The Duke Who Hates Christmas

Bianca Blythe

Sep 2022 · Holidays for Spinsters Book 1 · Bianca Blythe

About this ebook

A grumpy duke, a castle filled with spinsters, and a runaway bride. 

Miranda West didn’t plan to flee her own wedding. She didn’t even plan to wed. But when her aunt and uncle tell her they’ve secretly posted the banns on her behalf, she decides to flee. No matter if she looks ridiculous running in her loveliest gown down the streets of London looking for a hack, or if she has nowhere to go except her great-aunt’s crumbling castle on the coast. At least she can finally celebrate Christmas just like her parents always did and create a place for her fellow spinsters and bluestockings to escape their overbearing relatives.

Caspian Arundel, Duke of Concord, is furious. Women have commandeered the castle where his militia were planning to stay. Worse, the women want to celebrate Christmas. Caspian has no time for Christmas or women. Not when that beastly Bonaparte might attack any day. He has a particular dislike for Miranda West, the leader of this despicable group of females. She already ruined his cousin’s wedding, and clearly she has every intention of ruining his militia and ensuring he’ll never be able to return to the front.

If only she weren’t so enticing.

Ratings and reviews

I wasn't expecting much, but this was utter dribble.The premise of the book sounded interesting & I tend to read xmas books during the holiday season but it never quite got there.I was interested in the humor component, that the synopsis provided, but while there were parts where the potential humor was edging toward, the execution was lousy & it fell flat. I found Miranda to be flighty & w/o a backbone.I found Caspian to be underdeveloped & boring.There was no romance or sex scenes the author went as far as to have a whole pg that said only "much more than kissing".If ur going to write romance u need to have something about romance in there somewhere & usually a sex scene or to follows.I've never read Blythe before & I don't know that I'll pick her up again if this is what she writes. The story was rushed & underdeveloped, several potential plots were thrown in but never explored, maybe she always intended making this a series, fine, but u have to grab ur readers w/something or were not going to pick up the next book.The characters were not descriptive or developed. Blah.

Mirandas struggles to leave a suffocating life under her uncle and aunts guardianship, after her parents death. Caspians struggles to over come injuries suffered during the war. And the tragic lose of both his father and brother 💔 😢. can love heal them both and give them freedom and peace.

unusual and fun to read, enjoyed it very much.

About the author

Born in Texas, Bianca Blythe spent four years in England. She worked in a fifteenth-century castle, though sadly that didn't actually involve spotting dukes and earls strutting about in Hessians. 

She credits British weather for forcing her into a library, where she discovered her first Julia Quinn novel. She remains deeply grateful for blustery downpours. 

After meeting her husband in another library, she moved with him to sunny California, though on occasion she still dreams of the English seaside, scones with clotted cream, and sheep-filled pastures. For now, she visits them in her books.