On Christmas Day in the Morning by Lynne Connolly
Separated after marriage, stranded together on a desert island…
When Christina arrives at the island in the South Seas where her husband is working, it is with the intention of asking for a divorce. Although Jonathan is the love of her life she is tired of putting her life on hold.
When she faints in the heat and her ship leaves without her, Jonathan cares for her. The island is uninhabited, and very small, and there won’t be another ship for a month. Jonathan wants another chance. Forced to leave for the South Seas on their wedding day, he has dreamed of Christina ever since.
Swimming together in the waterfall, learning about his botanical studies, and self-sufficient living Christina is in danger of falling in love with him all over again. But does Jonathan feel the same way? And will he be willing to give up this life for one they can both share?
- File Name:on-christmas-day-in-the-morning-by-lynne-connolly.epub
- Original Title:On Christmas Day in the Morning
- Creator:Connolly, Lynne
- Language:en
- Identifier:4014977087
- Publisher:Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.
- Date:2022-07-25
- Subject:Fiction,Romance,Historical
- File Size:236.926 KB
Table of Content
- 1. Title Page
- 2. Copyright Page
- 3. Publisher’s Note
- 4. Additional Dragonblade books by Author Lynne Connolly
- 5. Table of Contents
- 6. Chapter One
- 7. Chapter Two
- 8. Chapter Three
- 9. Chapter Four
- 10. Epilogue
- 11. About the Author
On Christmas Day in the Morning was about Dr. Jonathan Burelle, and his wife, Mrs. Christina Burrell. After having known each other for barely a month, Johnathan and Christina were married, only for him to leave immediately after their wedding to travel to an uninhabited island off the coast of Australia in order to indulge in his botanic research for the next two years...and he left behind a virgin bride, though he had asked her to travel with him. Having only had an hour to decide whether to go or stay, Christina chose to remain in England...where everything familiar and comfortable to her station in life. Christina, being an heiress, was used to having servants wait on her hand and foot, so she was not even a smidge domesticated and, therefore, could not fend for herself. After nearly a year of not hearing from her husband, Christina decided to travel to him, mainly to ascertain whether or not he was still alive...but also to ask him for a divorce. As they had not consummated, they could have gotten an annulment, but she was not Catholic, but rather Anglican, and an annulment was not allowed. Therefore, Jonathan would have to either return to England and personally request a divorce in Parliament. Once she had landed on the island where her husband was purported to reside, she was told by the captain of the ship she had only a short time before they were to set sail again, Christina set about the task she had gone there to do. Although she had secretly hoped he would return with her and resume their marriage, she also knew that she had an old friend waiting for her back in England who was more than willing to marry her if she were able to obtain a divorce. After telling him why she had made the trip, to say he was floored would be putting it mildly. Christina hadn't asked for a divorce in the beginning. She told him she had needed to determine whether or not she was a widow, and, if not, would he consider going along with "being dead". She went on to explain about needing a divorce to marry another man, and that she couldn't wait forever for him to return to England, so the only other alternative besides divorce was to have him declared dead. Needless to say, he refused. Because she wasn't used to the climate and hadn't taken into consideration the different seasons she would be experiencing around Australia, Christina soon became overwhelmed by the heat and fainted. When she regained consciousness, the ship had sailed away without her, and she was stuck for at least two weeks, if not for an entire month until the next ship returned. Jonathan, having decided upon seeing her again that he would try convincing his wife to stay with him, took full advantage of the situation, and long story short, they ended up finally consummating their marriage. But he was still determined he would not be leaving when she did. Jonathan had been selfish in his decision to put his career ahead of his new wife. He wanted to make the botanical discoveries himself rather than allowing another of his colleagues to make them in his stead. He wanted the fame and the glory that would be on the tongues of everyone for eons to come...and that had been much more important than the woman he had professed to love. He had selfishly married her, knowing he would be leaving her behind for a minimum of two years, and leaving her in a virtual state of limbo. He was also very selfish when he distracted her with his research in order to make her understand why he chose to remain on the island...and he hid his intention of persuading her to remain with him. All being said and done, this was a very short book about two very unsuited people trying to make a marriage work that should never have been made. Christina was ill-suited to be the wife of a botanist because she was a pampered heiress (no, not trying to be a snob here, for she said it herself), and she knew nothing of being a housewife that had no servants to do the domestic chores. Jonathan was ill-suited to be the wife of a pampered heiress. He was too self-centered and too focused on his research to make a good husband for a "society wife", which is what Christina truly was. The HEA that the author offered up in the fourth chapter was not believable because of how badly these two main characters were put together. Not only that, there wasn't enough time in the entire story for them to have reached their decisions to remain together. There were plot holes, missing information, and no wooing, and it was just a complete and utter flop of a book. If the author had written more backstory and given more to the time they shared on the island...maybe I could see a HEA. But from the way it was written, and the lack of continuity made this book an utter waste of ink and paper...and the time I spent reading it. I don't consider it worth even a one-star rating, because that's just how poorly put together this book was.