title: A Regency Christmas: Five New Stories
author: Barbara Metzger
description: This is a thoroughly charming collection of Regency romances set at Christmastime, each lively and heartwarming without being too sweetly sentimental. Barbara Metzger brings energy, humor, and skill to her exceptional story, "Three Good Deeds," in which a young widow's three sons atone for breaking the vicar's window by reuniting their mother with her former love, the heir to the local manor. Carla Kelly captivates readers in "The Christmas Ornament," an insightful, funny, and moving story of a well-intentioned young man of a scholarly bent whose awkward attempts  to court a childhood friend leads them on an erratic course to perfect understanding. In "Felicity's Forfeit," Elisabeth Fairchild uses traditional Christmas games to unite an American Southern belle and a responsible English lord, who refuses to place his need for money above his desire for love, despite his family's mysteriously lost funds. Author Allison Lane provides a "Second Chance" for a governess with a sad and secret past and an earl's younger son, whom she loved and lost years ago. And in "Hounds of Heaven," Edith Layton gives a large and devoted puppy named Titania the unique task of teaching a proud but obtuse lord--whose marriage proposal has been inexplicably rejected--a much-needed lesson about the true nature of fidelity and the real blessings of love. <i>--Ellen Edwards</i>
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  Author's Note
  
  When A Partridge in a Pear Tree was first released, back in 2002, I was a
  brand new baby-author! I had just published my first two books with Signet
  Regencies, and felt like I was just learning to walk in a new, scary, exciting
  world. Mostly exciting, though—I had loved the Regency period ever since I
  came across an old copy of Emma at my grandmother's house, and getting to
  write stories set in that world, and share them with people who loved it as
  much as I do, was wonderful. It was even more exciting when I was asked to
  take part in Signet's annual Christmas anthology, which I eagerly devoured
  every holiday season! To have my story appear with those of some of my writing
  idols, like Carla Kelly, Barbara Metzger, and Edith Layton was a dream come
  true.
  
  I still re-read these stories every Christmas. There's nothing like a holiday
  Regency romance, with a cozy blanket and some hot cocoa by the tree! I hope
  you like taking another look at my Partridge. It