The Holly and the Ivy

I really had to make myself keep reading this book because it was such a slow starter. Ultimately, I'm exceedingly glad I stayed with it and finished the book. Once I got into the feel and atmosphere I literally could not put it down until I had finished it. Lord Balfour is not your typical Regency buck. He is short (at least by hero standards) at 5'8" which means that he actually looks Mary Rivers in the eye. He is blind as a bat and doesn't know that his squinting looks like scowling and so adds to his reputation as Lord Thorn (his middle name is Thornton). He is completely self centered (but that is actually a defense mechanism caused by his very unhappy childhood) and expects total perfection from everyone around him. Oh, and by the way, he hates Christmas. Enter Mary Rivers, come to London from Glastonbury to stay with her Gran because it is her turn to do so. Gran is thought by her family to be very well off but Mary finds this is not true and she has to economize without making Gran suspicious because Gran is ill. Previous Rivers daughters have stayed with Gran for the Christmas season and have been treated to many expensive pleasures so Gran's lack of funds is a recent thing. I got confused by the name thing in the beginning. Was she Merry or Mary? Later on I figured out where the author was coming from but boy, oh boy, was it ever subtle! Mary is just what Balfour can't stand, always happy and smiling for no apparent reason. It took a long time for me to warm up to Lord Balfour because the author took so long to explain about Temple (and I had a problem knowing that there was Temple the elder and Temple the younger). If Ms Fairchild had been a little more revealing a lot sooner, I would have just fallen right in with this story and moved right along. As it was, I had to fight to make myself continue reading until I understood where Lord Balfour was coming from. Mary was always an easy character as was Gran. I really liked this book once I got involved. It is full of surprises and the character of Lord Balfour grows tremendously. He has to act like a terrible heel before he realizes what he has lost and then fight like crazy to right his mistake. Ms. Fairchild really invented a man with a load of problems and then allowed him to work through them and come out victorious. This book is essentially about the hero but without the right heroine he would never have been redeemed. Highly recommended. Just don't get impatient with it.

I expected this book to be an entertaining bit of Christmas fluff. I was surprised to find that the book wasn't particularly merry for the most part, but actually dealt very realistically with issues of bereavement, loneliness, betrayal, and rejection, which contrast with the outward happiness of the holiday season. This book really took you inside the minds and hearts of the two main characters. When though Lord "Thorn" does a dishonorable thing, you are privy to his inner struggles and feelings of guilt. You know that he just wants someone to keep him from his lonliness. This was a very thought-provoking book that touches upon what love really means.

I confess I rarely read romance novels, but Ms Fairchild's deft descriptions and beautifully embroidered characters pull me in to her regency world, and I find myself wanting to turn off the phone and languish in the sights and smells of a long-ago Christmas. Best of all, though, are her characters--exquisitely layered, complex, and yet touching and real. Roll over, Jane Austen! Ms. Fairchild has a gift for writing, and it's a gift you'll savor unwrapping, even after the holidays are over.

Ms. Fairchild has done it again--provided us with a wonderful story written in her uniquely lyrical style. Merry Mary is my kind of heroine--stromg yet vulnerable and "Lord Thorn" is eminently worthy of love and a lustful thought or two. If you're a Regency fan, you'll want to treat yourself to this Christmas gift.