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A Very Special Christmas: Including A CHRISTMAS BRIDE and Christmas Stories from UNDER THE MISTLETOE
Revisit the magic of New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh's classic Christmas stories—together for the first time in one volume.
In A Christmas Bride, a very wealthy Edgar Downes promises his aging father that he will finally wed a suitable bride by Christmas. London is full of pretty, proper, and eligible misses, but it's the widow Helena, Lady Stapleton, in a shocking red dress, who captures Edgar's attention. Helena is intrigued by the seductive stranger—but he's simply not in her class. Marriage, of course, would never do. But in a season of miracles, something wondrous is about to happen...
Enjoy the warmth of the holiday season with this Christmas tale along with five other cherished holiday stories from Mary Balogh's Under the Mistletoe collection.
In A Christmas Bride, a very wealthy Edgar Downes promises his aging father that he will finally wed a suitable bride by Christmas. London is full of pretty, proper, and eligible misses, but it's the widow Helena, Lady Stapleton, in a shocking red dress, who captures Edgar's attention. Helena is intrigued by the seductive stranger—but he's simply not in her class. Marriage, of course, would never do. But in a season of miracles, something wondrous is about to happen...
Enjoy the warmth of the holiday season with this Christmas tale along with five other cherished holiday stories from Mary Balogh's Under the Mistletoe collection.
576 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 18, 2018
4 people are currently reading
193 people want to read
About the author
Mary Balogh
200 books6,356 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 - 24 of 24 reviews
January 21, 2023
I love Mary Balogh's novels.... they are so full of love.
A FAMILY CHRISTMAS - 5 stars.
Sweet storyline that has slow but steady character development in less than 50 pages, loveable MC's searching and fighting for their hea, how could I not love it?
THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM - 4 stars.
Beautiful as always (maybe a touch sappy, though).
THE BEST GIFT - 4 stars.
Sweet..
PLAYING HOUSE - 4 stars.
(I skipped the last novella NO ROOM AT THE INN)
I think I've reached my christmas - novels - limit for this winter, but that's ok since it's nearly a month after christmas already 😁.
A FAMILY CHRISTMAS - 5 stars.
Sweet storyline that has slow but steady character development in less than 50 pages, loveable MC's searching and fighting for their hea, how could I not love it?
THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM - 4 stars.
Beautiful as always (maybe a touch sappy, though).
THE BEST GIFT - 4 stars.
Sweet..
PLAYING HOUSE - 4 stars.
(I skipped the last novella NO ROOM AT THE INN)
I think I've reached my christmas - novels - limit for this winter, but that's ok since it's nearly a month after christmas already 😁.
June 20, 2019
Mary Balough always delivers her promise of a good read.
December 19, 2019
Well, it took me a year to finish this collection. I read some of the novellas before Christmas last year, got bored and abandoned the book. This year, I thought December would be just the time to complete my reading of this anthology.
Each novella in the book is OK, with a little too much Christmassy sugar, but together, they overload quickly. They are all too 'same', too bland, with nothing else but Christmas to keep the story together. All the complications are artificial and easily resolved. All the characters transform from believable humans into syrupy angels for no reason except the holiday season. All the plot logic is disregarded for the sake of Christmas.
Overall: blah.
Each novella in the book is OK, with a little too much Christmassy sugar, but together, they overload quickly. They are all too 'same', too bland, with nothing else but Christmas to keep the story together. All the complications are artificial and easily resolved. All the characters transform from believable humans into syrupy angels for no reason except the holiday season. All the plot logic is disregarded for the sake of Christmas.
Overall: blah.
January 14, 2019
Not bad. A lot of Christmas...maybe a bit too much. And of course, a lot of focus on the Christmas story, the birth, and so, a lot of babies. Again, a bit too much for me.
Not horrible, I'm just not that into the season or the baby thing.
Not horrible, I'm just not that into the season or the baby thing.
December 7, 2018
This is a reissue of Balogh's previously published novel A Christmas Bride and the novella collection Under the Mistletoe.
A Christmas Bride - DNF
Life's too short to read about a childish, miserable, petty, hateful bitch, which is what this "heroine" was. Small wonder to find out that she was the villain in another Balogh novel, because there was absolutely nothing redeeming about her character here. Absolutely awful. My only question is, how does this novel keep getting republished??
A Family Christmas - 4 stars
Probably my favorite story of the bunch. Elizabeth and Edwin are a bit on the weak-willed side to begin with; Elizabeth is brow-beaten by her tyrant of a mother, and Edwin is still trying to figure out how to step into his irreplaceable father's giant footsteps. They have been married less than a year and have spent even less time in each other's presence, largely thanks to the heroine's awful mother. Elizabeth's parents have taken up residence in her husband's estate and decide to have a huge family get-together for the holidays, only none of them count on the idea of Edwin wishing to return to see his baby son for the holiday.
I really liked this story because all of the side characters were fun, and everyone banded together to take the wind out of Elizabeth's mother's sails, and it was absolutely delightful to see everyone who usually cows in her presence cheerfully defy her instead. They want to have a big, cheerful, fun holiday celebration and they do, in spite of what the tyrant matriarch (attempts to) order.
Elizabeth asserts herself, and Edwin steadily holds his ground in his own house, and the two are slowly but surely reunited as a couple. It was absolutely delightful, if a bit short. Definitely a winner!
The Star of Bethlehem - 3 stars
This story really laid the schmaltz on thick, and it was a bit too sickly-sweet for my taste. The titular "Star of Bethlehem" refers to the engagement ring our hero gave our heroine. She loses the diamond in a pique of anger, and then casts aside the entire ring after an especially nasty fight. The ring is found by a little imp of a chimney sweep named Nicky, whom the couple rather 'adopts' in spite of his shady habits. Nicky so comes to adore his new mistress that he has the ring fixed and presents it to her on Christmas day, after a twist of O. Henry with both the hero and the heroine trying to replace the lost ring and fumble about the symbol that it became of their relationship.
The Best Gift - 3 stars
My second favorite story of the collection. Our heroine, Jane Craggs, is an illegitimate orphan who works as a school teacher at an academy for young ladies of Quality. She has never had a Christmas celebration in her life, and foresees none in her future. Lucky for her, she is the last single person left at the school when one of the girls' uncles arrives to take her to his home for Christmas. Miss Craggs takes a lot of guff from her students about being plain and austere and generally less-than, so the only person who is happy about this arrangement is the uncle himself. Then they arrive at his estate - and discover that his by-blow, Veronica, has been sent to her papa after her actress mother's untimely demise.
Jane falls head over heels in love with the little girl, and Veronica takes to Miss Jane in a similarly quick fashion. Viscount Buckley has enough of a heart that he's not willing to send his child away at Christmas, and in fact decides to indulge her in an old-fashioned celebration. He gets his niece out of the sullens by offering to let her have a Christmas party of her own, with teens her own age, and suddenly everyone is full of the Christmas spirit.
It was really nice to see these characters grow and develop. Jane understands all too well what it's like to be in Veronica's place - unwanted and unloved - and she fights hard to change the Viscount's mind about ultimately sending his daughter away to be raised by a loving couple. She tells him that what his daughter needs is not financial support so much as family, and the security of knowing that someone in the world really does care about her.
The downside of this story is the idea that Buckley and Jane fall in love in 3 days and end up engaged by the end. I would've enjoyed this more if it had been novel-length, maybe with an after the happily-ever-after look at their marriage as they get to know each other and decide how to raise Veronica.
Playing House - 3 stars
This story had two kinds of my kryptonite: childhood friends-to-lovers and second chance romance. Lilias is the rector's daughter who falls headlong into a sweet, innocent puppy love with the second son of the Marquess, Stephen. Their lives take divergent paths as they grow older, however, and they are separated for a period of six years. Lilias's parents die, leaving her with two young siblings but no money to support them; Stephen ascends to the title after the deaths of his father and elder brother. Stephen is dazzled by his title and the attention it brings, and he makes a rotten marriage who quickly disillusions him of the reasons why people fawn at his feet. She's dead, and he rescues his daughter Dora from her parents and brings her to his home to raise himself.
Stephen is bitter and angry and sees nothing but schemes in Lilias's actions, especially when she arrives at his doorstep and asks for things to make one final, wonderful Christmas for her siblings before they scatter to various relatives or - in her case - a governess position in the north. His daughter, Dora, immediately latches onto Lilias's younger siblings, and she drags Stephen to their house on the regular, much preferring its warmth and coziness to the big, empty, austere manor that they live in.
Stephen and Lilias fight their attraction to one other until the bitter end, but as this is a holiday romance, they do end up together. I personally found them both a bit cold and impersonal, and Stephen's constant suspicions that Lilias had ulterior motives for everything she did was really wearing after awhile. Plus, Dora was a bit of a spoiled brat. So, while heartwarming, it was ultimately "meh" for me.
No Room in the Inn - 3 stars
And now for something completely different :) This novel focuses on a disparate group of travellers who have been caught in a horrendous rainstorm and forced to put up at a nondescript tiny little inn. The cast of characters is quite interesting, and it was nice to see how they came together to support a young couple who were expecting a baby. The young woman goes into labor, forcing everyone to spring into action, and the birth of her child reminds the group as a whole of the true meaning of Christmas.
I enjoyed the arc of Lord and Lady Birkin, reconciling their marriage and admitting their love for each other, but I didn't as much love the idea of the the Marquess of Lytton falling for a plain-jane governess in less than 2 days, more or less because she spurned his amorous advances. I couldn't really buy that one.
There is a lot of allusion to Christianity and the traditions of the religion around the holiday in all of the shorter stories. It was a bit grating after awhile, but not a dealbreaker. This is set in the 1800s, after all, and everyone Of Quality claimed to be the right religion (whether they were or not), so this is not unexpected.
There are some explicit sex scenes in A Christmas Bride, A Family Christmas, and No Room in the Inn, but nothing gratuitous (and only one mention of a man "mounting" a woman, haha).
A Christmas Bride - DNF
Life's too short to read about a childish, miserable, petty, hateful bitch, which is what this "heroine" was. Small wonder to find out that she was the villain in another Balogh novel, because there was absolutely nothing redeeming about her character here. Absolutely awful. My only question is, how does this novel keep getting republished??
A Family Christmas - 4 stars
Probably my favorite story of the bunch. Elizabeth and Edwin are a bit on the weak-willed side to begin with; Elizabeth is brow-beaten by her tyrant of a mother, and Edwin is still trying to figure out how to step into his irreplaceable father's giant footsteps. They have been married less than a year and have spent even less time in each other's presence, largely thanks to the heroine's awful mother. Elizabeth's parents have taken up residence in her husband's estate and decide to have a huge family get-together for the holidays, only none of them count on the idea of Edwin wishing to return to see his baby son for the holiday.
I really liked this story because all of the side characters were fun, and everyone banded together to take the wind out of Elizabeth's mother's sails, and it was absolutely delightful to see everyone who usually cows in her presence cheerfully defy her instead. They want to have a big, cheerful, fun holiday celebration and they do, in spite of what the tyrant matriarch (attempts to) order.
Elizabeth asserts herself, and Edwin steadily holds his ground in his own house, and the two are slowly but surely reunited as a couple. It was absolutely delightful, if a bit short. Definitely a winner!
The Star of Bethlehem - 3 stars
This story really laid the schmaltz on thick, and it was a bit too sickly-sweet for my taste. The titular "Star of Bethlehem" refers to the engagement ring our hero gave our heroine. She loses the diamond in a pique of anger, and then casts aside the entire ring after an especially nasty fight. The ring is found by a little imp of a chimney sweep named Nicky, whom the couple rather 'adopts' in spite of his shady habits. Nicky so comes to adore his new mistress that he has the ring fixed and presents it to her on Christmas day, after a twist of O. Henry with both the hero and the heroine trying to replace the lost ring and fumble about the symbol that it became of their relationship.
The Best Gift - 3 stars
My second favorite story of the collection. Our heroine, Jane Craggs, is an illegitimate orphan who works as a school teacher at an academy for young ladies of Quality. She has never had a Christmas celebration in her life, and foresees none in her future. Lucky for her, she is the last single person left at the school when one of the girls' uncles arrives to take her to his home for Christmas. Miss Craggs takes a lot of guff from her students about being plain and austere and generally less-than, so the only person who is happy about this arrangement is the uncle himself. Then they arrive at his estate - and discover that his by-blow, Veronica, has been sent to her papa after her actress mother's untimely demise.
Jane falls head over heels in love with the little girl, and Veronica takes to Miss Jane in a similarly quick fashion. Viscount Buckley has enough of a heart that he's not willing to send his child away at Christmas, and in fact decides to indulge her in an old-fashioned celebration. He gets his niece out of the sullens by offering to let her have a Christmas party of her own, with teens her own age, and suddenly everyone is full of the Christmas spirit.
It was really nice to see these characters grow and develop. Jane understands all too well what it's like to be in Veronica's place - unwanted and unloved - and she fights hard to change the Viscount's mind about ultimately sending his daughter away to be raised by a loving couple. She tells him that what his daughter needs is not financial support so much as family, and the security of knowing that someone in the world really does care about her.
The downside of this story is the idea that Buckley and Jane fall in love in 3 days and end up engaged by the end. I would've enjoyed this more if it had been novel-length, maybe with an after the happily-ever-after look at their marriage as they get to know each other and decide how to raise Veronica.
Playing House - 3 stars
This story had two kinds of my kryptonite: childhood friends-to-lovers and second chance romance. Lilias is the rector's daughter who falls headlong into a sweet, innocent puppy love with the second son of the Marquess, Stephen. Their lives take divergent paths as they grow older, however, and they are separated for a period of six years. Lilias's parents die, leaving her with two young siblings but no money to support them; Stephen ascends to the title after the deaths of his father and elder brother. Stephen is dazzled by his title and the attention it brings, and he makes a rotten marriage who quickly disillusions him of the reasons why people fawn at his feet. She's dead, and he rescues his daughter Dora from her parents and brings her to his home to raise himself.
Stephen is bitter and angry and sees nothing but schemes in Lilias's actions, especially when she arrives at his doorstep and asks for things to make one final, wonderful Christmas for her siblings before they scatter to various relatives or - in her case - a governess position in the north. His daughter, Dora, immediately latches onto Lilias's younger siblings, and she drags Stephen to their house on the regular, much preferring its warmth and coziness to the big, empty, austere manor that they live in.
Stephen and Lilias fight their attraction to one other until the bitter end, but as this is a holiday romance, they do end up together. I personally found them both a bit cold and impersonal, and Stephen's constant suspicions that Lilias had ulterior motives for everything she did was really wearing after awhile. Plus, Dora was a bit of a spoiled brat. So, while heartwarming, it was ultimately "meh" for me.
No Room in the Inn - 3 stars
And now for something completely different :) This novel focuses on a disparate group of travellers who have been caught in a horrendous rainstorm and forced to put up at a nondescript tiny little inn. The cast of characters is quite interesting, and it was nice to see how they came together to support a young couple who were expecting a baby. The young woman goes into labor, forcing everyone to spring into action, and the birth of her child reminds the group as a whole of the true meaning of Christmas.
I enjoyed the arc of Lord and Lady Birkin, reconciling their marriage and admitting their love for each other, but I didn't as much love the idea of the the Marquess of Lytton falling for a plain-jane governess in less than 2 days, more or less because she spurned his amorous advances. I couldn't really buy that one.
There is a lot of allusion to Christianity and the traditions of the religion around the holiday in all of the shorter stories. It was a bit grating after awhile, but not a dealbreaker. This is set in the 1800s, after all, and everyone Of Quality claimed to be the right religion (whether they were or not), so this is not unexpected.
There are some explicit sex scenes in A Christmas Bride, A Family Christmas, and No Room in the Inn, but nothing gratuitous (and only one mention of a man "mounting" a woman, haha).
January 1, 2019
A nice little Christmas bundle, just in time for the holidays. Some were undeniably better than others, but worth the read all the same. I wish I could give this a higher rating, as a few out of the six stories were quite enjoyable, but I feel like when paired with the others that weren't quite as enjoyable, 3 stars is likely the most apt rating.
A Christmas Bride:
2 Stars
I found Helena to be quite unlikeable of a character. She was mierable and rude, mocking and condesending. And frankly I'm not really sure why people put up with her. Edgar was a nice guy and certainly deserved better than the likes of Helena.
But at the same time he was such a flat character. Besides knowing that he was an intimidatingly tall and handsome businessman, who was not only practical and honorable, but a family man with a romantic side.
It's hard to become too attached or sympathize overly much with one character who is quite unlikeable and another that you don't know enough about. All the more background characters were great and entertaining and added to the narrative.
A Family Christmas:
3 Stars
I quite enjoyed this one. A husband gone for much of the marriage and disappointed hopes on both sides, along with some mistaken views of each other's personality. It was great seeing them realize the true, warm nature of the person that they had married. And of course, both of them learning to stand up for themselves against her shrew of a mother. A mother that cares nothing for the happiness of her duaghter, but merely her own sense of comfort and power. Further it was great to see that he actually did care for his son and didn't merely see him as an heir.
I have noticed though that the conclusions Balogh writes to these shorter stories are quite abrupt and less believable and mushier than her usual ones. It makes sense, what with the limited number of pages and all. But it's disappointing since she writes such a great development between the characters and then it suddently makes the transition to feelings being expressed and undying and unyeilding, passionate love. Which makes it significantly less believable and not as satisfying, as their previous suffering just seems more like a pointless waste of time.
The Star of Bethlehem:
1 Star
I just didn't really care for this one. I thought it was cheesy and contrived and my least favorite in this collection of stories. I wasn't invested in the story or the characters. I just didn't really like either of the main characters. He was overly jealous and she was incredibly childish. The little sob story of the climbing boy was just so thin that it was astounding that they couldn't see through it from the start. There were so many happy coincidences in this one and so much money thrown around. I didn't enjoy it, there problems were so easily thrown aside in the end. It was far too simple of a fix. And besides being too flirtatous and saying harsh things in anger, she really had not done anything for which to apologize. Whereas he had leveled some pretty heafty accusations her way and shown a complete lack of trust in her. As well as planning to send her away to live with her parents, perhaps temporarily. And just because he says a few pretty words; makes arrangements for the climbing boy; and buys her an expensive remake of her ring, all is forgiven? Ridiculous.
The Best Gift:
4 Stars
For only a 60 paged story, I found it very enjoyable. I liked every character and found Veronica to be very sweet and Jane's care for her to be touching. Warren wasn't particularly a great character at the start, but he had grown a lot in those 60 pages into a more likeable and decent person.
Jane has had dreery, uneventful, and lonely life. But she has the opportunity to experience her first real Christmas, albeit with strangers and as a paid companion. But she is treated quite well and it's almost as though she's a member of the family. This was a sweet story.
Playing House:
3 Stars
It was so great...until the last chapter. I really respected Lilias for all that she was willing to do for her family, finding a place for both Andrew and Megan and securing a governesses position. Giving them a loving and sweet final Christmas together before they are parted. Keeping the kids well-clothed and well-fed, while she herself gets along with patches on her clothes and enough food to keep her going. I thought Dora was precious and a very sweet child, and Stephen's regard for her endearing and redeeming of him.
I had been quite annoyed with Stephen with his elitist behavior and his condesending manner, but obviously this whole things was all about him growing and return to the person that he used to be.
But ugh, in the last chapter I was so disappointed in Lilias! That she initially regects his proposal, despite the fact that it could keep her family together and give them a much better life. Then she continues to explain that she had turned down TWO other proposals because, in the back of her mind, she could never forget him. She even admits that by accepting them, her and her siblings could have lived comfortably. SO SHE TURNED THEM DOWN EVEN THOUGH EITHER MAN COULD HAVE ENSURED THAT HER FAMILY STAY TOGETHER AND THAT SHE CAN EAT DECENTLY. ALL FOR A MAN THAT THERE WAS A CHANCE SHE WOULD NEVER SEE AGAIN AND THAT MIGHT NOT EVEN STOOP SO LOW AS TO MARRY HER.
And then she caved so easily and accepted and everything was happily-ever-after. Barf.
I was sorely tempted to give this one less stars on the ending alone, but everything leading up to it was really quite good, so 3 stars it is.
No Room at the Inn:
1 Star
Did not enjoy this one. I was cheesy and just ridiculous. I know it was supposed to be a sweet retelling of the Christmas story of the birth of the baby Jesus, but it felt very heavy handed with the similarities and coming together and teaching people to be kind and compassionate to others.
A Christmas Bride:
2 Stars
I found Helena to be quite unlikeable of a character. She was mierable and rude, mocking and condesending. And frankly I'm not really sure why people put up with her. Edgar was a nice guy and certainly deserved better than the likes of Helena.
But at the same time he was such a flat character. Besides knowing that he was an intimidatingly tall and handsome businessman, who was not only practical and honorable, but a family man with a romantic side.
It's hard to become too attached or sympathize overly much with one character who is quite unlikeable and another that you don't know enough about. All the more background characters were great and entertaining and added to the narrative.
A Family Christmas:
3 Stars
I quite enjoyed this one. A husband gone for much of the marriage and disappointed hopes on both sides, along with some mistaken views of each other's personality. It was great seeing them realize the true, warm nature of the person that they had married. And of course, both of them learning to stand up for themselves against her shrew of a mother. A mother that cares nothing for the happiness of her duaghter, but merely her own sense of comfort and power. Further it was great to see that he actually did care for his son and didn't merely see him as an heir.
I have noticed though that the conclusions Balogh writes to these shorter stories are quite abrupt and less believable and mushier than her usual ones. It makes sense, what with the limited number of pages and all. But it's disappointing since she writes such a great development between the characters and then it suddently makes the transition to feelings being expressed and undying and unyeilding, passionate love. Which makes it significantly less believable and not as satisfying, as their previous suffering just seems more like a pointless waste of time.
The Star of Bethlehem:
1 Star
I just didn't really care for this one. I thought it was cheesy and contrived and my least favorite in this collection of stories. I wasn't invested in the story or the characters. I just didn't really like either of the main characters. He was overly jealous and she was incredibly childish. The little sob story of the climbing boy was just so thin that it was astounding that they couldn't see through it from the start. There were so many happy coincidences in this one and so much money thrown around. I didn't enjoy it, there problems were so easily thrown aside in the end. It was far too simple of a fix. And besides being too flirtatous and saying harsh things in anger, she really had not done anything for which to apologize. Whereas he had leveled some pretty heafty accusations her way and shown a complete lack of trust in her. As well as planning to send her away to live with her parents, perhaps temporarily. And just because he says a few pretty words; makes arrangements for the climbing boy; and buys her an expensive remake of her ring, all is forgiven? Ridiculous.
The Best Gift:
4 Stars
For only a 60 paged story, I found it very enjoyable. I liked every character and found Veronica to be very sweet and Jane's care for her to be touching. Warren wasn't particularly a great character at the start, but he had grown a lot in those 60 pages into a more likeable and decent person.
Jane has had dreery, uneventful, and lonely life. But she has the opportunity to experience her first real Christmas, albeit with strangers and as a paid companion. But she is treated quite well and it's almost as though she's a member of the family. This was a sweet story.
Playing House:
3 Stars
It was so great...until the last chapter. I really respected Lilias for all that she was willing to do for her family, finding a place for both Andrew and Megan and securing a governesses position. Giving them a loving and sweet final Christmas together before they are parted. Keeping the kids well-clothed and well-fed, while she herself gets along with patches on her clothes and enough food to keep her going. I thought Dora was precious and a very sweet child, and Stephen's regard for her endearing and redeeming of him.
I had been quite annoyed with Stephen with his elitist behavior and his condesending manner, but obviously this whole things was all about him growing and return to the person that he used to be.
But ugh, in the last chapter I was so disappointed in Lilias! That she initially regects his proposal, despite the fact that it could keep her family together and give them a much better life. Then she continues to explain that she had turned down TWO other proposals because, in the back of her mind, she could never forget him. She even admits that by accepting them, her and her siblings could have lived comfortably. SO SHE TURNED THEM DOWN EVEN THOUGH EITHER MAN COULD HAVE ENSURED THAT HER FAMILY STAY TOGETHER AND THAT SHE CAN EAT DECENTLY. ALL FOR A MAN THAT THERE WAS A CHANCE SHE WOULD NEVER SEE AGAIN AND THAT MIGHT NOT EVEN STOOP SO LOW AS TO MARRY HER.
And then she caved so easily and accepted and everything was happily-ever-after. Barf.
I was sorely tempted to give this one less stars on the ending alone, but everything leading up to it was really quite good, so 3 stars it is.
No Room at the Inn:
1 Star
Did not enjoy this one. I was cheesy and just ridiculous. I know it was supposed to be a sweet retelling of the Christmas story of the birth of the baby Jesus, but it felt very heavy handed with the similarities and coming together and teaching people to be kind and compassionate to others.
December 28, 2019
Book#1- very below average
Family Christmas- 3- Elizabeth married Edwin and has had a chi,d, but they are cold strangers run by her domineering mother. Can this Christmas change that?
Star of Bethlehem - 2- Estelle and Allan fight all of the time and hurl insults at each other. When she loses the diamond from her special engagement ring and then The ring all together a little chimney sweep may save the day.
Book #4 - 5 the Best Gift. Jane was an orphan and teaches at a finishing school. The bastard daughter of a rich man she assumes because someone pays for her- she longs for live and to have a real Christmas. She is hired to accompany a student to her uncles for Christmas she is excited and then little Veronica show up - the love child of Warren whose mother has just died. She steals janes heart and in turn they both steal warrens heart. Wish it was twice as long!
Book #5 - 5. Playing House. Liliath has come to see her childhood friend to ask for gifts and a goose for one last Christmas with her siblings before she sends them away and has to take a governess job. Stephen does not welcome her feeling as if she is trying to trap him into marriage like so many greedy women before her including his cheating wife. But her siblings grow on him and his daughter loves her and...again I wanted it to go on!
Book #6- 2. No Room at the Inn. A gathering of strangers at an inn in Christmas Eve whose lives are all changed when an unmarried girl gives birth and they all help. Too short to be a babes with the characters...
Family Christmas- 3- Elizabeth married Edwin and has had a chi,d, but they are cold strangers run by her domineering mother. Can this Christmas change that?
Star of Bethlehem - 2- Estelle and Allan fight all of the time and hurl insults at each other. When she loses the diamond from her special engagement ring and then The ring all together a little chimney sweep may save the day.
Book #4 - 5 the Best Gift. Jane was an orphan and teaches at a finishing school. The bastard daughter of a rich man she assumes because someone pays for her- she longs for live and to have a real Christmas. She is hired to accompany a student to her uncles for Christmas she is excited and then little Veronica show up - the love child of Warren whose mother has just died. She steals janes heart and in turn they both steal warrens heart. Wish it was twice as long!
Book #5 - 5. Playing House. Liliath has come to see her childhood friend to ask for gifts and a goose for one last Christmas with her siblings before she sends them away and has to take a governess job. Stephen does not welcome her feeling as if she is trying to trap him into marriage like so many greedy women before her including his cheating wife. But her siblings grow on him and his daughter loves her and...again I wanted it to go on!
Book #6- 2. No Room at the Inn. A gathering of strangers at an inn in Christmas Eve whose lives are all changed when an unmarried girl gives birth and they all help. Too short to be a babes with the characters...
April 8, 2019
Though Balogh's romances overall are often formulaic, I can usually look past that to enjoy the details that flesh out new characters and settings. I was not able to do so with this collection of Christmas stories.
Most of Balogh's novellas could stand on their own as short, charming love stories with the holiday season as the setting. However, reading the tales in a row over-emphasized what they had in common: contrived reasons for snow angels, snowball fights, nativity scenes, decorating the manor with holly, and of course kissing boughs and mistletoe. This was on top of the obvious happy endings that we usually look so forward to. Without the depth and length of a novel, even those love stories felt flatter than usual because there was not time for characters or relationships to develop properly.
I don't know that I would tell you not to read the book, but I would suggest you spread the stories out over more time so you can look at each one with fresher eyes. Looking at them separately instead of as a group would give a better impression.
Most of Balogh's novellas could stand on their own as short, charming love stories with the holiday season as the setting. However, reading the tales in a row over-emphasized what they had in common: contrived reasons for snow angels, snowball fights, nativity scenes, decorating the manor with holly, and of course kissing boughs and mistletoe. This was on top of the obvious happy endings that we usually look so forward to. Without the depth and length of a novel, even those love stories felt flatter than usual because there was not time for characters or relationships to develop properly.
I don't know that I would tell you not to read the book, but I would suggest you spread the stories out over more time so you can look at each one with fresher eyes. Looking at them separately instead of as a group would give a better impression.
February 4, 2020
"A Very Special Christmas" by Mary Balogh Oct 2018
This book is a selection of Christmas stories which have been published earlier. You have "A Christmas Bride" 1997, which is a complete book and includes the epilogue. Included also are the following short stories: " A Family Christmas" 2003, "The Star of Bethlehem" 1989, "The Best Gift" 1994, "Playing House" 1990, and "No Room at the Inn" 1993. To get into the Christmas spirit this is the book for you or to just experience how love triumps, the miracles of season, and the magic of the season of good will. There were a few tears shed also. All in all, a great selection of Christmas stories to be read during the holiday season or anytime you feel you need a little magic in your life. Happy Reading! ReadingGenie
This book is a selection of Christmas stories which have been published earlier. You have "A Christmas Bride" 1997, which is a complete book and includes the epilogue. Included also are the following short stories: " A Family Christmas" 2003, "The Star of Bethlehem" 1989, "The Best Gift" 1994, "Playing House" 1990, and "No Room at the Inn" 1993. To get into the Christmas spirit this is the book for you or to just experience how love triumps, the miracles of season, and the magic of the season of good will. There were a few tears shed also. All in all, a great selection of Christmas stories to be read during the holiday season or anytime you feel you need a little magic in your life. Happy Reading! ReadingGenie
December 29, 2024
A Very Special Christmas (2018) includes a full length novel, A Christmas Bride and five short stories .., all heartwarming with some emotional angst and lovely romantic endings. The stories include class differences and young children, and the first book has an older couple. Balogh’s writing is exquisite… I loved savoring passages slowly as the true joy and love of the holiday season slowly unfurled thru these romances.
My favorites? A Christmas Bride, A Family Christmas, and The Best Gift. Only available as a paperback.., I’ll be keeping this one and rereading often. Absolutely loved it … a gift of sheer perfection for my Christmas 2024. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
My favorites? A Christmas Bride, A Family Christmas, and The Best Gift. Only available as a paperback.., I’ll be keeping this one and rereading often. Absolutely loved it … a gift of sheer perfection for my Christmas 2024. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
November 27, 2018
A wonderful collection of Christmas stories!
December 1, 2018
These stories are pretty dark/depressing for Christmas romances. If you want angst with your holiday celebrations, this would be a good choice.
December 26, 2018
Overall, disappointing. I liked "The Best Gift" and "Playing House" but the others, actually all of them, felt like idea nuggets that she never really developed.
December 30, 2018
Each story had the same plot outline and resolved unexplainably.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 15, 2019
Classic Balogh! I cried my eyes out through most of these. Wonderful, beautifully written and heart-warming.
January 24, 2019
Very sweet, special stories for the Christmas season and beyond. Lovely details. Well crafted. Fell in love with the different characters.
February 26, 2019
These would be good stories to read at any other time of year, but I found them to be a little melancholy for Christmas stories.
December 12, 2020
Christmas Bride was enjoyable and the other stories were a lot repetitive but a handful of them I liked enough to potentially revisit someday.
October 14, 2021
Warm and cozy!
December 21, 2023
ONLY read the short novella ‘The Family Christmas’
April 28, 2020
1 star: A Christmas Bride. The only Novella and sadly the story that I liked the less. I couldn’t stand Helena, the heroine and it took too little of the last chapters of the story to be feeling any warm towards here. The One star is only for the hero, because I feel sorry for him, poor Edgar with that crazy and awful woman for his wife.
3 stars: A Family Christmas. I wish this story was longer. Really liked it.
2.5 stars: The Star of Bethlehem, The Best Gift.
2 stars: Playing House, No room at the Inn.
3 stars: A Family Christmas. I wish this story was longer. Really liked it.
2.5 stars: The Star of Bethlehem, The Best Gift.
2 stars: Playing House, No room at the Inn.
June 25, 2020
Just reread this book. Too many of the stories dwelt on unhappiness for too long, making them not particularly fun to read, even though they had a HEA. However, I really enjoyed The Best Gift and also No Room at the Inn (other than the plausibility of falling in love and proposing in a two-day time period). They really invoked the wonderful feeling of Christmas. And it is worth reading the book for these stories alone.
December 28, 2025
I love Mary Balogh. These stories do not disappoint.
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