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Come explore Regency London with Carla
Kelly! This collection features four stories that will warm your heart with
Christmas cheer:
The Christmas Ornament: When the father of his now-deceased best
friend hints that he should consider his daughter as a potential wife, Lord
James Crandall isn’t sure he can get past the fact that he used to tease her
mercilessly when she was just a girl. But once he finds out how brilliant her
mind is, he’s not sure he can get past the fact that she’s a woman. Add in the
fact that her charms have garnered the attentions of other gentlemen, Lord
Crandall is in for quite the roller coaster Christmas.
Make
a Joyful Noise: Widower
Marquis Peter Chard is grateful for his two children, but not so grateful when
his mother gives him the chore of recruiting people for the parish Christmas
choir competition. When recently widowed and pregnant Rosie Wheatherby turns up
with the voice of an angel and the looks to match, Lord Chard isn’t about to
let her get away from the choir . . . or his family.
An Object of Charity: Stuck on land while his ship is being
repaired, Captain Michael Lynch is approached by his late first mate’s niece
and nephew. Learning they are destitute, he decides to take them home with him
for the holidays, returning for the first time in 22 years ago. As he spends
more time with them and unburdens his heart to the young woman, she replaces
his hurt with love in time for a very special Christmas.
The
Three Kings: After her
brother is shot by the French in Spain, Lady Sarah Comstock is forced to travel
across the war-torn countryside with a Spanish Colonel. As Christmas quickly
approaches, Sarah learns about the Three Kings giving gifts to the Christ child
and finds a gift of her own that she can share—her heart.
Filled with romance and a touch of humor,
these stories are sure to find a place in your heart and remind you that
Christmas is a time for love.
Carla Kelly’s Christmas Collection
a few words from Carla Kelly
Now there’s
a title with a ring to it, eh? Hopefully Christmas bells will chime when
readers find this holiday present in their hands.
I wrote
these Christmas stories – among others – when I wrote for Signet. When Cedar
Fort wanted to do a collection as a reprint, I picked these personal favorites.
I have others, and maybe they’ll show up in another collection.
I enjoy
short stories, because I consider them an exercise in writing. No, writers
don’t have it all figured out; proficient ones keep learning from every
project. Even though I am not a decorate-to-the-hilt person, I enjoy the
Christmas season. The trick to writing Christmas stories is to have the spirit
all year around, since typically, these are written in the spring or summer in
order to meet production demands. Short stories with the Christmas touch are a
total win for me.
“The
Christmas Ornament” came from my interest in the coming Industrial Revolution,
and what it might do to the English upper class. In this tale, two fathers
scheme for their children, one of whom is an intelligent little beauty, and the
other is an Oxford don dabbling in motion studies, a pioneering field in the
nineteenth century. As in most of life, everyone has to give a little to get a
lot.
“Make a
Joyful Noise” was my first look at the Welsh and their special gift of singing.
I’ve since used this in a recent novel, which is among my personal favorites, My Loving Vigil Keeping. The conflict here
comes in a landowner’s attempt to create a silk purse out of a sow’s ear by
“importing” Welsh singers to augment his parish’s generally awful choir. In the
effort he finds an entirely unsuitable wife
- so the neighbors might think – who is absolutely perfect for him.
Sometimes life is like that.
“An Object
of Charity” takes me to sea, where I feel at home, because of my background as
a Navy brat who lived here and there on one coast or another. It’s the perfect Christmas
theme: redemption. Here is our captain, discovering after years of exile from
his own family, that maybe he got the best deal of all.
“The Three
Kings” takes readers to another favorite place of mine, Peninsular Spain during
the Napoleonic Wars. In college at BYU, I had a history professor who spent a
year doing research in the University of Salamanca. I never forgot his
descriptions of rooms and rooms of documents tied with red tape. Even as I was
taking notes, I was beguiled by the idea that somewhere in that dusty
collection might be “stuff” – yes, historians use that word – that could open
up new worlds of scholarship. Or not.
So here you
are. If these stories make your Christmas a little merrier, then I’ve done my
job.
-Carla Kelly
A Reader's Opinion
The blurbs give you an excellent idea of what each story is about, so you only get my opinion. I was a Carla Kelly fan once I finished reading 'Mrs. Drew Plays Her Hand', followed shortly by 'Marian's Christmas Wish.' This collection of short Christmas stories is genuine Carla Kelly material. I don't normally read short stories or novellas because they generally fail to deliver any real depth or character development, and yet the author has managed to write a collection of heartwarming stories that readers will certainly enjoy. The characters are sweet and enjoyable, and each story contains a lesson in overcoming obstacles and seeing past stereotypes. Kelly captures the era beautifully--as always. Even though I wish the stories had more to them (as in length), I recommend this collection to anyone interested in a sweet and easy holiday read. If you want a great Carla Kelly Christmas story, I highly recommend 'Marian's Christmas Wish.'
Meet the Author
Award-winning author
Carla Kelly is a veteran of the New York and international publishing world.
The author of more than thirty novels and novellas for Donald I. Fine Co.,
Signet, and Harlequin, Carla is the recipient of two Rita Awards (think Oscars
for romance writing) from Romance Writers of America and two Spur Awards (think
Oscars for western fiction) from Western Writers of America. She is also a
recipient of a Whitney Award for Borrowed Light and My Loving Vigil
Keeping.
