"In the crumbling Shadowbrook House, governess Pearl Ellicott and heir Oliver Waverly unravel a haunting mystery while confronting their growing forbidden love.
London, 1880
Pearl Ellicott dreams of falling in love and having a family of her own. Until then, she is content working as a governess for young Maxwell, tending to his education and fragile health. Together, they explore the mansion’s empty rooms and secret passageways in search of the haunting violin music that seems to come from nowhere.
Oliver Waverly is young and independent, with plans to sell the run-down mansion once he inherits. But his strained relationship with his reclusive uncle, Arthur Ravenscroft, complicates matters when Ravenscroft refuses to relinquish Shadowbrook House without explanation.
As they spend more time together, Oliver slowly becomes enchanted by Pearl’s wit and love for Maxwell, and Pearl finds herself irresistibly drawn to Oliver’s passion and resolve. However, the social gap between the heir and the governess makes pursuing a relationship difficult.
Oliver must decide whether to follow his heart or adhere to his family’s expectations, while Pearl grapples with her fear that if Shadowbrook House is sold, she will lose her job, her found family, and her chance for long-lasting love. Will the lovers part ways or choose to be together despite the odds? The answer lies within the walls of Shadowbrook House and the echoes of its haunting past."
"Welcome back to Sweetwater Springs, North Carolina for a heartwarming second-chance romance between a quirky café owner and a handsome park ranger.
With summer just around the corner, Emma St. James is eagerly planning a 5K run at Sweetwater Springs National Park. But first she needs the help of one charming, rugged, and handsome park ranger. Her brief high school romance with Jack Hershey may have ended in heartbreak, but Emma can't deny that he still gives her butterflies. So when Jack responds to her request with an all-too-tempting plea to pretend to be his girlfriend for the summer, how can she say no?
Jack would do anything for his sister -- even pretend to give up his bachelor life to care for his nephew. Passing his days with his high school sweetheart guarantees one long, hot summer -- but only because every moment together leaves him wanting a real relationship. He can't imagine spending another season without Emma by his side. Can he convince her to give their love a second chance before the summer draws to a close? "
"This beautiful collector’s edition includes the never-before-published novella “The Making of an Earl,” which highlights select Summerhaven chapters told through Damon’s point of view.
Hannah Kent and Oliver Jennings pledged their hearts to each other as children. Now, years later, Hannah is thrilled to receive an invitation to spend the summer at Oliver’s family’s country estate. The path to wedded bliss is clear—so long as Oliver’s highbrow older brother, Damon, has ceased his juvenile antics, Hannah’s future looks bright indeed.
But from the moment Hannah arrives at Summerhaven, nothing is as she expected. Oliver seems disinterested in renewing their acquaintance, leaving Hannah at a loss to understand why, and Damon is not the brutish boy she remembers but a man intent on avoiding marriage. Although Hannah has loathed Damon her whole life, when he contrives a ruse designed to win Hannah and him what they both desire, Hannah warily agrees—by pretending to be madly in love with Damon, she can reclaim Oliver’s attention, and by pretending to court Hannah, Damon can avoid marriage. But when Damon is surprisingly convincing in his role as a suitor, it proves difficult for Hannah to discern the line between pretense and true love."
"Accidentally sharing a secluded cottage shouldn't be a problem for an earl and a governess . . . especially if no one ever finds out.
If there is one woman Samson Rutherford, Earl of Riverton, can't abide, it is his meddling sister. He has spent his whole life being a pawn in her plans and tricks, but when one of her schemes leaves him embarrassed in front of an old friend, he has finally had enough. He cannot beat her at her games, or even say no to her, his only option to save his sanity and pride is to run away--and fortunately, his solicitor knows just the place…
Catherine Wallace wasn't born to be a governess, but with her family's fall from grace, she has become one. A good one. However, when the chance arises to stay at her uncle's home so she can care for his horticulture project while he is absent, she jumps at the chance. Leaving her position, she plans to gather her sisters together so they can be a family again--even if it is only for a little while.
But the last thing Catherine expected to find upon her arrival was her childhood friend. Samson has sequestered himself at the cottage and claims to have been invited to watch over her uncle's business while he is away. However, Catherine insists that's what she's been asked to do. The quiet retreat is what they both need, but they cannot stay there together...
Not unless they can manage the horticulture project together and somehow keep their living conditions secret, that is. Because the last thing Catherine wants is for Samson to be forced into marriage like he has been forced into everything else since childhood.
Luckily for Samson, that happens to be a risk he is willing to take."
"She has everything Lord Farnsworth wants, including his manor. Lord Farnsworth would rather rot in debtor’s prison than sell the one place that feels like home to him—his mother’s manor. That is, until he meets the woman who wants to buy it. Sally Duncan is beautiful, intelligent, and as rich as a baron—a rich baron, not a cash-strapped one like Lord Farnsworth. She’s the solution to every one of his financial problems and is bewitching to boot. All he needs to do is sell her his beloved manor and then charm her to the altar, and the manor will be his again. Simple, right?
But nothing is simple when Sally starts tearing apart his ancestral home and renovating it in a way no one would consider tasteful. She is wreaking havoc on everything, but he cannot give up on owning his mother’s estate again, nor can he imagine anyone but Sally as his wife.
And so he sticks with his plan.
What a horrible mistake."
"Catching a husband has never been so complicated.
Matthew Harrison has only one task in life: to marry money. After failing miserably in London, his family takes matters into their own hands by arranging his marriage to the wealthy Lucy Bateman. But when he meets Lucy for the first time, his resolve to save his family from ruin crumbles. Lucy looks to be nothing more than a child, and he cannot fathom going through with the union. Without a thought for the consequences of his actions, he runs away.
Lucy Bateman didn’t like the idea of an arranged marriage, but she agreed to save her sister from suffering the same fate. However, when she played a trick on her groom-to-be by sending her younger sister to meet him in her place, he fled without a word. Now, three years later, Lucy stumbles upon her long-lost fiance working as a cart driver. Fate has given her a second chance and this time there will be no tricks… other than pretending to be someone else entirely in order to convince him to come home and marry her.
This book was orignally available in a shortened form as part of a promotion."
"Ruben Palmer is on every woman’s Christmas wish list. Except mine.
I grew up with him and bested him in practically everything we did together–debate, grades, mini-golf, you name it. So I’ve built an immunity to his boy-next-door charm. Sure, sometimes I might accidentally type his name into my search engine, but his dimples, hotel empire and thirst-trap photos don’t tempt me. I’ve got my sights set on earning my way to the top of the Palmer Hotel empire, and nothing is going to get in my way.
Until my step-sister leaves her secret toddler with me before skipping town for three months. Now suddenly everyone thinks he’s mine, and instead of powering my way to the top, I’m struggling to not get fired. And instead of Ruben staying on the executive floor where he belongs, he’s invading my apartment, breaking dates with starlets, and looking disappointed that I decided to settle down with anyone except him.
But I know Ruben, and Ruben doesn’t settle down. So there's no way I’m giving him my heart. Not even for Christmas.
**One Small Secret is inspired by the classic films, Bachelor Mother and Bundle of Joy, and is part of the Gift-Wrapped Romance series. All five cozy Christmas novels can be read in any order.
Cabin Crush by Kasey Stockton
Merry Kismet by Anneka R. Walker
Solo for the Season by Martha Keyes
One Small Secret by Esther Hatch
Jingle Bell Jilt by Mindy Burbidge Strunk"
