Holidays of the Aristocracy

He left her at the altar. She married another. Can he thaw her heart on the coldest night of the year? Dowager Duchess Katherine is enjoying a winter in Wiltshire when a blizzard brings a half-frozen man to her door seeking refuge from the storm. Providing hospitality to the man who left her at the altar twenty-five years ago isn't exactly her idea of a happy Christmas, but there is something different about him. After a horrific accident leaves his traveling coach engulfed in flames on the coldest night of the winter, Thomas, Duke of Pendleton, walks for miles in search of a light. Nearly frozen, he ends up in the care of his first love, a woman who married another when his duty to the Crown interfered. Although he had different plans for how he was going to spend Christmas, he soon changes his mind-especially when he learns Katherine's secret. Will she give him the second chance he so desperately needs? Or allow him to carry out his desperate plan for the holiday? Perhaps a winter kiss is all it will take for everyone to have a Happy Christmas.

She's a ray of sunshine. He's a moody man. Can Christmas rekindle the spark that once fused their hearts? When Ivy, Countess of Ritchfield, arrives at the earldom's country estate for one of the chilliest Christmases on record, she discovers she won't be alone for the holiday. Her husband of nearly thirty years is already there. Robert's unexpected presence means they'll be forced to spend time together-something they haven't done much of for the past decade. Ever since his countess began living in London year-round, and with his four children grown and on their own, Robert has struggled with loneliness. Seeking to escape the ghosts of his past, he flees to the earldom's seat in York on the worst day of winter to spend a fortnight at Ritchfield Park. When his wife arrives with the same intention, he wonders if their forced proximity will revive what's become an ambivalent relationship. Despite the winter cold and incessant snow, will they have a second chance at love? The Christmas season may find hearts thawing and second-chance love blooming for The Ivy of an Earl.