“(…) You are not only what you do, Ebenezer. Activity makes a man neither better nor worse. It merely reveals what he values. Do not chase your worth or seek to establish it. You own it already.” – 4/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: buttons, borrowed books, headstones, contracts, factories, espionage, Christmas carols and ghosts.

The prequel to A CHRISTMAS CAROL— A sweet Regency Christmas romance

Here at last is the untold story of Scrooge’s doomed engagement

Belle Endicott and Ebenezer Scrooge are young, bookish, hardworking Londoners drawn together by button-making. His brand-new factory threatens her family’s tiny shop, yet they fall in love and start planning their future. When personal and business calamities strike, they confront them vigorously side by side, but ultimately something has to give. We know what it is. They do not.

Even though I have never read the classical novel “A Christmas Tale” by Charles Dickens, I’ve heard a lot about the famous, grouchy character, Ebenezer Scrooge. But don’t worry, you don’t need to read the classic to pick this up!
This prequel written by Keith Eldred is a great retelling of how Scrooge’s engagement with Belle ended and how he became the character portrayed in the classical novel. There’s some romance in this book, but the focus is the character development of Ebenezer. He was an ambitious man to begin with, but that ambition soon became toxic – especially after partnering with Jacob Marley. It was clear for Belle that his priorities were elsewhere when he wasn’t beside her while her dad passed away – which broke my heart!
One thing I really found interesting was the Red Button itself. In some parts of the narrative, we get to read some scenes told from the perspective of this object. I never thought in a million years I would read a book with the perspective of a button… but here we are. I think it was tastefully done and it added something special to the story. Unexpected, but a good surprise!
My favorite thing from this book was definitely the writing style. I loved how joyful it was and it has that Christmas tale feel to it! I think I would probably enjoy this more if I read “A Christmas Tale” beforehand, but I still think it was a very good story. The plot was very good and I learned some things about the button industry!
I would recommend it to the fans of the classic novel and overall Christmas lovers!

***A big thank you to the author for the free copy in exchange for an honest review***

xoxo,