A Season of Invitations – September’s Releases

A Season of invitations continues this month with the release of A Christmas Arrangement by Ella Hazard.

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

A Season of 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 17th September

A Christmas Arrangement

Ella Hazard

A sweet romance

Miss Eleanor Finch has always believed that life is best managed with careful thought, sound judgment, and a well-considered plan.

So when she accepts an invitation to a Christmas house party in the country, she expects nothing more than a pleasant, orderly season. A chance to maintain connections, observe society, and perhaps ensure that a few questionable situations are… properly resolved.

What she does not expect is Mr Jonathan Harrow.

Calm, perceptive, and entirely uninterested in following her carefully laid plans, Jonathan has a habit of undoing her solutions with quiet ease. Where Eleanor sees problems to be solved, he sees people to be understood—and he refuses to let her arrange their lives to suit her sense of order.

As snow settles over the house and Christmas festivities draw the guests ever closer together, Eleanor finds her control slipping. Her decisions no longer lead to the outcomes she expects, and for the first time, she begins to question whether she has mistaken control for care.

But when one carefully managed arrangement threatens to unravel more than just a Christmas gathering, Eleanor must decide what matters more—being right, or being brave enough to choose differently.

A warm and witty Regency Christmas romance about letting go, opening your heart, and discovering that love cannot be arranged.

Excerpt

Dessert—steamed plum pudding flamed with brandy—arrived to applause. Even the quarreling neighbors, now on opposite sides of the table, seemed mellowed by the feast. Lady Harrow, emboldened by the relative peace, proposed a Christmas game: each guest to name their dearest wish for the coming year.

“Miss Finch,” said Lady Harrow, “may we begin with you?”

Eleanor glanced down the table, meeting Jonathan’s gaze—he raised his glass to her, as if to suggest she name the only wish worth having. She ignored him.

“My wish,” she said, ‘is for a year free of mishaps, major or minor, for all gathered here. But if that is too ambitious, then I shall be content with a quiet winter and good health for my father.”

A murmur of approval. The Dowager Countess declared herself for “peace, and the downfall of the Lydgate women’s charity committee, in whichever order Providence preferred.” Sir William wished for a record bag of foxes; Hawkins for progress (delivered with a sly look). Miss Winters, when the attention came to her, fumbled and said, “I wish for everyone to be as happy as Lady Harrow is tonight.”

Lord Henry, not to be outdone, wished for “continued fine company, and the arrival of several new horses from his uncle’s stables.” Blake, with a nod to Catherine, wished “for a world in which a woman might ride on a coach to London and not think it a miracle.”

The rest of the table laughed, but Catherine blushed scarlet. Eleanor marked it, and tucked the knowledge away.

By the end of the meal, the table was a battlefield cleared of its dead—crumbs swept, tensions eased, alliances not so much formed as paused for the night. Eleanor rose, feeling the electric charge of the evening still running through her veins.

As the guests filtered to the drawing room, Jonathan fell in beside her.

“Thank you for your efforts, Miss Finch,” he said in a low voice. “I hope my intervention was not, unwelcome.”

Eleanor gave him a look that was both challenge and appraisal. “You are quite efficient yourself, Mr. Harrow. I am not used to being anticipated.”

He smiled. “Nor, I suspect, do you enjoy it.”

She did not dignify that with a reply, but as they entered the warmth of the drawing room, she allowed herself a small, private smile.

Tomorrow would bring new tests, new games, new alliances to engineer or disarm. For tonight, it was enough to have survived the first round and learned which players bore watching.

Don’t miss a single invitation this season.

My invitation will be sent on 29th October and is available to pre-order.