Christmas Secrets of the Soho Club: New Season New Secrets

by Renée Dahlia, Linda Rae Sande, Pamela Hart

What happens in the Soho Club stays in the Soho Club, especially during Christmastide!
Get ready for some passionate, romantic secrets from Regency club where people can be themselves, away from prying eyes and family demands.

Merry widows, curious newlyweds, Sapphic awakenings, dashing rogues and a delicious second helping of espionage awaits!

Linda Rae Sande - The Holiday of a Marquess. A widowed countess who knows her numbers. A marquess in need of an accountant. When a will reveals her late husband's secret, Elaine succumbs to Edward's advances and discovers a second chance at love is possible at the Soho Club.

Charlotte Anne - Violet Evergreen Seduces a Rogue. Wallflower Violet Evergreen knows there’s more to the world than parties and fine gowns, and she’s determined to experience it all, so, with a little light bribery and manipulation, she convinces the great nonpareil of London’s gambling dens, Morgan Turner, to gift her with an introduction to the secrets of the Soho Club for Christmas.

Renée Dahlia - The Widow's Modiste. Lady Merryam, widowed and bored, only attends the Soho Club’s latest ball to help raise funds for her son’s orphanage. The last thing she expects is a one night stand with the mysterious woman wearing ‘that’ dress. Could spending more time with her be the answer to her ennui?

Clyve Rose - The Case of the Black Diamond Part II. Espionage, adventure and passion. With links to a free issue of Part 1 for those who missed the first Soho Club anthology.

Ebony Oaten - Scandalous Charlotte. Charlotte, Lady Durham, has a terrible secret. If Charlotte thought she could have a quiet Christmastide as a widow, she did not count on Brabham, the ever-so-helpful footman whose well-meaning goodwill threatens to expose everything she holds dear.

Fiona M Marsden - Thursday's Child. Newlyweds Will & Bella are struggling after their honeymoon is a disaster and a family Christmas is looming. Now they need to rebuild their marriage kiss by kiss, touch by touch, in the scandalous private reading room of the Soho Club.

Heidi Wessman Kneale - The Freedom of a Widow. Master Bisou gives kissing lessons at the Soho Club. But what to do with young Widow Williams, who wants to learn so much more?

Genres: Christmas, Historical Romance, Historical, Historical Fiction, Amazon, Holiday, Anthologies

717 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 15, 2022

About the author

Renée Dahlia is an unabashed romance reader who loves feisty women and strong, clever men. Her books reflect this, with a side-note of awkward humour. Renée has a science degree in physics. When not distracted by the characters fighting for attention in her brain, she works in the horse racing industry doing data analysis. When she isn’t reading or writing, Renée spends time with her partner, four children, and volunteers on the local cricket club committee.

Reviews

[Aj · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Holiday of a Marquess by Linda Rae Sande...
A delightful, love at first sight romance. I enjoyed the easy banter between Elaine and Edward. A mature age second chance romance. The story built to a lovely happily ever after.

[Barbara Strickland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read

Love the fact you don’t have to read the whole thing and having plenty along the way to keep us entertained.

[Nikii · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sloppy

Remember when anthologies had editors, so there weren't typos and anachronisms and misused words (it's almost never 'discrete', authors) all over the bloody place? Those were good times. This anthology does not come from those times.

Kudos to the Linda Rae Sande, however, for presenting the only immaculate work in the volume, which was also a truly lovely story.

[Zena · Rating 5 out of 5]

(I read an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of The Holiday of a Marquess by Linda Rae Sande and this is my unbiased and voluntary review of it).
This is a delightfully quick and easy read.
I was quite amused by the speed of courtship between the smitten Edward, Marquess of Delton and Elaine, Countess of Montaine. Talk about a fast worker and Edward is sure to take first prize!
I am loving the world building of the Soho Club with its opulance and perfect service and I wonder what other stories could possibly take place between their confines.
This is most definitely a story I could relate to and recommend.

[Margaret Watkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have only had the opportunity of reading The Holiday of a Marquess in this box set and my review is therefore for this novella alone. The romance touched my heart as I felt for Elaine, the Countess of Montaine, after the death of her husband and discovering his secrets. Despite having taken care of the business of her late husband's estate for many years, she finds that neither her son nor the family's attorney is willing to discuss the terms of her husband's will. Taking time out at the invitation of her friend at the Soho Club, Elaine receives cosseting such as she has never experienced before. When Edward, the Marquess of Delton approaches her with a request, Elaine is at first cautious, but then realizes that they can help each other. With Christmas fast approaching, what could have been the loneliest and saddest time of the year, instead becomes the start of a new adventure for this mature couple. I loved the humor and chance for love despite the couple's mature years, and certainly, Edward is everything that Elaine needs to set out on a journey of new beginnings. I received a copy of this novella as a gift and this is my honest and voluntary review.

[Winnifred D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a weakness for anthologies; they're a great way to be introduced to a wide variety of writers, and if you're limited on reading time, the novella format is ideal. That said, I honestly enjoyed Clyve Rose's entry the best here (I liked her entry in the previous book--the first part to this novella--quite a bit as well). She's perhaps not as well known to US readers, but her writing style is polished, the language and descriptions seem true to the period, characterization is interesting, the MC's have strong chemistry, and the spy plot kept me reading. I do recommend that you read her previous novella first if you haven't (the link is provided in this book), because the second part would be rather confusing as a standalone.

I enjoyed Linda Rae Sand's entry as well, and the others to a slightly lesser degree.

If you're looking for a compilation of short reads to try out by primarily Australian HR authors, this book is a good choice.

Note: the novellas in this collection are not "sweet and clean"; a few of them have quite a bit of steam.

[Barbara "Cookie" Serfaty Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christmas Secrets of the Soho Club: New Season Secrets

Server story and two bonus of Christmas time and love. Book 1: The Holiday of Marquess - the love story of Elaine and Edward. Book 2: Violet Evergreen Seduces a Rogue - the love story of Violet and Morgan. Book 3: Thursday's Child - the love story of William and Isabelle. Book 4: The Widow's Modiste - the love story of Jacinta and Lady Merryan. Book 5: The Case of the Black Diamond Part II - the love story of Claire and Alexander. Book 6: Scandalus Charlotte - the love story of Charlotte and Brabham. Book 6: The Freedom of a Widow - the love story of Lilias and Cecil. Two Boys Books - A Generous Heart - the love story of Aideline and Anthony. There Something About Miss Mary - the love story of Mary and Fergal.

[Linda Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, historical inta-romance of the aristocracy; part of this anthology
Of this anthology, I was only given an ARC of THE HOLIDAY OF A MARQUESS by Linda Rae Sande. My review will be for that book. I loved it! Short, obviously, but so well done that I understood and cheered for Elaine and Edward, Countess of Montaine and Marquess of Delton, respectively. Both are widowed, have grown children and are lonely. What is it about the Soho Club that “fixes” these people. Having read this book, I think I’ll need to read others from this bundle of books. Their situation is resolved quite nicely. If you like insta-love with some steam, try this story amongst the many. Guaranteed you’ll like it too if you’re into historical romance. Ms. Sande is a wonderful storyteller.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scandalous Charlotte by Ebony Oaten
I did enjoy this story and I liked the character of Brabham. I could understand why Charlotte wanted to keep her son safe. I didn’t like how she used Brabham and was afraid to face up to her true feelings. Brabham was a good man, although he had a secret of his own. I did feel as though this would have benefitted from being a longer story. I wanted to know why Brabham had worked as a servant for his father and how was Charlotte’s in-laws deceitful. I did receive a copy of this story and have voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I have preordered my own copy and look forward to reading the rest of the stories.

[Corinne]

4* Linda Rae Sande - The Holiday of a Marquess
A joy to read. A sort of lonely hearts, quick romance between a widower of a few years and a somewhat naive widow, not quite out of her official mourning period.

3* Charlotte Anne - Violet Evergreen Seduces a Rogue
Nice surprise from this new to me author. Violet has been advised to spice up the novel she's secretly writing; Morgan's been ignoring his attraction to his friend's daughter, Violet. Somewhat predictable but a nice read.

3* Thursday's Child - Fiona M Marsden
I found this dragged a bit, but it got better. Basically a young married couple incapable of communicating.

[Sonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a review of "Scandalous Charlotte" by Ebony Oaten:
A nice feel-good story. It does function as a standalone but it clearly has the threads of a series woven in. I am looking forward to reading the other stories at some point. The writing style is entertaining with a bit of humor. The love story is sizzling hot and the lead characters are appealing. The wintery Christmas atmosphere is a nice touch. I'm not familiar with author Ebony Oaten and I'm glad to have discovered her! I received a free ARC from StoryOrigin and this is my honest review.

[Gemma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collection of novellas, all with a connection to the Soho club, a place where people can be anonymous and indulge themselves outside the bounds of society rules.

Nothing here I would read again. Also despite having Christmas in the title, most of these stories didn’t have much of a Christmas theme. A couple had a short epilogue that mentions a little bit of Christmas but that’s about it.

[Iris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great read! Delightfully engaging and fun. A widow and a widower having fun getting to know one another very quickly at the holidays.

(I received an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of The Holiday of a Marquess by Linda Rae Sande. This is my unbiased and voluntary review of it).

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

All of the novellas in this collection were different, but had some connection to the Soho Club. I liked the romance in Linda Rae Sande's contribution, as it dealt with an older couple. Five stars for that one. Several could have used better editing.

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (10/25/2022)! 🎁

[Peni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Please see individual stories for review.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the first Secrets of the Soho Club anthology and enjoyed this Christmas themed one just as much. As expected I enjoyed some of the novellas more than others, but all the stories were great!

[Bev Bridges · Rating 5 out of 5]

Linda Rae Sande, thank you so much for allowing me this book. I loved it very much.

[Tom Carver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Soho Club

New Season New Secrets is very scandalous set of short stories. Just wish this had been available when I was young!

[Karl · Rating 5 out of 5]

They went to the Soho Club for different reasons but discovered each other there. To say there was attraction is a gross understatement. Discover what happened to result in their families attending a wedding just three days later! (It was definitely a steamy encounter!

Thanks to the ARC copy I enjoyed I can rate this book Highly Recommend!