Will a chance meeting on Christmas Eve… Alicia Sinclair, Countess of Kinvarra, cannot believe that fate has been so cruel as to strand her on the snowy Yorkshire moors with her estranged husband as her only hope of rescue. During their rare encounters, the arrogant earl and his countess act like hostile strangers. Now that Alicia has fallen into Kinvarra’s power, will he seek revenge for her desertion? Or does the dark, passionate man she once adored have entirely different plans for his headstrong wife?
...deliver a second chance at love?
Sebastian Sinclair, Earl of Kinvarra, has spent ten wretched years regretting the mistakes he made with his young bride, but after long separation, the barriers between them are insurmountable. Until an unexpected encounter one stormy night makes him wonder if the barriers of mistrust and thwarted desire are so insurmountable after all. When winter weather traps Sebastian and his proud, lovely wife in an isolated inn, could the earl and his headstrong countess have a Christmas miracle in store?
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This story seemed awfully familiar to me but since I couldn’t quite remember the exact details, I decided to give it another go. It turns out that this is a story originally featured in The Mammoth Book of Regency Romance where it was called Upon a Midnight Clear. It’s been reworked slightly since then and released as an individual novella.
This type of story is my favourite kind - second chance / reunion romances. The fact that it’s also set at Christmas makes me happy as a clam. Only chocolate could make me happier.
This is the first ever story from Anna Campbell that I read and it really shows off her unique writing style. It’s classy, packed full of emotion and is jammed with the angst that I expect from her. And I do love me some angst. What’s especially good is that both the hero and heroine are tortured by mistakes they made in their past. It’s nice to read a story where both sides admit that they handled a situation badly and weren’t as innocent of wrongdoing as they initially thought. Refreshing and made me believe the couple’s happily ever after would work this time.
Both Alicia and Sebastian are really interesting, fully rounded characters and are so well written that you can’t help but love them both. Despite how we first meet Alicia and her snarky attitude towards her estranged husband, I immediately felt for her and understood the reasons for her actions. Sebastian is the best kind of hero in my eyes; dark, delicious and desperately in love with his wife despite their estrangement. The fact that he maintains a sense of humour through all this makes me love him even more. The way that Sebastian and Alicia interact with each other was also great and I loved seeing their progression from wary distrust and animosity through to honesty and declarations. It was like reading happiness.
The story isn’t too long at just 59 pages and can be easily read in a couple of sittings. My only gripe is that despite the fact that this has been reworked since its original publication, there’s still no epilogue. I’m not deducting any stars because of that fact but I am pouting a little bit. I feel an epilogue rounds out a story and delivers on the promise of the happily ever after. Anyway, still a great tale for a chilly night and one I would recommend. 5 stars.
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