Santa Paws

Pleasant, canine themed anthology

3 Stars

This is a collection of 4 stories with all the couples finding love thanks to some delightful, determined canines.

Shakespeare and the Three Kings – Victoria Alexander (England, 1893)

With the death of his beloved aunt, Sir Oliver Stanhope inherits her home and her three pampered, terribly annoying Yorkshire Terriers. Luckily, before her death his aunt managed to acquire the services of a dog trainer. Unfortunately for Oliver, the dog trainer just happens to be the love of his life, an American that broke his heart ten years before.

Not very Christmassy but still a satisfying tale of redemption, forgiveness and love.

Athena’s Christmas Tail – Nina Coombs (Regency London)

When Robert, Viscount Brockton brings home his new wife, she hopes to make the best of their life together but he treats her very coldly. Aware that the pair are in love with each other yet neither can admit it, the couple’s dogs decide to do a little bit of matchmaking.

Not particularly deep, this story is still a fun tale (even with some of the story being told from the dogs’ perspective) but not at all festive.

Away In A Shelter – Annie Kimberlin (Modern Day)

Camille Campbell is a dedicated volunteer at the animal shelter when she agrees to work the shift over Christmas. Unbeknownst to her, Roger Matheson has also agreed to volunteer which does not bode well as the pair can’t stand each other. But that soon changes thanks to a timely blizzard and an adorable abandoned dog.

This was an enjoyable story that could have done with a little more time to make the ending seem less rushed.

Mr Wright’s Christmas Angel – Miriam Raftery (Los Angeles & Alaska)

A few days before Christmas, Joy Winters gets fired from her job as a doctor in a Los Angeles hospital. Feeling depressed, when a mysterious man named Kris Kringle offers her and her daughter two tickets to Alaska for a truly magical and old-fashioned Christmas, she jumps at the chance. When she arrives and promptly crashes her car, she is delighted to be rescued by the mysterious Nicholas Wright and his amazing dog.

I really adored this genuinely magical and sweetly festive story where you really root for all the characters on their way to a delightfully happy ending.

This Christmas anthology is certainly not the best that I have read as many of the stories really lacked any festive touches at all! Having said that, I did find that the last story really captured the true spirit of Christmas and it was definitely the highlight of this book for me closely followed by Victoria Alexander’s tale.

Perhaps not a book that you would go out of your way to find, this is still a good collection of wintery stories that offer a pleasant enough read. 3 stars.

Secrets of a Proper Lady by Victoria Alexander

Greatly amusing romance

4 stars

In order to save the family from financial disaster, Lady Cordelia Bannister’s father arranges her marriage to a man she has never met – much to her annoyance. Not about to let anyone run her life, Cordelia poses as her companion to find out more about her intended through his secretary – a man who soon captures her attention. But what Cordelia doesn’t know is that the man she is falling in love with is actually her betrothed – American Mr Daniel Sinclair.

Daniel is sure that he will win the wager he has with his friends to be the last of them to wed. But he never expected to find love and he never expected that his courtship would be the most delightful and confusing game that he has ever played. With the biggest prize at the end.

This is the third book in Victoria Alexander’s Last Man Standing series (after A Little Bit Wicked and What A Lady Wants) although I did feel this book could stand alone more so than others in the series.

Daniel and Cordelia were both excellent characters and I thought they were exceedingly well matched pair. Their banter, wit and arguments were delightful and greatly amusing and had me laughing out loud on numerous occasions.

I also really liked the plot line of mistaken identity and the crazy situations that ensued as a result of the deceptions of both Cordelia and Daniel. However, having said that, the plot really seemed to drag at the start of the novel. But when the deceptions started to unravel, the story really warmed up and it was really worth waiting for.

All in all, this book is another great addition to the series and one that shows off Victoria Alexander’s unique blend of humour and wit. Funny and romantic with crazy situations – 4 stars.

What a Lady Wants by Victoria Alexander

Fun, fast paced and delightful

5 stars

Nigel Cavendish knows that he will be the last of his friends to marry - he's enjoying life, and women, far too much to commit to just one for the rest of his days.

When Lady Felicity Melville spies the handsome rake climbing from a neighbours window, with his conquest's enraged husband in hot pursuit - she knows that Nigel is the answer to her prayers. She always wanted a life of adventure and she is convinced Nigel is the man to give it to her.

So, with determination and a little help from fate, Felicity hatches a plan to make the infamous Mr Cavendish fall madly in love with her. But she gets her heart's desire in a way she never wished for when a stolen painting and an errant pistol shot mean that the pair suddenly find themselves forcibly wed.

Now Felicity must show her wayward husband that she is the only woman that he will ever want, or need.

This is the second book in Victoria Alexander's Last Man Standing series (after A Little Bit Wicked) which follows four men who have all wagered that they will be the last unmarried man in their group of friends.

Nigel and Felicity's story is delightful and full of Alexander's classic wit and banter. The way that Felicity and Nigel play off each other is so amusing and makes the book a real page turner.

Nigel, despite having what many would deem a slightly unusual name for a hero, is handsome, boyish and portrays a man who is very much confused when his life takes a turn he didn't anticipate. It's always nice to see a rake brought down by love! I also loved Felicity. She was honest and intelligent without ever coming across as a stereotypical bluestocking. The plot itself was fast paced, interesting and full of humour.

This book is a great addition to what is becoming a very good new series. If you're a fan of Victoria Alexander or even if you've never read her before, I'm sure that you will enjoy this fun and fast paced romance. 5 stars.

A Little Bit Wicked by Victoria Alexander

Light-hearted and Entertaining
4 stars

Gideon Pearsall, Viscount Warton is determined to win the wager with his friends to be the last man to remain unmarried of the four - but in the meantime he plans to enjoy a brief liaison with the scandalous widow, Judith, Lady Chester.

Judith has enjoyed life by her own rules and sees no problem with enjoying a no strings, no commitment, no emotions interlude with Gideon. But with marriage and love the furthest things from either of their minds it comes as quite a shock when they both realise that sometimes you cannot predict what fate has in store.


This book is the first in a new series from Victoria Alexander about four gentleman who are trying to avoid marriage by whatever means possible. Most of the characters first appeared in Let It Be Love but the book stands alone so you needn't have read that to understand this one.

The story is fun and light - it has the typical wit and humour that you would expect from a Victoria Alexander novel. I did feel that it seemed to take a while for the story to pick up speed but once it did get going it was very enjoyable. The story focuses mainly on the relationship between the two main characters and the way that they struggle with their feelings and their pasts in order to be with each other. Both Gideon and Judith are interesting, believable characters that do seem rather perfect for each other and their conflict and worries do seem genuine. With both the characters being experienced the pair jumped into their sexual relationship quite quickly although truthfully the love story was a little too sweet to be truly wicked!

As I am a fan of Victoria Alexander I found that I did enjoy what was essentially a fun, uncomplicated story. While maybe not her best novel it was light-hearted and entertaining and definitely worth a read if you're a fan or for something to take your mind off things for a while.