Review: Once Upon a Christmas Eve by Elizabeth Hoyt
Title: Once Upon a Christmas Eve (Maiden Lane #10.7)
Author: Elizabeth Hoyt
Publication Date: December 5, 2017
Publisher: Forever
Genre: Historical Romance
Find It: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N
Source: e-ARC via Netgalley
Rating: 3 stars – stick to your bedtime
Adam Rutledge, Viscount d’Arque, really rather loathes Christmas. The banal cheerfulness. The asinine party games. And, worst of all, the obligatory trip to the countryside. His grandmother, however, loves the holiday – and Adam loves his grandmother, so he’ll brave the fiercest snowstorm to please her. But when their carriage wheel snaps, they’re forced to seek shelter at the home of the most maddening, infuriating, and utterly beguiling woman he’s ever met…
Sarah St. John really rather loathes rakes. The self-satisfied smirks. The sly predatory gazes. Oh, and the constant witty banter rife with double meaning. But in the spirit of the season, she’ll welcome this admittedly handsome viscount into her home. But as the snowstorm rages, the Yule log crackles, and the tension rises, Sarah and Adam find themselves locked in a fiery, passionate kiss. If love is the true meaning of Christmas, it’s the one gift this mismatched pair can’t wait to unwrap.
I love reading a good Christmas themed story during the holidays. I was super excited to see that one of my favorite historical romance authors had one that I had somehow overlooked. The Maiden Lane series is also a fave so it was a double win for me.
Sarah St. John has a good reason to loathe rakes and Adam Rutledge, Viscount d’Arque, is probably the biggest rake of all (if the society papers are to be believed). Sarah and Adam are thrown together during the holidays when Adam’s carriage is damaged on the way home. He and his grandmother find refuge in the St. John house where sparks fly between Adam and Sarah. While Sarah hates Adam’s rakish reputation, she is inexplicably attracted to the rogue. As the two get to know each other, Sarah begins to wonder if the rumors about Adam are just that, rumors. He’s quick witted and smart and dotes on his grandmother. While he’s never going to be a saint, perhaps he isn’t the devil that Sarah believed him to be.
I am giving Once Upon a Christmas Eve a solid 3 stars. It really takes a lot for me to give a novella 4 stars as it’s quite difficult to really create something truly memorable in such a short word count. This was really cute and I enjoyed it but it’s probably not going to be something that I come back to a lot. It was the perfect quick bite of a read that was fun to read and helped put me in the holiday spirit. It’s not super Christmas-y but had enough holiday elements, like a holly hunt and lots of snow, to put me in the holiday spirit. It features a love/hate relationship, which is one of my favorite romance tropes. I enjoyed the banter between the two as they both fight their attraction to each other.
Adam is definitely the standout character in this story. He’s popped up as a secondary character here and there during the series’ life and I was hoping that he’d get his own HEA. While I am a little bummed that it wasn’t a full length book, I am glad to see him finally find love. Overall I liked Once Upon a Christmas Eve but it doesn’t stand out among Hoyt’s other works.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my review or opinion of the book.
