Tuesday, October 15, 2013

His by Christmas-Kaitlin O’Riley

His by Christmas

Kaitlin O’Riley

Zebra, Oct 1 2013, $7.99

ISBN: 9781420112412



In 1878 London, Lord Lucien Sinclair asks his close friend Lord Jeffery Eddington to watch his only single sister-in-law Yvette Hamilton while he and his wife Colette visit another sister Juliette in America. The other two married Hamilton siblings are unable to chaperone.



Jeffery realizes Yvette wants to become a duchess though he feels her chosen one Lord William Weatherby is not right for the feisty Hamilton. His cousin James bets Jeffery that he cannot take Yvette away from William. Yvette tells Jeffery that she wants to be a duchess, but wonders how well William will fit in with the Hamilton family. William leans towards making Yvette his bride by Christmas as he likes her and needs an heir and a spare with his dad very ill; but is frustrated that Jeffery keeps intruding. He decides if he weds Yvette, Jeffery will not be allowed in their lives. Yvette panics when her mom suffers an apoplexy attack that leaves a side paralyzed and her speech slurred and only in French. Whereas Jeffery comforts her; William wonders if her mom’s disease is genetic.



The fifth (and last) Hamilton Sisters Victorian romance is a terrific tale though series fans expected this pairing after the previous entry (see To Tempt an Irish Rogue) as the love between the lead couple is simmered slow but nice. The secondary characters, especially the sisters and their husbands, are fully developed and consistent with previous stories; while the rival is not a bad person. Although the use of a wager is not fresh and adds little except late unneeded tension, Kaitlin O’Riley writes an engaging holiday historical.



Harriet Klausner





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