Summary:
Mary Beckwith lives in a
magnificent English castle during the twilight years of the gilded age. With
the help of an American millionaire, she has succeeded in renovating her
beloved Whitefriars castle into a splendid estate just in time for Christmas.
From across the ocean, millionaire Everett
Wooten has spent a fortune propping up Whitefriars to add modern conveniences
and rebuild crumbling old walls. Even though he’s never met Mary, they have
enjoyed a lively business correspondence over the nine years they have been
working toward a renovation. Now he has finally come to see Mary and the castle
in person, but nothing is as he was led to believe.
Mary and Everett try to find a way forward, but
red-blooded American entrepreneurship doesn’t always mingle with blue-blooded
English tradition. Can a Manhattan business tycoon and an English lady come to
an accord, or will their joint venture in Whitefriars result in heartbreak for
them both?
Book Review:
Mary Beckwith is trying to
renovate Whitefriars castle, her childhood home. It’s a huge undertaking and
she is trying to do it on her own with occasional advice and yearly allowance
from American businessman Everett Wooten. The funding never seems to be enough
and Mary plans to rent out rooms to earn extra money. She is working hard to
get the rooms ready for the paying guests. Going through mail, she discovers
that Mr Wooten is in York, an hour’s carriage ride from the castle, waiting to
speak to her about a possible breach of contract with his luxury food supply
company. He considers the taking in of paying guests to be destroying his
company’s exclusive food label named Whitefriars.
In the running up to Christmas, Mary and her brother Colin Beckwith, goes to
York to meet with Mr. Wooten. She finds it very challenging to go anywhere
outside the castle grounds because of her anxiety disorder. Surprisingly she
finds Mr. Wooten to be very understanding and supportive as she has an anxiety
attack in the York hotel lobby. After the meeting, she invites him to Whitefriars
to look at his investment and the state of the castle after nine years of
renovation. He is unimpressed with his first impression of the castle and
totally opposed to taking in paying guests.
Christmas is Mary’s favorite time of year
because this is when her family comes from America for their once-a-year
holiday. I am thrilled to be back in the Beckwith and Drake family universe
which I got to know in The Empire State Series. I get to learn more about what
has happened to them all since my last read. I enjoy the Christmas theme and
the development of relationships, especially between Mary and Everett Wooten,
but also between secondary characters.
Christmas at Whitefriars is highly recommended for
fans of Elizabeth Camden’s works, especially for readers of The Empire State
series. This story is also highly recommended for readers who enjoy historical
fiction.
My rating: 4 stars /5
(All opinions in this review are my own)
About The Author
Elizabeth Camden is best known for her historical novels set in gilded age America featuring clever heroines and richly layered storylines. Before she was a writer, she was an academic librarian at some of the largest and smallest libraries in America, but her favorite is the continually growing library in her own home. Her novels have won the RITA and Christy Award, and she lives in Florida with her husband who graciously tolerates her intimidating stockpile of books. (Copied From Amazon)
To learn more about the author, visit http://elizabethcamden.com/
Summary:
Mary Beckwith lives in a
magnificent English castle during the twilight years of the gilded age. With
the help of an American millionaire, she has succeeded in renovating her
beloved Whitefriars castle into a splendid estate just in time for Christmas.
From across the ocean, millionaire Everett Wooten has spent a fortune propping up Whitefriars to add modern conveniences and rebuild crumbling old walls. Even though he’s never met Mary, they have enjoyed a lively business correspondence over the nine years they have been working toward a renovation. Now he has finally come to see Mary and the castle in person, but nothing is as he was led to believe.
Mary and Everett try to find a way forward, but red-blooded American entrepreneurship doesn’t always mingle with blue-blooded English tradition. Can a Manhattan business tycoon and an English lady come to an accord, or will their joint venture in Whitefriars result in heartbreak for them both?
From across the ocean, millionaire Everett Wooten has spent a fortune propping up Whitefriars to add modern conveniences and rebuild crumbling old walls. Even though he’s never met Mary, they have enjoyed a lively business correspondence over the nine years they have been working toward a renovation. Now he has finally come to see Mary and the castle in person, but nothing is as he was led to believe.
Mary and Everett try to find a way forward, but red-blooded American entrepreneurship doesn’t always mingle with blue-blooded English tradition. Can a Manhattan business tycoon and an English lady come to an accord, or will their joint venture in Whitefriars result in heartbreak for them both?
Book Review:
Mary Beckwith is trying to
renovate Whitefriars castle, her childhood home. It’s a huge undertaking and
she is trying to do it on her own with occasional advice and yearly allowance
from American businessman Everett Wooten. The funding never seems to be enough
and Mary plans to rent out rooms to earn extra money. She is working hard to
get the rooms ready for the paying guests. Going through mail, she discovers
that Mr Wooten is in York, an hour’s carriage ride from the castle, waiting to
speak to her about a possible breach of contract with his luxury food supply
company. He considers the taking in of paying guests to be destroying his
company’s exclusive food label named Whitefriars.
In the running up to Christmas, Mary and her brother Colin Beckwith, goes to York to meet with Mr. Wooten. She finds it very challenging to go anywhere outside the castle grounds because of her anxiety disorder. Surprisingly she finds Mr. Wooten to be very understanding and supportive as she has an anxiety attack in the York hotel lobby. After the meeting, she invites him to Whitefriars to look at his investment and the state of the castle after nine years of renovation. He is unimpressed with his first impression of the castle and totally opposed to taking in paying guests.
Christmas is Mary’s favorite time of year because this is when her family comes from America for their once-a-year holiday. I am thrilled to be back in the Beckwith and Drake family universe which I got to know in The Empire State Series. I get to learn more about what has happened to them all since my last read. I enjoy the Christmas theme and the development of relationships, especially between Mary and Everett Wooten, but also between secondary characters.
Christmas at Whitefriars is highly recommended for fans of Elizabeth Camden’s works, especially for readers of The Empire State series. This story is also highly recommended for readers who enjoy historical fiction.
My rating: 4 stars /5
(All opinions in this review are my own)
(All opinions in this review are my own)
About The Author
Elizabeth Camden is best known for her historical novels set in gilded age America featuring clever heroines and richly layered storylines. Before she was a writer, she was an academic librarian at some of the largest and smallest libraries in America, but her favorite is the continually growing library in her own home. Her novels have won the RITA and Christy Award, and she lives in Florida with her husband who graciously tolerates her intimidating stockpile of books. (Copied From Amazon)
To learn more about the author, visit http://elizabethcamden.com/
To learn more about the author, visit http://elizabethcamden.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment