A Holiday By Gaslight

This was just such a sweet little romance! Ned is a delightful hero, so respectful of Sophie that he almost loses her. It made him feel relatable and more real, that he is super successful and yet becomes tongue-tied when around the girl he's courting because he's so worried of saying the wrong thing.

Sophie, on the other hand, is looking for a man who sees her as something more than an object to be obtained—someone who actually sees and likes her for herself. After several months of her suitor barely speaking two words to her, she feels like he isn't even interested in her and resolves to break it off.

The second chance comes when he goes to their country estate for a Christmas party and Sophie makes him promise to be honest with her. As they begin to learn how to communicate with each other, it gets so sweet.

Further, I enjoyed the little tidbits on gaslight production. Having been in a home still plumbed for gas from the 1880s a few months back and seen the original fixtures in action, I was slightly surprised to hear that propane doesn't burn hot enough and that “coal oil” would have been brighter. I'd never heard of coal oil before, and no one really knew how it was produced, though the old-timers also on the tour said it somehow came from coal. This book gave a few more hints of how that would have been achieved, and having seen dimmer propane in action gave a great relevance to this mention of gaslight. It's a nice warm light, quite enough to read and see by, but without the glare of modern lights.

Thanks to the publisher for a free reading copy. A favorable review was not required. The review is based off a finished copy I own in paperback.