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Christmas With the Queen
Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb
384 pages
William Morrow Paperbacks
November 19. 2004
If you are looking for a hardcore Christmas novel, this is not it. This is a fetching cover and there are certainly touches of Christmas, however, it is historical romance that includes Christmas within it but the holiday is not what it is about, any more than Diehard, a movie, was about Christmas. This is not a criticism. It was a great book to dip my toes into the Christmas season. I decided to read this a bit early in the holiday season because I enjoy these authors’ works and love historical fiction. This fits the bill.
I would caution you that if you are the kind of historical fiction person that does not enjoy romance featuring prominently in your books, this may not be the novel for you. Romance is as important in this novel as the history. Fortunately, I enjoy my historical fiction with and without romance, if it is well done, which this was.
I also read a critique of this book that was disappointed with the lack of pomp and circumstance because, after all, Queen Elizabeth is a character in the book. There is a point to this, depending on what you like. This novel is NOT about the queen as a Queen, per se. She is not even what I would call, a main character. This explores the Queen as a human being and a woman rather than a representative of the monarchy. The fact that Queen Elizabeth is not who the novel is really about is indicated in the title. I prefer this angle, as I am not really someone who is fascinated by royal families and seeing Buckingham Palace was enough for me, but potential readers should know. The book references people who are with the Queen during the holidays, however, it is really a love story between Jack, a chef, and Olive, a reporter. The romance overtakes the history at times, which is fine and it works for me, but potential readers should know this so that they expect a romance with a historical angle instead of a work of historical fiction with a side of romance.
The characters, including the side characters are compelling. There are elements about the story that are, perhaps a little on the maudlin side but given the state of the world today, that did not bother me. Overall, this was a very enjoyable read and well written.
Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
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