Virgin Unwrapped by Christine Merrill

A fair, quick romance
3 stars

Even the thought of Robert Breton sets Anne Clairemount’s heart racing and fills her with a scandalous heat. But he is the business partner of her fiancé and her family’s future happiness depends on her going through with the marriage even if her betrothed is cold and unfeeling.

Then Robert gives her a heartfelt kiss under the mistletoe and Anne is thrown into turmoil. Should she go through with the wedding to please her parents or grab hold of what is sure to be the love of a lifetime?


This short and sweet romance is the sequel to Christine Merrill’s A Regency Christmas Carol. I’ve never read the first book and this one still made perfect sense so I don’t suppose you need to read them in order.

Having said that, it is obvious that Anne and Robert’s story had to fit around things that occurred in the other story – things that didn’t really make sense if you hadn’t read it beforehand. I also get the impression that these two characters, or at the very least Anne, weren’t painted in a flattering light in the first book which meant that some character traits were attempted to be explained away in this one. It made for some disjointed reading at times.

I also wasn’t overly fond of Robert if I’m honest. He was a little bit harsh and unfeeling of Anne and even towards the very end he expected the worst of her. I also felt that he took advantage of Anne’s innocence which made the sex scenes a little flat for me.

This was a short story that was a quick and ultimately satisfying read. I didn’t feel much emotional attachment to the characters but the story is worth a read at the price. 3 stars.

Lady Drusilla's Road to Ruin by Christine Merrill

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Basic and forgettable historical romance
3 stars

Lady Drusilla Rudney has given up any thoughts of her own Season or successful marriage in order to look after her pretty and vivacious but silly younger sister. So when her sister decides to elope, the only thing that Dru can do is follow her and try to prevent the marriage.

Ex-army captain John Hendricks is intrigued by the prim yet beautiful damsel in distress he finds sitting across from him on the mail coach to Scotland. Agreeing to help her in her mad dash is no real hardship. However giving her up when they have to return to their real lives might just be the hardest thing he’s ever had to do.


This appears to be the second book in a series after Lady Folbrooke’s Delicious Deception. Although the couple from that book appear in this one, you don’t have to have read the first one to understand this one.

While this book passed the time, I’m afraid that I found it quite basic and ultimately forgettable. Dru was a nice enough character – feisty without ever conforming to a stereotype. I also liked that John was a strong, un-titled man but his glasses gave him a sweet, studious edge. I wanted the pair to have chemistry but I just didn’t believe that they felt anything for each other, other than perhaps lust.

Halfway through the book I started to wonder what on earth was going to fill the rest of the book and that is never the sign of a riveting and enthralling story. There was also a fair number of jarring Americanisms throughout the book which pulls you from the story.
Overall this was an easy enough read with a basic plot that just didn’t seem to rise to any sort of high level. 3 stars.