Lady Osbaldestone's Christmas Goose (Lady Osbaldestone's Christmas Chronicles) (Volume 1)

What a perfectly wonderful world to live in. The town this is located in, has people who know the true meaning (not the glitz & glitter) of "The Season" of Christmas! They are full of love and compassion for each other.
What fun that this grandmother coming back to her and her deceased husband's original home in a small town and has her three grandchildren to watch for the season. The grandchildren range from 5 to about 12 and are just wonderfully REAL! They are full of joy and wonder of the season but yet real so they have some adventures. That alone made this story special and the there is THE GEESE!!!
The village's supply of geese (for their must have roast goose for Christmas) have gone missing and the grandchildren and very smart, loving and caring grandma give chase and try to solve the mystery of the geese! WHAT FUN!
Then there is the returned soldier from the Peninsular Wars scarred not only of face but of spirit and the young lady in the estate nearby who is shouldering all the cares and hard work of managing all the assets for her brother who is a nice young man but not ready (he thinks) for responsibilities. This whole cast lights up your world the whole time you're reading this joyous book about a wonderful place full of wonderful characters.
Just to give you a hint--it opens with the children tying the church bells together to see how they sound all at once! THE SOUND is horrendous and the whole town hears it! BUT they were just doing an experiment and were quite sorry.

Lady O was always a favorite character with me. I loved her strength, wit, determination, and most especially her active intelligence. This volume had me laughing and loving her even more. Her grandchildren were delightful.

Title: Lady Osbaldestone’s Christmas Goose
Author: Stephanie Laurens
Read by: Helen Lloyd
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Length: Approximately 7 hours
Source: Blackstone Audio Digital Review Copy as a part of the Audiobook Jukebox Review– Thank-you! I read this along in a print copy of the book that was a Christmas gift from my best friend Jenn.

Lady Therese Osbaldestone is a widow who is trying to find her way in the world. Settling in Little Moseley in Hampshire at an estate left to her by her Aunt, Lady Osbaldestone sets to work getting reacquainted with the community and also caring for her three young grandchildren who are visiting while their parents are ill. As it nears Christmas, Lady Osbaldestone and the three children are soon embroiled in mystery as the flock of geese the village is looking forward to eating for Christmas dinner has gone missing.

As they search the village, the family also finds themselves helping to bring a wounded veteran of the Napoleon wars, Lord Christian Longfellow, back out into village life and hopefully into romance with his neighbor, Miss Eugenia Fitzgibbon. Will love be found as well as the “blasted” geese?

I really, really loved this novel. I am a great fan of Christmas regency romance and I found this to be a delightful story. The village of Little Mosely was charming and delightful and I love the characters that inhabited the village. I also loved how the grandchildren were entranced with not only finding the geese, but also helping their grandmother to play matchmaker. There was a nail biting incidence of suspense toward the end of the book, but I overall enjoyed that it had a little mystery, a little romance, but no violence and the romance was clean with only a kiss.

I listened to the audiobook while also reading along with the actual novel which was fun to do. I thought Helen Lloyd was an excellent narrator and it was a very enjoyable book to listen to as an audio. She did great with the characters and pacing of the story.

This is a first book in a planned series and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series!

Overall, Lady Osbaldestone’s Christmas Goose is a delightful Christmas mystery and romance novel. I highly recommend it!

Lady Osbaldestone's Christmas Goose is a cute, funny story with a little mystery, a little matchmaking and wonderful Christmas feel. Lady Osbaldestone has been one of my favorite characters from all of Stephanie Laurens' books and I enjoyed seeing a little of her history. The story revolves around entertaining her three mischievous grandchildren, finding the towns missing geese population and helping a scarred war veteran learn to live and love again. A great story.

This is a delightful story - a period historical romance filled with detail and characters ranging from the redoubtable Lady Osbaldestone (Think Maggie Smith in Downtown Abbey mixed with 'The Matchmaker' from Fiddler on The Roof and you're getting somewhere close to her character) to the sad and lonely romantic hero and heroine - sad and lonely until Lady O and her three visiting grandchildren get to work. I suspect that this is the first in a series of Lady Osbaldestone's adventures and I look forward to reading the entire series. A joyful and happy book about family, love, acceptance and community - perhaps with a slightly nostalgic tinge of rose coloured specs - but a 'feel good' read none the less. Perfect for curling up on a winter's evening in front of the fire. Lovely and cosy.

So enjoyable, one of the better Laurens novels in a long time. Well written, funny, and the type of book I will read again next Christmas because it puts me in a great holiday mood. I have passed it along to friends, something I don't often do these days because everyone has such different tastes in literature.