What a Lady Needs for Christmas by Grace Burrowes
Sourcebooks Casablanca
Book Four in the MacGregor series
Historical Romance
Published October 7, 2014
Source: Received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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Why I picked up this book:
On a Christmas kick, I also had a lot of faith in the publisher.
Blurb:
The Best Gifts are the Unexpected Ones...
To escape a scandal, Lady Joan Flynn flees her family's estate in the Scottish Highlands. She needs a husband by Christmas, or the holidays will ring in nothing but ruin.
Practical, ambitious mill owner Dante Hartwell offers to marry Joan, because a wellborn wife is his best chance of gaining access to aristocratic investors.
As Christmas—and trouble—draw nearer, Dante and Joan's marriage of convenience blossoms into unexpected intimacy, for true love often hides beneath the most unassuming holiday wrapping...
My thoughts:
I wish that I'd read What a Lady Needs for Christmas during my "Christmas in October" week, because this was a great holiday read.
Joan and Dante make for an unlikely but very sweet couple. With class dividing them - not to mention that Joan's English and Dante's Scottish - let's just say that they have a lot going against them. The class consciousness was strong in this book, and it was fun to see Joan and Dante try to navigate the expectations that society had of them.
Though obviously my main concern is the relationship, there's a pretty solid plot supporting it. Dante's need for investors or some other source of cash, and Joan's need for a husband result in some entertaining escapades (and exhibitions of jealousy). I loved how confident Dante is, without being arrogant. He's not an unfamiliar hero in historical romance, but I thought he had some really great twists. Also, his children are adorable!
Joan's unconventional as she's got an obsession with fashion, fabrics and textures in general. I loved how this really permeated her personality. I'd really like to spend more time with Dante and Joan, to see how they get on after the book ends.
The cast of supporting characters were all very amusing. I presume they appear in previous books in the series, which I have not read, but wish I had. I would have loved to see how Joan figured into them.
Last, I appreciated all the little holiday touches, and would rate this one a full five Christmas presents out of five. It's a good choice for curling up with egg nog, beside your Christmas tree.
This was a great holiday romance with a pretty unconventional romantic couple at the heart of it. I absolutely recommend picking it up if you're looking for something to read over the holidays!
4.5 stars
For fans of Christmas romances, historical romances
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