Originally posted on Tales to Tide You Over

Mrs. Hollis Honeycutt, a young widow, has watched her beloved sister and her best friend carried off by Alucian princes, leaving her in London with only her popular gazette to entertain her. She’s feeling out of sorts and lonely.

Marek Brendan is the advisor to the Weslorian Minister of Trade, if his superior would ever listen to him. He’s kept to the edges of events as Britain hosts his country and Alucia to facilitate trade negotiations, but something seems off. Neither the king’s appearance nor what Marek sees in the negotiations make sense.

Despite growing discontent with her life, Hollis still loves to write and to track down a good story. Is she to ignore the rumors she overhears about threats and plots then? Of course not. Even if her family doesn’t believe her, Hollis is on the case.

This is the third book in the series A Royal Wedding, which could easily have fallen into a pattern. Instead, Hollis and her true love meet under vastly different circumstances than found in the first two books. They’re both outside looking in. Marek’s upbringing and background set him apart while Hollis knows her presence is only tolerated because her sister married the Alucian crown prince.

She doesn’t wallow in this understanding, though. Hollis takes the opportunity to meet some real Weslorians. And who better to start with than the handsome, but aloof, fellow who saved her from an undignified spill onto the street as they were going in?

Marek’s not quite what he seems, and in the loud chatter of Queen Victoria’s tea party, his appearance of being standoffish is heightened because he can barely understand a word she’s saying. He’s deaf in one ear and partially in the other, a fact he does not share with every foreign lady who accosts him.

Hollis is nothing but persistent, however, and quickly declares him both a friend and a fellow investigator trying to uncover the truth of these rumors. After she accuses him of planning a coup, that is.

The characters are once again delightful and different in spirit as well as circumstances compared to the couples from the previous books. The story is true to the Victorian period, with Hollis taking advantage of the increased freedom offered a widow to make her gazette a success while causing her family, birth and chosen, no end of alarm. She may balk at the restrictions, but her behavior does not pass without notice any more than other events escape the dangerous consequences of the time. Despite the deviation from history to produce a slew of princes to marry, the book successfully brings to mind the period in which it is set.

I’ve mentioned for the previous two books how the description, especially of clothing, seemed a bit much for me. Oddly enough, when the story focuses on the very producer of iHoneycutt’s Gazette of Fashion and Domesticity for Ladies and every chapter begins with a clip from same, I didn’t feel as though fashion distracted from the intrigue at all. It may be Hollis is less interested in fashion than it would seem.

Beyond the rumors of a coup, there’s more going on than anyone knows… That is until Hollis turns a sharp gaze to following the clues her groundwork lays before her, and the careful reader. This is one of the fun parts about this book because Hollis is not tripping over the intrigue but rather diving in against all recommendations, even those of her best friend Donovan.

I appreciated how Marek recognizes what makes Hollis tick. He sees her as she is rather than how he’d want her to be. Even more, he’s entranced by her nature. The development of their relationship from initial draw to love is well written both for the story and the period. There is open door intimacy before their happy ever after, but the physical is only one aspect of their attraction. The connection is complicated by what she knows, by their different home countries, and the responsibilities that keep each where they are.

I’ve enjoyed this book as much as the others in the series. Julia London is talented, and capable both of telling a compelling story and seeding a mystery so I can make my guesses alongside the characters. Besides, I liked Hollis and Marek a lot. I’m glad they found their answers, though they might not be what you suppose.

P.S. I received this Advanced Reader’s Copy from the publisher through NetGalley. ( )

Review originally published at Romancing Romances.

I received an eARC at no cost from the publisher, and I am leaving a voluntary and honest review. Thank you.

2.5*

First of all, I have to admit it took me quite a bit of time to read this book (and if you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen a few stories about me being bored with the current book). However, I kept reading, and around the 75%, 80% mark, the book did improve.

I usually really enjoy Julia London’s writing and stories, but this series has been amiss with me (I’ve started the first one I don’t know how long ago, but since it wasn’t an ARC, I’ve put it aside to read at a different time).

I didn’t really like the heroine, Mrs Hollis Honeycutt, and I didn’t like that the author kept perpetuating this “oh corsets are bad, they squeeze you up, bla blab la” situation. If you’re interesting in knowing more about the subject, and why it’s wrong to keep saying this, check out Abby Cox, Bernadette Banner, and others on YouTube. It really annoyed me that even though we were given a curvy heroine, she was always complaining about the tight dresses, not wanting to wear a corset, and her family just kept harassing her about her extra weight. It just seemed unnecessary, and too much, too many times.

I wasn’t a fan of the heroine’s family, either. It just didn’t feel right how they treat Hollis, and how she sometimes behaved.

I actually liked Marek, even though it was hard to know him – but that was part of his charm. I felt the whole white hair/deaf situation (me trying not to spoil things!) was left unfinished, and in truth the title made me think something different would have happened.

I liked the main plot point, but boy did it drag on! It took a looong time for something to happen, which is one of the reasons why this book was just too boring for me.

At the end, it picked up the pace a bit, but that didn’t make up for everything before.

There really isn’t much more to say about the book, it wasn’t bad, it just was… boring. ( )

I received an ARC of this book to read through NetGalley. All opinions are my own. A Princess by Christmas is the third book in Julia London’s delightful A Royal Wedding Series. The author does a good job of filling in the background information so you could read it as a standalone, but I think you will enjoy it more if you read the series in order. Hollis Honeycutt has been a widow for three years, and as her grief begins to lessen, she is at a turning point in her life. Her sister and best friend have both married and have their own lives, her father is planning to move to the country, and while she’s proud of the success, she’s made of the gazette her husband left her, she’s wondering if it’s enough. When she hears a rumour of a possible political coup that could affect the peace talks her sister's husband, heir to the throne of Alucia, is engaged in, she decides to investigate. Marek Brendan, an assistant to the minister of trade for Wesloria, comes to her attention because he strikes her as just a bit mysterious and out of place, which is partially caused by the fact that he is deaf in one ear and has limited hearing in the other. So really, he’s not ignoring her; he just can’t always hear her. Marek is worried because it appears that the talks are being sabotaged. When Hollis tells him of her investigations, things begin to make sense and working together with her seems to be the only way to prevent disaster. Evil Plots, nasty villains, and a secret that could change everything make this story one to keep your reading long after your bedtime. Steam Level: Medium. Publishing Date: October 13, 2020 #APrincessByChristmas #JuliaLondon #HarlequinRomance #HQN #HarperCollinsCanada #MyBookPledge #HistoricalRomance #BooksOfHCC #bookstagram #bookstagrammer ( )

Rich and detailed Christmas romance
4 stars

This is the third - and possibly final - book in the Royal Wedding series by Julia London. The series, set in Victorian London for the most part, follows Eliza, Caroline and now Hollis, as they find their matches and discover some intrigue, alongside some royalty from the warring European nations of Wesloria and Alucia. Despite this book probably being a standalone, it is so chock full of detail in and of itself, if you don’t have the background of the relationships and political intrigue from the first two books (xxx and xxx) then you might be a wee bit confused. But do go back and read the first two books. xxx is especially delightful and I still have a soft spot for Eliza and Bas.

Okay, onto this book…

Our heroine, Hollis, is a widow and now also the sister of a future queen. While she has some modicum of independence due to her status, she’s also very overlooked by the royal set that her sister and friend now live in. She also feels herself standing still while feeling everyone around her - family and friends - are moving on, changing and leaving. As if that wasn’t enough, Hollis is also dealing with the guilt and grief of realising that she’s finally moving on from her husband.

Hollis in the previous books seemed quite stoic and sensible. In this book, we really get to know her. She’s feisty, flighty, smart and acts on her feelings. She’s also sweet, kind and loyal. I couldn’t help but cheer her on and wish her well.

Marek, as a hero, was perfection. He was tough, strong and silent - and yet he is so desperately in need of love and belonging. I wanted to hug him so hard. He was absolutely delightful. He was so baffled by Hollis - how she treated him, how she made him feel, and how she just ‘got’ him. They were a perfect pairing. It made my heart happy.

As you can imagine, Hollis has a lot to deal with - as did Marek - and, at times, it got quite emotional. If you feel any kind of parallels with what Hollis is going through you, like me, will find it quite emotive. Hell, you’ll be bawling like a baby as you read. That’s not necessarily a bad thing - it shows how good the author is at making her characters real - but, alongside other things in the book, it’ll leave you with an emotional hangover once the book is done.

Like the first two books, there’s also the political intrigue that both Marek and Hollis get involved in, bringing them closer together. The plotting wasn’t as intricate and convoluted as in the previous novels, but it was still fun and well thought out. I enjoyed it, especially the bribery using cakes - as I myself can be bribed using baked goods.

As I mentioned, Ms London provides such rich detail of the world of her stories, that you are immediately transported to Victorian London - and better yet, Victorian London at Christmas time. There are only a smattering of Americanisms to pull you from the story - “sidewalk” being the one I remembered most vividly. I also noted that same anachronism in the previous book in this series. Pavement. It’s pavement, dammit!

So the book is as rich as plum pudding in the detail, with wonderful characters who are made for each other and a hugely satisfying love story. We also get cameos from Eliza and Bas and a cute, mini-hea for Beck which I was 100% here for. So why didn’t I give the book 5 stars?

Firstly, all through the first 2 stories I was waiting for Hollis and Donovan’s love story. This was, as you can see, not Hollis and Donovan’s love story. And I was mad. Especially when during the first chapter of this story, Hollis declared that she got butterflies when looking at Donovan but it could never be. What do you mean it could never be? This is romance - anything can be! So until things progressed and were explained, I still had that residual madness - even if I loved Marek and Hollis as a couple.

The other reason is that one of the major themes in the book is finding where you belong in the world. Hollis, especially, worries about being left behind. So the fact that, at the end of the book, the family and friends are spread all over, well, it hurt my heart. I realise that compromise and making choices is part of life - but I don’t want to read about real life. I want ridiculous, fantastical conclusions. As it was, I had happy / saddish tears towards the end of the book. Just more to add to my emotional hangover!

This book was a joy to read. It gave me SO many feels and so much vivid detail that for a while I was transported to Victorian London, and into the lives of Hollis, Marek and their family and friends. It’s sad that this might be the end of the series, but I’ve hugely enjoyed the love, romance and political intrigue that this series has given me. 4 stars from me. ( )