Publisher Description
Three Delightful Christmas Tales from Beloved Storyteller Michelle Griep
“Pour yourself a cuppa, get lost in the merriment of the season, and enjoy a Dickensian Christmas in three stories from fan favorite Michelle Griep:
12 Days a Bleakly Manor: Brought together under mysterious circumstances, Clara and Ben discover that what they’ve been striving for isn’t what ultimately matters. What matters most is what Christmas is all about . . . love.
A Tale of Two Hearts: Pleasure seeker William Barlow needs a wife immediately to gain his uncle’s inheritance, and Mina Scott is just the girl to make him look respectable—too bad she turns him down. Ought he give her a second chance?
The Old Lace Shop: Recently widowed Bella White is finally freed from the domination of the overbearing men in her life, but when she enters into a business partnership with the handsome Edmund Archer, she begins to wonder if marriage is worth a second chance.”
My Review:
A note before I begin this review: Two of the stories in this collection, “Twelve Days at Bleakley Manor” and “ A Tale of Two Hearts” have been previously published. “The Old Lace Shop” is a new story published in this edition. I had read the first two stories, but I’m glad to have all three in one volume because they share common story elements.
These stories are all Victorian in their settings. (Think of “A Christmas Carol” for this time period.) There are small, but important, links that follow through each story: A “second chance” coin: a swift “glimpse’ of Charles Dickens; characters that make a cameo appearance in a story. “Bleakley Manor” is a Victorian mystery that sets the tone of second chances for the other two stories. “A Tale of Two Hearts” had characters that I loved. My favorite story was “The Old Lace Shop”. I loved the setting of this
story and several of the characters in this one touched my heart.
In all three stories, the themes of second chances, forgiveness, and hope are the guideposts for the reader, which make these perfect stories for the Christmas season.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.