Cirrus@Austlit

'Anything can happen on Twelfth Night…

'When widowed countess Minerva, Lady Harlow, discovers a devastating secret about her late husband just before Christmas, she turns to trusted friend, Sir Tristan King, for support. However, when a long-denied desire flares to life—and Minerva and Tristan agree to a Twelfth Night tryst—Tristan worries a secret of his own will ruin a treasured friendship. But then again, perhaps this shared night of wicked, unbridled passion will spark an everlasting love...

(Source: publisher's blurb)

'This bespectacled bluestocking is about to throw all the rules out the window this Christmas…

'Even though Lady Mary Fellows harbors secret, forbidden desires, she’s always tried to behave like a proper tonnish young lady… But not this festive season. In fact, Mary has just the nobleman in mind—a braw Scots earl who she’s often fantasized about from afar—to help her bend polite society’s rules, perhaps even break them. She just needs to convince the rakish Lord Skene to take part in her scandalous plan…

'Angus, Lord Skene, is at home minding his own business when Lady Mary Fellows, the bespectacled sister of one of his good friends, arrives unexpectedly on the snowy doorstep of Skene Castle in the far north of Scotland. When the usually reserved bluestocking asks him to tutor her in all things “erotic” over Christmas—she argues that she can hardly agree to become anyone’s wife unless she actually enjoys bed sport with a man—he’s shocked but also tempted to play his part…especially when he discovers Lady Mary might also fancy his neighbor and sometimes paramour, the flame-haired and sexually adventurous Nell, Lady Balmuir.

'As Angus and Nell help Mary embark on her journey of self-discovery, passions and hearts are set aflame. Who Mary will choose—if anyone at all—to spend her life with is uncertain. Although, there’s no doubt at all that a cold winter’s night is always hotter when the Lord of Misrule comes out to play…'

Source: Publisher's blurb.