Love and Holly

One snowy Christmas Eve. One impossible errand. One love neither of them dared confess—until now.

Madame Josephine Debroux built her life with her own two hands. Her modiste shop dresses half of fashionable London, and the ladies' gaming hell above it counts her among its dearest friends. At six-and-thirty, she has made peace with spinsterhood—or so she tells herself, every time a certain quiet, steady-eyed guard makes her heart forget its age.

Samuel Brighton knows his place. A servant does not court his employer's dearest friend, no matter how many months he has spent memorizing her smile. Wanting Josephine is a luxury a man like him cannot afford. So he keeps his distance, guards his tongue, and tells himself friendship is enough.

Then disaster strikes Fortuna's first Christmas ball—no food, no greenery, and only hours to save the club from becoming the scandal of the Season. Sent into the snow-hushed streets together, Josephine and Samuel have one afternoon to charm shopkeepers, raid Hyde Park for holly, and carol their way through Mayfair.

But somewhere between the sweet shop and the snowfall, the distance between them begins to melt. And when Samuel pulls her close beneath a swag of holly, one stolen kiss may finally give them the courage to claim the gift they've each been too careful to want…

Tropes: later-in-life love · friends to lovers · class difference · forced proximity · one magical day · slow-burn pining · found family · kisses only

A sweet Regency Christmas novella set in the world of Fortuna's ladies' gaming hell. Can be read as a standalone—perfect for readers of Love Only Me, Believe in Love, and If It's Love.