Another laugh out loud Metzger novel. I've read so many, I keep a watch out for the dog and there he was. A mongrel Clyde who saves them all from a fire in the end. But... back to the story. Annalise Avery, an heiress, escapes from her stepfather and a faithless fiancé to her Aunt's house in London. Her aunt is away, and Annalise with her protectors (Nanny Henny and her former highwayman husband Rob) are taken for servants and asked to stay on since the house is to be rented. Lord Gardiner "Gard" has decided to rent the house for various rendezvous' with whatever lady takes his fickle fancy. From the beginning his plans run awry! The ugly humpbacked, hairy mole housekeeper Anna Lee seems to have the upper hand in keeping Gard from enjoying his ladies. The funniest portions of the book are how Anna Lee (Annalise in disguise) imaginatively prevents Gard from ever partaking of his ladies!

Along with Gard's struggle with his chosen ladies and puritan housekeeper, he meets and protects a mysterious woman in green who rides a beautiful part-Arabian horse each morning. He finds himself attracted to her and discovers along the way that she is the missing heiress. He also discovers she is hiding in his own rented house! I'll leave you to read how it all works out. Can this faithless lord make Annalise happy?

Although this was a entertaining story, I was not impressed with the characters Annalise or Lord Gardiner. I did find him a bit too amorous and not really likable though he was kind. Neither touched my heart as other Metzger heroes and heroines have. Annalise was a bit insipid as herself but I loved her as Anna Lee. Henny (the nanny) was interesting because when she was angry at Lord Gardiner or her husband Rob, she would retaliate by feeding the good food to Annalise or the dog instead of to the men.

Worth reading but be sure to catch other Metzger novels (An Angel for the Earl and The Primrose Path) for more endearing (and funny) characters.

I usually am disappointed in books that are anthologies, but I was pleasantly surprised by this book. The first three stories were very good and I would have rated them 5 stars but the last two stories were not as good. My favorite story is the one by Alison Lane HEART'S DESIRE and I became interested in an unseen character, Emma's brother-in-law James. I hope she does his story in the future.

Metzger always has a good story to tell. This one is no exception. The plot is engrossing as well as entertaining and Metzger has a comic touch thet is wonderful. Marisol is expecting a child when her husband is murdered. She hated her husband, but did she want him dead? Lord Kimbrough wants answers and he fights his attraction to the Duchess. This tale is a fun and sweet story.

No - not another regency with the plain, spunky girl who wins the heart of the rake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Story was very slow and I too wanted to knock Ada on the head for being such a nitwit. Chas was a decent man and Ada was plain annoying in how she kept turning away his help and love and marraige offer. Someone as desperate as her would have married him if nothing else but for her family. That is how it was done back them, wasn't it??

I have not enjoyed a regency this much in a while. I devoured each word to the very last and grinned throughout. My initial fear that this was one of those forced funny ha-ha laugher kind of regencies were for naught. Miss Westlake's Windfall is an enchanting story that is clever and witty and oh-so-refreshing.

I loved this story. I loved that Chas loves Ada from the very beginning of this book and his feelings for her never changes. Sigh, I LOVED the fact that he had no problems declaring his love for her first. Even his sexy hunk of a half-brother went ga-ga for Ada's sister and didn't try to fight his feelings.

What also endeared me to this well-told story were the secondary characters all the way down to Chas's dog. They were written with charm and drawn with humor. I loved them all. Even the evil characters were interesting. I was spellbound with Ms. Metzger's writing. Each chapter ended so...well, right, tight. Witty and clever writing like this is what separates the great story tellers from the wanna-be or not quite polished writers. This story was so shiny and polished it gleamed.

I loved every aspect of this book. The story, the dialogue, and ALL the characters. This book will definitely go on my keeper shelf.

Barbara Metzger is one of my favorite Regency authors because of her witty writing style and oddball characters. I found myself laughing out loud several times while reading this one. Definitely recommended!

Despite my hesitancy about anthologies normally, since I love Christmas stories I got hold of several of the Signet seasonal anthologies. For every good one - this year's volume, for instance - I suppose there has to be an absolute stinker, and this one is it. Even the good writers this time have produced duds, and overall the collection is so bad I'm trying to forget I read it.

We begin with Nancy Butler - variable to good usually - and The Merry Wanderer. Butler tries to merge Arthurian legend with Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, and it simply doesn't come off. The story feels completely wrong for the period, and I found myself rolling my eyes as I continued to read. I couldn't wait to get to the end of it.

Better things had to come, I thought, and so I started on Emma Jensen's The Wexford Carol with high expectations. I do enjoy Jensen very much as a rule, and her Irish settings are usually very well done. Lizzie, trying desperately to save the family home which is falling down around her ears, is horrified when she discovers that her father's heir has sold it, and that the new owner is sending his agent to inspect it. The agent seems unable to recognise any of the delights of Hollymore. Captain Jones, or more properly Lord Rhys Edward-Jones, seems unable to find joy in anything - can Lizzie, and the atmosphere of Christmas, do anything to change him? This one is better, but felt over-contrived in places.

Edith Layton's High Spirits just didn't do anything for me. Arabella finds Society balls and functions unbearably nerve-wracking, so she takes to swilling brandy before she goes, and from time to time during each evening. Uhh... didn't anyone *notice*? Why wouldn't dance-partners or her chaperones have smelt the brandy on her breath? It's not as if she chose a drink which didn't have a strong smell. I found it incredible that the hero only noticed when he kissed her. Furthermore, it was very clear that Arabella was well on the way to becoming an alcoholic: would she have been able to stop drinking as easily as all that?

Barbara Metzger's The Christmas Curse was mildly amusing, but definitely forgettable. Two ghosts, cursed to haunt Worth Keep until one of their heirs falls in love and proposes to his love at a certain time and in a certain manner, try their best to bring about this happy event. Let's just say that a huge amount of suspension of disbelief is required.

And finally, Andrea Pickens, of whom I expected much, presents A Gathering of Gifts. A young lady is injured on Lord Kirtland's land, and he is obliged to offer Lady Emma a room under his own roof until she can be moved. She sprained an ankle - couldn't they have strapped it up and taken her home slowly in a carriage? Anyway, Emma is a spoiled brat who deserves no sympathy whatsoever. She treats her hosts as unpaid servants. Kirtland's infatuation with her makes no sense whatsoever; I simply couldn't believe it. And Emma's own rehabilitation was too little, too late, and entirely unconvincing.

The only novella here worth a second read is Jensen's Wexford Carol; the others weren't even worth the first read.

I would have given this a 3-1/2 if possible, but my choices were either 3 or 4, and I don't think this book can quite rate a 4. Signet has been issuing Regency Christmas anthologies since 1989, and I guess it's inevitable that all five stories can't be 5-star winners every year. However I sincerely believe that the first few years of this anthology were comprised of stories that were fresh, interesting, and well-written. This current year's crop of stories--with the common thread of "Christmas spirit"--were not quite as interesting as they could have been. For one thing, each author seemed to interpret the word "spirit" in a different way: a Lord-of-the-Rings-like elf, or fairy... ancient ghosts meddling in ancestors' lives... "spirit" as in holiday enthusiasm and merriment... and the intoxicating form of spirits. Also, for well-known, successful authors, some of these folks seem to have gotten sloppy. One of the authors in this anthology seemed to have forgotten how to use punctuation, she used commas for just about everything, they didn't seem to fit where they'd been placed. (See what I mean?)

Anyway, I hope Signet reads and edits its future editions of holiday anthologies a little more carefully. All in all, this book is enjoyable, but not quite up to usual standards.

As with the liquid variety of spirits, some being more potent than others, this book will leave the reader in varying degress of tipsiness, depending on the most recently-read story.

Five highly-acclaimed Regency authors are represented here, with their stories featured in alphabetical order by the authors last name, with that of Nancy Butler taking pride of place as first and best in this edition-in this reader's opinion. Other contributors are Emma Jensen, Edith Layton, Barbara Metzger and Andrea Pickens.

THE MERRY WANDERER from Nancy Butler is fantasy at its very best for the season of wishes and dreams. Robin Goodfellow is not exactly what he appears to be when he presents himself at Arden House, the home of Julia, Lady of Islay. Nearing the end of her year of mourning, Julia is now facing the possible loss of her home and her younger brother, when the charming stranger intrudes into her very life. He does seem to be a bit strange, but then, so was her father. And so, yet, is her cousin, who is the threat to her happiness. After a bit of determination, and some help from friendly spirits, Robin finds himself forced to choose between his former legendary life-style, and a new, more mortal one. With help from Julia-and her younger brother, Harry-he makes the right, the only choice possible, bringing a Merry Yuletide to all.

'Tis no secret that Emma Jensen has a huge soft spot for Ireland, and she exploits this for all it's worth in the delightful tale extolling THE WEXFORD CAROL. Hollymore, the ancient and exceedingly dilapidated home of Elizabeth Fitzhollis is also in jeopardy. This time, however, it's more easily understood. Hollymore is falling apart around her very ears, and has been sold by the new heir to a Duke from Wales, who plans to tear it down and build a hunting estate. The Duke sends his cousin, a Captain Jones, to survey and inspect. Or so Elizabeth is told by her ancient solicitor. Turns out the gentleman is really Captain Lord Rhys Edward-Jones, and he's no more impervious to the ghosts of Hollymore than is Elizabeth.

Edith Layton's story-telling with its wicked sense of humor and wordplay propelled her to the top of my list of favorites, and has kept her very near the top for all these many years. HIGH SPIRITS is a different sort of story; heart-warming, to be sure, because it does, after all, have a happy ending. Layton of whatever vintage is excellent, and many readers will find a extra message in this tale of young Arabella, her silver flask and the tall, dark and handsome Rupert.

THE CHRISTMAS CURSE by Barbara Metzger is a romp, plain and simple. Well, not so plain and not so simple, really. It is the strangest mixture of bawdy and sweet. And the spirits? Not your ordinary selection, to be sure, as Sir Olnic and his Lady Edryth are the very restless, unhappy 'spirited' inhabitants of Worth Keep, doomed to wander the halls endlessly, until the curse muttered by the Lady be lifted. This is not an easy trick, either, and so far, it's been some four to five hundred years of struggle. Sir Olnic merely asked his lady for a favor when entering a joust one Christmas Day, but she was unhappy with him, and uttered the fateful words that began 'if you lose this ring...' As of course he did, having lost his life-as did his opponent-and his finger, and the ring. It must be reinstated on the finger of the heir's true love, during the twelve days of Christmas or they'll continue to be restless. The current heir, Oliver Nicholson, Baron Worth, is another battle-scarred veteran, convinced he'll never marry, until he meets the lovely widow, Amelia Merriot and her little dog, Sir Digby. In almost any book by Metzger, it's the dog who saves the day, and this one is no exception.

In A GATHERING OF GIFTS by Andrea Pickens, Lady Emma Pierson, daughter of the Duke of Telford, is by way of becoming a very spoiled and head-strong young woman. Her cousin, Charles, Viscount Lawrence, is very vexed with her, and to spite him, she rides off in the opposite direction and promptly takes a frightful spill on the icy field. Her new neighbor, Noel Trumbull, insists she be taken to his nearby home, Hawthorne House, for recuperation. His widowed sister Anna and her small son Toby are about to arrive for a visit, and he insists that they not be inconvenienced by the thoughtless young lady and her friends. To the surprise of everyone, both Emma and Charles find much common ground, and help each other heal their wounds, in time to celebrate the most wonderful Holiday on the calendar.

All in all, this volume is a grand continuation of this long-running series of Christmas anthologies, one you'll remember with fondness for many years to come.

Barbara Metzger always delivers a lively fun romp in all her books I've read thus far. This one follows that pattern but is worth maybe 3 ½ stars - it just isn't as good as her other books.

The storyline: Engaged from her christening day to "Smokey" Lord Stokely (age 6 at the time), Emilyann is cared for & loved by him and his quirky family. Emilyanne (or Sparrow as Lord Stokely calls her) is virtually ignored by her wealthy father (a duke) who never really recovered from the loss of his wife in childbirth. The child is left to follow her own headstrong ways growing up wild and adventurous. Most of the childhood adventures are shared by Smokey. After some scandalous behavior by Smokey's father, Emilyanne's father dissolves the engagement - but ten year old Emilyanne gets a reply to her smuggled letter to Smokey saying "Dear Sparrow, Don't worry. I'll marry you anyway." This early part of the book is very heart warming and fun. You do get inside "Miss Meadow's Academy" which was mentioned in another Metzger book.

The remaining bulk of the book is after both parents are dead and Emilyanne's wealth is held in trust by her ne'er do well uncle and her father's man of business until her marriage. Also the will provides some bulk of the wealth to whoever has an heir first (the uncle or Emilyanne). Uncle Morgan gets it in his head to marry Emilyanne (now 17) to his rather lumpish stepson. To avoid that, a quick trip to London disguised as a boy and a reminder to now Major Lord Stokely of his promise to marry her results in a quick wedding and a marriage of convenience.

While Smokey soldiers his way through major battles and dangerous campaigns, the newly married Lady Em holds down the home front becoming an excellent manager, hostess and companion to Smokey's younger siblings. The now angry Uncle schemes in the rest of the book to kill his barren wife, his niece or her husband. Stokley on some home leave tries to make his marriage a real one but is staved off by a reluctant Emilyanne who is now surrounded by various men but only has eyes for her Smokey. When he returns to war again, and is injured, she nurses him back to health and in the end happiness and love is professed by both of them.

What I found annoying was the various accidents the uncle set up. No one seemed to think anything of it as they were nearly killed dozens of times. Was it supposed to be funny? - it wasn't. Also, Smokey could only harp about the fact he was penniless and didn't want to live off Emilyanne, all the while ignoring his estate or any management of it or concern for his younger siblings. He sent letters dictating what she should do with only his selfish motives as a guide. He was very remote and hurtful when Emilyanne was nursing him and I never got over the fact he didn't really apologize for his behavior. I guess his declaration of love took care of all that. The introduction of a little pug dog was nice and the beginning of the book was very sweet.

Anyway, I did get a book that was light reading though I had a hard time finishing it.

The story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton is an important part of the education of young children. This book is useful in that it relates the story of her childhood, but, the conclusion was weak and the reader is left feeling discouraged-this little girl excels in everything she tries, unfortunately, because of the time period is excluded from higher education. We find out that she married and had a lot of children and was still able to find time to help other women and she worked hard to change the way women and children were treated by society. We are given no insight into what changes she was an important part of-I came away from the book understanding very little of what she actually did. Just a few sentences discussing the legislation and laws she was intimately involved in changing, just saying she was an important figure in the women's movement and actively worked for the right of women to vote and to be treated equally, would go a long way towards making this a truly illuminating book.

This was an enjoyable Regency anthology built around the Christmas season. However, as is common with anthologies the stories were not all equal. The best story was Carla Kelly's "The Christmas Ornament". Olivia and James, were refreshingly unlike the typical Regency couple, especially James, whose shyness and absent-minded professor personality was truly winning. You could just picture a young Jimmy Stewart or Hugh Grant playing the character. Of the five stories this was the one that I wish had been a full-length novel. My second favorite was Edith Layton's "The Hounds of Heaven", which was full of humor and the true spirit of the Christmas season, despite having the least amount of Christmas "trappings" in the group. Again, a charming hero and a sweet and different plot twist. The only drawback for me was that Helena, the heroine, was not fully drawn-out, probably as a result of the limitations of the short-story format. Barbara Metzger's "Three Good Deeds" and Elisabeth Fairchild's "Felicity's Forfeit" were both pleasant Regency fare. Both stories managed to fit a great deal of detail and some originality into their short frameworks. The only story I didn't enjoy was Allison Lane's "Second Chance". The hero, Jeremy, was actually quite attractive, but I could not warm up to the overly dramatic plot, and found Alice annoyingly self-pitying rather than tragic as she was obviously meant to be. It's hard to enjoy a romance when you only like half of the couple. All five stories featured very charming and well-drawn male leads, and in fact most of the stories were told from their points of view, which I enjoy, since I read romances for the heroes. Overall, a nice group, which Regency fans should enjoy, and which does get you in a pre-holiday spirit.

Anthology series are indeed hit or miss and the stories in The Grand Hotel are a miss all the way around. Romance and humor was seriously lacking in this book. There was little to recommend or differentiate one story from the other. If I had to pick one story that was at least semi-enjoyable, I would choose Barbara Metzger's story as there was at least some attraction and humor between the love interests, though not as amusing as amusing as Ms. Metzger can usually be. Why does Carla Kelly always right such somber romances? For me, somber and romance are two adjectives that should not mix in a romance novel.

The Grand Hotel is an anthology based around a single setting: a hotel in London, where the various characters either work or are guests. It's an interesting concept, and one which should, in theory, make the stories appear less as unconnected vignettes and more as 'chapters' in one longer story. But in practice, The Grand Hotel didn't turn out that way. It's something which could have been achieved quite easily, had the authors been given a plot thread which would weave throughout the individual stories and be resolved in the final one. As it was, the stories were very much stand-alone, with only brief references to common characters.

Carla Kelly's The Background Man is probably the best of the bunch, which is hardly surprising. Charles Mortimer, the assistant manager, is rarely noticed, because of his ability to blend into the background. However, substituting for his superior, he comes to the notice of Miss Carrington, a somewhat unusual guest. He falls in love with her immediately, and barely dares to hope that she will return his feelings. She does... but she's hiding a secret from him. Will this destroy any chance for them? My problem with The Background Man was mainly that it was too short, a common problem with anthology stories. The relationship really didn't have enough time to develop, and I wanted to see more of Charles and Millie together.

In Elisabeth Fairchild's Love Will Find A Way, Lieutenant James Forrester is about to meet, for the first time, the widow of his late commanding officer. Yet he feels as if he's known Annabelle Grant all his life. (Incidentally, Annabelle is a widow. Why does Fairchild refer to her as 'Miss'?). James, we see, had to read all her letters to Archie, her late husbamd, and once Archie was too ill to respond on his own, James wrote to her. He fell in love with her from her letters. Now, he has a few days only to get to know her and persuade her to consider marrying him. This is an interesting idea, and a nice, gentle love story - but again rushed by the pressures of coming in at under 65 pages.

Anne Barbour's The Castaway is the most disappointing, given Barbour's undoubted talent. A woman called Martha Finch arrives at the hotel to keep an appointment with Lord Branford, acting on behalf of the Marquess of Canby, the man whose granddaughter she claims to be. The reader is shown very soon that Martha is lying about her claim, and Barbour does not give her particularly sympathetic motives. I was hoping throughout that she would be exposed and that Branford, the hero, would reject her. Her lie is, of course, found out, but a far too convenient solution then emerges. This is one heroine I did *not* want to see end up with the hero.

Next, we have Barbara Metzger's The Management Requests. Captain Arthur Hunter (who should, in fact, be Captain Viscount Huntingdon, if Metzger paid proper attention to protocol) needs a room on the ground floor because of an injury. None is available, so he persuades the manager to let him have the room behind the reception desk. Because of this, a guest - Hope Thurstfield - mistakes him for the manager, a misapprehension Arthur chooses not to correct. (Why?) The secondary characters in this vignette almost drove me crazy, and I didn't especially care for Hope. Another miss.

And finally, we have Allison Lane's Promises to Keep. Maggie Adams has arrived from America to try to make peace with her father's family, from whom he was estranged after eloping with her mother. She bumps into a Marcus Widner at the hotel, who just happens to be related to her mother's family and who offers to help her in her quest - but who warns her off making immediate contact with her father's family. Lane lives up to her usual standards here by inventing the usual crop of one-dimensional villains, completely unbelievable in their audacity and villainry. I liked Marcus, but that's about all I can say for this story.

All in all, not worth the new purchase price, unless you're desperate to complete a Carla Kelly collection. My copy is going to the next charity shop collection.

Although I'm not terribly found of anthologies because the brevity of the format inevitably results in shallow, partially-drawn characters, I found myself enjoying this one more than most. Why? Mostly because it included the romances of some ordinary people, not just those who are rich and titled. Also because it was (for the most part) the heroes who fell in love first and "loved from afar," instead of the women. And because some of the characters and events were intertwined in other stories and gave the impression of a single book instead of an anthology by five different authors. I'd like to see more anthologies like this one!