Review: All I Want for Christmas is a Duke by Delilah Marvelle & Maire Claremont
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 8, 2014
The details of the holiday season shine through in this lovely and sweetly sensual novella by new-to-me author, Delilah Marvelle.“The brightly lit windows before her were festively trimmed with thick garlands of holly and ivy that displayed a grand tiered variety of honey-glazed spice cakes, marzipan, eclairs, and dried candied fruit towers delicately kissed by sprinkled sugar.” (p57)Martin Pierce is, above all things, a kind and compassionate man, the true sign of a real hero in my book. It’s what Jane most remembers about him, despite their age difference.He always loved Jane but, because he is five years younger than she, he was afraid to reveal his true feelings. So he hid behind a facade of romantic and erotic letters, revealing his true passionate nature.“Tortured, romantic, and real.” (p125)Jane is an earl’s daughter who left her comfortable and privileged life to pursue a career in opera, a scandalous decision. When she believes she has met the man who is her Mr. X, the writer of her beloved love letters, she marries him, unknowingly breaking Martin’s heart (and later, when she realizes her mistake, her own).A sexy and sweet romance about true love that is right before your very eyes.The Twelve Days of Seduction By Màire ClaremontAlexander Hunt, Eighth Duke of Berresford, is aware his ward’s governess isn’t quite what she seems. Although Miss Flint is beautiful and intelligent, she misrepresented herself to gain employment, and he threatens to give her the sack mere days before Christmas.Desperate to convince the sexy duke not to tear her from the little girl she’s grown to adore, Adriana challenges him to seduce her before the Twelve Days of Christmas have come to an end, although she fears it may cost her heart. Alexander accepts the challenge, unconcerned that he has as much to lose, if not more, than the delectable Miss FlintThis is very much a Jane Eyre influenced story, with a strong-willed governess hiding a secret past and a handsome, entitled duke, with a young daughter. Màire Claremont, a relative newcomer to historical romance, has said that Charlotte Bronte’s classic story is one of her inspirations. In her dark Mad Passions series, set in Victorian England, her heroes and heroines are tortured souls who stumble on the path to  true love.Adriana, the  granddaughter of an earl, whose mother made a tragic love match, barely survived the rough streets of London. Yet she is a survivor and has made a respectable life for herself, rising to a position of governess, caring for Georgiana, the duke’s young ward. Yet Adriana also has a passionate side, which she reveals in her secretly-authored provocative stories, based on her life. When the duke discovers this, he threatens to throw her out but instead offers her the position of his mistress. She challenges him to twelve days to seduce her and, along the way, Alexander longs to discover the real Adriana even as he longs for her body.“No, his seduction had been of her very soul.” (p326)Adriana loves Alexander, but knows she must give him her body to keep her lifestyle. For his part, he wants her to want him for himself, not for a roof over her head. Each longs for love, but is afraid to let the other know their true feelings. Their sexual attraction is palpable and beautifully and sensually portrayed.The stigma of a handicap is a pivotal moment in the story, when Alexander supports Adriana’s impassioned defense of his daughter to a snobbish peer.“His dinner jacket, which likely would have fed a family in St. Giles for well over a year, barely wrinkled with his movement.” (p309)It is notable that, as today, the Christmas holidays were not always happy for everyone, even in history; for Adriana, it brings memories of a painful childhood.Alexander’s Christmas gift to Adriana is very beautiful and touching, if so very simple.“And yet, the present was incredibly intimate, one very personal to her.” (p286)And hers to him is just as intimate and meaningful.“Words were her altar, and she was sharing her most sacred beliefs with him.”  (p324)I very much enjoyed how each chapter opened with a homage to the song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas” with snippets of sensual eroticism:“On the Fourth Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me Touches Oh So Sinful” and “On the Sixth Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me Many Words of Mischief.”A few typos mar a beautiful story but not enough to be distracting. The cover, a stock photo apparently, is also the cover to Amara Royce’s wonderful Never Too Late.Memorable moments:”’I was born to be a duke,’ he said factually. ‘I’m a duke because of the fortune of my birth. You make me wish to be a better man. One of my making, not birth.’” (p301)“He had rescued her. He had walked down to her side and defended her as no other man had done in her entire life. And the feeling she felt was not of gratitude but of something infinitely more terrifying. Love. She felt love.” (p316)Two beautiful love stories that can be enjoyed any time of year.