[Regency Christmas Summons 04] • The Duke's Christmas Summons

The powerful Duke of Danby is at it again! 1816 was the year without a summer, but what a Christmas it will be when His Grace finally turns his matchmaking machinations to distant branches of the Whitton family tree.

Collection Two includes:

Aileen Fish's A Marquess For Christmas ~

Four years ago, Lady Eleanor’s brother Archie found his love, Harriet, indirectly due to the Duke of Danby’s summons at Christmastime. Now Eleanor hopes Danby will do the same for her, but she’ll have to get over her shyness to meet anyone. Discovered by the handsome Marquess of Wickham as she hides away in the nursery, she agrees to pretend there’s an understanding between them so his uncle won’t try to force him to marry. Eleanor enjoys Wickham’s company, but how will she find a husband if the gentlemen all believe she’s already in love?

Claudia Dain’s The Mating Game ~

Jeanne Whitton is a whisper away from being on-the-shelf. She and her sisters have been summoned to Danby Castle for Christmas. She knows that her uncle, the Duke of Danby has a history of arranging marriages and she, as the eldest sister, decides to sacrifice herself on Danby's altar of matrimony. * Achilles Munro has been sent by Danby to India for one purpose: matrimony. He must choose one of the Whitton sisters to marry, but which one? Jeanne isn't the beauty of the family yet there is something about her that soothes the shadows on his soul.

Jane Charles’s Christmas Spirits ~

Mary Soares was supposed to spend Christmas, nice and warm on her family’s estate in Falkirk, Scotland, tending to their whisky business. However, the English have made smuggling almost impossible, and so order after order is waiting at the distillery until it’s safe enough to continue shipments. Most customers understand this. Most customers are reasonable. The Duke of Danby is not most customers. So after a number of demands from His Grace, insisting upon his order, Mary decides to deliver the whisky herself since no one else is available. * Benjamin Storm, Earl of Kenley, breathes a sigh of relief when his summons from the Duke of Danby has nothing to do with matrimony or a stack of special licenses. Instead, his uncle just needs Benjamin to travel to Scotland and procure his missing whisky shipment in time for his holiday festivities. The chore sounds easy enough, at least until he encounters a most unusual smuggler on her way to Danby Castle. Benjamin’s life may never be the same.