A Midnight Clear

Will the twelve days of Christmas bring them together or leave his family in ruin? Jane Ryder is innocent, plain, poor, and eager for adventure. After taking a job as a secretary with the notorious gossip, Lady Eudora “The Tongue” Swann, she is given the task of transcribing Lady Swann’s scandalous history of the aristocracy, featuring the many promiscuities of the Fallon Marquesses. When the Fallon heir, Charles, returns from India with a self-made fortune, he dedicates himself to restoring the derelict manor house and the infamous family name. Face-to-face, he orders the crafty Lady Swann to leave his family out of the book. Lady Swann offers a sly trade: If he agrees to confide intriguing tidbits of his family history (and of his own rise to fortune) to Miss Ryder, she will tone down his family’s sordid tales in Scandalbroth. At Wolvercote, the centuries-old and long-abandoned seat of the Fallon family, a snowstorm strands Charles and Jane. They’re drawn together in mutual respect, humor, and as time passes, an attraction that cannot be denied, though her lowly station forbids it. When they discover an abandoned infant girl near the stable on Christmas Eve, caring for her together, the formal barricades between them seem to vanish. Can a romance begun on a night of joy and miracles overcome the strict rules of London society? It may take a meddling old gossip named Lady Swann to persuade them that love is the best Christmas gift of all. Lynn Kerstan, former college professor, folksinger, professional bridge player, and nun, is the author of sixteen romance novels and four novellas, all set in Regency England. A RITA winner and five-time RITA Finalist, her books are regularly listed among the best in the Regency genre. The Golden Leopard and Heart of the Tiger were selected by Library Journal for its Best Books of the Year list (2002 and 2003), and Dangerous Passions was named by Booklist as one of the Top Ten Romances of 2005.