Camille Elliot, $0.99, ISBN 978-1942225027
Historical Romance, 2015

The prologue of Camille Elliot’s The Spinster’s Christmas has me charmed utterly. Laura, Lady Wynwood, and Solomon Drydale, both characters that are tad older than a typical couple in a romance story, exchange banter and flirt in a way that has me smiling. I especially like how Laura gives as good as she gets. It’s far more common to find a simpering heroine that barely gets a word in these days, so I am eager to read on.

Wait, wait, why are there completely different main characters in the first chapter? What is this?

Anyway, Christmas is just around the corner, and Gerard Foremont is back in town. He’s not just here to spend Christmas in Wintrell Hall with family and friends—he’s actually grounded for good, as a bad knee injury has forced the former naval captain into an early retirement.

However, his own self-pity and woes pale when he meets again with Miranda Belmoore, whom he knows from way back, and realizes that in the years since he had been away, she had been orphaned and is now the Cinderella in her cousin’s household. Always a gallant one, he wants to help her… ah, but who will help him when it turns out that someone wants him dead?

Cinderella types, a knight in shining armor, every woman that even quarter-way poses as a competition to the heroine being a caricature of a shrieking harpy… Christmas is definitely in the air in the romance genre!

Now, don’t look shocked, but I am charmed by this story. Sure, a part of me will always wonder about Laura and Solomon—really now, why have a prologue that makes the rest of the story feel lacking in comparison?—the story nonetheless manages to create an atmospheric Christmastime vibe made up of warm family interactions, classic case of the heroine needing rescue from harpy relatives, a dashing but super-nice hero that makes me wonder what Carla Kelly is up to these days… the whole thing works.

Also, while this is marketed as a clean Christian Christmas romance—sorry, people, Miranda won’t be playing Gerard’s Christmas pipe here, nor will he ring her Christmas bell—the religious elements are done with a light touch here. There is no heavy preaching or the characters begging Jesus to tell them how to inhale and exhale every two pages, just nice people being so cute and adorable.

You may be thinking by now, okay, what’s the problem now? After all, the review has been very positive, but I only give this one three oogies.

Well, it’s just too long a story. This isn’t that long a story, but it still feels tad overlong because the whole chit-chat and acting cute thing can get monotonous after a while. Toward the middle act, I start to feel a bit restless, because I’m starting to wonder whether this story is going to go anywhere soon.

Things pick up toward the late third, but this only makes wonder whether the story would feel less lethargic  had the author excised the middle part and glued the first and last third acts together instead.

Also, it is a tiring cliché to have so many harpy female characters in this story. It’s an easy way to make the heroine’s halo shine brighter, true, but this story is actually a well-written and charming read. Hence, I feel that the author has set herself back somewhat by going down this route; surely she could do better.

Still, this one is a winning read in many ways, especially when compared to some of the duds I had the misfortune to read prior to this one. I think I will have to check out the author’s other works.