A Season of Invitations

A Season of invitations continues this month with the release of Search for the French Letter by Jolene Russell.

In case you missed them, check out last month’s invitations.

In a glittering Season of Invitations, society’s most sought-after house parties open their doors to dukes, debutantes, and dangerous secrets. From elegant estates to intimate country gatherings, each invitation promises scandal, temptation, and unexpected romance, with stories ranging from clean to gently steamy, where whispered wagers, hidden pasts, and carefully arranged matches may lead not to ruin, but to love.

Here’s a peek at the next invitation available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited.

Coming 6th August

Search for the French Letter

Jolene Russell

A steamy romance

Miss Emily Pollard was looking forward to attending a week-long Christmas house party organised by her favourite cousin, Selina. After a tumultuous two years following the death of her father and a broken engagement, she was finally feeling confident enough to venture back into social settings.

Her cousin had plans to harangue a proposal from a suitor, and Emily knew she had to keep her wits about her as a freshly appointed chaperone for the couple. They had a penchant for silliness that Emily loved and dreaded simultaneously.

What she hadn’t counted on was her attention being immediately diverted towards the best friend of her cousin’s suitor. A man who was rather blatant in his appreciation of her.

Julian Hartfield opened up something within Emily she wasn’t expecting. The events of the previous two years had left their mark and shaken her ability to trust, but now, due to her evolving confidence, she was willing to explore these emerging feelings.

Convincing Julian into an illicit liaison was easier than she anticipated, but it was the actioning of said liaison that stumped them. When and how could they secretly meet?

But first things first…
The hunt was on for a French Letter.

Excerpt

Emily Pollard looked at the small square invitations before her, organised into neat piles upon the large dining table within her cousin’s home. Stacked according to family affiliations, Emily swallowed her nervous anticipation as she realised just how big this Christmas house party was going to be.

Standing next to her was her favourite cousin, younger by four years, Selina Whitmore.

“This is going to be the most spectacular Christmas ever, Em. I can hardly believe Mama agreed to host an actual house party.”

“Even more spectacular than the Christmas when the baby Jesus was born?” Emily teased.

Selina gave her a look, one she saw on a regular basis, expressing exasperation and indulgence equally. “We shall invite Jesus too, so he won’t be jealous,” she quipped.

“I am sure Jesus is in agreement with your Mama’s plans regarding your poor Daniel.”

“Oh please, Em! You know, you should actually be saying ‘poor me.’ Daniel has dragged his feet long enough, and this party will be just the thing to bring him around to proposing.”

Selina pulled out the dining chair beside her and flopped into it, her curls bobbing as she threw her arms wide.

“Can you imagine me engaged, cousin?”

Emily studied her best friend; a lifetime of memories flooded her heart with warm nostalgia. The last decade had been carefree, filled with laughter and kinship as they grew into young women. Although the last two years had held a solemn note with the death of her father. It shocked her to think they were now at this juncture in life with the 1830s shaping up to be filled with marriage and children.

“I certainly can, my dear,” Emily responded truthfully. “You are one and twenty and mature enough for love, in my opinion. It is Daniel I have reservations about. From my experience with young men, they don’t consider the idea of marriage until closer to their thirties, and with Daniel the same age as you, I worry he might be leading you on with this courtship.”

“I have known him for three years now; what purpose would he have to associate with me other than marriage? Many men marry young—remember Hazel and Sydney?” Selina fidgeted with an envelope in front of her.

Emily had known Daniel for the same length of time, and her impression of him was that he was a lad who was more interested in running amuck with his friends in Newcastle than settling with a wife on a patch of family land. She hoped she was wrong as she wanted to see Selina happily matched, preferably with someone amenable and friendly with her own future spouse, whoever that may happen to be.

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Don’t miss a single invitation this season.