The Bluestocking Belles have produced a new set of Christmas stories for your holiday enjoyment! They include:
- Friends to Lovers—The farmer’s daughter, the viscount’s son, and the estate manager reunite as adults. Della is starry-eyed for the viscount’s son, but is he really the one for her? (Regency, Christmas)
- Fake Relationship—When the pressure to marry is overwhelming, can a plan put in place at a Christmas house party turn into a love that will last forever? (Regency, Christmas)
- Second-Chance Love—An accident leaves the modiste burned, blinded and in despair until the physician offers hope and stirs memories. (Regency, Christmas)
- Country Mouse and Marriage-Shy Duke—Invited at the last minute to make up the numbers, she expects to be an interested observer. The duke has other ideas. (Georgian, Twelfth Night)
- Two Spies, One Secret—Trapped in a deserted wilderness, will they set aside secrets and past betrayals to rekindle their love and ring in the New Year together? (Medieval, Hogmanay)
Away From the Holiday Crowd by Sherry Ewing
When the pressure to marry is overwhelming, can one Christmas house party provide a love that will last forever?
David Chadwick, Marquis of Lockhart feels burdened by his title’s responsibilities. Heir to a duchy, he knows he must marry but seeks a genuine connection beyond wealth and status. A chance encounter by the lake with his neighbor’s eldest daughter opens his eyes to the possibilities that might blossom between them.
Lady Elinor Lacey has yet to find a man she would consider for her husband. But time is running out when her father demands she pick an eligible lord by Christmas. When the Marquis of Lockhart shows up at the edge of their property, she sees him in an entirely new light, giving her hope.
Their conversation becomes easier the longer they converse. David and Elinor begin concocting a plan to give them more time to find their perfect match. What could possibly go wrong? But as love begins to enter the picture, can the two of them go beyond their original plan and let love into their hearts?
Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot? by Alina K. Field
Dreading meeting an old enemy at a Yuletide house party, Madame Marie La Fanelle, an acclaimed London modiste, has a clumsy encounter with a lamp that leaves her burned, blinded, and in terror of the future.
But then a kind German physician appears, offering a hopeful diagnosis, and stirring memories of the man she once loved. Can the magic of the holidays heal Marie’s blindness and soften the hardened hearts of two prideful lovers?
Maryann and the Twelfth Knight by Jude Knight
Maryanne is only at the house party as chaperone for her half-sister. She is far too old and insignificant to attract the attention of a duke. Or, at least, if he is pursuing her it cannot be for honorable purposes.
Dell knows it is time to take a wife, but the offerings of the marriage mart bore him to tears. The only lady of interest at his sister’s house party is the spinster chaperone. But she isn’t eligible, is she?
Her Hogmanay Spy by Rue Allyn
In the winter of 1296, can a Scottish Lady and an English knight survive shipwreck, winter in the wilderness, and a betrayal that could break hearts to bring in the new year with a love for all time?
Excerpt: Della’s Christmas Gift by Susana Ellis
Paget House
Ibstock, Leicestershire
15 September 1801
“LAUD’S HEIR RETURNS FROM GRAND TOUR. In search of wife, says reputable source.”
Della’s brother threw down the latest copy of The Teatime Tattler and snickered. “Poor sod’s too young for a leg-shackle. Doubtless Lady Laud’s pressing for grandchildren. Mothers!”
Their father lifted an eyebrow. “If your mother were still alive, you’d be wed by now, Thomas. I suppose I’ve been negligent on that front. You’re what, thirty now? Ought to be settled down.”
Thomas’s fork clattered when it hit his plate. “And who would I marry? Some farm girl like Della here? If I were a banker’s son I could look higher.”
Della winced and her father’s face turned red. “THOMAS! Apologize to your sister this instant!”
“Sorry,” he mumbled. But Della could tell he wasn’t sincere, even before he added, “But dammit, she should be wed by now too. But what choices does she have, as a farmer’s daughter? We should all be better off if we sold out and went into banking.”
Thomas Sr. pounded the table hard enough to rattle his plate. “ENOUGH!”
Both of his offspring stiffened and stared at him incredulously. Their father rarely lost his temper, and never at the breakfast table. But there had been more than a few arguments recently, Della mused.
“This farm has provided you an easy life, Thomas. You’ve been handed everything you need and want, even a chance for a superior education at Cambridge, which you squandered by neglecting your studies in favor of—er—” he swallowed as he glanced at Della “studies of a different sort.”
Della snorted and promptly looked down at her lap when her father gave her a stern look. Well really. She was twenty years old, the same age as Thomas when he returned home from Cambridge in disgrace. Did they really believe she hadn’t heard all the stories about his misdeeds there? Rumors had been rife at the time, and although she might not have understand exactly what they meant at the age of ten, she had since apprehended them more clearly.
“I’m inclined to believe that this self-indulgent lifestyle you’ve embarked on can be attributed to the influence of the useless young lords with whom you caroused first at Harrow and then at Cambridge.” He shook his head. “Your mother would be ashamed, Thomas.”
His son had the decency to drop his chin.
And well he should, thought Della. He’d had the good fortune to have had a mother, at least. She’d never had that opportunity, her mother having died at Della’s birth.
Their father pushed back his chair and rose from table. “Thomas, your jaunts to London and York and all points in between are now cancelled. Henceforth, you will spend your time at Paget & Sons, employed in furthering the interests of our sheep and cattle.”
Folding his arms in front him, he glared at his son. “In case you’ve forgotten all you’ve been taught over the years, I’ll put the lad in charge to refresh your memory.”
With that, he marched out of the room.
Della giggled. The image of Thomas being bear-led around the farm by the much-younger estate manager seemed dubious at best.
He slapped the table. “It’s not funny! I don’t care a jot about sheep and cattle, and you all know it! Besides, I have a shooting party next week. It’s almost the end of the grouse season.”
Della’s hands curled up. “You should care. This farm will be yours someday! It’s in your own best interests to ensure its prosperity.”
Thomas’s lips curled. “It’s been losing money for years. By the time it comes down to me, it’ll be worth a pittance. Best to sell out now and put the capital where it can do some good.”
Tilting his head, he studied her with a gleam in his eye.
“If I’m not mistaken, you are out there with the cattle every day. And Kit too. Now there’s a match for you—the rustic farm girl and the penniless estate manager.”
Della tossed the remainder of her sausage at him. “You are horrid, Thomas.”
“And you’re a twit,” he threw back as he exited the room.
Della heaved a sigh. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Kit. He’d been one of her best friends forever. But as for marriage, she had something else in mind.
Reaching for the Teatime Tattler, she smoothed her fingers over the headline. Toby was looking for a wife, was he? Well, she intended that he look no further than the neighboring estate.
Release Date: December 1, 2024
Preorder:
A Christmas Quintet Celebration Giveway
Mystery Box
8-1/2 x 6 x 2
What’s in the box? Hints:
• something Christmas-connected
• something tea-connected
• 2 somethings France-connected
• 2 somethings writing-connected
And, of course, the box is a prize in itself!
Post your guesses here: https://www.facebook.com/susana.ellis.5/posts/pfbid0diGAkyzVa6nK42DAqRRDFqkgYGz6hQkU3q4wnacSCJVLaptZG6FroLdj1AfQeUql
Contest ends December 1, 2024. The entry with the most correct answers will win the prize. In the event of a tie, the winner will be chosen randomly.
About the Bluestocking Belles
The Bluestocking Belles (the “BellesInBlue”) are eight very different writers united by a love of history and a history of writing about love. From sweet to steamy, from light-hearted fun to dark tortured tales full of angst, from London ballrooms to country cottages to the sultan’s seraglio, one or more of us will have a tale to suit your tastes and mood.
Website: www.BluestockingBelles.net/
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dAJU_9
Teatime Tattler twice-weekly gossip magazine: https://bluestockingbelles.net/category/teatime-tattler/
Free books: https://bluestockingbelles.net/teatime-tattler-free-books/
Find buy links and story blurbs for all the following books on our website at https://bluestockingbelles.net/belles-joint-projects/
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