In Love with Romance

The Duke and Miss Christmas is a super short story by Amelia Grey. It starts with Crispin, who is the Duke of Hurst, visiting his uncle and family after being away from England for quite some time.

It’s early morning and he’s riding out in the mountains, taking in the tranquility of the place and making plans on what he’d do after the holidays. He’s minding his own business when he spots a young girl under a tree. He figures she must be in trouble since no one is around and decides to help her.

Though his instincts are right and he’s full of good intentions the young girl’s sister doesn’t think so. Gwen appears out of nowhere and in her haste to rescue her sister, she bashes him with the basket her sister was carrying. Basically she breaks it on his head.

What neither of them know is that this is one of many encounters they will have. Soon, Gwen’s brother in law shows up and he quickly invites Crispin to dinner.

Crispin takes the opportunity because he wants sweet revenge, though he doesn’t yet know how he’ll make Gwen pay for the scratch she gave him. One thing leads to another and it doesn’t take long before they realize their little quarrel has turned into something else they can’t ignore.

This is a nice holiday read. Short and sweet. It would’ve made an excellent full length novel. The ending feels a little too rushed, but other than that it reminded me of those Hallmark holiday flicks.