Review: A sweet (clean) Christmas short story
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 22, 2014
A GIFT FOR LARA is set in December, 1875, London.  The premise of this sweet historical holiday romance is Lara Robinson's unrequited love for Miles Greystoke, the younger brother of her sister's husband.  They met four years earlier when the Greystoke family were guests at Blythe Manor prior to the wedding of Angelica (Lara's elder sister) and William Greystoke (Miles's elder brother).  While they were adolescents (about 14 years old) at the time of the wedding, they've both grown up in the intervening years.  Miles is a student at Cambridge with a desire to study veterinary medicine, and Lara and her twin sister Fiona anxiously await their first Season.  First season yet to come or not, Lara's heart is already lost to Miles.It's painful for Lara to see Miles again, especially at Christmastime when good will and family togetherness (and the shared joy of the infant nephew they share) force them to spend time together.  The story progresses nicely, revealing just enough of the back story such that the circumstances surrounding their youthful romance to make the present interesting.  S. G. Rogers did a beautiful job creating characters that are believable (yes, even at 18, Lara and Miles are both true to their characterizations, as is Fiona), a sweet and pure romance based on the quality time they spent together as young people, and secondary characters that illustrate the qualities the more mature pair have developed.  I enjoyed learning the significant differences in personalities between fraternal twins Lara and Fiona, and the qualities in Miles that won Lara's heart all over again.The story was made significantly stronger by the inclusion of a meaningful villain (enjoy the discovery of this story thread for yourself).  The story presented an enjoyable resolution brought about by natural events.  I wanted so much to see this satisfying conclusion, despite the rules of society, the stricture of their class (gentry)'s expectations of propriety, and all the history that had passed between them.  And this short story delivered!  The pair is still young for marriage (not unheard of for the era), but we're left with confidence that these two will be just fine.  It will all work out.  Their love story is back on the right path.Recommended to fans of historical romance, particularly Victorian London.