Christmas in the Castle

A second chance for love. During the Napoleonic Wars, Lady Elizabeth Montgomery has worked with the British government and uncovered her fiancé's murderer. But when she realizes she is pregnant and unwed, she knows she must marry before the child is born or face ruin. Lord Thomas Westerly is a decorated, ex-military officer, a widower with a three year-old son, and a doctor. He was an orphan, adopted by a nobleman. Thomas understands the stigma Elizabeth and her child face and offers marriage. But theirs is not a love match. Elizabeth's secret that she wishes to resume work as a spy threatens to tear them apart before they can learn to love again.

The District of Columbia in 1859 isn't the nicest place to live, but Fiona Ellicott loves her job as the director of the Smithsonian Institution Library. The Smithsonian's first paid female employee, she delights in working at "the Castle." She only wishes she weren't losing her assistant-and best friend-Nicole to marriage. Quaker Caleb Fox stays so busy running a Friends' orphanage in Georgetown that he rarely pauses to think about romance. But all that changes when he visits the Smithsonian Library to research a lesson for the children and meets Fiona. Soon, they're organizing a charity concert for the children to perform at the Castle on Christmas Eve... and falling hopelessly in love. But married women are typically barred from the professions, and Fiona faces a choice that will end in heartbreak either way.

It's the Christmas season at Clarendon, and Genevieve DeClare is determined to provide a joyful holiday for her mother and sister, despite the losses they've endured the past year. The castle is decked with greenery and she's planned a lavish feast. Await

Bartered to Viscount Hudson Becker by her father, Lady Lavinia Holbrook escapes her arranged marriage and travels to her Godmother, the Duchess of Chauncy to seek asylum. Determined to put men and marriage behind her, she is unprepared for the duke's interest or his heated kisses. The Duke of Chauncy believes love is a weakness and refuses to take a bride despite his mother's scheming. When the duchess makes a wager he will marry by Christmas, he considers the matter a lark. Until Lavinia gets under his skin, and he rethinks his position on love and happy ever afters.

Madelyn Winterborn hasn't celebrated a true Christmas since her mother's passing. She never expects her dear mama's final words to be an omen of what awaits her this Christmas at Biltmore Castle, especially when her father's schemes jeopardize both their

Miss Arabella Dowell's twin sister is in love with a small-town bookseller, a match their parents will never approve. So her sister can be with the man she loves, Bella helps hide their romance from the world, including from a handsome stranger who almost