Captive for Christmas - Claire Hadleigh

                Captive for Christmas is meant to be a fast, fun and light read and that is exactly what it is. It’s a guilty pleasure book that I thoroughly enjoyed as I passed a Christmas day storm without power. I found myself forgetting the cold and, instead, enjoying the elegant and sumptuously entertaining world created by Ms. Hadleigh.

                Rhys and Felicity are at loggerheads from the start but only because there is so much chemistry between them that the sparks are flying constantly. If they aren’t throwing insults at each other (dunderhead was my favourite), then they are flirting to the point of almost ripping each other’s clothing off, if that were appropriate for the time period. The book is set in a time where ladies wore long dresses and corsets and would never dally with a gentleman whom they aren’t married to and the gentlemen are respectable and would never do more than kiss a young lady’s hand. At least, that is the way it was in theory. Except for Rhys and Felicity who are older and experienced enough to know what and whom they want to have a dalliance with. These two characters are well written and fun to read about. Although the reader doesn’t learn a whole lot about their backgrounds, this is probably because the novella is short and the story works so well because it’s happy and light. Dark areas of their pasts, which are hinted at, would take away from the pure fun of the story. There is a wonderful supply of supporting characters that are delightfully quirky and odd in a most amusing way. The author has a style of writing that really brings everything alive in my imagination and gives all of the little details colour. Another nice thing is that even though it is a romance, for those readers who aren’t interested in a lot of graphic sex scenes, the author has left a fair amount to the imagination. Of course, there are some sex scenes but nothing that is overly descriptive. This is just a really lovely novella that is nothing but pure pleasure to read and no deep thinking is needed.

                I really liked the cover. It’s bright and colourful and really draws the eye. I read this on my ereader and it formatted well.