By Kelly Bridgewater
The Nutcracker and Edwardian-Era England
combine to weave a magical tale of love and friendship at Christmastime.
As the beloved stepdaughter of the Earl of
Castleton, Lady Mariah Lyons cherishes her home at Plumford Manor, but her
idyllic world will be threatened when the estate passes to Cyril Lightbourne, a
childhood friend she hasn't seen or heard from in years. Once, Mariah dreamed
their friendship would kindle into something more, but that was before she
heard Cyril was courting the cruelhearted Lady Pearl. Now Mariah is willing to
welcome him as a friend and pray he will be the heir her stepfather needs, but
she'll keep her heart locked safely away from anyone with such poor taste.
Cyril Lightbourne has long avoided returning to
Plumford Manor, yet he reluctantly arrives in time for Christmas. When his
friendship with Lady Mariah reignites, he finds himself caught between his
affection for her and her family's misunderstanding of his attachment to Lady
Pearl. Then, more trouble arrives in the form of a Danish lord on a mission to
win Mariah's hand by Christmas. Will the magic of the holiday season help lead
to the discovery of true love, or will duty to country leave all longing for
what could have been?
My Thoughts:
Christmas at Sugarplum Manor
by Roseanna M. White has a beautiful cover that makes the reader think of all
the good feelings toward the holiday season. The plot does have a good manor
landlord who takes care of the people in his village. Giving them gifts for
Christmas and allowing them to have a good meal. A treasure hunt for the
children. Of course, there is snow on the ground for the Christmas season.
However, there are two gentlemen fighting for Lady Mariah’s affections, so the
story does read a little boring at times. One of them is an old friend, and the
other one has darker intentions. While romance is one of the major threads in
the story, readers will lean toward one gentleman over the other. This story
does have a Lifetime Christmas move feel to it. As for me, the writing was
pretty dry because White spent a lot of time in thoughts of the character
instead of moving the action along. I don’t mind getting the characters’
thoughts, but I don’t need pages and pages of thoughts while the characters
stands around. Overall, Christmas at Sugarplum Manor by Roseanna M.
White is not the Christmas story for me. It was kind of dry and boring at
times. Yes, it does have its good parts, but I needed more.
I received a complimentary copy of Christmas
at Sugarplum Manor by Roseanna M. White from Bethany House Publishing, but the opinions
stated are all my own.
My Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Purchase Christmas at Sugarplum Manor
No comments:
Post a Comment