Johanna Lindsey’s Christmas novel, The Present, is part of the popular Malory series, featuring two parallel love stories set about 100 years apart. It explores the lives of the Malory clan, their secrets, and the enduring passion in their relationships.
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The Present by Johanna Lindsey
Rating: 
Published: 1998
Illustrator: Unknown
Book Series: Malory & Anderson #6
Published by: Avon
Genres: Historical Romance, Victorian Era Romance
Pages: 352
Format: eBook, Hardcover, Paperback
Buy on: Amazon, ThriftBooks, AbeBooks
Reviewed by: IntrovertReader
SPOILER-FREE REVIEW
The Book
Johanna Lindsey‘s Christmas novel, The Present, is moderately short at just over 300 pages and part of her very popular Malory series. For over 22 years and under two different publishers, Johanna Lindsey wrote 12 romances about the Malory and Anderson clans. These books were massive hits with her many fans, with some readers claiming them as favorites, especially Gentle Rogue.
The Present tells two parallel love stories set about 100 years apart in England, portraying the Malory clan in the past and the “present.” This book proves that while times may change, the love lives of the family members remain as passionate as ever.
The Plot
It is Christmas time at Haverston, the Malory patriarch’s estate, where the entire clan—husbands, wives, children, and in-laws—assembles. Lord Jason Malory is a Marquis and father to Derek, who was the hero of Say You Love Me.
Readers familiar with that novel should be familiar with the dark family secret. Derek was not the result of the legitimate union between his father and his wife. Before his marriage, Jason had an affair with an unknown woman, and Derek was the result of that union. Here, we discover that the mystery woman is Jason’s long-time housekeeper, Molly.
Derek’s parents, Jason and Molly, are the main characters in the current timeline.
Jason’s marriage was one made for convenience to hide Derek’s bastardy. It is an unhappy arrangement, as he and his wife have lived apart for years. Jason has always been a stickler for propriety, forever covering up Malory’s family scandals. It was a struggle for Jason to reign in his two wild younger brothers, Anthony and James.
One day, out of the blue, a package in fine wrapping appears. The Malorys open it to find a diary inside. It details how the second Marquis of Haverston, Christopher, found love with a gypsy princess named Anastasia.
Curious about the lineage, the family reads the book out loud to each other and discovers long-kept secrets.
The present tells of how the incongruous pairing between an English nobleman and a lovely gypsy came to be. It also details the romance between the mature quinquagenarian Jason and his forty-something beloved, Molly.
During the 1800s in England, society was controlled by a strict class structure. But Christmas is a time of miracles. Indeed, it would be a miracle if Jason and Molly could openly declare their love for each other and live happily as husband and wife.
Nevertheless, the past foretells the future, and love wins out in the end.
Final Analysis of The Present
The five couples from the previous installments have their roles in this book. Fortunately, my favorite Malory couples feature prominently throughout. There’s little focus on boring Roslynn and Kelsey and more attention on Uncle James, his wife Georgina, and his niece Amy.
If you’re unfamiliar with the Malory clan, I wouldn’t recommend The Present as your first foray into the series. You can skip the first two books, but reading Gentle Rogue, The Magic of You, and Say You Love Me is essential.
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Synopsis
As the entire Malory family gathers at Haverston to celebrate the season, a mysterious present arrives anonymously. The gift is an old journal—a tender and tempestuous account of the love affair between the second Marquis, Christopher Malory, and a dark gypsy beauty named Anastasia, who seeks a love match with a non-gypsy in order to save herself from a prearranged marriage to a brute.
Though the dashing English lord Anastasia sets her sights upon burns for the exquisite, exotic miss, Christopher could never consent to wed such a lowborn lady. But miracles have been known to happen in this season of peace, giving, and love as two extraordinary people separated by circumstances of birth begin a passionate dance of will and will.
And in the miraculous blossoming of a glorious romance at a long ago Christmastime, there are wise and well-learned lessons that will enrich the hearts of the Malory descendants—and, indeed, of everyone who has ever dreamed.
The Present by Johanna Lindsey
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