First of all, if you're looking for romance this series may not be for you. Now, don't misunderstand, the plot of the series is romance based; however, it mostly runs to the "love at first sight" or "seduction and lust" veins of romance. In my experience, all of the male protagonists have either sworn off marriage or at least intend to put it off as long as they can. Each have their own reasons, but from the moment they meet the female protagonist they can't wait to bed her, and that usually leads to a desire to wed her.

The second thing to take note of before picking up any of this series is that it really isn't a true "Historical Romance." The author doesn't seem too interested in writing history, and instead puts very modern characters in a setting that allows them to play in an idealized version of the past. This is especially evident in the female protagonists who are all VERY strong willed in a time when women just didn't dare speak their mind, and very few had a real choice in whom they would marry. Also, evident in this series is a lack of understanding on the authors' part of the class system in England, though, to be fair, I'd say that is the result of the idealized world that the Malory's find themselves in. The dialogue is also very modern, but why harp on that when it makes understanding what's going on possible for the vast majority of readers. -

Lastly, after reading all this you might wonder why I give this series five stars, and the answer is quite simple: I happen to like stories that end happily ever after. More than that I enjoy the idealized world that the author has created in this character driven series. I detest stories without strong female characters to match the men in the story (sometimes to better the men in the story), and find that without a strong female (at least one) in a story I grow bored very fast. I also love that the series has produced so many lovable characters and greatly enjoy catching up with the rest of this close-nit family.

In conclusion, if you're looking for a book about a blossoming romance, look elsewhere. If you're looking for a book about the past where it's clear the author spent years just doing research, look elsewhere. If you're looking for graphic sex scenes to carry the plot, look elsewhere (there are such scenes of course, but compared to some romance books they are very mild and usually a small part of the story). If, however, you're looking for a fun series based on two very protective families where love usually hits the protagonists quick and hard, this is the series for you. If you enjoy a series with strong women who usually know what they want and go after it full force, then, like me, this is the series for you.

P.S. If you do want to read this series, read it in order. Past characters make a great deal more sense the more information you have on them, and most will make appearances or even staring roles in other books simply because these two families are all very close.

i absolutely loved this book!
i had no idea who all these people were, because i hadn't read any of the books in the series featuring these families. however, it didn't matter in the least. i enjoyed it tremendously!!!
the christmas atmosphere, the fun, the jokes between relatives, the tenderness between husbands and wives.... i loved loved loved it!!
as for the story told by the diary, it is one of the most charming romances ever! i find the gypsies very fascinating as a race generally, so the romance between a gypsy girl and an English gentleman has been a favourite theme of mine ever since i read this book!

I'm a huge fan of the Malory novels and I wasn't disappointed with the Present. The only way this could have been better is if it would have been longer. I would have liked to know more details about the two main couples focused on in this book. But my main complaint with the Malory stories is that they end.

The Malory family is gathered together at Christmas in 1825. They read from a diary/journal which describes how their ancestor Christopher Malory met and married the gypsy woman Anastasia 100 years earlier. Anastasia needed to get married in a hurry to avoid a prearranged marriage to an abusive gypsy man. Her story is interesting but short. A second plot in the book is 1825 Georgina being pregnant and not wanting to tell her husband. This plot was poorly done.

As I read this book, I wondered if Johanna Lindsey truly wrote this or someone else wrote it using her name. The grammar was terrible. I don't recall this type of talk among her characters in the other Malory books, but maybe I missed it somehow. In this book, Anthony keeps saying "aint." On page 115, Christopher Malory's friend says "He don't have it." On pages 270 and 271 Derek says "It does, don't it?" and "aint". The grammar was unsettling.

Sexual content not evaluated. I read this book before I began counting sex scenes and describing the language. As I recall, it was probably mild. Setting: 1825 England and 100 years earlier. Copyright: 1998. Genre: historical romance.

For a list of my reviews of other Johanna Lindsey books, see my 5 star review of "Gentle Rogue" posted 6/14/08.

I don't know how this book escaped my notice when it first came out, but it did so I am reading it almost 10 years after it was published! I loved looking back at the Malorys. Each of her characters are well thought out and it was nice to "visit" with them again. It wasn't too heavy on the romance, but it was like reading a really long epiliogue ~ which is usually my favorite part of romance novels. A fun, fast read that is highly recommended!