Elias Stevens, the Marquess of Savorton doesn’t believe he’ll ever fall in love. He may marry one day, because the title demands it; however, that elusive emotion will not be freely given to his future wife.
A house party changes everything for him though. His dearest friend makes a wager with him. He’ll fall in love by the new year. Elias takes that bet because he knows his own heart.
Lady Gabriella St. Giles lives a charmed life. She has a good family and fully believes one day she’ll mean a gentleman sure to steal her heart. What she doesn’t count on is meeting an unsavory marquess at a house party.
Love is on the agenda. One of them wants it and the other hopes to desperately escape it. That wager gives the marquess far more than he could ever imagined, and Gabriella may just acquire her own future duke to savor.
Genre: FICTION / Romance / Regency“And what exactly is this wager?” Eli asked.
“How about we make it simple,” she began. “The first to fall in love by the end of Christmastide loses and owes the other a boon.”
He pondered her suggestion. “And what if neither of us falls?”
“Then we both win,” she said in a wistful tone. “Or perhaps we will both lose, depending on one’s perspective.”
Eli doubted he would fall in love. He had yet to meet a woman that inspired such an insipid emotion in him. “All right, I accept. In fact, I have the perfect playing field for us.”
She lifted a brow. “Oh?”
“Lady Winston is having a house party. It begins in a couple of weeks and will extend through the entirety of Christmastide. My mother has been hounding me to attend. I’ll tell her I will as long as you go and we can put our wager to the test.”
Elena steepled her fingers together. “Excellent,” she said in a gleeful tone. “Let the best player win, then.”
