A Bluestocking’s Christmas

Lady Brittany Sexton is quite fascinated with the country of Africa. Having a large collection of books on the subject, she can’t wait to add the newest tome to her library, which will help her in drafting her compendium on the country to help future explorers. After purchasing her newest edition, written by Lord Heresey, she literally runs into Lord Samuel Palmer. She finds him to be rather rude and arrogant, especially when she realizes he wants the book she just purchased. 

After arriving home she discovers that her copy of the book has hand-written notes within the margins. Soon attempted robberies occur at her home. Retreating to her parents' country estate along with Lord Palmer, they begin to unravel the notes and feelings begin to bloom. Brittany will learn things about Lord Palmer while they unearth the reasons for the break-ins, and will it stop her from wanting to marry Samuel?

Mr. Downs writes an interesting tale, one of intrigue and suspense. However, this novella length story needs a bit of work. Grammatical errors abound, along with the overuse of the comma. There isn’t a lot of depth to the characters, leaving the reader aching for more. The other odd thing is the way the Sextons talk Samuel into giving jewelry to Brittany; it seems a bit off for a family of wealth. With some more editing and little tweaking this would be a great read!

Lynne Bryant