A Midwinter Ball

Series: Timeless Regency Collection, Book 2

By: Heidi Ashworth, Annette Lyon, Michele Paige Holmes / Narrated By: Sarah Zimmerman

Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins

Well, two outta three stories ain’t bad…

I could not wait to do winter-themed audiobooks to celebrate Winter for our Seasons of Life. Uhm, that is: I could not wait to do A Midwinter Ball as it’s part of the Timeless Regency Collection which, if it’s like the All Regency Collection, has topnotch authors writing clean and sweet romances, with usually jolly decent narration (Mary Jane Wells, anyone?!!!). So I waited breathlessly for when I actually had some extra time for the Season (Summer sped by; ditto Autumn). Waited, waited, worked and waited, and finally here I was; and I dived right into this collection of three novellas.

And went kerSPLAT!!! with the very first story. So booo, hissss.

“Much Ado About Dancing” is a ridiculously constructed novella written by the otherwise decent Heidi Ashworth. Analisa is a ticked off young woman who was “claimed” by a Lord Northrup who threatened and scattered all other men away from her before he took himself off to the Continent for close to two years, writing lovelorn letters to her, which she never even broke the seals of. He comes back for a Christmas (Which strikes me as early winter, not MIDwinter, but what do I know?!) house party, and pretty soon Analisa is sneering at him, tho’ she kinda feels drawn to him. She laughs, tho’ she kinda feels like crying. She flirts with other men, tho’ she kinda feels like maaaaybe she wants Lord Northrup. And when he kinda sorta stops throwing himself at her? She kinda feels, like, whaaaa? It’s all about meeeeee, isn’t it? Lord Northrup! Lord Northrup! It’s meeeee! No, I’ll lie straight to your face and tell you I read your letters but will then feel all low and maaaaybe a tad guilty when I’m caught out. But reeeally: It’s all about meeeee, isn’t it?

So, see? I found the writing to be all over the place, and Analisa’s coldness here, warmth there, confusion (Which she ALWAYS acts on in stupid ways) all around got very grating, and I couldn’t see why Northrup would even want her once he saw what she became over the previous two years (Apparently, she was high and mighty, even after stints of graciously saving young boys and, probably, kittens and puppies…). Nope, didn’t like and happily moved on to:

“Sweeter Than Any Dream” by Annette Lyon where Olivia Wallington is a spinster at 28-years old and who lives under the thumb of her demanding and oppressive mother and aunt who WILL keep her homebound, though she dreams of life, and love, and a hero. Whilst out doing a surreptitious good deed, a mishap brings Edward Blakemoore to her rescue, and after a brief and intelligent exchange, Olivia dashes away. Later a ball occurs that her brother and his wife have snuck her out of the house to attend, and Edward is overwhelmed that the lady he hasn’t been able to stop thinking about is the Miss Olivia who he’s just danced with (An allusion to “Frankenstein” seals the deal). But will he be able to get past her fears?

Charmingly written, with a definite “Cinderella”-type thing going on, how could I not like it? Still, it was just okay in that there were no surprises with the plotting, the characters, the general unfolding of the story. Which brings us to the awesome:

“An Invitation to Dance” by Michele Paige Holmes. I’m not gonna say much about it cuz it TRULY unfolds in the sweetest most deliciously satisfying way. Our heroine is the hoydenish Lady Ella who’s been living without a mother’s care (dead) and a father’s guidance (off journeying throughout distant lands in his extreme grief). A fiancé who died many, many years earlier left a letter of affection for her, four hundred pounds for necessities, and the declaration that his family and his best friend find her a suitable husband during the current winter. She soon has a secret admirer, but really, it’s hard for her to get close to anyone, so when the admirer asks her to make herself available for a dance at midnight, she’s not sure she can go against her heart, even though the words of each missive are so very compelling.

It’s well-crafted, emotionally evocative, and I TOTally sniffled with delighted tears at the way things turned out. Cuz sometimes things are bittersweet, and sometimes the hardest situations can bring the happiest endings.

All of these novellas are performed well by veteran romance narrator Sarah Zimmerman and, while she’s no Mary Jane Wells, she does a fine job. Sure, she couldn’t make the characters or writing in the first story compelling, make me wanna throttle Analisa any less, but she made me root for Olivia and Edward in the second story, and absolutely swept me away with the final one.

Not suuuure that two out of three stories makes for a credit well-spent, but A Midwinter Ball comes in Audible’s Escape romance package, so you can check it out for free. In my own case, I got the kindle cheap and the audiobook that was offered with it for cheaper still. So I don’t begrudge the pittance paid for this.

And even exasperation considered? I really don’t begrudge the time.

Which probably says it better than all my grousing and griping does.

‘Tain’t all that bad, really…!