How the Dukes Stole Christmas: Ranking the four novellas

If you need holiday historical romance, How the Dukes Stole Christmas won’t disappoint, but some novellas seem stronger than others.

Yes, we know: It’s October. But with Halloween really not that far away and Thanksgiving romance not even remotely a genre, that means it’s time for this year’s bevy of holiday romance to start hitting the shelves. Among them is How the Dukes Stole Christmas, which eschews the more common contemporary setting for historical romance. (If you’d prefer an audiobook instead, an excerpt is now available.)

As none of the four novellas made this reader go solidly Grinch, it’s a worthy pick-up for fans of the authors and historical romance as a genre. At the same time, not all of the novellas are equal in quality.

It is time to rank and give a brief review of each of the four. Let’s deck these halls, readers.

“Christmas in Central Park” – Joanna Shupe

Coming last in the lineup is “Christmas in Central Park.” While Joanna Shupe’s specialty is indeed Gilded Age, America-set romance, it feels a little out of place considering that the other three novellas are specifically set in Britain.

But beyond that, this novella, which centers around Rose Walker pulling off a series of deceptions both on her boss, love interest Duke Havermeyer, and the board of his publishing company, just feels somewhat scuzzy, to put it mildly. While some of the other novellas do rely on misunderstandings brought for drama, this one comes off as even more ridiculous than the others, and it’s hard to enjoy it as much.

“Heiress Alone” – Sophie Jordan

It feels like “Heiress Alone,” on its own, shouldn’t be bad, but in comparison to the other two novellas that we’ve yet to talk about, it’s just not as good. Annis Bannister gets a longer time in-universe to actually be wooed by her Duke of Sinclair, which at least helps somewhat.

It’s also the only story to feature a Scottish duke, and Jordan does have the best sense of historicity in her story, making plenty of references to the Battle of Culloden as a past and hugely traumatic event.

“Meet Me in Mayfair” – Tessa Dare

“Meet Me in Mayfair” is possibly the sweetest of all the stories, because it involves no not-safe-for-work scenes at all (though there is mention of and a brief instance of tupping, it’s not by our hero and heroine). It also involves eloping, deception, and some sparkling dialogue.

The Duke of Thorndale — James — is possibly the best hero in this entire collection, if only because he very much does not want to fall in love but ends up doing so anyway, and it’s written convincingly. He’s great, and so is Louisa.

So, how on earth is the last novella here better?

“The Duke of Christmas Present” – Sarah MacLean

It’s pretty simple, really. All the others deal with the idea of falling in first love. “The Duke of Christmas Present” is instead about resurrecting an old love, and MacLean actually shows both iterations of the love between Eben and Jacqueline. It’s complex to do in such a short amount of space, but it’s put together in such a way that it makes sense to a reader.

Also, it’s the flat-out funniest. Jack — Jacqueline — is the most sparkling of the heroines overall, and it’s clear why she left Eben in the first place as well as why she’s back now.

Tell us your favorite novella in How the Dukes Stole Christmas below.