Review - - Betrothed by Christmas

Betrothed by Christmas

A Holiday Duet

By Jess Michaels and Elizabeth Essex

Publisher: The Passionate Pen, LLC

Release Date: October 15, 2019

Reviewed by Santa

 

I love the holidays and my favorite part – aside from the food – yum, those seven fishes and roast beef with all the trimmings. I digress. My favorite part of the holidays are Christmas romances. And though I loathe to see holiday decorations in the stores, I look forward to Christmas romances filling my hands as early as October. Betrothed by Christmas by Jess Michaels and Elizabeth Essex duet, a romance novella duet, is a five star, hot, hot read that fits the bill. 

I have been a fan of both authors for many years. Their stories are connected by the heroines Evangeline and Tamsin who we meet over a bowl of flaming brandy. I kid. They watch as lackwit lords haul the bowl into the ballroom and prepare to burn off a brow or two as they try to catch a flaming raisin. They both agree that a life of independence is far better than marrying any one of these gents. As young ladies of the ton, they have little choice in this area. Or do they?

The answer to their individual dilemmas is for them to seek out MALE WALLFLOWERS! Hold the phone! Not a rake? Not a rouge? You heard it right, male wallflowers. Where does one find one? Against a wall? By a potted plant? Nope. The library where you’d be surprised to find more than one or two.

Jess Michaels’ “A Lady’s Gift for Seduction” has you cheering for Evangeline and Henry from the first moment Evangeline, the daughter of a duke, approaches Henry, an astrologer and a third son of a viscount. Henry has lived across the park from her father for many years. She hopes to marry and keep her independence and control over her life. Her dowry guarantees that Henry can pursue his research while she continues to be in control of everything else. Both are in for an eye-opening experience as they come to find they are so much more together.

Elizabeth Essex’s “A Lady’s Gift for Scandal” brings Tamsin and Simon. Tamsin wants nothing more than an independent life much like her aunt who holds salons and does as she pleases. Her aunt came to this lifestyle following a scandal and that’s just what Tamsin thinks she needs. Not a huge scandal, just a slight one. That’s where Simon comes in. He seems a retiring sort who presents to the ton as somewhat simple since returning from the war. Our man Simon has built up a reputation that keeps others at bay but not Tamsin whose arrangements bring them both exactly what didn’t know they needed all along.

Go ahead, snuggle on the couch with a throw, sip your pumpkin spice latte and enjoy Betrothed by Christmas!

Elizabeth Essex Winner

Many thanks to everyone who stopped by this morning to
share holiday traditions, recipes and fun.

The randomly chosen winner of Elizabeth's giveaway is:

Judy

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Heating up the Holidays with Elizabeth Essex

Heating up the Holidays with Elizabeth Essex! 

Elizabeth Essex is the award-winning author of the critically acclaimed Reckless Brides historical romance series. Her books have been nominated for numerous awards, including the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award and Seal of Excellence Award, and RWA’s prestigious RITA Award. The Reckless Brides Series has also made Top-Ten lists from Romantic Times, The Romance Reviews and Affaire de Coeur Magazine, and Desert Isle Keeper status at All About Romance. Her fifth book, A BREATH OF SCANDAL, was awarded Best Historical in the Reader’s Crown 2013.

When not rereading Jane Austen, mucking about in her garden or simply messing about with boats, Elizabeth can be always be found with her laptop, making up stories about heroes and heroines who live far more exciting lives than she.  It wasn’t always so.  Long before she ever set pen to paper, Elizabeth graduated from Hollins College with a BA in Classics and Art History, and then earned her MA in Nautical Archaeology from Texas A&M University.  While she loved the life of an underwater archaeologist, she has found her true calling writing lush, lyrical historical romance full of passion, daring and adventure. 

At the Essex abode we are looking forward to enjoying what I call a full-on Southern Christmas. This may surprise those of you who know for a fact that I was born a Yankee, and still carry some deep-seated New Englander-isms in my blood (notably the inability to turn a blind eye). And while I occasionally miss the snow-covered white Christmases of my youth, I have grown to savor the warmth of a southern Christmas day. And the ease and tradition of decorating with glossy magnolia leaves. And the pecan pies. And the oysters. And oh my, oh my, the punch. And the southern-est of them all, the deep fried turkey. 

            I am ashamed to say that I resisted this deep-fried innovation at the onset of my marriage to the Indispensable Mr. Essex. Where would I stuff my stuffing, I wailed. How could I be expected to whip up the world’s most delicious, savory gravy with no proper pan drippings? And furthermore, how could anybody be expected to feel all Chrismas-y without the divine aroma of the roasting bird wafting about our drafty old house? “Well,” Mr. Essex replied with his usual good-humored thoughtfulness, “You could use the empty oven space to make more pies.” 

            Now there is a man who has his priorities straight. So I adapted. And once I had made all those pies, they needed to be shared. And once I had people coming over for some pie, I thought they might be thirsty. And so I decided to make bourbon punch. And this was when I really hit my stride.

            I can make punch for just about any occasion—non-alcoholic types for afternoon tea, champagne punch for brunch parties, and my favorite, a cheering, toe-warming bourbon punch for winter evenings. I started with the recipe passed down to me by my father who used to make a concoction known in the family annals as “Robinson’s Flaming Retribution Punch.” This lethal blend will put enough hair on your chest to warm a body through the raw New England winters. 

            But I was looking for something a little less insistent, a little more neighborly and hospitable. And something chilled for those warm southern winter afternoons. And here it is, my version of the ‘Holiday Cheer’ that makes an appearance in “The Scandal Before Christmas,” my novella in CHRISTMAS BRIDES.

Mrs. Essex’s Advanced Holiday Cheer:

Overnight:

Soak 8 cinnamon sticks in a 750ml bottle of bourbon, and let it sit overnight. (I just push the sticks down the neck.) 

Next day: 

Stir one cup of white sugar into a mix of 1/2 cup of lemon juice, 1/2 cup ginger juice, and 1/2 cup of unsweetened cranberry juice, and let it fully dissolve. (You can do this with regular sweetened cranberry juice by leaving off the sugar at this point, and adding it back in later to taste, but that’s tricky.)

Get out your punch bowl and pour in the juice blend, bourbon (leaving the cinnamon sticks behind) and 3/4 of a cup of Malmsey Madeira. (Malmsey is Madeira wine made out of the sweet Malvasia grape which I think works better than dryer Moscatel or other Madeira grapes, but you suit yourself.)

Stir lazily.

Pour in 3 cups of sparkling water. Soda water is also fine, and I have even used flavored sparkling water (like lemon, or even pomegranate) in a pinch.

Garnish with cranberries, or nutmeg, or even a sprig or two of mint.

Serve over crushed ice.

Drink responsibly. 

And be of good cheer.

Thank you, Elizabeth! I do love the sound of all those pies...and the turkey...and the punch! I'd say you have conquered the Southern Christmas with a flair! 

Readers, do you have a favorite holiday punch recipe? Was the recipe handed down or is it your own concoction?

How do you cook your turkey? Have you tried deep-fried? (PJ here. I admit to being skeptical until I tasted one that was deep-fried. Oh my delicious goodness!)

Are you a pie maker? What's your favorite kind to make? Favorite kind to eat?

Giveaway: To one random commenter, I will give away a FULL set of the Reckless Brides Books: ALMOST A SCANDAL, A BREATH OF SCANDAL, SCANDAL IN THE NIGHT, AFTER THE SCANDAL, A SCANDAL TO REMEMBER, and “The Scandal Before Christmas” in CHRISTMAS BRIDES. 
Open to US and Canada.

Bonus Giveaway: Elizabeth is also hosting a giveaway for her newsletter subscribers. Subscribe at her website.


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The Scandal Before Christmas
by Elizabeth Essex

Lieutenant Ian Worth needs a wife by Christmas. He has to find her, woo her, and wed her before he goes back to sea. 

Anne Lesley is a shy spinster with no prospects, so she accepts Ian’s hasty offer only for the security it will bring. 

But when a midwinter storm rolls in, things start to heat up between them…and they might just find true, honest-to-goodness love…