“Nothing is enough. All of your hope is in gain. Not in me, not in our family.” So ends the romance between Ebenezer Scrooge and Belle Endicott.

But it wasn’t like that in the beginning. Before Scrooge became enamored with “owning a block of shops and straddling all of London;” and before he partnered with Jacob Marley, Ebenezer was a thoughtful and sensitive man. Belle adored him and delighted in his mind and spirit then.

As time wore on, Ebenezer evolved into a man full of ambition. Empathy was lost in him, and the coin and gold became his passionate focus. Sadly, there was no turning back.

The Red Button is a prequel to A Christmas Carol and it tells the tale of Ebenezer’s first love and how Ebenezer’s aspirations and toxic partnership with Jacob Marley led to the demise of his engagement with Belle, and the eventual transformation of Ebenezer into a soulless miser.

An excellent complement to Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, the reader gets to learn the background and history of Scrooge, his love life, and his pernicious relationship with Jacob Marley.

Although considered a regency romance novel, it is more than that because it also blends elements from the industrial age when manufacturing started to become mechanized.

Overall, a magical read that is sure to please fans of A Christmas Carol. Five charming stars.