Review: The Captain’s Holiday Homecoming by Meg Mardell

Title: The Captain’s Holiday Homecoming

Series: Christmas Masquerade: Book Four

Author: Meg Mardell

Length: 97 Pages

Category: Historical, Holiday Romance

Rating: 3.5 Stars

At a Glance: The heart of this story is also its appeal. Kindness and empathy are its hallmarks. That I wanted more isn’t a criticism, merely a wish gone unfulfilled.

Reviewed By: Lisa

Blurb: Can a Christmas reunion prove the fresh start they both need?

Back at his overcrowded Devonshire family home during the holidays, single father Baz Luscombe seeks the privacy of the barn on Christmas Eve for a moment’s peace. And to serenade the horses with some songs of the season on his violin. Which is an entirely normal thing to do. He’s not prepared for his audience to include a mysterious man taking shelter from the cold. Even half frozen and weak from hunger, the impressive stranger would make any sane person keep their distance. He even looks a bit like a pirate captain. Or it might just be his hat. As wary introductions give way to conversation, the rambling Baz and the taciturn captain find a strange solace in each other’s company. Are they even strangers?

Captain Nathaniel Kendall left Salcombe Bay with boyish hopes of restoring his family’s fortunes. Misadventure at sea left him with no other option than to stay away for good. When news comes that his sister has returned to the old family home and its attendant ghosts, Nathaniel finally loses his resolve to never again set foot in Devon again. But the road home after nearly two decades away is never straightforward, and an arctic gale blows him off course. Finding shelter in a barn, his relief only lasts until the entrance of Lord Basil, his childhood neighbour. Now how can Nathaniel protect his secrets when faced with the disarming charm and humbling generosity of a man like Baz?

As the lantern light burns low, and the hours tick down until the dawn of Christmas Day, both men will need to discover why this secret holiday encounter feels like coming home.

Review: The Captain’s Holiday Homecoming is a novella that I liked very much for what it is, yet still lamented for what it might have been if it had delved a bit deeper into its characters’ backstories. In fact, for better or worse, the blurb reveals quite a lot of what the story itself offers.

Baz Luscombe and Nathaniel Kendall’s reunion isn’t a case of mistaken identity, more so it’s that too many years have gone by since their boyhood days for Baz to recognize the stowaway “pirate” in his barn. But that doesn’t keep Baz from flirting with and teasing Nathaniel and, more importantly, giving him food and shelter.

Nathaniel is a hurting character with a past that I wanted in more detail. What’s offered is undoubtedly compelling but also spare, and readers are left to infer a bit on top of what Nathaniel tells us. He is in obvious need of the sort of soft comfort found in the warmth of home and family and the Christmas season, and Baz is the one to provide. Baz is ridiculously charming, has a habit of serenading his horses. He has a teasing, rambling nature that is the antithesis of Nathaniel’s quiet reserve. Eventually, perhaps inevitably, that brightness draws Nathaniel out.

The heart of this story is also its appeal. Kindness and empathy are its hallmarks. That I wanted more isn’t a criticism, merely a wish gone unfulfilled.

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