Carols and Chaos

by Cindy Anstey

1817. The happy chaos of the Yuletide season has descended upon the country estate of Shackleford Park in full force, but lady's maid Kate Darby barely has the time to notice. Between her household duties, caring for her ailing mother, and saving up money to someday own a dress shop, her hands are quite full. Matt Harlow is also rather busy. He's performing double-duty, acting as valet for both of the Steeple brothers, two of the estate's holiday guests.

Falling in love would be a disaster for either of them. But staving off their feelings for each other becomes the least of their problems when a devious counterfeiting scheme reaches the gates of Shackleford Park, and Kate and Matt are unwittingly swept up in the intrigue.

Full of sweetness, charm, and holiday shenanigans, this companion novel to Suitors and Sabotage is perfect for fans of Jane Austen and Downton Abbey.

• ISBN10: 1250174872
• ISBN13: 9781250174871
• Publish Date: 1 November 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 5 April 2024
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: St Martin's Press
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[readingwithwrin]

Thank you to NetGalley and SwoonReads for an e-copy in exchange for my honest review.

I love being able to see points of views from servants in historical fiction books. You get to know so much more about the people that they are serving as well as how the house is run, and the other servants themselves who more often than not have far more exciting lives than the people with money. Carols and Chaos did not disappoint with that part of the story.

Kate and Matt both have a lot of responsibilities for there employers (we first met them in Suitors and Sabotage ) and making sure that they are well kept and when need be also help take care of household duties. Which there are a lot of as it is the Christmas season, which also brings about us meeting and interacting with the other servants. I really wish we had gotten to interact more with them at times, but sadly we do not as Kate and Matt are always so busy with other things. We do however get to see a future highly superstitious moments with the cook and head housekeeper, and the butler who was a surly old man.



Overall I did really enjoy this story, even if it did seem a little disjointed at times. There were so many different parts and things didn't really start to come together for me until the last 30% of the book. That 30% though was what saved this book for me. Not only do we finally start getting answers to what had been happening, but we also got a good mystery!

The mystery surrounded Johnny who was a friend of Ben's who works as a footman. Johnny ends up getting taken for a fool it seems and from there, things escalate as Johnny tries to get back what is rightfully his.

Kate and Matt become determined to find Johnny and in the process end up in some precarious situations. These situations though ended up being my favorite parts of the book, as we really see how much they have grown to care for each other.

[bookishzelda]

Nothing to get you in the Yuletide spirit like a little love and mystery. Carols and Chaos is a fun YA Historical Fiction that falls in line with its predecessors for delivering that good feeling.

So for the me the plot got off on a little bit of slow start. I think we were more focused on the introduction of characters and time for Matt and Kate to become a little more acquainted. Once the mystery started to really shine through the pace picked up and I felt more into the story.

I loved that once we really get into the thick of the mystery, the story was both still suspenseful but fun. There are definitely moments where you think oh no but also has comedy weaved in throughout.

I loved Kate and Matt. They had such a natural chemistry right from the start and their exchanges were both witty and sweet. I also love how Kate is the type of character who knows who she is and just exudes awesomeness out of her pores. I really liked her. Matt is the kind of guy you want to hang out with, like ya that guy, he’s good people.

I love that it’s a historical fiction at Yuletide time. I used to work at a historical village and I loved dressing up and working in the Mansion at Christmas. We would make these awesome orange/clove ball ornaments that made my fingers bleed (pushing whole cloves into oranges is not easy) and the place would be decorated up with the greens. So it reminded me of that and it’s such a great warm feeling.

So this story is a spin-off of Suitors and Sabotage but you do not need to read that to read this. If you are looking for your comfort book for the Holiday this is definitely one I can recommend.