Holiday Short Story- The Pantomime Prince Victorian Historical Romance, LGBTQ Short Read, Romance Short
Balcarres Books LLC
Dec 6, 2022
Kindle
26
Amazon
When Teddy agrees to pretend to be his famous sister and take her role in a Christmas panto, he thinks his largest problem is going to be fitting into the costume tights without making it very clear to the audience it’s a man playing the part.
When flowers and letters start arriving at his dressing room from a secret admirer, he knows they’re actually meant for his sister, but he can’t help dreaming they’re for him. The whole thing has him so distracted that he crashes into the same man waiting outside the stage door not once, but twice.
Each time he runs into Dr. Basil Goodall, Teddy is charmed by the handsome, witty man. He wishes the secret admirer could be someone like him, even though he knows that’s impossible.
With the final curtain about to fall, Teddy faces losing both his time with Basil and his dream of a secret admirer. But maybe with a little Christmas magic, this fairy tale can still find its happily ever after.
The Pantomime Prince is a standalone short story set in Victorian London. Also available for free on www.SamanthaSoRelle.com.
Reviewed by Linda Tonis
Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team
This was a truly short story but one I totally loved. Victorian England, 1887 and a pantomime show at
Drury Lane starring Belle Brandy is running for the Christmas holiday. Unfortunately, because the star of the show Belle is unmarried and pregnant, she cannot possibly be on stage revealing her situation to everyone.
Keeping her secret, she begs her twin brother Teddy to take her place a roll where she would be a female playing a male and now a male is playing a female playing a male, but the show must go on. Every night bouquets arrive addressed to the “True Beauty” and signed by a devoted friend. There is no doubt that these flowers are for Belle but secretly Teddy begins to fantasize that they are really for him.
One night leaving the theater Teddy bumps into a man, Dr. Basil Goodall who invites him to dinner and Teddy finds himself wishing the person Basil was waiting at the theater for was him. What happens when the show ends and the book ends, I will leave for you to discover.
This was a beautiful little story perfect for the Christmas season.
