Mischief Under the Mistletoe

The next Christmas novella is Mischief Under the Mistletoe, one of the most recent releases, but also the first one from All Wrapped Up to be lengthened into a novella.

One of the comments I got about the flash fiction piece ‘Tis the Season, was that the reader wanted to know what had happened during Jenny’s Season and how Alec had wooed her. Which got me to thinking, maybe I could expand the story. But as I wanted it to remain a Christmas story, I had to make it about a makeshift Season–a Christmas house party in fact–where Jenny could find her own true love.

Its first release date was 2015 with the title A Kiss Beneath the Mistletoe and a very amateurish cover by yours truly. I was really on a shoestring budget in those days. Then the following year, when I decided Kiss should be the prequel to my Handful of Hearts sweet romance series, my editor, Danielle Fine, re-imagined the cover in order to make it go along with the other covers in the series. I still think it’s very Christmasy and beautiful. And the title changed to Hearts Beneath the Mistletoe, in keeping with the titles of the series.

Fast forward to this year when I decided to re-imagine the handful of Hearts series with a little more steam. And so the cover and this time the story changed quite a bit to reflect the racier scenes for The Matchmaker’s Ball series of steamy historical romance.

Here’s the Blurb for Mischief Beneath the Mistletoe:

Every romance needs a bit of mischief. . .

At her eighteenth birthday celebration Jenny Crowley’s parents announce that instead of having the London Season she’s dreamed of for years, Jenny has actually been betrothed from birth to Alexander Isley, son of family friends and heir to a title. A distraught Jenny refuses point-blank to marry Alec, and when her aunt offers to whisk her away to a festive Christmas house party–complete with many eligible young bachelors–Jenny jumps at the chance to enjoy a variety of entertainments, be courted, and perhaps find the man of her dreams.

Alec Isley is between a rock and a hard place. He’s been secretly in love with Jenny for years and had hoped to court her properly during her Season. Now, with Jenny adamantly against the match, he must find a way to make her desire him as much as he does her. He follows Jenny to the house party in hopes of wooing her there, but when he discovers who else is courting her there, he’s frantic to keep her from making a horrible mistake. Can Alec convince her of his love in time to save her from being ruined under the mistletoe?