Once Upon an Heiress

I adore Harper St. George‘s Gilded Age Heiresses series, which has one final book coming out this spring. Before that arrives, and with the holiday spirit alive, I wanted to read her Christmas-y short story, Once Upon an Heiress. I actually read this a year ago, and this is a reread, but I love it just as much now.

Summary

Kit’s family is hosting a Christmas ball, at which he needs to finally choose a bride. He only wants Elsie, an American heiress he befriended and lost. But when she arrives at the ball, Kit hopes he might have another chance with her. Can he win her heart this time?

Review

Even though this is a short story, Once Upon an Heiress encapsulates what I love about Harper St. George’s books: They’re written in a way that makes you immediately understand and empathize with the characters and want them to find love with each other. Her stories are consistently sweet and swoony, and this one proves that she can capture that mood even in the shorter format.

Kit and Elsie met a couple years ago and became friends… maybe with some secret crushes on each other. But when Kit overheard Elsie’s proclamation that she would never marry, he quietly decided to back off. They haven’t seen each other since, and in those long months, Kit has been in mainland Europe. But now Elsie is at his family’s holiday party, and Kit can’t let this opportunity go to waste: He will be honest about his feelings and tell her his true intentions. But will she reciprocate his feelings, despite her earlier stated opinions on marriage?

Both Elsie and Kit are such sweet characters. Sure, there was a communication breakdown between them, but here it feels realistic and natural. It’s the kind that comes from fear of rejection, a fear that Kit has finally overcome.

As with Harper St. George’s other books, I love the feminist views of her female main character. Elsie wants to have the freedom for adventure (and travel) that her brother and Kit have. She wants to make her own decisions and always have that agency over herself. I appreciate that Kit mirrors her sentiments—another consistency among the author’s swoonily progressive heroes!

Final Thoughts

Once Upon an Heiress is such a sweet short story. It’s perfect for the holiday season and a lovely taste of Harper St. George’s immersive writing style. I can’t wait to read her next novel, The Duchess Takes a Husband, due next spring.

Get the Book

You can learn more about Once Upon an Heiress here – it’s available to subscribers to Harper St. George’s newsletter. Subscribers can also get a bonus chapter from her 5-star novel, The Devil and the Heiress!

Once Upon an Heiress by Harper St. George
Part Of…	Merry Christmas, Belles and Rakehalls
Audience	Adult
Genre	Historical Romance
Setting	England
Number of Pages	34
Format I Read	ebook
Original Publication Date	December 1, 2021

Official Summary

When Kit, Viscount Westbrooke, is tasked with choosing a bride at his family’s Christmas ball, Elizabeth Brand, his best friend’s sister, is the only one he wants. Unfortunately for him, the American heiress has sworn off marriage, and he’ll have to convince her his love is true by the end of the night.