Three PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED Regency Novellas
His Grace of Lesser Puddlebury (from Dukes in Disguise) — Connor, Duke of Mowne, has been injured in a most delicate location, and needs a place to heal far from the curious eyes of Polite Society. When he takes refuge with the independent and impecunious Julianna St. Bellan, he suspects his wound was in truth caused by Cupid’s arrow!
Duchess in the Wild (from Duchesses in Disguise) — Sir Greyville Trent accepts a friend’s offer of a quiet respite in the countryside where Grey can prepare years’ worth of scientific notes for publication. The task goes poorly until Francesca Pomponio and her two friends join the household while they await repairs to their carriage. Francesca doesn’t care much for jungles, but she’s willing to help Grey get his notes organized. Collaboration turns to fascination, and the focus of the investigation from exotic flora and fauna to true love!
The Governess and the Norse God (from Marquesses at the Masquerade) — Darien, Marquess of Tyne, dutifully takes up his hammer and dons his trews to impersonate a Viking god for the duration of one interminable masquerade ball. He’s by nature the most reserved and retiring of men, and the only lady to catch his mortal eye is Miss Lucy Fletcher, governess to his two daughters. A gentleman would never importune a lady in his employ–and Tyne is every inch a gentleman–but a Norse god is subject to different, and far more dashing rules!
Vicar Pietr Sorenson is preparing to endure–enjoy, rather–another solitary, frigid holiday season at the edge of the Yorkshire moors, when Miss Joy Danforth‘s coach lurches to a halt across the village green. Joy and her brother have nowhere to wait out the impending bout of nasty weather, while the vicarage is even emptier than usual.
The lady is on her way to charm a titled nitwit into offering her marriage, lest her family face financial ruin. Pietr has accepted a prestigious post closer to civilization, though he hasn’t quite found a way to tell his congregation he’s leaving early in the New Year. Will Pietr and Joy steal some holiday comfort beneath the mistletoe, or find the love of a lifetime on a bleak mid-winter night?
Respect for Christmas features Henrietta Whitlow, who’s leaving behind the life of a very successful courtesan in hopes of making peace with her family in the shires. Michael Brenner’s family all but ignores him, despite his shiny new baronial title. His errand along the Oxford road isn’t half so benign as Henrietta’s. While trying to settle a debt of honor involving Henrietta, Michael instead loses his heart, gains a friend, and learns an important holiday lesson.
Patience for Christmas is the story of advice columnist Patience Friendly, whose relationship with her stubborn, over-bearing, publisher, Dougal MacHugh, is anything but cordial. Dougal challenges Patience to take on a rival columnist in a holiday advice-a-thon, and sparks fly clear up to the mistletoe hanging from every rafter. Will Patience follow the practical guidance of her head, or the passionate advice of her heart?
When a storm blows off the North Sea and slams into the village of Fenwick on Sea, the villagers prepare for the inevitable: shipwreck, flood, land slips, and stranded travelers. The Queen’s Barque Inn quickly fills with the injured, the devious, and the lonely—lords, ladies, and simple folk; spies, pirates, and smugglers all trapped together. Intrigue crackles through the village, and passion lights up the hotel.
One storm, eight authors, eight heartwarming novellas.
Two novellas set in the time of mistletoe…
Lady Mistletoe’s Holiday Helper (from Yuletide Wishes)
Lord Marcus Bannerfield is former military and all business. He has no patience with frivolity, but when he becomes guardian to two orphaned nieces, even he knows somebody had better decorate his household for the yuletide holidays. Lady Margaret Entwhistle’s business offers that exact service, but she doesn’t expect his lordship pay for her efforts with kisses!
Kisses and Catnip (from Love and Other Perils)
Max Haddonfield is a man of science with a soft spot for stray cats. When he donates one of his foundlings to a library to protect the books from hungry mice, he never dreams that Lady Antonia Mainwaring will reward his generosity by stealing his heart!
Two PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED Regency novellas…
His Grace for the Win (from The Duke’s Bridle Path):
Philippe, Duke of Lavelle, has sworn off all things equestrian after his brother’s riding accident. Just one tiny problem: The woman who steals Philippe’s heart, Harriet Talbot, loves horses, and generally only notices men when they’re in the saddle. Will Philippe rise to the challenge, or come a cropper for the sake of true love?
The Will to Love (from How to Find a Duke in Ten Days)
The Earl of Ramsdale is convinced that his late uncle’s will holds the key to finding at least one portion of a long-lost Renaissance manuscript. The only person skilled enough to translate the will in ten short days is Miss Philomena Peebles, who has no patience with handsome, presumptuous earls. Will Ramsdale find the fabled literary treasure, or lose his heart to the last woman he should propose to?
Two novellas previously published in separate anthologies (no longer for sale) are re-issued in one volume.
May I Have This Duke — previously available in Dancing in the Duke’s Arms
Gerard Hammersley, Duke of Hardcastle, is dragooned by an old friend into attending a house party, though Hardcastle refuses to fall prey to the matchmakers who relish such gatherings. He recruits his nephew’s prim, prickly governess, Miss Ellen MacHugh, to preserve him from being compromised by the matchmakes, and offers in exchange to deflect the amorous viscounts who plague Ellen. Ellen agrees to Hardcastle’s scheme for two reasons. First, she’s been attracted to His Grace since the day she laid eyes on him, and knows that behind Hardcastle’s lack of charm lies a ferociously loyal and faithful heart. Second, she’s departing from Hardcastle’s household at the conclusion of the house party, and two weeks safeguarding His Grace’s bachelorhood is as much pleasure—and as much torment—as she can endure before she leaves him.
The Duke of My Dreams–previously available in Once Upon a Dream
Banker’s daughter Anne Faraday is cast into the company of Elias, Duke of Sedgemere, at house party in the Lakes. Anne warms to the lonely man and conscientious father behind the title, and Elias becomes enthralled with the brilliant, burdened woman beneath Anne’s genteel facade. Liking turns to love under the Cumbrian summer moon, but family obligations, secrets, and a prodigal duck conspire to thwart the course of true love.
Two PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED Windham Novellas
THE COURTSHIP–Percival Windham, the Moreland spare, is politely fending off matchmakers and merry widows alike as he endures three interminable weeks at a summer house party. Esther Himmelfarb is trudging through the same three weeks at the same house party, trying to keep a handsome cousin out of trouble while she dodges proposals from gouty barons, and propositions from upstart peers. Percival is far above her touch, Esther is not at all who Percy had in mind, but some things are meant to be!
THE DUKE AND HIS DUCHESS–In this second prequel novella to the popular Windham series, Percival and Esther Windham face the tumultuous and bittersweet first years of marriage. Between an aging patriarch, a full nursery, money troubles, and political difficulties, true love is slipping from sight. Then Percival’s past delivers a double helping of trouble at precisely the wrong time, and Percival and Esther must decide whether their marriage becomes an alliance of convenience or an enduring love story.
He left her standing in the cold…
As a girl of seventeen, Marielle Redford waited and waited for Leopold Drake, her first love, to meet her at their trysting place so they could elope. She got a bad case of lung fever and a broken heart for her troubles.
She sent him off to war…
Leo Drake was all set to share his future with the lady of his dreams, when he was told Marielle had changed her mind. Bewildered and heartbroken, he joined the army and sailed for Spain. It’s ten years later, and fate has thrown Leo and Marielle together on Christmas night. Will they say farewell for all time, or let the magic of the holidays rejoin their hearts?
Available for free directly from Grace
