His Lordship's Holiday Surprise

by Kate Huntington

A woman searching for the sister who's saddled her with three children for Christmas, appears on a rake's doorstep...and gets her own wonderful holiday surprise. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 082177493X
• ISBN13: 9780821774939
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Zebra Books
• Length: 222 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 4.1" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

An Unexpected Delivery

'Tis the season to be merry, but Miss Augusta Oglethorpe is anything but - thanks to her ninny of a sister who has dashed off to heave knows where, leaving her three young children behind Her upcoming Christmas plans now in total chaos, Augusta decides enough is enough. Children in tow, she appears at teh doorstep of Richard, Marquess of Ardath, convinced that's where she'll find her beautiful widowed sister in defiant dishabille. A Most Precious Gift Certainly, witnessing Clarissa's prim, bluestocking of a sister rip into her with all the fury and passion of a termagant was almost worth the hurt of being jilted by Clarissa herself. But alas, here he is, bitter, jaded, and most decidedly alone. So where is Clarissa? As Augusta and RIchard forge a tentative alliance to search for her and try to tend to her three rambunctions children, something warm and wonderful begins to happen. Is it just the Christmas spirit and the joy of beaming young fances? Or perhaps the herald of new love? This book was an unexpected pleasure. It's languished on my shelf for several holiday seasons until I recently opened it and was surprised. It was not a run-of-the-mill holiday regency. The characters were well drawn and very human, their reactions understandable and humerous in the best way. I was happy with how the arthur resolved the central dilemma - it could have been done poorly and undermined the story, but instead it was the perfect ending to wrap things up. Definitely a holiday star.

All charm and children too

Augusta Oglethorpe is stranded with her widowed sister, Clarissa's three small children just before Christmas. She invades the hunting box of Richard the Marquess of Ardath, who she knows had been pursuing Clarissa. He indeed had been, with certain intentions that included marriage. Alas, for both parties, she is not there nor in fact anywhere to be found.The weeks until Christmas that ensue prove to be both eventful and eye-opening for Augusta the bluestocking and Richard the rake. Poor Augusta's bemused invasion by the children was well done, (deserted by both her cat and her personal maid!).Well of course the pair fall very easily in love with the children as well as each other. In fact Richard rather over does the fond 'father' and practically lives in the quartet's pockets. This was a charming story, with both hero and heroine nicely drawn (if a little lightly). The three children are not horribly good or bad, convincingly childish without being twee. My only complaint in this regard, was that both the adults were far to lenient with the little creatures, apparently being unable to resist melting looks and beseeching big eyes.This and also the very strange fact of just why Richard would want to marry a widow with three very young children kept the story from the five stars. Huntington gives the standard explantion of Richard thinking Clarissa as good a match as any and that he lusted after her - but the children really stretched this piece of conventionality.A light, charming, entertaining confection in keeping with the Christmas setting.

The sweetest rake

Miss Augusta Oglethorpe, bluestocking and spinster, has just received the surprise of a lifetime. Her sister just left 3 children on her doorstep! Augusta knows very little about children, and rarely saw her young nieces and nephews. She needs to find her sister--AND FAST.She expects to find her sister with Richard, the Marquess of Ardath. Augusta always thought he was a no-good rogue, and never approved of her sister's beau. However, Clarissa (her sister) is not with him. Rather, he has just been jilted by her!Her sister's children seem to adore Richard, who offers his assistance until Clarissa is found. Together, they try to make the best of the Christmas season with the 3 children.... whose mother may or may not come back.Kate Huntington gives us another charming story, which I can comfortably call one of the best Christmas Regencies I've ever read. It's sweet, funny, heart-warming and touching. It's not predictable, and the precocious children are delightful (even the sometimes bratty 4-year-old, Cynthia). The ending was slightly rushed, but that hardly seemed to matter in light of everything else. If you only read one book for the holidays, I'd recommend this one.

a charming & enjoyable read

It's that time of year again, when bookstores are flooded with Christmas titles (even if it is early Oct). This year, I made the happy choice of reading Kate Huntington's "His Lordship's Holiday Surprise" first. It turned out to be a good decision on my part because the novel was a truly satisfying read -- romantic, whimsical and full of Christmassy good cheer.Miss Augusta Oglethrope is literally at her wit's end: her nit-witted younger sister (Clarissa) has suddenly decamped London (in order to 'think'), and has left Augusta in sole charge of her three rambunctious children. Determined to find her sister, Augusta grimly makes for the Marquess of Ardath's hunting lodge, sure that her sister has abandoned her children in order to romp with the rakish Ardath. But her hopes are completely dashed when she finds a morose and dejected Ardath and no sign of Clarissa at all (Ardath had proposed marriage to Clarissa, but instead of accepting his offer with all alacrity, the merry widow had rejected Ardath, and he has been comforting himself with alcohol). Augusta is tired and scared and not at all sure what to do next, when Ardath chivalrously steps forward and offers her his help -- he will get the Bow Street Runners to begin searching for Clarissa, and help Augusta care for her niece and nephews. As the days pass with no news from Clarissa, and as Augusta, Ardath and the children try to cope with Clarissa's bewildering absense, something unexpected develops between the no nonsense bluestocking and the rakish Ardath: friendship and mutual respect. In fact their relationship is on the threshold of developing into something warmer and a lot more satisfying. But at the back of both their minds is the worry about Clarissa's fate and whereabouts. Where is Clarissa? Is she all right? And what will Augusta and Ardath do when Clarissa returns and decides that she wants to marry Ardath afterall?"His Lordship's Holiday Surprise" was a very satisfying read. The story was a good one, and the manner in which Kate Huntington fleshed out her characters and the romance between Ardath and Augusta -- tentative and flirtatious in parts, and yet with that romantic sizzle we all would like our romantic heroes and heroines to have -- absolutely brilliant. I also thought that the authour had done a good job in conveying Augusta's panic when she realizes just how much the children have (and will) changed her life (esp if Clarissa never returns). And the manner in which Kate Huntington gradually revealed the full scope of Ardath's character -- from rakish and seemingly a care-for-naught at the beginning of the book, to a responsible and caring gentleman in subsequent chapters -- was really well done. The only character I wasn't partial to was Augusta's niece, Cynthia. I know the child was only supposed to be four, but I had rather hoped that Augusta would have dealt with some of Cynthia's less than desirable characteristics. But then you can't have everything!All in all, "His Lo