Product Description

A Kiss Was Only The First Gift Shy Eleanor Glover is astounded when wickedly handsome Geoffrey Westerly, Lord Staines, asks for her hand. Yet he makes it plain that he wants nothing more than a sensible wife—and a Christmas Eve wedding to please his dying father. With three beautiful sisters and a dearth of suitors herself, Eleanor does not refuse—yet she soon fears that despite Geoffrey's generous promise to give her anything her heart desires, he won't offer the one thing she truly wants…his love. Eleanor's reserve is a challenge to Geoffrey—he once loved another woman, and believes his passionate nature scared her away. Yet when he finds Eleanor seated beneath a mistletoe bough, tradition demands that he pluck a berry and kiss her. He doesn't anticipate his lovely bride's warm response, but as the wedding draw nears, he resolves to present the surprisingly strong-willed Eleanor with a gift far more meaningful than a betrothal ring…his heart.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2163328 in Books
• Published on: 2001-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Review
"...one of those must-read books.... It will warm your heart and make you smile." -- Jani Brooks, Romance Reviews Today

"Her tale of...the blossoming of a love destined to last forever proves compelling, heartwarming, and not to be missed." -- Judith Landsdowne, best selling author of The Mystery Kiss

About the Author
Shannon Donnelly grew up with the perfect education for a Regency sportswoman, learning to ride, fence and shoot (the last courtesy of an uncle who collected flintlocks). A Compromising Situation, her first published Regency from Zebra, won the Romance Writers of America's national Golden Heart contest, Regency category. She also won Grand Prize in the Minute Maid Sensational Romance Writer contest, judged by Nora Roberts, which earned her a trip to Paris. Her abiding passions include--beside writing--a husband, three dogs, reading, gardening, and the ever present horses in her life.

Customer Reviews

Couldn't Put it Down! A Keeper!
Predictable in many ways as Regency novels are, I still found the main characters compelling. Both try to fight their growing attraction for each other. Although not really spending much time together, the little things they find out make them fall in love. Throw in a little unrequited love, growing passion & some jealousy and I felt the tale was splendid! What is Eleanor going to request of Geoffrey? How can this work out? I had to finish it to find out the answers. I hope Shannon Donnelly will continue with novels about the remaining siblings!

an exquisitely heart warming Regency romance
Geoffrey Westerby, Lord Staines, needs to get married as soon as possible: his father is dying and the old man's sole wish is to see his eldest son safely settled before he dies. And while Geoffrey is determined to set his father's mind at ease by presenting him with a daughter-in-law, finding a sensible woman who will make a good countess, and be willing to settle for a marriage based on respect and some affection but not love, is not that easy at all. Having been rejected by the woman that he loves, Geoffrey has decided to turn his back on the notion of a marriage based on love, and has decided to settle for a comfortable one instead. And so, he decides to ask for the hand in marriage of Eleanor Glover, the daughter of one of his father's friends. And when he sees the shy and demure and rather plain Eleanor, Geoffrey congratulates himself that he has settled on exactly the 'right' kind of wife.

Eleanor however, is not the person that Geoffrey thinks she is -- yes, she is shy and demure, but alas, she is not a very sensible woman, for kind hearted Eleanor has fallen in love with the very handsome but sad Geoffrey Westerly. Deciding to hide her love for Geoffrey, Eleanor agrees to marry him, hoping that her love will be enough for the both of them. However that is before she realises that Geoffrey is actually suffering from a broken heart. And then Geoffrey's father decides that Eleanor will not make Geoffrey a good enough wife, and decides to interfere. With such overwhelming odds against her, will shy, plain and kind hearted Eleanor be able to hold out and make this marriage work? Or will an interfering old man prove too much for her? In the meantime, Geoffrey is beginning to realise that his wife-to-be is not the colourless woman he thought she was. He begins to first appreciate her kindness; this slowly develops into a need to protect and cherish her. Could Eleanor be the cure for his shattered heart?

"Under the Kissing Bough" is a wonderfully warm and tender love story about how a plain and shy young lady is able to capture the affections of her husband-to-be because of her kind and loving heart. It made for wonderful reading to see Geoffrey slowly realise what a gem Eleanor truly was, and how lucky he was to have found her. And it was satisfying to see Eleanor (finally) win Geoffrey's love and esteem. Both characters are well portrayed; and I liked the pace at which Shannon Donnelly allowed for the romance to develop between them. The different obstacles she threw at the couple (Geoffrey's infatuation with another woman, interfering relatives, Eleanor's unconventionality, etc) added zest to this otherwise run-of-the-mill plot, and made this a much more exciting and compelling romance novel. "Under the Kissing Bough" was a really first-class Regency romance, and just the thing for a recommended holiday read!

Ho hum..........
I did manage to finish this but only just - as a lover of regency Christmas stories, I always am willing to give them a chance. Sadly, this one did not live up to expectations. It was not so much that the story was inadequate as that the writer seemed to be trying too hard to make us engage with her characters. Sorry to say that Geoffrey (one of my least favourite male forenames!) was boring, did not spark any attraction to me as the reader and Eleanor and her band of E-sisters (wasn't that cute - all the females in her family had a forename starting with E - yuck!) were too 21st century in their actions and thus annoying in the extreme. I always think it curious how American writers of English-set Christmas regencies over-do it on the Christmas traditions, particularly the mistletoe or kissing bough - and there's always lots of snow! A white Chrismas here in England is pretty rare so it's kind of amusing to read these stories set in such idealised settings.

Getting back to the story, I felt that a man like Geoffrey who allowed himself to believe he is some sort of ogre because a passionless woman shrank from a kiss was a bit juvenile. And why did we not get an explanation as to why the regrettable Cynthia married such a jerk as the totally incomprehensible rector?

Oh well, another contribution for the charity shop.