I love a compilation book of fun Christmas stories. These are cute, quick reads from great authors. Definitely would put you in the Christmas spirit.

A great collection of stories
This group of stories will make you want to stay up and read. Each one is a masterpiece on its own. The first, The Holly and the Ivy by Sarah Eden, is a heartwarming tale of love and caring for an eight year old child left to carry a heavy burden alone and the people who rally around him with the love and support he needs not only to heal but to grow to understand love and family. Second is Hiding Christmas by Esther Hatch. This is a tale about a young Scottish woman who hates an Englishman who has moved to her village because he lived when her brother, his friend, had died. He had saved her brother before but then he failed to save him and she would not forgive. Suddenly to save her grandmother, she is forced to reach out to that Englishman for help. He is the only one. What happens when they are forced to spend days together in a carriage? Will she finally be able to move past her pain? The third, A Twist of Christmas by Dana LeCheminant, tells the tale of two peers, strangers to each other, heading to a house party, both tired of having to play the roles dictated to them by society and their positions. When they independently decide to switch identities for the duration of the house party, her with her companion and him with his younger brother, they both get the reprieve from their roles but find themselves in a dilemma of their own making. The last story is A Season to Love by Anneka Walker. Alice is a young woman and feels like an embarrassment to her family. She has watched her sisters fall in love and marry but that does not seem to be her lot. Finally in desperation to avoid an arranged marriage, she enters a church to plead for heaven’s help to find a husband and is overheard by the vicar. After talking to Alice, Mr. Perry, the vicar, offers to help her in her quest but is he entering into more than he bargained for? Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the copy. This is my review and all thoughts are my own.

I enjoyed this sweet collection of holiday stories. Sarah Eden never disappoints, and I have been looking forward to reading these stories ever since I saw the stunning cover for the first time. Thank you for the copy, all opinions are my own.

I got an arc from netgalley. A collection if four stories by four regency romance authors. Each one was unique and sweet. I absolutely love Sarah M. Eden and how she uses these books to expand her other series. I adored each story individually.

I loved this book. It is made up of four short stories that contain love and family all set in the background of Christmas in historical England. The stories were entertaining and sweet. Such a great quick and happy read.

All of the authors in this collection are auto-buy authors for me! This is the perfect collection of novellas to read during Christmas! You get a delightful story but it is shorter making for a quick read!

I received an ARC from Netgalley and all opinions are my own.

I absolutely loved these Christmas short stories! They had just the right amount of holiday cheer, sweet romance, and a bit of mischief snuck in. There was much laughing and swooning! Here are my quick thoughts on each lovely story:

“The Holly and the Ivy” by Sarah M. Eden
Robbie's love story was sweet, but the thing I really loved in this story was learning about the Christmas traditions! I also loved how everyone rallied around Adam to show him love.

“Hiding Christmas” by Esther Hatch
The premise of this was a bit of a stretch, but I loved it so much. I loved the grandmother and her scheming. Enemies to lovers is a favorite trope, and this one worked really well in such a short story!

“A Twist of Christmas” by Dana LeCheminant
I loved this story full of miscommunication and false identities. As I read Regency novels, I often think how exhausting it must have been to keep up with all the social expectations!

“A Season to Love” by Anneka R. Walker
Alice kept me laughing in this story! I had never imagined what it must have been like to be so nervous and awkward in social situations back then. She is the sweetest girl, and I loved to see her realize that she only had to be herself!

I recommend this to anyone who loves Christmas and anyone who loves clean Regency romance stories!

Thank you to NetGalley, Covenant Communications, and the authors for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest opinions!

What a wonderful collection of Christmas stories. I highly recommend this anthology!

In The Hilly and the Ivy, we meet our Dastardly Duke of Kielder as a young boy. If you have not read any of Sarah M. Eden Lancaster family or Jonquil brothers series, now is the time! I loved this look into the boy who lost so much, and to the true soul of who is inside this man. I have been reading these other series recently, so this just added another layer to our Duke, and made me love the Jonquil parents more. And it fits right in the Gents series as well.

Hiding Christmas is a fun story of loss and social issues around Christmas. I loved the banter between the main characters, and Grandma was a hoot! I will always think of Christmas bread a kitty differently from now on. One never knows the impact one has on people you have never met.

A Twist of Christmas made me smile, as the characters tried to make their lives better by hiding from their titles! I loved watching their relationship grow and how their Christmas miracle came to be.

A Season to Love reminds us that we are our own worst critic. We are always trying to be what we think others want us to be, and we often don't embrace the things about us that actually make us special. I loved the service aspect of this story in showing someone how our true gifts can shine

4.5 stars
Um, all of these authors are amazing so I was just beyond excited to read this collection! And all of these novellas were just so good! The Holly and the Ivy is written by Sarah M Eden, Esther Hatch, Dana LeCheminant, and Anneka R Walker. I mean what a stellar line up.
So this first one looked good and it definitely did not disappoint. The Holly and the Ivy is written by Sarah M Eden and it is Adam, the Duke of Kieder’s nursemaid, Robbie. Mr. Simpkin was an interesting character, I had to warm up to him but I still liked him. This was cute and sweet. I loved getting to see Lucas and Julia again, it was fun to see them through different people’s eyes.
Hiding Christmas by Esther Hatch
The concept seemed a bit awkward for me, but I ended up really enjoying this one. Hiding Christmas is written by Esther Hatch and it is the second novella in the book. Kirstine did not like Isaac but she needed his help to get to England to celebrate Christmas. I liked the characters and enjoyed the story. It was fun to read about the characters getting over the past and starting over.
A Twist of Christmas by Dana LeCheminant
I adored this one! It was so sweet and fun! I loved the concept, two people pretending to be someone else and falling in love. A Twist of Christmas is by Dana LeCheminant and I loved the characters. I really wish that this novella was longer; it was just so fun to read. Beth and Graham were characters that I could relate too and I wanted to see how they would end up together. They had a lot of roads to cross but it was definitely a wonderful story.
A Season to Love by Anneka R Walker
I had a harder time getting into this one, but as I read more I grew to love the story. A Season to Love is written by Anneka R Walker and it is the last novella in the book but still wonderful. Alice and Thomas were such wonderful characters. Alice was looking for a husband and Thomas was the clergyman helping her in her search. I really enjoyed their interactions and the easy banter. I liked how they were both unique characters and it was sweet to read about them falling for each other.
All of these stories were wonderful and I would definitely recommend them. They were such fun Christmas historical romances. They reminded me of the Christmas spirit and I enjoyed reading about the characters connecting and fallin in love. The Holly and the Ivy is a wonderful book with engaging novellas.


I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the publisher through Netgalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion, a positive review was not required.

I ADORED THIS BOOK!!! I loved how the stories fit well together but they still captured the authors distinct voice. My favorite was the Holly and the Ivy by Sarah M. Eden, I loved seeing little Adam, but also it completely and utterly shattered my heart. I will definitely be reading that one again.

Thank you net galley for the advance reader copy of this novel. This was a collection of four authors Christmas themed shirt stories set in Regency times. All were sweet and clean. Loved #3 the best!!! Excellent Christmas collection!!!

The Holly and the Ivy, Sarah Eden

If you haven't yet read Sarah Eden's Lancaster series, this is effectively the prologue where we get a bigger glimpse into the Dangerous Duke's childhood. If you have... have a box of tissues handy.
As always, it's an incredibly well researched and believably written story. The characters feel real enough that you wish you had a time machine to take you back to meet them. I loved getting to know Nurse Robbie and though there was a bit of a surprise twist in why her time working for the Kielder's ended, her dilemma was real and completely believable. And getting to know Julia and Lucas better before they became parents was a huge bonus!

Hiding Christmas, Esther Hatch

This one was an amusing, entertaining read. For this and the next two there was a bit of a need to suspend disbelief to enjoy the story, but I enjoyed the banter between Kirstine and her grandmother, and between Kirstine and Isaac. I would have liked to see the confrontation between Kirstine and her cousin rather than it being reported after the fact, and the ending felt a bit rushed, but otherwise an enjoyable, mostly lighthearted read.

A Twist of Christmas, Dana LeCheminant

While I still enjoyed the read, this one was a bit more difficult to suspend disbelief for. It felt like there were several contradictions right off the bat that the reader is just expected to ignore. E.g. Graham has high standing to the point everyone's after him, yet no one notices him except a 17 year old girl who's already desperate enough to insult a viscount for not asking her to dance. Then shortly after he's a "lowly viscount". But his standing is also high enough for him to be considered to marry the daughter of a Duke... Too many contradictions for my taste, though the characters were likeable and the premise entertaining.

A Season to Love, Anneka Walker

A great start; I enjoyed the entertainment value of the initial misunderstanding between Alice  and Mr Perry, though by the end of the story I wanted to club them both over the head. A little too tropey with the amount of misunderstandings; Alice and her father, Alice and her aunt, Alice and her grandfather, Alice and Mr Perry.... Hopefully in a continuance of this story Alice learns to communicate better and be more direct! The scenes with the charity choir were adorable and I would have loved a bit more detail in these.


Even if you only buy this for Sarah Eden's story, it's well worth it. The others are lighter reads and still entertaining, so great for a busy Christmas season when you want an easy, Christmassy read.

The Holly and the Ivy: A Christmas Romance Collection
by Sarah M. Eden, Esther Hatch, Dana LeCheminant, and Anneka R. Walker is a wonderful collection of four novellas by authors that I always love to read.

I was so excited to see this collection of festive romances by some of my favorite authors! I can’t pick my favorite, as they are all exquisite in their own way (it would be like picking your favorite child..just not possible!).

I love the overall themes of the clean romance, historical aspects, holiday themes, and the warm feelings of hope, love, happiness, and faith that I am left with when finishing the book. It definitely put a smile on my face.

Highly recommend!

5/5 stars

Thank you NG and Covenant Communications for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 10/2/22.

A series of short stories set around Christmas, or making up for a missed Christmas in the case of the first story.
The Holly and the Ivy was quite emotional in my opinion, being a huge fan of the Lancaster and Jonquil series by Sarah M Eden. It was charming to see Adam as a young boy with his Nurse Robbie. A bit bittersweet knowing how sad his life is for so long though.
Hiding Christmas by Esther Hatch was odd. I'm not sure the plot worked for me, a couple pretend to be married to bring the girl's grandmother back where she can celebrate Christmas in England. Fine, but the two characters have lived in the same village for a year and a half, doesn't everyone know they aren't a couple? Who is this ruse for exactly and what about consequences when they returned? It stretched credulity. I generally like this author but this story wasn't her best.
A twist of Christmas by Dana LeCheminant was pretty cute, a story of two titled people seeking temporary anonymity at a house party in order to finally be seen and heard for themselves. Nothing really new here, but cute.
A season to love by Anneka Walker, this had the best meet in my opinion, pretty funny actually. The story had some good elements, but meandered into false assumptions about the other person's feelings without actual communication, which irritated me.
Overall, a bit of a mixed bag for me, the strength of Sarah M Eden's story made it worthwhile. It's hard to rate a book like this when some stories fall a lot shorter, somewhere between three and four stars overall. I received an ARC from net galley and the publisher for an honest review.