A Wallflower's Christmas Kiss

Dawn
Brower
Genre: 
Historical

At twenty-five Lady Juliette Brooks is firmly on the shelf, although through no fault of her own. When her father’s new wife decides it is time for her to be married she has no choice in the matter.  She decides to run away rather than marry the brute they have chosen, and sets off to find the one man who promised her that if she ever needed him to, he would marry her.  Grayson Abbot, Duke of Kissinger, always keeps his word. He may not conduct the rest of his life in an honorable way but his word is solid.  He takes Juliette in, and together they elope to Gretna Green. 

 

This short novella teaches the Duke that the heart never forgets its first love and that a woman will reclaim what her heart has always known. Juliette’s character is well defined and gives readers the full experience of her life, yet Grayson is missing large gaps which leaves the reader feeling disconnected from him. As they travel to Gretna Green in Scotland the author gives the characters time to explore and reacquaint themselves. The abruptness of the ending and the novella length, however, don’t allow for the depth of story that is needed to show Grayson’s development from a debauched rake to a romantic hero. 

 

Laura Dinsdale