Book 4 in The Matchmaking Earl series
Martin, the Matchmaking Earl, has promised his friend Desmond he will find a woman who is perfect for him. He has arranged for Desmond to meet her at a masquerade ball, but the plan has a serendipitous detour or two...
Lorelei turned to continue her stroll around the ballroom, but just then a young woman stopped her, pressing a card into her hand.
"I will not be needing this now. You should go in my place."
"What do you mean?" Lorelei glanced at the card, which was torn in half and outlined in red, engraved with the phrase, "Meet me at the mistletoe".
"I was supposed to meet a gentleman, but I've found the most wonderful one on my own!"
Before Lorelei could respond, the young woman darted off with her new suitor, both of them clearly bursting with happiness.
Lorelei felt a pang of envy. She missed that feeling of falling in love, when everything was still filled with promise and possibility…
Why not steal a few kisses under the mistletoe? She could do it anonymously, with the gentleman not aware of who she was. Indeed, she could pretend she was the one he was supposed to meet. Afterwards, she would return to her normal existence, with no one the wiser.
This would be a perfect way to spend the evening.
She tightened the ribbons of her mask and began to search for this mystery man in earnest. There was a multitude of mistletoe throughout the overheated ballroom. How was she supposed to find the one man waiting for the woman she was pretending to be?
A good many of the mistletoe bunches were occupied by couples, surreptitiously kissing, taking a berry from the mistletoe each time. It was easy to rule them out as potential mystery men. Presumably he would have a card, the other half to hers, so she kept her attention on that aspect.
After another turn around the room, she began to wonder if she had been sent on a fool's errand.
All of a sudden, she saw a tall gentleman underneath a large cluster of mistletoe. How had she missed him before? He had chestnut hair, rakishly long, and an elegant mien. He was perusing the crowd but seemed disenchanted, and Lorelei wondered why. He began to tap a card against one hand—a card torn in half and edged in red.
Her heart thumped with excitement.
She stepped forward, eager to meet her mystery man. She could only imagine what kissing him might be like. The thought made her lose her footing for just a moment. She laughed at her clumsiness but her mirth instantly turned to dismay.
Another woman had swooped in to flirt with him!
This was such a fun book, and I hope it will make you laugh and fall in love with these characters like I did. Here's the blurb, so you can see more of what's to come:
After years of pleasurable but temporary pursuits, Desmond Mayfield enlists his friend, the Matchmaking Earl, to find his perfect match, never dreaming he’d find a love to rival his parents' legendary romance. Then he meets a temptress so enchanting, the very idea of letting her slip away is too dreadful to consider. But while Desmond may have fallen fast and hard, his Siren is determined to allow only a brief holiday affair, unwilling to risk a repeat of her previous loveless union.
It will take all the mistletoe Desmond can find—and all the kisses they afford him—to convince her that theirs is a passion to last through every season.
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