Once Upon a Christmas

When Miss Emily Winthrop, impulsive heiress and aspiring spinster, flees London and the glittering Society engagement her parents have planned for her, she is soon hungry and penniless. But when the servants at Stendmore Park take pity on her, she suddenly finds herself pressed into service as a makeshift governess. A scandalous masquerade under an assumed name and gainful employment are just the thing to assure that no tonnish man will ever want to wed her.

The notorious rakehell David Winter is up to his cravat in trouble. After his elder brother's death, he's returned to the family's ancestral estate as the new Viscount, but everything is in a shambles. No staff, no supplies, and no money. For the sake of his two young daughters, he needs a hefty loan. And for that, he must convince Society that he had become responsible, predictable, and respectable. A formal house party is just the thing to show them all that he has reformed--if he can avoid the kissing boughs and his children's maddeningly attractive temporary governess. Unfortunately, the adorable baby elephant Emily liberated from the cruelty of a traveling menagerie two nights ago is about to complicate matters for both of them. If Emily can't keep the playful, syllabub-slurping, flower-waving menace hidden, the Viscount will sack her, and she'll be forced to return to London-- and Lord Winter's guests will have absolute proof that he hasn't changed one bit.