LITMIR.BIZ

CHRISTMAS MIRACLES brings together three previously published and long out-of-print novellas, each of which demonstrates how the wonder of the season can bring together two would-be lovers or two estranged lovers and create a bond between them that will last a lifetime and beyond. In «The Wassail Bowl» an aristocrat has summoned his young son to a family house party but is disconcerted when his estranged wife and her illegitimate daughter arrive with him. When he expresses his displeasure, she picks up a large bowl of wassail from the hall table and dumps its sticky contents over his head. The only way for the story to proceed after that is up! In «The Bond Street Carolers» a gentleman who hates Christmas is appalled when his ears are assailed on fashionable Bond Street by a group of inferior carolers–until, that is, he is rooted to the spot by the pure soprano voice of a young boy soloist. As a connoisseur of music and the arts, he must have the boy to sing at one of his concerts–but the child's widowed mother will have nothing to do with what she sees as exploitation. In «Guarded by Angels» an estranged couple are separately marooned at the same cottage by a snow storm and must spend Christmas together without coming to blows. But they have a great deal of assistance from their very different guardian angels.

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Pierre Loti's Madame Chrysantheme is a charming story, a real life tale of love between the Frenchman Pierre Loti and a geisha. At times the story is happy, at other times it is sad. The setting is a summer in Nagasaki almost a century ago. Loti, as a young naval officer on station in harbor, had sufficient time on his hands to establish a home ashore with fragile and beautiful Madame Chrysantheme. In these days of fast jet travel such romances are scarcely possible for travelers, yet the appeal of them remains.Here is a novel based on a real experience written by one of France's greatest masters of description. The theme is love in the exotic Japan of the late nineteenth century. At times the scenario resembles comic opera in the vein of Gilbert and Sullivan's Mikado, but at other times emotional feeling runs as deep as in Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. The mixed denizens of the Nagasaki waterfront and the teahouses of those long-ago days provided Loti with very rich material indeed. This is a book all lovers of the romantic side of traditional Japan will be sure to appreciate.

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Beautiful, headstrong and reckless, Lady Elspeth Dunwoodie is the youngest child of the Marquess of Crieff, one of Regency Scotland’s most distinguished peers. When she is discovered in a compromising situation with the notorious Sir Duncan Buccleuch, her family sends her to the West Indies to marry a wealthy plantation owner she has never met. But on the way to Barbados, the ship is attacked and Elspeth finds herself prisoner of the Black Scot, an infamous pirate captain with a mysterious past. Can the lively ingénue soften the heart of a battle-weary buccaneer, and can the pirate king tame a willful, wayward young aristocrat?

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They have nothing in common… Pretty, clever, and independently wealthy Margaret Bell lives just as she pleases in Regency Edinburgh’s gracious New Town, until her indulgent uncle marries a pious widow with strict ideas about how a young lady ought to behave. Only marriage can offer an immediate escape. Lord John Dunwoodie, rakish younger brother of the Marquess of Crieff, is at the end of his tether. A family quarrel has left him homeless and penniless, and the secrets of his past are catching up with him. Only marriage to a lady of fortune can save him. With nothing in common but desperation, can Margaret and Lord John find love together? Publisher's Note: This Regency romance contains elements of power exchange.

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Молодая принцесса государства Саларис даёт умирающему отцу, казалось бы, невыполнимое обещание: она должна выйти замуж, тем самым прекратив многолетнюю войну. Мало того, что у неё в принципе нет опыта общения с мужчинами, так она именно этого принца и в глаза не видела! Сбежать ли с бродячим цирком, пока не поздно?..

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Бал у буржуа. Из полуодетых и раскрепощённых Французской Революцией девушек судостроитель Камилл Дарнедаль выбрал самую одетую и прекрасную невесту для сына Сирену де Брэскю и увёз её в Нормандию. Вот только девушка эта так похожа на его первую любовь…А Сирена оказывается с непростым, своевольным характером, ей нравится сосед – экспериментатор с музыкой…и ещё будущий свёкор, хотя тот женат на женщине-травнице. Камилл пытается показать Нормандию так, чтоб она стала родиной для Сирены.

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Жизнь Маргарет Далтон ничем не отличалась от жизни девушек ее положения и достатка в Англии того времени. Минимальное обучение, послушание старшим, прогулки по окрестностям, да игры со сверстниками – всего этого, как считали правящие миром мужчины, достаточно, чтобы стать достойной женой. И она с честью выполнила возложенную на нее миссию. Только однажды супруг, в собственность которого по воле тетушки перешла девушка, решил отправиться в путешествие и прихватил жену с собой. На другом краю света Маргарет познакомилась с иным миром и доказала всем, что даже у самой тихой и послушной леди существует предел терпения, перейдя который, она ни перед чем не остановится. А наградой ей станет любовь лешего из мужчин.

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The Man Is Practical As marriage proposals go, Charles Draysmith's suit is as romantic as the moors in December. Emma Peterson might be only a vicar's daughter, and he the new Marquis of Knightsdale, and perhaps he would rather marry her than endure the marriage mart. But when he suggests how much he'll enjoy securing an heir, well, a lady can only endure so much. But The Lady Is Passionate There's something about a woman throwing pottery at a man that piques his interest. Perhaps his proposal lacks grace, Charles thinks. But it does seem a perfect solution. He acquires a wife; his young charges have the mother they so desperately need, and Emma gains security and position. You see? Simple. Practical. Sensib–oh no, not the ceramic dog. . . He will have to confess the truth to calm her down. And the truth is, he's madly in love. . .

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