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NOVEL REVIEW: AN AFFAIR BEFORE CHRISTMAS BY ELOISA JAMES




Eiyo Fadneiras,

Welcome back to Fadima Mooneira. How are you guys doing? Are you guys excited to check out today's entry? For today's post, I'm going to share a review of the last novel I read in 2023. The novel is a holiday read and it belongs to the historical romance genre. The novel is titled An Affair Before Christmas and it is written by Eloisa James. Now let's get to know the author...


ABOUT ELOISA JAMES

Historical romance queen ~ Eloisa James (Image: lindasbookbag.com)

Eloisa James is the pen name chosen by historical romance author, Mary Bly. James was born in Minnesota, America in 1962 to an award-winning poet, Robert Bly, and short-story author, Carol Bly. James is a well-known author in the American book industry. She's an award-winning novelist, and most of her books are listed as bestsellers. Besides being an author of historical romance novels, James is also a Literature Professor at Fordham University.


ABOUT AN AFFAIR BEFORE CHRISTMAS


An Affair Before Christmas (AABC) is set in the Georgian era in England. The story follows a beautiful young maiden named Perdita 'Poppy' Shelby. Sweet and innocent Poppy wishes to marry for love. But her mother wants her to marry someone with a title. 

John a.k.a the Duke of Fletcher is the perfect man for Poppy. That's what Poppy thought. The Duke of Flecther is rich, romantic, and devilishly attractive. Poppy believes that she will love the duke forever and their wedding is perfect. 

Four years after they got married, Poppy and the Duke of Flecther have become the toast of High Society. But behind closed doors, their romance has burned out. During her outing with Jemma a.k.a the Duchess of Beaumont, Poppy opens her story. And the innocent girl learns something that is not so sweet about marriage. Yeah, marriage is not a bed of roses. Umm...

Can Poppy and the Duke of Fletcher save their marriage? Will Poppy believe in love again?



MY REVIEW OF AN AFFAIR BEFORE CHRISTMAS


First of all, I need to be honest that I'm picky when it comes to selecting romance novels even though I'm an avid reader of this genre. A romance novel won't be good for me if the author does not include any love, family, and good moral values in their story. I won't learn anything from reading the story. The story won't be mind-blowing and swoon-worthy for me.

Even though I'm a fan of Eloisa James, I still need to be honest that I did not 100% enjoy reading AABC. It's because this story is too much talking about scandals. It gives love a bad name. Plus, there are too much of gossip queen characters in the story, especially Jemma. Gosh... Jemma is such an annoying character. It makes me wish I could enter the book and tell Poppy not to believe in everything Jemma said :P

However, I still believe that this novel is good for light reading. Eloisa James' chic writing style does make the story still fun to read. I also like the way EJ blends her knowledge of the Georgian era in this story. Yep, I did learn some things about the Georgian era from reading AABC. The Georgian era is very interesting, especially the fashion and the hairstyle. Hehehe ^_^

Overall, I rate this novel 7/10. Even though AABC is not one of my best reads of 2023, I'm still going to recommend this novel to my fellow bookworms who are into the historical romance genre and those who are looking for something light to read. However, I also need to be honest that there are some steamy adult scenes in the story. So AABC is not a suitable read for those who are under 18. Ngehehe ^_^



Okay, so this is my review of Eloisa James' An Affair Before Christmas. Thank you for reading this review. I'll see you guys again in my next post. Insya-Allah. Have a good weekend and take care.

XoXo,

Fadima Mooneira ^_^
(Auhtorpreneur, Content Creator, Blogger & Illustrator)



#AnAffairBeforeChristmas #EloisaJames #HistoricalRomance #GeorgianEraRomance #HolidayNovel #RomanceNovel #AdultRomance #FadimaMooneiraLibrary #Edutainment #FadimaMooneiraDotCom






ALL THINGS ELOISA JAMES ON FADIMA MOONEIRA 









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Comments

  1. JenettJanuary 13, 2024 at 5:36 AM

    I find myself into self-improvement books lately because romance can be a little chaotic in books and I don’t want that. Haha! The book sounds interesting and a definite ‘no way I’ll read’ type of book because I can already sense I wouldn’t like it - gossip sucks in books in my opinion.
    Thanks for the review🩷

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fadima MooneiraJanuary 14, 2024 at 8:21 AM

      I see. I don’t really read self-improvement books. I love romance. But too much gossips and scandals make the story not flowery.

      Delete
  2. Lucy MaryJanuary 13, 2024 at 10:32 AM

    This books sounds interesting, I do like a light-read book! x

    Lucy Mary

    ReplyDelete
  3. KaraleeJanuary 14, 2024 at 12:37 AM

    I haven't read any books by Eloisa James, and the story of this one does sound intriguing. However, it's a shame you didn't like it as much because of the focus on scandals and Jemma's character.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fadima MooneiraJanuary 14, 2024 at 8:22 AM

      Hehehe… a romance novel won’t be complete without love and family values.

      Delete
  4. jennyinneverlandJanuary 15, 2024 at 5:54 AM

    Great review. Not really my sort of genre but always interested to hear what people think of books!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fadima MooneiraJanuary 15, 2024 at 8:16 AM

      I love this genre. But this story is not my kinda romance. Hehehe 😆😆😆

      Delete
  5. Fransic versoJanuary 15, 2024 at 7:15 AM

    Interesting, I don't usually read romance or watch but recently, I started and its fun. Great review!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lisa's NotebookJanuary 15, 2024 at 8:33 AM

    I still think it's good to try new authors and time frames, even if we don't fall in love with the story and characters. Thank you for sharing your honest review, Fadima.

    ReplyDelete
  7. VanessaJanuary 16, 2024 at 7:00 AM

    I love your honest review and I confess I got intrigued to know more about the story in itself. What secrets does the duke hide... hehe.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fadima MooneiraJanuary 20, 2024 at 8:16 AM

      For that one, you have to read the book. Hehehe 😁

      Delete
  8. RayJanuary 16, 2024 at 9:39 AM

    I find your criteria for a good romance novel interesting, I don’t really read romance, but if I ever do, I would probably also agree with you that I’d want it to have more depth and to include factors beyond just the romantic encounters themselves and steamy scenes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fadima MooneiraJanuary 17, 2024 at 8:26 AM

      Same here. I want to learn something from what I read.

      Delete
  9. AnonymousJanuary 16, 2024 at 9:53 AM

    This isn't a genre that I'm a fan of. However, I enjoyed your review. Very fair and very honest.
    Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Riyah SpeaksJanuary 17, 2024 at 6:05 AM

    I am an avid reader of romance and books with loads of steamy sciences so this sounds like it might be right up my alley!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Molly | Transatlantic NotesJanuary 17, 2024 at 9:46 AM

    It was great to read your review of this romance novel as I don't typically read much from that genre. It's nice to find out a bit more about it and see if I might get into it. I have a growing reading list, so I might add this to it as it seems like an easier read to get into.

    ReplyDelete
  12. SeadbeadyJanuary 17, 2024 at 2:25 PM

    I am not an avid reader, but I have heard of the name Carol Bly. I believe it was one of the autors my mom used to read books from. She used to read a lot

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fadima MooneiraJanuary 18, 2024 at 9:15 PM

      Oh that's great! I have not heard about Carol Bly. She's a short story writer right?

      Delete

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