This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
![Heartwarming and Emotional! How the Dukes Stole Christmas by Tessa Dare, Sarah MacLean, Sophie Jordan & Joanna Shupe [ARC Review]](https://i1.wp.com/www.eyeheartromance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/how-dukes-stole-christmas-anthology.jpg "Heartwarming and Emotional! How the Dukes Stole Christmas by Tessa Dare, Sarah MacLean, Sophie Jordan & Joanna Shupe [ARC Review]")
Title: How the Dukes Stole Christmas
Written by Tessa Dare, Sarah MacLean, Sophie Jordan, Joanna Shupe
Published by Self Published
Publication Date: October 15, 2018
Genres: Historical Romance
Format: eARC
Source: Author
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Christmas magic is in the air... From the ballrooms of London, to abandoned Scottish castles, to the snowy streets of Gilded Age New York, four bestselling authors whip up some unforgettable romance...with a little help from some enchanted shortbread.
"Meet Me in Mayfair" by Tessa DareLouisa Ward needs a Christmas miracle. Unless she catches a wealthy husband at the ball tonight, the horrid, heartless Duke of Thorndale will evict her family from their beloved Mayfair home. But when her friend begs to switch dance cards, Louisa finds herself waltzing with the enemy: the horrid, heartless--and unexpectedly handsome--Thorndale himself. Now the duke's holding her future in his hands...and he's not letting go.
"The Duke of Christmas Present" by Sarah MacLeanRich and ruthless, Eben, Duke of Allryd, has no time for holidays. Holidays are for whimsy and charm--the only two things his money cannot buy. Lady Jacqueline Mosby is full of both, even now, twelve years after she left to see the world. When Jacqueline returns for a single Christmas, Eben can't resist the woman he never stopped loving...or the future that had once been in reach. It will take a miracle to convince her to stay...but if ever there were a time for miracles, it's Christmas...
"Heiress Alone" by Sophie JordanWhen Annis Bannister's family leaves her behind in the rush to escape an impending snowstorm, she finds herself stranded in the Highlands, left to fend off brigands terrorizing the countryside, robbing homes locked up for winter. Her only hope falls on her neighbor, a surly hermit duke who unravels her with a look, then a kiss ... until she fears the danger to her heart outweighs the danger of brigands and snowstorms.
"Christmas in Central Park" by Joanna ShupeWomen all over America devour Mrs. Walker's weekly column for recipes and advice. No one knows Rose, the column's author, can't even boil water. When the paper's owner, Duke Havemeyer, insists she host a Christmas party, Rose must scramble to find a husband, an empty mansion, and a cook. But Duke is not a man easily fooled and she fears her perfect plan is failing--especially when Duke's attentions make her feel anything but professional. To save her career will she give up her chance at love?
Don’t want to read the whole review? Click to jump to the Skinny Review.
I normally avoid novellas like the plague but when I found out that 4 of my favorite authors were releasing How the Dukes Stole Christmas anthology, I could not resist!
How the Dukes Stole Christmas is a heartwarming Christmas anthology that is loosely connected to each other by shortbread cookies and features Dukes that are total Grinches! Coincidentally, my husband and I were sharing the Filipino version of shortbread cookies, so this anthology already brought me all the #feels!
Meet Me in Mayfair by Tessa Dare
Is an enemies-to-lovers romance that develops in one night! While I am not a fan of this quick romance, I thought Tessa Dare did an awesome job with developing the romance. Louisa Ward needs to wed a rich man to save her family from moving to the Isle of Jersey because the new Duke of Thorndale is calling all the old Duke’s debts. But who does Louisa dance with at the ball? The new Duke himself!
What started as a plan to convince him to forgive their family debt turn into an adventurous walk around Mayfair in the middle of the night!
I’m not a fan of the insta-love part of this romance but I enjoyed their midnight Mayfair exploration. Meet Me in Mayfair felt really quick to me and I could have used more romantic development with the characters.
The Duke of Christmas Present by Sarah MacLean
The Duke of Christmas Present is my favorite out of all the novellas! First, it features two of my favorite tropes – best friends to lovers and second chance romance! Second, this novella had me ugly crying from the start! I was seriously bawling my eyes out!
I love Eben and Jack! Since they were friends first, there was already a backstory for them and It made their romance believable. Jacqueline is back after 12 years of traveling on the continent with her aunt after she left Eben brokenhearted on Christmas Day. I felt for these two. Both loved each other but was torn apart by responsibility and I loved it when they finally had their HEA.
The Duke of Christmas Present also has a few flashback scenes which really helped with character development.
Heiress Alone by Sophie Jordan
Heiress Alone is probably my second favorite novella in this anthology. Heiress alone is a very loose retelling of Home Alone, where the heroine is left alone in a Scottish Castle a few days before Christmas! Unfortunately, due to the weather, she is stuck in Scotland until March, so she is left alone with two aging servants. Because of the threat of bandits in the area, the Duke of Sinclair comes to the castle to take the servants to his castle when he discovers Annisa and takes her with him reluctantly.
Sinclair and Annisa’s relationship quickly develops after this and while the relationship felt too fast, I felt that there was enough chemistry between the two to make it really believable. Heiress Alone also is a hate-to-love romance so I thoroughly enjoyed it. I also think this was the steamiest novella in the bunch so bonus points for that!
Christmas in Central Park by Joanna Shupe
Christmas in Central Park is my least favorite novella in this anthology because I do feel that there wasn’t enough romantic development to make me believe that Duke would fall in love with Rose.
Rose is an advice columnist working for Duke H’s newspaper when a scandal breaks out and her editor gets fired. To save his corporation, Duke decides to use the famous Mrs. Walker, the advice columnist to hold a Christmas dinner to impress his board.
Duke basically falls in love with Rose in one dinner while thinking that Rose is married and that left a bad taste in my mouth. It was still unbelievable for me that Rose forgave him for all the things he did after he found out that she was lying about her identity. I would have made him grovel for a looong time.
Overall, I enjoyed How the Dukes Stole Christmas and I even rated it a 4.5 because of the strength of the other 3 novellas in this anthology.
For those who haven’t read the authors, this anthology is an awesome introduction to their work. Well, perhaps not Joanna’s because I know she writes better than this.
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| Overall: | 4.5 |
Do you love reading novellas?
About Joanna Shupe
Award-winning author JOANNA SHUPE has always loved history, ever since she saw her first Schoolhouse Rock cartoon. While in college, Joanna read every romance she could get her hands on and soon started crafting her own racy historical novels. She now lives in New Jersey with her two spirited daughters and dashing husband.
About Sarah MacLean
New York Times, Washington Post & USA Today bestseller Sarah MacLean is the author of historical romance novels that have been translated into more than twenty languages, and winner of back-to-back RITA Awards for best historical romance from the Romance Writers of America.
Sarah is a leading advocate for the romance genre, speaking widely on its place at the nexus of gender and cultural studies. She is the author of a monthly column celebrating the best of the genre for the Washington Post. Her work in support of romance and the women who read it earned her a place on Jezebel.com’s Sheroes list of 2014 and led Entertainment Weekly to call her “gracefully furious.” A graduate of Smith College & Harvard University, Sarah now lives in New York City with her husband and daughter.
About Sophie Jordan
Sophie Jordan grew up in the Texas hill country where she wove fantasies of dragons, warriors, and princesses. A former high school English teacher, she’s also the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Avon historical romances. She now lives in Houston with her family. When she’s not writing, she spends her time overloading on caffeine (lattes and Diet cherry Coke preferred), talking plotlines with anyone who will listen (including her kids), and cramming her DVR with true-crime and reality-TV shows. Sophie also writes paranormal romances under the name Sharie Kohler.
About Tessa Dare
Tessa Dare is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of fourteen historical romance novels and five novellas. Her books have won numerous accolades, including Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA® award (twice!) and the RT Book Reviews Seal of Excellence. Booklist magazine named her one of the “new stars of historical romance,” and her books have been contracted for translation in more than a dozen languages.
A librarian by training and a booklover at heart, Tessa makes her home in Southern California, where she lives with her husband, their two children, and a trio of cosmic kitties.
Great review of this one. I just ordered this from The Ripped Bodice 🙂 So I plan on reading it closer to the Holidays.
Lover Of Romance recently posted…Book Review-Highland Betrayal by Alyson McLayne
That’s an awesome idea! I’m still thinking about getting the hardback since I already have the ebook 🙂
Wonderful review. I really do like the cover of this book, but usually can’t get into the books that have many different stories with many differet authors. Some of them do sound good though.
Bookish Creation recently posted…Fury by Laurann Dohner Book Review
This is an anthology so 4 novellas written by 4 different authors with something connecting the 4 novellas together. I thought it was really good!
I actually like novellas, especially Christmas ones, or if they are connected to a series. I bought this one & look forward to reading it. Thanks for the review!
You will enjoy it, Sharlene! This is an awesome anthology because there is something that connects each of the novellas 🙂
Fabulous review of all of the novellas, Zee! Every time I come to your blog, I’m blown away with how pretty it is. I have this on my wishlist and can’t wait to get to it.
Rowena recently posted…The Monthly Recap: September 2018
aww those are such kind words, Rowena!! I try to make this blog as appealing to readers as possible… 🙂
I was so lucky to get an ARC for this book. I don’t normally love reading novellas! LOL