic Malory squabbles were still here, I had trouble keeping up with the characters because I haven't read the first Malory novels, which I suggest you do before reading this. There were two love stories here, the past and the present, and they were heart-warming.
The second story, Home for the Holidays, had quite a bitter taste. It was all about revenge, with an innocent who got caught in the crossfire. Though brief, this story was packed with emotion, the love scenes weren't explicit, and how Vincent redeemed himself wasn't really enough, at least for me. The thing I liked about it was the new friendship formed between him and Jonathan Hale. I liked Thomas, Larissa's brother, who's an adult trapped in a 10-year-old's body.
The first story is about a mysterious present in the Malory household and it's about their ancestors, a half-Gypsy, half-Russian woman named Anastasia Stephanoff, and Christopher Malory. The moment they set their eyes on each other, the attraction was palpable. I didn't like the way they got married, and if I were the woman I wouldn't take it in stride, but if I were a desperate woman like Anna, maybe I would. The classic Malory squabbles were still here, I had trouble keeping up with the characters because I haven't read the first Malory novels, which I suggest you do before reading this. There were two love stories here, the past and the present, and they were heart-warming.
The second story, Home for the Holidays, had quite a bitter taste. It was all about revenge, with an innocent who got caught in the crossfire. Though brief, this story was packed with emotion, the love scenes weren't explicit, and how Vincent redeemed himself wasn't really enough, at least for me. The thing I liked about it was the new friendship formed between him and Jonathan Hale. I liked Thomas, Larissa's brother, who's an adult trapped in a 10-year-old's body.
February 14, 2017
This is a great Malory Christmas book. It has a nice feel to it with a little bit of mystery.
August 29, 2008
This one was a little hard to get through, mostly because it consisted of two short stories and there just wasn't enough character development for me to care about what happened to the characters. It was ok...I almost want to give this one only two and a half stars, but I went ahead and gave it three. If you want a good holiday story, don't pick this one. It's lacking the warm-fuzziness.
January 19, 2012
My friend Mary gave me this book about 5 years ago at Christmas time but I never got around to reading it. So, since it was Christmas again....I thought...I should read this. Little did I know it was a romance novel. To be honest, I've never read a romance novel before--oh my!. I was quite taken in with it. It is actually two books in one and they are intriguing love stories.
December 29, 2013
Who does not love the Malory family? This Christmas tale has them all at Jason's for their annual Christmas celebration. Expect fire works, and silliness, and of course love. I loved this holiday book...great storytelling, and a fun read for the season of Christmas.
December 27, 2014
The Malory family all gather for Christmas and all is not well with them. Some are black sheep and others just have problems. Then a mysterious present appears. When they open up the present a whole different world opens up for them. Enjoyable book.
March 14, 2016
A recommendation from a friend (it was a surprise find for her) and my need to read everything that comes my way led me to read this. Two okayish romantic novellas in a book. Though I liked the female protagonist, Larissa, of the second story.
December 31, 2007
This is a book I read every year around Christmas. The stories are short enough that I can still get what I need to do for Christmas. I love these compilations.
Read
April 2, 2009love it, have it, will read again.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews