From the New York Times bestselling author of The Proposal and “rising star in the romance genre” (Entertainment Weekly) comes a dazzling new novel about a spontaneous holiday vacation that turns into an unforgettable romance.
Vivian Forest has been out of the country a grand total of one time, so when she gets the chance to tag along on her daughter Maddie’s work trip to England to style a royal family member, she can’t refuse. She’s excited to spend the holidays taking in the magnificent British sights, but what she doesn’t expect is to become instantly attracted to a certain private secretary, his charming accent, and unyielding formality.
Malcolm Hudson has worked for the Queen for years and has never given a personal, private tour—until now. He is intrigued by Vivian the moment he meets her and finds himself making excuses just to spend time with her. When flirtatious banter turns into a kiss under the mistletoe, things snowball into a full-on fling.
Despite a ticking timer on their holiday romance, they are completely fine with ending their short, steamy affair come New Year’s Day. . .or are they?
Source: advance e-galley provided in exchange for an honest review
The huge plus: this is a seasoned romance featuring Maddie’s mother (Maddie from book 3). I wasn’t expecting a story about her but I liked that this was the next step in the series. Also any book that features a close mother-daughter bond such as this one is so sweet and comforting.
The premise is that Maddie is temporarily hired on by a Duchess of England to fill in as her personal stylist for the Christmas season. Maddie is able to make special arrangements to have her mother Vivian join her on the trip so that they won’t be apart for the holidays. How on earth she pulled that off, who knows but that is the sweetest gesture and induces all sorts of warm fuzzies. Even better: they both get to say at Sandringham! I can get behind that. It’s an exciting opportunity and she wants to share this once in a lifetime experience with her mom.
Except that I didn’t ever feel like Maddie and Vivian were in England or at Sandringham, specifically. The descriptions given of their surroundings were so vague and there weren't enough details to transport me to this exclusive royal abode. It would've been nice to have had more elaboration in order to better appreciate a sense of its long history and the grandeur of what Vivian was witnessing in addition to her "oh wow" responses. There were loads of mentions of scones which, don't get me wrong, I love scones but that's not enough to make me believe I'm in England and staying at a royal residence. I also didn't feel a clear distinction between Vivian and Malcolm's voices, either, and therefore, I didn’t catch on to their chemistry.
I wanted to love this story but I didn't get swept up in it the way I was hoping I would. Travelling to London, staying at a royal residence...such an incredibly wondrous experience and during the most magical time of the year, too, and it feels like a missed opportunity. When I think about the four books I’ve read in this series, The Wedding Date still stands as the best one for me.
~ Bel
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