Lando shifted his grip, lacing his fingers through mine. Now I went cold, the sudden intimacy shocking me, and I stopped singing altogether, feeling dizzy as the heat now returned to my body, flushing my face.
Christmas With the Lords is a sweet Christmas romance that is sure to warm your heart.
Penny Windlesham is stunned when her long-term boyfriend suddenly dumps her, leaving her with a broken heart just in time for Christmas. At a loose end, she accepts a job as a short-term nanny to a family she’s never met. Climbing aboard a train bound for the Dorset countryside, a tear rolls down her cheek. Alone, working and amongst strangers… could her Christmas be any less magical?
As she crunches up the family’s frost-covered drive, Penny’s spirits lift when she glimpses her home for the next month: an enormous manor house, its windows glowing with firelight and festooned with twinkling holly. And, as she settles into her role caring for the adorable Lord children, she finds herself surrounded by a quirky cast of characters, including loveably frazzled Spanish chef Pilar and the children’s grouchy uncle, Lando Lord.
Despite Penny’s attempts to avoid him, the darkly handsome Lando seems to be everywhere – hanging around like Scrooge amidst the happy present-wrapping and gingerbread baking. Apparently he wasn’t always this way… is there some secret reason he’s so cranky at Christmas?
When Lando is commissioned to carve a beautiful new Nativity scene for the local church, Penny blushingly agrees to be his model, and a sudden spark flickers between them. But it’s not long before the past comes knocking, and Penny discovers exactly why Lando left his old life behind…
If you are a fan of Hallmark movies, then this book is for you! Christmas With the Lords is bursting with charm, warmth, and holiday magic. It is a nice, easy romance to lose yourself in for a few hours. There isn’t any major conflict or drama; you get to spend time with fabulous, quirky characters during the holiday season. There are plenty of heartwarming moments and moments that will have you chuckling. The pacing of this book is smooth and steady and will keep you entertained. Even though there aren’t any major conflicts, there is still a lot going on in this book. The Lord family’s house is always bursting with excitement and crazy chaos. I loved the different family dynamics that exist within the Lord’s family. Things aren’t perfect; there are plenty of miscommunications and battles of wills, but they love each other at their core. Watching these strong and bold personalities interact in the same house was interesting.
The romance in this book is a sweet, slow-burn, forced proximity love story with plenty of will they/won’t they moments. It is clear right from the moment Poppy and Lando meet that there is chemistry between these two characters. The problem is that neither wants to be in a relationship, which means that they fight acknowledging any romantic feelings they may have for each other. This reluctance and nervousness to give in to those feelings creates lots of miscommunications. Sometimes, I wanted to shake these two and tell them to kiss already. This is a clean, sweet romance, and at the end of the day, you know they will end up together.
Thank you, Storm Publishing, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
