Mistletoe Match Worried she might lose her teaching job if funding is cut for her boarding school, widow Louise Smythe must consider marriage. But the only prospective groom in town is lighthouse-keeper Jesse Hammond, and he wants children—something she may never be able to provide. While Jesse waits for the ideal woman to make his wife, though, Louise can’t help but long for something more than his friendship. If he wants to be promoted to head lighthouse keeper, Jesse needs to find a wife suited to his rustic lifestyle. But as he and Louise partner to give the town’s homeless orphans a joyous holiday, he’s drawn to the petite woman. Will the light of Christmas finally inspire them to trust in each other’s hearts?

Mistletoe Match

A family Christmas! Charli McKenna runs a business that specializes in organizing all those annoying domestic details of life, from dinner parties to laundry. Christmas is her specialty! Max Taylor wants a full-time wife. A wife will also get him a seat on the board. That last thing he wants is messy emotional ties. He'd even prefer a make-believe wife—and Charli is the ideal candidate. Charli can't exactly say why she has agreed to pretend to be Max's wife—his smile, perhaps? But since she has agreed, she's going to make a go of it. She's determined to have a real tree, a real turkey and…a real husband!

In this beautifully written “Christmas gift to her readers” (Booklist), New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh draws on the warmth of the Christmas season to heal the wounds of the human heart in five holiday historical romance novellas of family, friends, lovers, and strangers.... In A Family Christmas, an estranged husband and wife make an unexpected connection—and an illuminating discovery—during the holiday season. The Star of Bethlehem is a lost diamond ring causing a riff in an already troubled marriage until a servant solves not one mystery but three surrounding its disappearance. The Best Gift can come at the most unexpected moments, especially for a lonesome teacher enlisted over the holidays to chaperon the niece of a notorious rake. Playing House finds an impoverished young woman longing to celebrate just one last, joyous Christmas before she and her orphaned siblings are separated forever. And in No Room at the Inn, a winter storm on Christmas Eve brings a young couple in from the cold, desperately in need of warmth and shelter for their unborn child.

Lady Sarah Milton’s spinsterhood is not because she hasn’t received proposals of marriage. Her beauty and dowry have attracted many. It’s just that the men who have proposed don’t appeal to her. One man who does, the sport-mad Alfred Wickham, doesn’t know she exists. Therefore, when his mother invites her family to spend Yuletide with her extended family at the home of the Duke and Duchess of Radcliff, Lady Sarah jumps at the chance. Alfred Wickham is not happy. His matchmaking mother fancies an alliance between him and some well-bred young miss he’s to meet at the Radcliffs’. The last thing Alfred wants is to tie himself down in matrimony--and, besides, he’s never been attracted to well-bred ladies. He’ll show them! He enlists his best friend, Lord Pottinger, to intervene. Potts is to inform the miss of Alfred’s wicked ways: his gaming, his recklessness, and his (feigned) understanding with an actress. Once Potts has succeeded in poisoning Lady Sarah against his friend, Alfred realizes he’s made a most dreadful mistake . . .