Scarlet Ribbons - Lyn Stone

Fairly forgettable story of a widowed soldier crippled in the Napoleonic Wars and a feisty spinster injured in a riding accident. I did enjoy their dialog and the mirroring of their injuries, but it was written with a mystifying emotional distance. I never felt truly absorbed into the story or like I understood the characters' motivations. Enjoyable, but lacking something. 3 stars.

Christmas Promise - Carla Kelly

Wonderful, emotional tale of love that waited, and waited. Captain Jeremiah Faulk is back in England after 22 years fighting in the navy. Ianthe Mears is his childhood friend and love, as well as his friend and comrade's widow. Both have secretly held a flame for the other for many years. A chance meeting with the Mears children brings Faulk to the Mears' for Christmas. In a short format, Kelly deals with Faulk's emotional fallout from his gruesome time in the navy, their undeniable love for each other and what their future will look like. She pulls no punches and the result is heartwrenching and uplifting in equal measure. Includes more crying than I've ever read in a novel, I think. 5 stars.

A Little Christmas - Gail Ranstrom

I found this so cliche riddled that I couldn't finish it. Totally lacking sexual tension or believable dialog, I could not care at all about the characters or what happened next. DNF.

In sum, I'd buy it all over again. The Kelly story was worth the purchase price on its own.

( )

The only reason this book gets three stars is because the Carla Kelly story is worth 4 stars. The Ranstrom story was tolerable but dumb -- two stars at best. The Lyn Stone story was silly -- so much so that I never finished it. ( )

I love the regency Christmas anthologies and was pleased to see another with an offering from Carla Kelly, one of my all time favorite authors. Her offering in this book, "Christmas Promise," is very good. It is set right after Napolean is defeated and our hero, Captain Faulk, is waiting to see what the Navy plans to do with him. He chances on two youngsters who are the children of his very good (deceased) friend. He was, and probably is, in love with their mother. They reunite and the story progresses as it should. A very nice Christmas story with solid characters that you would like to know.

The other two stories are nice. I think the Lyn Stone offering, "Scarlet Ribbons," is the stronger. I didn't enjoy the Gail Ranstrom, "A Little Christmas," quite as much, but still a very nice story. ( )