A Christmas Ball by Jennifer Ashley, Emily Bryan & Alissa Johnson

Genre: Historical Romance
Pages: 336
Copyright: 2009
Book Source: Courtesy of author Emily Bryan

At one spectacular ball in the height of the holiday season, three couples find the greatest gift of all: their perfect match.

My first anthology and a good holiday read.

I enjoyed the uniqueness of Emily Bryan's My Lady Below Stairs. Jane Tate, scullery maid and illegitimate daughter of Lord Somerville impersonates her half sister Lady Sybil to save the family's reputation. Stable hand Ian Michael MacGregor is the hero of the story and Jane's love interest and the pair's escapades make for a fun, refreshing read with much of Emily Bryan's trademark humour and lusty love scenes.

The second story, The Longest Night by Jennifer Ashley is a continuation of her Nvengaria series and while I liked the characters I didn't particularly enjoy the story, although I'm sure followers of the series will. The hero, Valentin is logosh (a shapeshifting demon) and the heroine Mary Cameron is Scottish and quite an endearing character. Overall I felt a little lost with this one and the paranormal elements were disconcertingly at odds with the mainstream regency romances.

Lastly, Alissa Johnson’s Traditions was absolutely delightful with an unconventional heroine becoming the unlikely love interest of a well-to-do Earl with slightly 'anal' tendencies. Patience Byerly and William Renwick are adorable together, add a father with alzheimers to the mix and things become a little more complicated.

Emily Bryan (Mia Marlowe) is already a favourite historical romance author of mine and I loved Jennifer Ashley's The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie, now thanks to this entertaining anthology I'm keen to check out more of Alissa Johnson's work.

This month on The Eclectic Reader 2 readers will win a copy of Delirium by Lauren Oliver or The Tudor Secret by C W Gortner, or Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning. Check this blog post for details. Open Internationally.