Title: Yuletide Truce
Author: Sandra Schwab
Publisher: Self-Published
Length: 68 Pages
Category: Holiday Romance, Historical
At a Glance: If you’re not in the mood for a Christmas romance right now, keep this one on your nice list, happy ending guaranteed.
Reviewed By: Lisa
Blurb: London, 1845
It’s December, Alan “Aigee” Garmond’s favorite time of the year, when the window display of the small bookshop where he works fills up with crimson Christmas books and sprays of holly. Everything could be perfect — if it weren’t for handsome Christopher Foreman, the brilliant writer for the fashionable magazine About Town, who has taken an inexplicable and public dislike to Aigee’s book reviews.
But why would a man such as Foreman choose to target reviews published in a small bookshop’s magazine? Aigee is determined to find out. And not, he tells himself, just because he finds Foreman so intriguing.
Aigee’s quest leads him from smoke-filled ale-houses into the dark, dingy alleys of one of London’s most notorious rookeries. And then, finally, to Foreman. Will Aigee be able to wrangle a Yuletide truce from his nemesis?
Review: I am such a fan of Christmas in September—or, of the holiday stories, at least—and this sweet little morsel of an enemies-to-lovers romance has thrust me right into the spirit of the season.
I felt such a kinship with Alan ‘Aigee’ Garmond, based in our shared affinity for books and our love of writing about them. Aigee doesn’t have a formal education, not one that might lend credence to his opinion of the books he reviews for Munro’s Magazine, the small paper published by the bookstore where he works, but that doesn’t stop him for sharing his love of those he reads. It doesn’t matter if everyone, or anyone, agrees with his opinions; it only matters that what he writes about those books is his truth, and that becomes the focus of Christopher Forman’s very public animosity towards the amateur reviewer.
Christopher works for a much larger publication, and has taken to criticizing Aigee in his writing. Christopher’s words are his weapons, and he belittles Aigee’s opinions, and insults the cheerful and optimistic man at every opportunity. I like how this played into the timing of the story because these sorts of public feuds did happen—Oscar Wilde and the artist James Whistler carried on a rather famous one. It’s the 19th century’s version of trolling on social media, yet somehow more civilized. The way things finally come to a head between Aigee and Christopher was not only touching but put ‘Kit’ in the uncomfortable position of feeling ashamed for his behavior.
Personal preferences being what they are, I’d have liked to have had a bit more story development, after the cease in hostilities between these two very different men and before the sex. Aigee is such a kind and gentle man, humble and endearing, and he gave Kit an easy pass on his boorish behavior. But, if you’re prepared to give up some deeper exposition and allow for the season and good will towards his fellow man being enough to build a relationship on, this book will work just fine for you. That’s what makes holiday romances so warm and fuzzy, after all, and why the book is called Yuletide Truce.
If you’re not in the mood for a Christmas romance right now, keep this one on your nice list. It’s a happy ending guaranteed.
You can buy Yuletide Truce here:
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