Carols and Chaos by Cindy Ansty

Book Synopsis:

1817. The happy chaos of the Yuletide season has descended upon the country estate of Shackleford Park in full force, but lady's maid Kate Darby barely has the time to notice. Between her household duties, caring for her ailing mother, and saving up money to someday own a dress shop, her hands are quite full. Matt Harlow is also rather busy. He's performing double-duty, acting as valet for both of the Steeple brothers, two of the estate's holiday guests.

Falling in love would be a disaster for either of them. But staving off their feelings for each other becomes the least of their problems when a devious counterfeiting scheme reaches the gates of Shackleford Park, and Kate and Matt are unwittingly swept up in the intrigue.

My Review:

3.25/5 stars. This book had a lot of atmosphere and potential, but it didn't live up to that in execution. I loved the vibes, and the characters had good banter, but those were mostly the only positives. Some of the writing was a bit cringey and heavy-handed, and the plot didn't hold my interest consistently, despite it being a shorter book. However, the ending was cute.

This book was described as being similar to Downton Abbey and Jane Austen. There weren't really a lot of Jane Austen parallels, but there was definitely a lot of Downton similarities. The dynamic of staff working at a manor was very reminiscent of that side of the show, except about a century earlier in time. That was probably my favorite aspect of the story. I enjoyed seeing the servants interact with each other and the members of the household, and all the old-fashioned language and the cozy setting.

Speaking of language, the dialogue was another great aspect of this book. Specifically, between Matt and Kate. They had some great banter from the start. They were sarcastic and playful with each other but still had chemistry.

On the other hand, while the dialogue was good, the narration was too much at times. When it came to the romance, the writing felt a little heavy-handed. Instead of letting the characters' dialogue and actions speak for itself, the author over-explains to make sure the readers know "these characters love each other." Similarly, some of the writing was a bit cringey when it described how Matt and Kate thought about each other.

Another problem I had with the writing was that there was a bit too much telling instead of showing. The author would describe a character's action but then also explain it. For example, one sentence was something along the lines of "he sighed, indicating his annoyance." In context, the sigh is enough to show that he is annoyed. It's unnecessary and redundant to then also state outright what emotion they are feeling. There were a few moments like that throughout.

The plot was interesting, but it wasn't enough to hold my attention very well. I don't know if it was the pacing, the characters, or whatever, but I didn't find myself excited to pick the book back up very often. There was a good mystery and some tension, but it wasn't engaging enough. But I did enjoy the way it ended. It was a good conclusion and very cute.

Content:

Language: h*ll

Sexual Content: Lots of kissing and making out, sometimes described in detail like kisses being trailed down a neck, lots of thinking about kissing and wanting physical closeness

Violence/Gore: Characters are bound and gagged and threatened with weapons, blood, injuries, getting kicked and knocked out, scrapes and bruises, nothing detailed

Drugs/Alcohol: None