Mistletoe Mayhem is a Regency Romance that tries to have it all. It’s a house party book – and also a cabin romance. It’s full of characters, including the hero’s four young wards and two couples from previous books. On top of it all it’s Christmas time, and everywhere you look there’s mistletoe. Although at times it is a cute story, the romance really takes a backseat to all the “mayhem.”

Lady Madelyn Rathbone is the daughter of an earl and heiress to three estates. She’s had her share of offers from wealthy and titled gentlemen, but the only one she’s interested in is Robert Langtry, a humble country squire. Robert is the love of her youth, but her guardian has refused Robert’s suit – twice. And when Madelyn begged Robert to elope with her, he refused, because he thought she would resent giving up her fortune. At this same time Robert’s brother died, and his four children became Robert’s wards. Madelyn caused another rift when she suggested that the four motherless children be packed off to boarding school.

Now a couple of years have passed, and Madelyn is about to reach her majority. She and Robert meet at a Christmas house party, and both of them feel the old attraction. But both are now sure that they are completely wrong for each other. Robert knows that Madelyn is wealthy, and he considers her far above his reach. Madelyn thinks Robert never really loved her, since he refused to elope with her when she asked. She also thinks she is not good with children, and she knows Robert is devoted to his wards. The children all know about Madelyn’s boarding school suggestion, so they are none too fond of her at first.

When another guest at the party has a baby early, Madelyn, Robert, and the kids decide to leave the party prematurely so they will not be in the way. They travel separately at first, but a carriage accident forces them to come together in the small cabin home of Robert’s old nurse. As they deal with an illness, isolation, and the magic of Christmas, they come to realize that perhaps they are not so different after all.

Madelyn and Robert are the type of characters I’m sure I would like, if only I’d known them better. Madelyn is the more developed of the two, probably because most of the story is from her point of view. She grows and changes throughout the book, particularly in her attitude toward children. Robert is an all-around nice, handsome guy, but there’s not a whole lot of insight into his character.

There are a lot of other characters, particularly at the house party. In addition to Robert, Madelyn, and the wards there are the two couples from previous books, a widow who is pursuing Robert, the widow’s children, a man who wants to marry Madelyn, Robert’s sisters, and more assorted relatives, servants, and unrelated guests. There were so many the I couldn’t possibly keep track of them all; in fact, I was never even sure whose house party they were attending. It doesn’t help that all of Robert’s wards’ names begin with M (as does Madelyn of course) or that there is actually an Aimee and an Amy.

Once they leave the house party it gets much easier to figure out who’s who, but there still isn’t much direct interaction between Robert and Madelyn. Sometimes we hear their thoughts about each other, but conversation between the two is scarce. There are no heartfelt talks about the past, or romantic plans for the future. Every once in a while Robert would steal a kiss (thanks to the ubiquitous mistletoe) and I would remember that I was supposed to be reading a romance. But make no mistake – this one is all about the kids. At times there are some great insights about them, and the teenage Melanie is particularly interesting. But they really run roughshod over the romance, and while I can attest to the fact that this is realistic, it’s not particularly romantic.

Those who have read the other books in this series might fare better with Mistletoe Mayhem. Apparently Madelyn figures prominently in the other books, and many of the other characters were introduced in them as well. But while there are hints of what might be a really touching story, my overwhelming feeling is that there is just too much material here to fit in a small Regency. With all the characters and cute kids running around, something had to go, and in this case it was the romance.