Ghosts of Dukes Past

When the snow flies and the fire crackles, a man's thoughts turn to romance…

Sebastian Farmingworth, Duke of Foxcroft, is having a wretched Christmastide season. After deciding to spend time at his country estate with his young daughter, everything goes wrong—a maid fell down the stairs, a random dog ran off with the Christmas goose, and now a wild snowstorm has prevented half his houseguests from arriving. He's ready to wash his hands of the holiday until the woman who got away enters his drawing room.

Lady Christiana Thorpe, eldest daughter of the Duke of Lancaster, is traveling to the Lake District to see her fiancé's family. It doesn't matter he's a duke and a man she despises; her father demanded the match for her second marriage—alliances are more important than comfort, apparently. When a snowstorm strands her at a familiar manor house, she can't help but think she's being haunted by ghosts of dukes past, for the owner is the man she'd hoped to wed many years ago.

With five days until Christmas and half a house party underfoot, tension and attraction still crackle between Foxcroft and Christiana. Any sort of dalliance is strictly forbidden, for neither of them are free, but desire proves stronger than decorum, and those nights are filled with steamy, illicit encounters that have the power to change their lives. Yet in order to perhaps find a second chance at love, they'll have to be truthful with themselves and survive tempers, tantrums, and mostly benevolent ghosts.

…unless he and his lady are spoken to others, then he'll need to hope for a holiday miracle.