A Season of Love

The Meddling Duke Collection

De: Christi Caldwell

Narrado por: Tim Campbell

Duración: 3 h y 46 m

Resumen del Editor

Winning a Lady's Heart

For Lady Alexandra, being the source of a cold, calculated wager is bad enough...but when it is wagered by Nathaniel Michael Winters, fifth Earl of Pembroke, the man she's in love with, it results in a broken heart, the scandal of the season, and a summons from her grandfather - the Duke of Danby.

To escape Society's gossip, she hurries to her meeting with the duke, determined to put memories of the earl far behind. Except the duke has other plans for Alexandra...plans which include the fifth Earl of Pembroke!

A Season of Hope

Five years ago when her love, Marcus Wheatley, failed to return from fighting Napoleon's forces, Lady Olivia Foster buried her heart. Unable to betray Marcus's memory, Olivia has gone out of her way to run off prospective suitors. At three and 20 she considers herself firmly on the shelf. Her father, however, disagrees and accepts an offer for Olivia's hand in marriage. Yet it's Christmas, when anything can happen....

Olivia receives a well-timed summons from her grandfather, the Duke of Danby, and eagerly embraces the reprieve from her betrothal.

Only, when Olivia arrives at Danby Castle, she realizes the Christmas season is a time of hope, second chances, and even miracles.

©2015 Christi Caldwell (P)2016 Christi Caldwell

Sweet, short but great!

Tim Campbell no doubts about it he's good.
Love these 2 little stories...Grand Papa aka The Duke is a wise old man who likes to thwart his son in law's decisions.

OK book. Fabulous narration..

WINNING A LADY’S HEART

Again, a book where the woman on the front doesn’t even come close to the one in the book, the front of the novella not this one. Alexandra was described as “too plump, with a bump on her nose, with two left feet and a clumsy clod.” Really? While Nathan was described as god-like, handsome, beautiful, etc.. There is not a thing plump about the woman on the cover and there’s no bump on her small nose. I’m sick to death of the descriptions of cover models being sooo far from the book cover it isn’t even funny!

I keep saying I’m saying I’m going to be done with Ms. Caldwell because she writes heroes and heroines so different, as if that pairing is ever going to happen. Plump or plain for her and drop-dead gorgeous for him, in every other book or two. You never know what you’re going to get.

This was a cute story in itself; with Nathan falling in love with Alexandra then doing something that made her hate him and embarrass her in front of the ton. Then her grandfather, the Duke of Danby sent for Nathan then for Alexandra, her sister Olivia and their mother to come to Danby Castle, where everything was worked out.

There was no sex or swearing.

A SEASON OF HOPE

So, this is the beautiful sister to Alexandra’s NOT so pretty one. Alexandra was plump and not attractive with a gorgeous beau and Olivia is gorgeous with a beau that has a scarred face and an eye put out and wears a patch over it. Jeez!

Marcus and Olivia were in love 5 years ago and he promised to come back to her when the war was over. When he didn’t she assumed he was dead. When she was called to the Duke of Danby’s castle she looked at it as a reprieve since her father just gave her hand to a 60-something year old Earl. What she finds is Marcus as the Duke’s steward.

This was just a lot of fluff but I enjoyed it.

No sex and no swearing.

As to the narration. I think the reason I keep listening to CC’s books is because Tim Campbell narrates them. The men are sexy, the women sound like women and he reads with terrific emotions.

So sweet.

Well done, and there is no reason to wait for Christmas to enjoy this book.

the first 3/4 of these stories are not told.

they start with the fall out then quickly resolve into a happily ever after. disappointed.

Enjoyable and Short

The two stories in this book are about two sisters and their meddling grandfather. Both stories are cute and of course Tim Campbell is amazing. I have to agree with one of the other comments about the picture on the book not matching the description of the characters. Not good, not good.

Like CC's books but 2 problems in this one...

I have listened to every publication available in the Romance Pkg by this author and have loved them all. I feel especially supportive of her because if I remember correctly I believe she, like me, has a child with learning and life challenges. During most of my reading life, I read only nonfiction and never romances. However, I have come to a point in my life where I need the "mind candy" of romances. I find the guarenteed HEA soothing and the fact that I can listen and be distracted from my problems while still getting things done a necessity.

Furthermore, Tim Campbell does an excellent job with narration. His female impersonations are not high pitched or squeeky which turns me off at times with other male narrators.

The problem I found with this particular story was when the female MC's betrothed was portrayed as "fat and old", the age old (pun intended) prejudices of body image and ageism. I
am probably more sensitive to these issues since I gained 90 lbs on my 120 frame over the 7 yrs I cared for my mother with Alzheimer's along with my son's issues. After she died and I had time to go to the doc, get on hypothyroid meds and begin exercising again, I am slowly losing the weight. But couldn't the author choose character flaws instead judgemental aspects of the betrothed? With the escalation of eating disorders and body dysmorphia in our culture, especially among young girls who are frequent readers of romance novels, I just think the writer could have been more thoughtful in the depiction of that character.

This brings me to my final complaint and that is ageism. We are all (hopefully) going to be old one day. I am surprised to find that am 62 years old; it seemed to happen so fast! But I do not see it as a negative thing. It seems fine to me for an author to write that a person doesn't want to marry someone so many years older than them (which this writer did in one place). But then she ruined it by writing the betrothed was "old and fat" in a highly negative tone. Personally I find that like everything else, there is good and bad aspects of being older. One of the good things is that I try to be more sensitive about casting shade on conditions of other people.

2 stories in 1, loved it

I think I am liking Male performers over females. It seems it is easier for them to switch to a high pitched female vocals than vice versa. I loved Dambie. These two stories were so inviting, I didn't want to turn the car off to go to work or to go home,lol. There were a couple times I was surprised. I would definitely love these in longer versions. I felt like I came in on Act 2 of a play. I will have to see if there are other books regarding the Duke that explain what the motivation is to have such a dislike for his son-in-law. The stories held their own but it is like enjoying a supporting character in a book and wanting their own story told. I look forward to more stories of this family.

I especially liked the Christmas presents the Duke gave. (no giveaways,lol.)

Two heart-warming Christmas tales.

Both stories are novellas and thus take very little time to listen through to the end. There's still the wrench of heartbreak and the joy of true love triumphing over odds. These stories are not part of a series so they truly stand alone. If you need some Christmas cheer anytime of year, listen to these stories.

Don't let this be the first of her books you read

This cannot have been written by Christie Caldwell! If this was the first novel I had read of hers, it would have been the last one as well. I really have enjoyed many of her other works a great deal. With this one, I kept trying to like it, hoping it would get better. Finally, I was ready to give up. I was so bored. But as I went to send it into oblivion, I noticed there were only 7 min. left, so I finished it. Those 7 minutes gave me a predictable out come,which was one of the biggest problems with this novel. Of course we always like to get the predictable HEA ending. And while this did have that, there was actually not much story, and certainly almost devoid tension building events. Limited characters added to the boredom. More storyline, more complexity would certainly helped. But as it is, it already felt like an eternity to finish. I bet if I submit this review and I go look at the publication date, it will be one of her earliest novels. If it isn't, I may be looking out for her new novels with a bit less enthusiasm.