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"Grace Burrowes passes 'the hair rose on the back of my neck' test...{her} voice embeds itself in your brain."—USA Today
A luminous holiday tale of romance, passion, and dreams come true from rising star Grace Burrowes, whose award-winning Regency romances are capturing hearts worldwide.
All She Wants is Peace and Anonymity...
Lady Sophie Windham has maneuvered a few days to herself at the ducal mansion in London before she must join her family for Christmas in Kent. Suddenly trapped by a London snowstorm, she finds herself with an abandoned baby and only the assistance of a kind, handsome stranger standing between her and complete disaster.
But Sophie's Holiday is About to Heat Up...
With his estate in ruins, Vim Charpentier sees little to feel festive about this Christmas. His growing attraction for Sophie Windham is the only thing that warms his spirits-but when Sophie's brothers whisk her away, Vim's most painful holiday memories are reawakened.
It seems Sophie's been keeping secrets, and now it will take much more than a mistletoe kiss to make her deepest wishes come true...
"Burrowes's sensual love story...rises above the crowd with deft dialogue and delightful characters."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Ain't a bleedin' bedamned room t'be had in all a bleedin' Lun'nun, guv!"
The innkeeper raised his voice to holler over the racket created by one screaming infant. "Stables is full up too, and more bleedin' snow on the way! Beg pardon!"
He hustled away and started bellowing over the din in the common for somebody to mop the bleedin' floor. Not surprised at the lack of accommodations, Vim moved off in the interest of sparing his bleedin' ears.
Though moving wasn't easy in the crowded confines of the common.
The floor was a slick expanse of that particular type of mud created when snow, horse manure, and dirt were tracked in from the semifrozen quagmire of the inn yard, and yet it was hardly the worst feature of the crowded room. The stench rising from the floor blended with the aromas of wet wool, unwashed bodies, and overcooked mutton stew to offend even the lowliest nose.
Overlaying it all was the incongruous scent of cinnamon, as if a little spice would confer on the scene some sense of seasonal good cheer.
Which was not bloody likely.
Piercing the noisome air, over the cursing and muttering of stranded travelers, over the scrape of boots and the swearing of the hostlers in the yard beyond, came that sound most capable of driving Wilhelm Lucifer Charpentier to madness.
A crying baby.
Vim had noticed the little blighter when all the passengers on his stage had been told to debark here in the very heart of London, because the weather was precluding further progress on the journey south. Like benumbed sheep, they'd all stumbled into the inn, toting their belongings with them only find an assault on their ears was to be the price of thawing their toes.
The child's crying ratcheted up, from indignant to enraged. The next progression would be to inconsolable, which might last hours.
Happy bedamned holidays.
Vim knew people in London. People who would act pleased to see him. People who would smile and welcome him as an impromptu guest for the duration of the foul weather. Happy people, offering him wassail while they laughed their way through the same hopeless madrigals and selections from Handel's Messiah.
He shifted his gaze from the scene beyond the window to the woman holding the unhappy baby a few feet away.
"I beg your pardon, madam. May I be of assistance?" He tipped his hat and had to fist his hands at his sides, so strong was the urge to pluck the offending infant from her arms. "The child appears distressed."
She bobbed a curtsy while holding the child. "I've explained to him that such a tantrum is hardly seemly, and I do apologize for the noise." She focused her gaze on the child. "You are a naughty fellow, young Kit, banging your tankard and shouting down the rafters..."
She went on softly remonstrating the baby while Vim recovered from the prettiest pair of green eyes he'd ever beheld. Overall, she wasn't a pretty woman-she had a full though solemn mouth in the usual location, underscored by a definite chin and a nose somewhat lacking in subtlety. Her hair was dark brown and pulled back into a positively boring bun at her nape. But those eyes...
And her voice. It was the voice of a pretty lady, soft and luminous with good breeding and gentility, though she was using it to try to gently scold the child into better behavior.
"May I?" He held out his arms, meeting those green eyes when she looked faintly puzzled. "I have some experience with children."
She passed him the child, moving close enough to Vim that he realized she was not particularly tall. She had a dignity about her, though, even holding a bellowing baby.
"His mama should be right back. She just went around to the back for a moment." The lady cast a hopeful look at the door-a hopeful, anxious look.
Vim took the child, who appeared distracted by the change in venue-though likely only temporarily.
"You will hush," he said to the baby. This pronouncement earned him a blinking, blue-eyed stare from his burden. "This good woman is tired of your fretting, as is the entire room and likely half the block. Behave your little self, or we'll call the beadle to haul you off to gaol. That's better."
He put the baby to his shoulder and began to gently pat and rub the small back. "He just finished his luncheon, didn't he?"
The woman colored slightly. "I believe he did."
Still on the breast then, which was going to be a problem.
"I don't believe his mother will be returning." He said it calmly, an observation about the weather, nothing more.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Voice down, madam, lest His Highness start to fretting again, hmm?" He turned his body to provide the woman a little privacy, his larger frame effectively blocking her from the rest of the room.
"Sir, you just said you aren't sure his mother will be coming back. A trip to the necessary will hardly keep her until spring." She hissed the words, suggesting she lacked a parent's instinctive capacity for dissembling before children.
"The necessary is not in the direction of Piccadilly. She took off at as smart a pace as this footing will allow."
"You must be mistaken." Except a certain shift in the lady's expression told him the mother's behavior might not be entirely out of character.
"She's a solid young woman, blonde, attired in a purple cloak?" The baby rooted on his shoulder. "I have a handkerchief in my pocket. Would you be so good as to extract it?"
Again he'd spoken calmly, babies being fiendishly perceptive even before they learned their first words. The lady was perceptive too. She stuck a hand into the pocket of his greatcoat and produced the handkerchief without further comment.
"Lay it on my shoulder."
She had to go up on her toes to do that, which meant amid all the stink and filth of the common, Vim caught a whiff of something... lovely. A hint of late spring. Cool, sunny, sweet... pink-throated roses and soft climbing vines of honeysuckle.
She stepped back to watch him warily.
"I suspect his recent meal has left him a tad dys"-the baby burped loudly and wetly-"peptic."
"My goodness." She blinked at Vim's shoulder, where the infant was now beaming toothlessly at all he surveyed. Vim shifted the child and retrieved the handkerchief, which had protected his greatcoat more or less from carrying the scent of infant digestion for the rest of the day.
He hoped.
"How long do you intend to wait for his mother?" The child swung a tiny hand and caught Vim's nose.
"Joleen was to board the Portsmouth stage." Another anxious visual sweep of the surrounds.
Vim took a step back so the lady might have a view out the window. He also disengaged his proboscis from the baby's surprisingly strong grip.
"I was told the coaches are all putting up for the duration, madam. My own travel has been interrupted because of it." The baby knocked Vim's high-crowned beaver straight at the woman beside them. She caught it deftly in one hand. When Vim dipped his head, she positioned the hat back where it belonged.
"That is a naughty baby," she said, eyeing the child.
"He's a boy baby. They all have more energy than they know what to do with, until they sleep like the dead, restoring themselves for their next round of mischief."
This recitation seemed to please the little fellow, for he smiled directly at Vim, a great drooling expression of benevolence disproportionate to his tiny size.
"I think Kit likes you."
"He likes having food in his tummy and a warm place to cuddle, the same as the rest of us. You can linger here, but I honestly do not think the mother will return. May I have your coach brought round for you?" Though the pandemonium in the yard suggested it would be far simpler to escort the lady to her conveyance.
"I only brought the gig, and it's right around the corner." She reached for the baby, but Vim took half a step back.
"I am happy to carry him for you."
Anonymous
Posted November 19, 2011
So far, the books are in this order: 1. Heir 2. Soldier 3. Virtuoso 4. Sophie. They are all excellent.
18 out of 19 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted October 13, 2011
DO NOT read this before The Virtuoso! How was this story released before we know Val's story?!!!
15 out of 20 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted November 23, 2012
I keep seeing tirades about people writing plot spoiling reviews, some of them are really nasty. I can't help but wonder why the angry person writing the review of another reviewer can't just NOT read any of the long reviews. Just makes sense that if there is a long review it might reveal too much. I never read the long reviews. But a lot of people must because I read lots of short reviews that are not about the book but about another reviewer. Just saying I don't see why people get so upset over such petty things.
13 out of 28 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted January 24, 2012
Grace Burrowes is a WONDERFUL author. I have enjoyed all of the companion books to this one - The Heir, The Solider, Virtuoso...Can't get enough of Ms. Burrowes books! This is a great romantic read.
11 out of 13 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted August 7, 2012
A thoroughjy enjoyable book which alternately had me smiling, wishing I was Sophie so I could be with Vim or tearing uo-a must read!
8 out of 11 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.SandraC
Posted January 21, 2012
I enjoyed this book, it is a good easy read historical. I would recommend it to people who like historical romances.
8 out of 10 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.A duke's daughter with a heart of gold, Sophie's grown up protected by privilege, wealth and her loving family. She's also a bit of soft touch. When their maid runs off leaving her baby with Lady Sophie at a stagecoach station, Sophie is at a loss. It's fortunate for her that the young Vim Charpentier knows quite a lot about babies and helps her. Sophie somehow invites him to her family London home and as he helps with the baby Kit, Sophie offers him shelter from the storm. Without having made arrangements for a place to stay in London, Vim agrees against his better judgment. He finds himself drawn to the mysterious Sophie who appears to be a trusted servant, possibly a housekeeper. As he teachers her how to care for the baby, they fall in love.
Add to the mix a mutual desire for anonymity, a case of mistaken identities, lack of caution and judgment. Things take a turn when Sophie's three brothers appear and Vim learns her true identity. Though Vim has a title of his own, he never expected to woo a duke's daughter.
Full of missed chances and misunderstandings, these star-crossed lovers make for a fun read.
ISBN-10: 1402261543 - $7.99
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca (October 1, 2011), 416 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher.
6 out of 8 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted December 30, 2011
I like her other books better
5 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted November 26, 2011
This story grabbed me from the very beginning with its unusual plot. I love all the adventures of the Windham family, but this story took me by surprise, the characters stole my heart and I couldn't put it down. As much as I loved The Heir, The Soldier, and The Vituouso, this first story about one of Their Grace's daughters is my favorite. I eagerly await another!
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.gramellie
Posted November 19, 2011
This story is part of a series I have thoroughly enjoyed. However, it came out before Virtuoso and seems to be out of order. It ties up things with the family so that when I read Virtuoso, about Val, I will expect him to be married and usually these stories are love stories and I'm sure, although I haven't read it yet, that Virtuoso is Val;s love story.
5 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.TamTTT
Posted June 18, 2012
Great read
3 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.luvthmlabz89
Posted January 16, 2012
LOVE these books...have all on the brothers too...always excited for the next book to come out!!! MUST READ!!!
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted March 23, 2013
I have not read this book yet, just purchased it. According to FantasticFiction's web site, this is the first book of the Windham Sisters
series. 1. Lady Sophie's Christmas Wish (2011)
2. Lady Maggie's Secret Scandal (2012)
3. Lady Louisa's Christmas Knight (2012)
4. Lady Eve's Indiscretion (2013)
5. Lady Jenny's Christmas Portrait (2013)
The Duke and His Duchess (2013) (No number)
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted November 23, 2012
I completely agree with "M" and totally disagree with "Just Curious". People shouldn't have to "not read the long reviews". These reviews are supposed to be about whether or not you would recommend the book; NOT to tell the entire story and completely ruin it for someone that hasn't read it yet. There's no point in me reading a book if you've already told me everything that's going to happen it. I wish there was a way to block the plot ruining posters.
2 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted November 23, 2012
Loved this book
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Teresa51
Posted January 22, 2012
This is a great story and you will fall in love with Sophie and Vim.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted November 14, 2011
I start reading each book thinking it can't possibly be as good as the last; but I think they are getting better! I have given each 5 stars so I don't how that can be! Each book is very character driven and you become immersed in their emotions and story. Another keeper!
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 24, 2012
This was a very good book so the heir is still my favorite!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted November 24, 2012
I rate this a two out of five because first of all its too expensive i could buy this for $ 2.00 sencomd of all i like the book but its too expensive
1 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 8, 2013
I have all of Grace Burrowes books and I have enjoyed every one. I love the mixture of suspense and humor and romance she puts into her stories. She's a fantastic author. I read her books in the order they are listed on her Windham Family Tree chart. They can easily be read separately but I have found reading them in order makes it so easy to follow all the characters.
I have gone to her website and printed out the list of all the books in order and that's where I found the Windham Family Tree chart. I'm delighted that she has several new ones coming out. Infact I've got them all pre-ordered atleast the ones available at this time. Will look forward to all her future reads. Thank you Ms. Burrowes
Overview
"Grace Burrowes passes 'the hair rose on the back of my neck' test...{her} voice embeds itself in your brain."—USA Today
A luminous holiday tale of romance, passion, and dreams come true from rising star Grace Burrowes, whose award-winning Regency romances are capturing hearts worldwide.
All She Wants is Peace and Anonymity...
Lady Sophie Windham has maneuvered a few days to herself at the ducal mansion in ...