#REVIEW - A Christmas Reunion by Susanna Fraser

DESCRIPTION:

Gabriel Shephard has never forgotten his humble origins. So when he discovers a war orphan at Christmastime, he resolves to find a home for her even if that means asking help from the very family who found and raised him, only to cast him out for daring to love the wrong woman.

Lady Catherine Trevilan has spent five years poring over the British Army's casualty list, dreading the day she sees Gabe's name. She's never forgotten him, and she's never forgiven herself for not running away with him when she had the chance, though she's agreed to a marriage of convenience with a more suitable man.

When Gabe returns home on Christmas leave just days before Cat's wedding, a forbidden kiss confirms their feelings haven't been dimmed by distance or time. But Cat is honor-bound to another, and Gabe believes she deserves better than a penniless soldier with an orphan in tow. How can Cat reconcile love and duty? She must convince Gabe she'd rather have him than the richest lord in all of England.

My Take:

4 Stars!

This book is only an 80 page novella that takes place during the 19th century, and it had a little hotness to it! If you are looking for a clean romance, then I would skip this one. I could see this turned into a complete novel, really, the storyline was that good. I’m kind of disappointed that this book wasn’t longer for that fact there is a huge twist in this story that it is so shocking! That made this little novella one I won’t forget! It is SO shocking, you never even expect it, and it completely comes out of the blue because this book is so short that we don’t have complete character development on ‘all’ the characters. If this were a full novel, then maybe you might have seen it coming,, so it’s probably best this was kept as a novella after all!
Gabe, a soldier, due to the war, travels to all kinds of different places. One day while on a ship, he ends up finding about an 18 month old curly haired live baby clinging to her dead mother on the bottom of the ship. Gabe could not bear the thought of taking this baby to an orphanage to live like he did when he was young. He takes this baby home with him and they bond something fierce. As for plans for the future for this cute little baby, he wasn’t sure yet, but they took to each other very strongly. She loves him so much that when he would leave and come back from war, the baby, who he named Ellen, would run to him, wanting him to pick her up and she would just cling to him, never wanting to let go of him! I can just imagine seeing how sweet that is!

Lady Catherine Trevilan, a long time friend of Gabe's since childhood could not keep this highly sought after, extremely handsome soldier, Gabe, out of her mind for the five years he was in the war fighting, despite her being engaged to a very rich man, Anthony. She would check  the newspapers daily for men lost at war, all worried about him. Now that Gabe is back home from the war, with Ellen, everyone is happy.

Next we learn a little about Anthony who is Catherine’s fiance’, but not much. In the meantime, we learn Catherine is still deeply attracted to Gabe, and she is struggling with this as her wedding keeps getting so close, especially as Christmas seems to keep getting closer, too. While Gabe and Catherine were alone together one evening, Gabe told her he didn’t think Anthony seemed to be the right kind of man for her, and Catherine kind of melts a little hearing this come from him, when next a very lustful kiss occurs between them that left me, the reader, thinking, 'bring it on!' (No, this is not a typical ‘clean’ romance, for those of you that prefer them. This one had a little bit of heat to it, but that didn’t bother me, as you just read!) During this deep, lustful kiss, it is gave her some feelings of guilt later, but then again she loved it, too! (Ooops! I should have said, 'the kiss should not have happened! It HAD to happen, though! This IS a romance novel, of course! LOL!) The kiss did leave her longing for more from Gabe! He got her all flustered! She enjoyed every part of that kiss, but she did end up feeling guilty about it! UGH!!! Honestly, if another man other than your fiance' kisses you that lustfully, and it makes you feel that hot and bothered, it should tell you the man you are going to marry may not be the right guy and you better be listening to your gut unless you don't mind divorcing later when it doesn't work out, and divorce back then just did NOT happen! This does make me know Anthony is NOT the man for her! I DO want her to go with Gabe! 
The problem, though, is she ends up constantly asking herself the question about whether or not she should have kissed Gabe or not, and if she should or shouldn't marry Anthony, and she kept saying this over and over! It did get rritating! That part kind of drove me crazy, the repetitiveness of asking herself the 'same' question over and over! Perhaps this could have been edited down a bit, but then it would make the book shorter, too.

Anthony is a man who is extremely dedicated to his work in Parliament, or is he?

This is when the HUGE SHOCKING TWIST happens that you’ll NEVER guess or forget! Catherine sees this with her own eyes and is in utter shock at first! I can’t say one word about this or else it will completely spoil it for you! You will never guess ahead of time what it was, either! WHOA!!! You will have to read the book! I think I'm doing pretty good NOT giving you one clue as to what it is, either! This came completely out of the blue! Now her future would be awfully bleak if she does marry him. She would ‘only’ be a facade for a wife after giving him his two children. NOT a way to live the rest of your life!

This is a nice holiday read you’ll enjoy and again, won’t forget! I received this book from the publisher, Carina Press, through NetGalley! ENJOY!!

ebook: $1.99
No print version at this time