Madeline Hunter (1) (1952–)

"A Yuletide Kiss", a book featuring three novellas written by Sabrina Jeffries, Madeline Hunter and Mary Jo Putney, was included in my audible subscription.

The three novellas take place simultaneously over Christmas in a coaching inn. The roads are blocked because of snow and some weary travellers are stranded and have to spend Christmas together.

When We Finally Kiss Goodnight by Sabrina Jeffries
Flora Younger and Konrad Juncker have met seven years ago in Bath and Konrad had courted her, but then disappeared, crashing her hope of finding a suitable match. Now she works as a lady's companion. When they suddenly run into each other in the inn, it is instant love again - but Konrad, now a famous playwright, has a secret that keeps him from opening up to Flora.
I did not enjoy this story very much because I just wanted Flora to run away. I simply could not condone or understand Konrad's actions and the love scenes were cringeworthy.

An Unexpected Christmas Gift by Madeline Hunter
Jenna Waverly, the owner of the inn, has bought it with her inheritance in order to be independent. She works hard, but the inn can hardly survive, and her brother's lifestyle is not helping. When she finds an injured stranger in the woods, she nurses him and falls in love with him - but what was his true purpose to visit the inn?
This was my favourite story. Jenna and Lucas are both likable characters, the love story felt authentic and I rooted for them.

When Strangers Meet by Mary Jo Putney
Years ago in India, Daniel Faringdon rescued Kate McLeod when her despicable uncle auctioned her off to marry the highest bidder. As the ceremony was performed by a drunkard, Daniel believed the marriage to be invalid, and they lost contact after Kate relocated to England to live with her extended family. When they meet each other at the inn, she informs him that the marriage was valid after all, but she wishes to annul it because she is about to be betrothed to another man - but Daniel realizes that he wants her for a real wife.
This story was exceedingly boring to listen to because it mostly consists of long dialogues - as Daniel and Kate try to get to know each other in order to decide if they want to be married, they muse endlessly about the past, their current situation and the possible future. I could not feel any chemistry between them and the plot only picked up pace towards the end. The only advantage of this story was that it featured a cat!

I initially liked the idea of three stories taking place at the same time, but the concept lost its appeal to me rather quickly because while the love stories were different, the underlying action was, of course, the same and I got tired of that. It was still ok to listen to this in anticipation of Christmas, but I am not rushing to read anything else by these authors.… (meer)

This is a second book in the series and here the mystery about the dead Duke continues while we have the story of Rosamund and Kevin. I really liked Rosamund as a character. In particular, I liked her realism, frankness, competence, and truly enjoyed her character. Kevin who was an inventor was also fine but I felt he was a tad too paranoid in some instances.

Where I think the story faltered was in the crafting of the romance. The two leads were great together as business partners, I never quite felt that same connection in them as romantic partners unlike Minerva and Chase (from first book in series).

The book was solidly written and I look forward to reading the next in series.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARC
… (meer)