Review: His Mistress By Christmas by Victoria Alexander

Format: Hardcover (also available as an ebook)
Pub Date: Oct 1, 2011
Publisher: Kensington
FTC: Review copy courtesy of the publisher

If you're looking for an angsty, deep book about the holidays, this isn't it. If you're looking for a clever book about two people who stumble into love around Christmas, this is the book for you.

Set in the late 1800s in England, His Mistress by Christmas is a dialogue-heavy book where most of the plot is carried by the characters' interactions. And not just between the heroine and hero. As is typical with Ms. Alexander's style, there are friends and family littered throughout the novel. Each unique, interfering, and with their own opinion about the main romance. 



I really liked the guy chasing the girl dynamic, but felt like there just wasn't that much conflict in this book. There really is little doubt as to how it will progress...excepting, of course, the family invasion at their romantic Christmas getaway.

I do have to say that I don't think this is hardcover worthy. It's cute, and I may read it again, but it's not something I want to add to my hardcover romance collection. Unless you're giving it as a gift, I'd suggest waiting for paperback. But if you don't want to wait, you can get it for about the price of a trade paperback from Amazon.

My Grade: B-

The Blurb:

For three years, Lady Veronica Smithson has been a happy, independent widow. Still, the right gentleman could provide the benefits of marriage without the tedious restrictions. And in Sir Sebastian Hadley-Attwater, renowned explorer and rogue, Veronica is sure she has found him.

Sebastian will inherit his fortune in a matter of weeks—if his family deems him responsible enough. There’s no better way to prove his maturity than with a home and a wife. But though the lovely Veronica will share his bed, she refuses to marry.

An intimate sojourn at his new country house will surely change her mind. For Sebastian never takes no for an answer. And even in the midst of mischief-making relatives and unexpected complications, he intends to persuade his Christmas mistress that they belong together—in this and every season to come…