Review: A Winter Scandal by Candace Camp

From the Back Cover:

The first in New York Times bestselling author Candace Camp’s new Regency trilogy is a Christmas love story featuring a couple who find an abandoned baby in a manger—who may lead them to the truth in their own hearts.

Thea is a vicar’s daughter, dutiful to a fault—even if sometimes she tires of caring for everyone around her. One snowy day in December, Thea goes to church to check on the nativity scene—and finds a crying baby nestled in the manger! The babe has no identification other than a signet ring belonging to Gabriel, the local lord. Before Thea can think twice, she snatches up the child and marches off to give the earl a piece of her mind.

Gabriel at first thinks the windblown, furious woman who appears in his hall is accusing him of fathering her child—but it soon becomes clear that the baby is not his. Then how did the child come to have Gabriel’s ring wrapped in its swaddling? Gabriel, a bachelor, has no notion of how to care for an infant and begs Thea for her continued help. As the two work together to search for his rightful parents, they are powerfully drawn to one another. Gabriel can’t help but admire Thea’s fresh, striking beauty and her tender heart, while Thea daydreams about more than a friendship with the bold but honorable lord. But someone is determined to keep them from finding the truth about this wayward baby—even if it means silencing one or both of them for good.

My Thoughts:

I have really lucked out with my Christmas romance selections this year, and I finished with the best of them all. You know what I like best about this one? It's really, truly about Christmas. It doesn't feel like a romance with a Christmas theme tacked on; it's a real Christmas story with the added bonus of a terrific love story. In fact, it has all the right elements blended perfectly to create one excellent Christmas romance.

It begins with a Christmas ball and a real baby found abandoned in the nativity manger--how great a beginning is that? The romantic leads are well-developed--Thea, the vicar's sister, suffering from a case of perceived ugly duckling syndrome disguised with a sharp tongue, and Gabriel, the jaded lord seeking respite from the falseness of London's high society. It was great fun to watch their banter grow into true regard and affection as they worked together to track down the child's missing mother. It has an idyllic English countryside village setting, full of Christmas traditions and holiday cheer. Intriguing supporting characters, realistic romance, steamy sexual tension and smokin' hot lovin', an unpredictable mystery with a surprise twist I didn't see coming, and a wonderfully romantic ending.

It made me laugh, it made my cry--it was the perfect book to curl up with in front of the fire on this cold weekend before Christmas, and I am looking forward to the next book in this series!     

My Rating:  5 Stars out of 5