A Christmas-themed version of Pride & Prejudice.

P&P is not my favorite sort of romance. It is built on a big misunderstanding, which is one of my least-favorite tropes. Both Helen and Lord Bridgemere are convinced that the other does not return their passionate feelings, and why should they? He is cold and distant; she is warped with anxiety and fear. They don't show one shred of romantic feeling to each other until the next-to-last chapter when they kiss. They apparently both are full of pent-up passion, but that never really comes across on the page. It left me feeling dissatisfied. I like to feel my characters falling in love, not just be told it happened.

This is a very heroine-centric book. We spend most of it in Helen's head, as she rides the rollercoaster of her feelings and hormones. We have very little time to spend with Lord Bridgemere and thus, he feels underdeveloped. These two fall in love within a week of barely mutual acquaintance? Not without a whole lot more interaction than they had here, I'm afraid.

The moments they did have were precious, which is why I'm giving this book 3 stars. I really enjoy Ms. Burrows' writing and her ability to suck her readers into her story. I just wish there had been more passion between the characters throughout, instead of squeezing it all into the last chapter. When Bridgemere finally explained himself, his behavior and his attitude made a lot of sense, so why couldn't that have happened sooner? I think it would've made the story richer, but alas.

As I said, I'm not the biggest fan of P&P. If you are, you'll enjoy this tangle of pride vs prejudice. It is very nicely written. ( )

I picked [b:A Countess by Christmas|9427063|A Countess by Christmas (Harlequin Historical, #1021)|Annie Burrows|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Z4BMGed5L._SL75_.jpg|14311513] for a challenge at RRRC group. I needed a Christmas theme read so I searched for a book on Goodreads with a word 'Christmas' in tittle and from results I picked this one. I should have payed better attention to the rating of this book.
The idea is nothing new, you have probably read a historical romance with the same plot before. Love story is very shallow, attraction between characters is rationalized and thought over so much, that it does not seem like nothing special. And when they end up in bed at the end - nothing special either. No heat whatsoever...
I gave it a 2 star rating only because the description of the Christmas party and the amusement and games arranged for children woke up my holiday spirit a little bit, so I wanted to be generous.
( )

Charming. I'm a sucker for Christmas-set books and this one was a delight. A quick and easy read which was perfect for the season. ( )