About the Book:

It’s Christmas 1877 and Anne Follyot— of little beauty and no fortune, but sturdy spirit and an excess of imagination— is invited to stay with her favorite aunt in Cornwall. She’s all anticipation, waiting for the man chosen to escort her on this journey. According to her aunt, she met him before, many years ago, but Anne cannot remember him and she’s positive that he must long-since have forgotten her. She’s never been memorable.

But J.P. Deverell, Esq. is now a grown man with a dangerous reputation, of which her aunt cannot possibly be aware. And Anne means to make the most of her aunt’s mistake and this adventure. She considers herself a modern, independent woman, for whom a little scandal is well overdue. If she doesn’t seize this chance now, she might never have another.

As Charles Dickens wrote, “No space of regret can make amends for one life’s opportunity misused.”

* * * *

He’s in no temper for eggnog and mistletoe; no mood to tolerate the painfully polite company of some plain spinster, in a carriage, for three days. It’s probably a contrivance to get him home for Christmas.

Remember Anne Follyot? He doesn’t care to remember himself sixteen years ago, let alone recall the dull vicar’s five year-old niece.

He’d planned to spend his Yuletide working, alone and in peace. But a letter from his mother has guilted him into this act of begrudging chivalry, aided by the whispers of his best friend’s mischievous ghost.

“Bah, Humbug!” As Charles Dickens also wrote.

* * * *

But this journey will not turn out quite the way either traveler expects, for when these two opposites collide, so do ghosts of the past, the present and the future.

It will be a holiday season with all the usual fare—peril, pandemonium, family quarrels, mulled wine and bodily injury. Certainly a Christmas adventure never to be forgotten this time.

At least, by one of them.

Click on title below for direct Amazon buy link:                                               The Snow Angel

My Review:   

  

John Paul Deverell is a serious minded and solitary businessman who has an admiration for Ebeneezer Scrooge and the beginnings of a curmudgeonly personality.  Unlike Scrooge, he’s generous with his employees, but he does avoid his family around Christmastime.  This year, his mother doesn’t accept his excuses, and coerces him into providing a ride for a neighbor’s niece, someone he met as a child over a dozen years ago.  Grumbling all the way, John Paul agrees to share his coach with the woman he definitely does not remember.

Anne Follyot is eager for the journey to visit her aunt, and even more eager to see the man who made such an impact on her when they were both children.  She longs to step out of her ordinary life, and perhaps find some excitement and adventure along the way.

John’s gruffness doesn’t deter Anne’s enthusiasm or chattiness, and he is soon charmed and enchanted by her.  Over a short amount of time, I grew to understand and love these two characters, who seem to be such polar opposites.  When they finally exchange kisses, I was fully expecting a typical sweetly unfolding holiday romance.  Oh, was I wrong!

THE SNOW ANGEL takes an unexpected twist that no doubt left my jaw dropping.  I did not see this coming, and I really can’t say more about the plot, except that it’s genuinely unique.  As I read THE SNOW ANGEL, (all in one sitting) I was, in turn, amused, amazed, crying, smiling, and sighing.  Jayne Fresina is such an underrated author, and I truly wish more readers were aware of her wonderful talent.  For me, the definition of a keeper book is one that I want to read again, and one that touches my emotions.  THE SNOW ANGEL, with its warmth, originality, ghosts, heart touching feeling, and tip of the hat to A Christmas Carol, definitely qualifies as a keeper, and a solid favorite.    ~Rose