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Christmas #1
Marry Christmas
A captivating holiday tale of an arranged marriage that becomes a passionate union from the author of The Spinster Bride.
A Christmas wedding to the Duke of Bellingham. Any other socialite in Newport, Rhode Island, would be overjoyed at the prospect, but Elizabeth Cummings finds her mother’s announcement as appealing as a prison sentence. Elizabeth has not the slightest desire to meet Randall Blackmore, let alone be bartered for an English title. Her heart belongs to another, and the duke’s prestige, arrogance, and rugged charm will make no difference to her plans of elopement.
Against his expectations and desires, Randall Blackmore has inherited a dukedom and a vast estate that only marriage to an heiress can save. Selling his title to the highest bidder is a wretched obligation, but to Randall’s surprise his intended bride is pretty, courageous, delightfully impertinent—and completely uninterested in becoming a Duchess. Yet suddenly, no other woman will do, and a marriage in name only will never be enough for a husband determined to win his wife in body, heart, and soul . . .
Praise for Jane Goodger’s Christmas series
“[Goodger] once again delights her fans with the wonderfully descriptive narrative that is filled with humor and sensuality.” —Fresh Fiction
“A touching, compassionate, passion-filled romance.” —RT Book Reviews
“Gentle humor, witty banter, and attractive characters.” —Library Journal
A Christmas wedding to the Duke of Bellingham. Any other socialite in Newport, Rhode Island, would be overjoyed at the prospect, but Elizabeth Cummings finds her mother’s announcement as appealing as a prison sentence. Elizabeth has not the slightest desire to meet Randall Blackmore, let alone be bartered for an English title. Her heart belongs to another, and the duke’s prestige, arrogance, and rugged charm will make no difference to her plans of elopement.
Against his expectations and desires, Randall Blackmore has inherited a dukedom and a vast estate that only marriage to an heiress can save. Selling his title to the highest bidder is a wretched obligation, but to Randall’s surprise his intended bride is pretty, courageous, delightfully impertinent—and completely uninterested in becoming a Duchess. Yet suddenly, no other woman will do, and a marriage in name only will never be enough for a husband determined to win his wife in body, heart, and soul . . .
Praise for Jane Goodger’s Christmas series
“[Goodger] once again delights her fans with the wonderfully descriptive narrative that is filled with humor and sensuality.” —Fresh Fiction
“A touching, compassionate, passion-filled romance.” —RT Book Reviews
“Gentle humor, witty banter, and attractive characters.” —Library Journal
353 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2008
28 people are currently reading
248 people want to read
About the author
Jane Goodger
24 books286 followersI grew up in western Massachusetts and have lived most my adult life in New England. Thanks to my adventurous husband, I've also done brief stints in Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Naples, Italy. Although I've written four contemporary romances under the name Jane Blackwood, my first love is historical romances set in Victorian times. I've written 17 of those with more on the way.
I have three kids, one a college grad, one in college, and one still in high school (who's a fantastic writer). I love the Red Sox and the New England Patriots. I work full time, have an editing business, and in my free time write like a fanatic.
Above the desk in my office is this sign: "And They All Lived Happily Ever After." It may not be reality, but it's real nice to think about...
I have three kids, one a college grad, one in college, and one still in high school (who's a fantastic writer). I love the Red Sox and the New England Patriots. I work full time, have an editing business, and in my free time write like a fanatic.
Above the desk in my office is this sign: "And They All Lived Happily Ever After." It may not be reality, but it's real nice to think about...
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 26, 2010
Too much conflict and separation due to a stupid and foolish heroine.
REVIEWER’S OPINION:
I immensely dislike Elizabeth. Randall is wonderful. Most of the book is conflict, anger or separation between these two, which is her fault. There is a sprinkling of happiness in the middle (22 pages) and a touch at the end (18 pages). The rest of the time is spent in frustrating conflict. I don’t mind conflict when there are other interesting things happening, but this isn’t the case. This conflict is based on Elizabeth’s stupidity, foolishness and vague communication. I think the author is a good writer, but I didn’t like the plot and main character in this book.
STORY BRIEF:
Elizabeth is the wealthiest heiress in the U.S. She has a few dances and a bike ride with Henry and believes she is in love with him. He wants her only for her money. Randall is an English Duke with no money. He needs to marry an heiress to support his tenants, his mother, his home, etc. Elizabeth’s parents arrange the marriage giving millions to the Duke so their daughter will have a title. Randall visits the U.S. and right away starts to fall for Elizabeth. She only has eyes for Henry and hopes to elope with him to escape her parents and Randall.
DATA:
Story length: 345 pages. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 4. Length of sex scenes: 1, 2, 4 and 9 pages. Setting: 1892 Rhode Island, NY, and England. Copyright: 2008. Genre: historical romance.
OTHER BOOKS:
To date, I’ve read one other book by Jane Goodger which was wonderful! My 4.5 star review of “When There Is Hope,” Copyright 1996, was posted under 5 stars on 6/21/08.
CAUTION SPOILERS:
IF YOU ARE THINKING OF READING THE BOOK, THEN DO NOT READ BELOW. IT GIVES AWAY MOST OF THE STORY. If you have already read the book, feel free to read below to see if you agree or disagree with me.
Elizabeth’s father tells Henry that if he elopes with Elizabeth, the couple will be cut off financially. Henry agrees to leave her be. Elizabeth believes her father when he tells her Henry wanted money more than Elizabeth. The day before her wedding to Randall, Henry sees Elizabeth shopping in a store and gives her a necklace with a note. He asks her to wear the necklace always as a reminder of their love. Randall asks her if she has seen Henry recently and she lies, saying no. She wears the necklace during the wedding and during the honeymoon. (Why would she do this after she had been told the truth about Henry? The author claims it was a symbol of rebellion against the arranged marriage.) After three days of honeymoon, she realizes that she is falling in love with Randall. She still wears the necklace! Then Randall accidentally sees the note from Henry and confronts her, she claims she forgot she was wearing it. The letter from Henry said “Do what you must to deceive and be safe, pretend anything to get you through the months ahead and know that I will always know the truth: that you love me alone.” (What kind of person would carry a letter like that on her honeymoon?) Randall didn’t trust her because she had lied about seeing Henry in the store and continued to wear Henry's necklace. He felt betrayed and angry which caused their separation for the rest of the book, until the last 18 pages. I was angry with her and felt no sympathy for her. I couldn’t enjoy the rest of the book because I needed someone to root for, and I sure couldn’t root for her.
Later, she receives a letter saying Henry married another heiress. Elizabeth is crying because she knows she hurt Randall due to her own foolishness. Randall sees her crying and thinks it is because she is hurt that Henry married another. She doesn’t even try to explain the truth to Randall. Again, I am unsympathetic.
REVIEWER’S OPINION:
I immensely dislike Elizabeth. Randall is wonderful. Most of the book is conflict, anger or separation between these two, which is her fault. There is a sprinkling of happiness in the middle (22 pages) and a touch at the end (18 pages). The rest of the time is spent in frustrating conflict. I don’t mind conflict when there are other interesting things happening, but this isn’t the case. This conflict is based on Elizabeth’s stupidity, foolishness and vague communication. I think the author is a good writer, but I didn’t like the plot and main character in this book.
STORY BRIEF:
Elizabeth is the wealthiest heiress in the U.S. She has a few dances and a bike ride with Henry and believes she is in love with him. He wants her only for her money. Randall is an English Duke with no money. He needs to marry an heiress to support his tenants, his mother, his home, etc. Elizabeth’s parents arrange the marriage giving millions to the Duke so their daughter will have a title. Randall visits the U.S. and right away starts to fall for Elizabeth. She only has eyes for Henry and hopes to elope with him to escape her parents and Randall.
DATA:
Story length: 345 pages. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 4. Length of sex scenes: 1, 2, 4 and 9 pages. Setting: 1892 Rhode Island, NY, and England. Copyright: 2008. Genre: historical romance.
OTHER BOOKS:
To date, I’ve read one other book by Jane Goodger which was wonderful! My 4.5 star review of “When There Is Hope,” Copyright 1996, was posted under 5 stars on 6/21/08.
CAUTION SPOILERS:
IF YOU ARE THINKING OF READING THE BOOK, THEN DO NOT READ BELOW. IT GIVES AWAY MOST OF THE STORY. If you have already read the book, feel free to read below to see if you agree or disagree with me.
Elizabeth’s father tells Henry that if he elopes with Elizabeth, the couple will be cut off financially. Henry agrees to leave her be. Elizabeth believes her father when he tells her Henry wanted money more than Elizabeth. The day before her wedding to Randall, Henry sees Elizabeth shopping in a store and gives her a necklace with a note. He asks her to wear the necklace always as a reminder of their love. Randall asks her if she has seen Henry recently and she lies, saying no. She wears the necklace during the wedding and during the honeymoon. (Why would she do this after she had been told the truth about Henry? The author claims it was a symbol of rebellion against the arranged marriage.) After three days of honeymoon, she realizes that she is falling in love with Randall. She still wears the necklace! Then Randall accidentally sees the note from Henry and confronts her, she claims she forgot she was wearing it. The letter from Henry said “Do what you must to deceive and be safe, pretend anything to get you through the months ahead and know that I will always know the truth: that you love me alone.” (What kind of person would carry a letter like that on her honeymoon?) Randall didn’t trust her because she had lied about seeing Henry in the store and continued to wear Henry's necklace. He felt betrayed and angry which caused their separation for the rest of the book, until the last 18 pages. I was angry with her and felt no sympathy for her. I couldn’t enjoy the rest of the book because I needed someone to root for, and I sure couldn’t root for her.
Later, she receives a letter saying Henry married another heiress. Elizabeth is crying because she knows she hurt Randall due to her own foolishness. Randall sees her crying and thinks it is because she is hurt that Henry married another. She doesn’t even try to explain the truth to Randall. Again, I am unsympathetic.
January 4, 2015
Lovely read for the holidays.
Read for the Ho Ho Ho read-a-thon
To read my review visit my blog.
Read for the Ho Ho Ho read-a-thon
To read my review visit my blog.
August 27, 2016
So very disappointed with this one considering how much I adore her other one. I do not even know if this should fall under the category of romance considering so little book time the couple has with each other. I still think the story would have been solid given Goodger's writing skills, yet the focus of the book seems to be totally wrong to me, which is on everything and everyone else that these two encountered.
If a book has to be about the h not liking the H to begin with, the bulk should have been how and why she changed her mind, and what happened to get their hea, not on how and why she is so against the H and is in tears thinking about another guy. Goodger did a huge disservice to the h, for she is made very unlikeable to me with her naive and self centered look towards life for the most part. Half the book is about how sad and resentful she is and how her world is falling apart and what she can do to be with her true love. It is all about her, she wasn't even remorseful when her parents or the H pointed out how bad it will look on them. Even having wrecked her whole relationship all by her good self, she still has time and nerves to blame the H for the whole mess. Granted it really is hard to be in her situation, which I empathise, I just found her whole attitude to be defiant and commitment to making not only herself but everyone around her miserable really horrid. She is slightly less annoying towards the end, but still not likeable with her cowardly and timid behaviour to lie down and take the beating mentality. I would have liked it a lot more if she did more to get back in H's good graces given the fact that her suppression is highlighted so much and her spark is what drew the H to begin with.
In contrast, H being the injured party is a lot easier to stomach. He tried to be cordial to make the best of a horrible situation at first and after he fell for her, has been nothing but gentle and sweet. His behavior after the discovery scene actually has me cheering as this totally is what I think h deserves, except for the bedroom part, which is not well done of him but also understandable. Otherwise he really is a great sweetheart that is so open with his feelings. I was afraid Goodger will ruin the H by having him running to ow, like so many book would have done to add to the so called drama of the book. Am glad though he did think it really should be what he was doing, he dismissed this outright. To be fair though, H can be seen as petty and unreasonable to want to punish her for not loving him. Unfortunately, the way it was written makes it very hard for us to sympathise with the self centred h.
The pace of the book is super slow, with focus on the american upper class society and a lord of the manor's everyday life mostly. The descriptions and observation during that time is actually very engaging and I even popped off to wiki to take a look in more details at the people mentioned there.
While I really have no complaint with the excellent writing, I have serious issues with how this book seems not to have enough pages dedicated to the couple. They didn't even get married till over half of the book and H probaby has 3 to 4 private moments with h and those are real brief as it is. Sadly when I was relieved I finally can get to their married life, again we only get to see them do their own stuffs with other people mostly. While their love for each other did convey well over the pages, there isn't enough page time to let us see and enjoy this aspect and get soaked in to be invested much.
Hence it really is a disappointing read as a romance, though if I go in expecting this to be something else I wont be grumbling as much.
If a book has to be about the h not liking the H to begin with, the bulk should have been how and why she changed her mind, and what happened to get their hea, not on how and why she is so against the H and is in tears thinking about another guy. Goodger did a huge disservice to the h, for she is made very unlikeable to me with her naive and self centered look towards life for the most part. Half the book is about how sad and resentful she is and how her world is falling apart and what she can do to be with her true love. It is all about her, she wasn't even remorseful when her parents or the H pointed out how bad it will look on them. Even having wrecked her whole relationship all by her good self, she still has time and nerves to blame the H for the whole mess. Granted it really is hard to be in her situation, which I empathise, I just found her whole attitude to be defiant and commitment to making not only herself but everyone around her miserable really horrid. She is slightly less annoying towards the end, but still not likeable with her cowardly and timid behaviour to lie down and take the beating mentality. I would have liked it a lot more if she did more to get back in H's good graces given the fact that her suppression is highlighted so much and her spark is what drew the H to begin with.
In contrast, H being the injured party is a lot easier to stomach. He tried to be cordial to make the best of a horrible situation at first and after he fell for her, has been nothing but gentle and sweet. His behavior after the discovery scene actually has me cheering as this totally is what I think h deserves, except for the bedroom part, which is not well done of him but also understandable. Otherwise he really is a great sweetheart that is so open with his feelings. I was afraid Goodger will ruin the H by having him running to ow, like so many book would have done to add to the so called drama of the book. Am glad though he did think it really should be what he was doing, he dismissed this outright. To be fair though, H can be seen as petty and unreasonable to want to punish her for not loving him. Unfortunately, the way it was written makes it very hard for us to sympathise with the self centred h.
The pace of the book is super slow, with focus on the american upper class society and a lord of the manor's everyday life mostly. The descriptions and observation during that time is actually very engaging and I even popped off to wiki to take a look in more details at the people mentioned there.
While I really have no complaint with the excellent writing, I have serious issues with how this book seems not to have enough pages dedicated to the couple. They didn't even get married till over half of the book and H probaby has 3 to 4 private moments with h and those are real brief as it is. Sadly when I was relieved I finally can get to their married life, again we only get to see them do their own stuffs with other people mostly. While their love for each other did convey well over the pages, there isn't enough page time to let us see and enjoy this aspect and get soaked in to be invested much.
Hence it really is a disappointing read as a romance, though if I go in expecting this to be something else I wont be grumbling as much.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 22, 2017
A nice story of a forced marriage turned out well. The heroine was pretty immature at the beginning but she was only 18 or 19.
November 13, 2018
Another novel that would have been about a quarter of the length if the characters had simply talked to each other like rational adults.
September 5, 2019
Such an interesting book. To love someone and know that person thinks he or she loves someone else
December 16, 2019
An enjoyable Christmas read.
December 8, 2025
Elizabeth! Why would you wear your ex-lovers necklace on your honeymoon!!!!!!!!!!!!! This poor man that loves you felt so betrayed, I felt betrayed. It is obviously worse for Henry to be a gold-digger and not tell you than Rand to be gold-digger but that was his intention all along. Couldn't you see??? I could see! Oh, Rand, my sweet boy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 30, 2013
As promised, here’s my recommendation of Jane Goodger’s 1st book in her Christmas trilogy.
Elizabeth Cummings is an American heiress and in love with a man who, unbeknownst to her, wants her for her money.
The Duke Randall Blackmore is an aristocrat who needs to marry money and so he agrees to meet Elizabeth, whose mother wants nothing more than a duchy for her girl.
While Rand falls for her as soon as they meet, Elizabeth sees only a man who is settling for her money and is heartbroken to be forced into this farce of a marriage while her heart belongs to another.
Despite the predictability of the story, especially on the part of the heroine, I liked both characterization, and plot of this interesting little tale. Out of all three though, I liked this one the least, and that’s because of my feelings toward Elizabeth. Still, worth the read because it is the start of the series.
Melanie for b2b
Book provided by the publisher through NetGalley
Elizabeth Cummings is an American heiress and in love with a man who, unbeknownst to her, wants her for her money.
The Duke Randall Blackmore is an aristocrat who needs to marry money and so he agrees to meet Elizabeth, whose mother wants nothing more than a duchy for her girl.
While Rand falls for her as soon as they meet, Elizabeth sees only a man who is settling for her money and is heartbroken to be forced into this farce of a marriage while her heart belongs to another.
Despite the predictability of the story, especially on the part of the heroine, I liked both characterization, and plot of this interesting little tale. Out of all three though, I liked this one the least, and that’s because of my feelings toward Elizabeth. Still, worth the read because it is the start of the series.
Melanie for b2b
Book provided by the publisher through NetGalley
January 6, 2011
I first read the third book in the series, A Christmas Waltz, and really liked it so went back to read the first two books.
This book wasn't nearly as good. The heroine, Elizabeth, annoyed me to no end and I found myself skimming the last 150 pages just to finish it.
This book wasn't nearly as good. The heroine, Elizabeth, annoyed me to no end and I found myself skimming the last 150 pages just to finish it.
February 21, 2015
Wonderful store telling
This was a great read. Both characters were so enjoyable. I have read two others by Ms. Goodger and plan to read more! Keep up the fantastic writting, Ms. Goodger.
This was a great read. Both characters were so enjoyable. I have read two others by Ms. Goodger and plan to read more! Keep up the fantastic writting, Ms. Goodger.
Read
May 8, 2010excellent so far...mother really wins worst mother award...lol!
December 26, 2010
I wanted to throttle the heroine a few times, but the story ended well.
Read
July 28, 2011itz soo good that it frustrates me when i put the book down to do some chores.
April 8, 2013
Stupid communication skills and stubborn people deserve each other.
May 24, 2015
I liked the story.
February 5, 2016
i hated this book so much in the beginning and then when i fell in love, it ended. can't wait to read the next novel in the series!
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews