The Mistletoe Contract

by Jo St Leon

GENRE:   Contemporary Christian Romance

Blurb

He needs a wife. She needs money. Is their modern-day marriage an answer to their prayers or a disaster waiting to happen?

Confirmed bachelor, Nathan Rutledge shut his heart to romance when he was forced to break the heart of the only woman he ever truly loved. Now, with his father’s retirement from the family conglomerate, the torch has been passed to him. But there are two problems—first, he needs a wife in order to take over the family business. Second, someone has been embezzling company funds. With the pressure mounting, and time expiring to find both a wife he can trust and the thief, Nate needs a Christmas miracle.

Forensic Accountant, Meredith Mitchell’s life is in a shambles. Her mother needs a lifesaving transplant, Mom’s medical bills have bankrupted Meredith’s meager savings, and she’s sold everything of value, but it’s still not enough. To make matters worse, she’s now tasked with discovering accounting errors for a new client—none other than Nathan Rutledge—the same man who gave her a broken heart for Christmas eight years ago.

Meredith wants to run. Nate wants the chance to right his wrongs. So, naturally, when he proposes a modern-day marriage of convenience, she balks at the idea. But he desperately needs a wife, and she really needs the money he offers. Is this the answer to her prayers? Or will this mutually beneficial arrangement re-open old wounds that can’t be healed?

Read an Excerpt

“Okay, you’re starting to drive me nuts. What is going on?” Meredith blew on her bare hands. She should’ve grabbed her gloves.

“I’ve been thinking. About me and the company. About you. How I need a wife. How you need money for your mom’s kidney transplant. It’s a perfect solution.”

“I’m sorry. I’m not following you. What’s perfect?”

After zipping his jacket, he clasped her cold hands in his large, warm ones. Shoot, his touch shouldn’t make her all fluttery. “Us. I think we should get married. I’d pay for your mom’s transplant and past-due hospital bills, and you’d help me retain the company. It’s a win-win.”

Her mouth hung open. “Wait. What? You want us to get married? You’re nuts!” She yanked her hands out of his grasp and stormed off the porch. She should’ve grabbed a hat, too.

“Meredith! Wait!”

She stopped in midstride next to his pickup. She had to keep it together. Not let him see the yearning in her eyes. Meredith inhaled, closed her eyes, and said a silent prayer.

He circled around her and lifted her chin with his forefinger. “Hey, I know I screwed up, and I’m truly sorry. Think of this as my way of apologizing.”

“What are you trying to do to me, Nate?” she whispered. Her mouth was dry, like she’d sucked on a hundred cotton balls.

“Nothing. Nothing at all. It’s a business proposition. We’ll call it the Mistletoe Contract.”

Shaking her head, she was certain she’d misunderstood him.

Jennifer Chastain will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click here to enter the giveaway.

Meet Jennifer Chastain

Jennifer Chastain is a member of ACFW, ACFW-NC, and My Book Therapy/Novel Academy. Several of her other stories were finalists in the Blue Ridge Mountains Foundations contest and she was a finalist in the Touched by Love contest, sponsored by the Faith, Hope, and Love Christian Writers. Her contemporary romance stories contain the themes of redemption, grace, and forgiveness.  

A hopeful romantic, Jennifer loves dark chocolate, Diet Coke, old movies and a good romantic movie. She loves to experiment with new recipes in the kitchen and when not cooking, she’s reading or conducting more research for her stories. Growing up in the snowy North, Christmas has always been her favorite holiday, with the scents of cinnamon, vanilla, and pine scenting the air.

She and her husband have been married for over 25 years and they are permitted to co-exist with their black rescue cat.

Author Links:

Newsletter Sign-up with Free Short Story: Jennifer Chastain Newsletter

The Mistletoe Contract – Amazon link

Website: https://jenniferchastain.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JenniferChastain.writer

Instagram: https://www.facebook.com/JenniferChastain.writer

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenniferCwrites

Talk of Tokyo

By Heather Hallman

GENRE: Historical Romance

Blurb

CAREFUL WITH YOUR WORDS

 

1897 Tokyo is no different than anywhere else in the world: men are exploiting women. Specifically, Western men are exploiting Japanese women, and Suki Malveaux holds no punches in her condemnation of their behavior in her weekly column in the Tokyo Daily News.

 

Suki knows firsthand when Western men arrive at Tokyo Bay there’s only one outcome for Japanese women: a child and new mother left behind as nothing more than discarded shrapnel from the heartless war on love.

 

Griffith Spenser is her latest target. He’s been seen with Natsu Watanabe, one of Tokyo’s esteemed war widows. Under full anonymity of the moniker “The Tokyo Tattler,” Suki makes sure Griffith knows exactly why his behavior with Natsu won’t be tolerated.

 

Away from her Japanese mask as a columnist, Suki never intended to meet the cad. When he seeks her out to hire as a tutor for his niece and nephew, she’s faced with seeing him day in and day out without him ever knowing who she really is.

 

Caught in her struggle for anonymity so she can keep battling for women’s rights, Suki’s about to learn the full impact of her words on the people behind the story, especially on Griff.

Read an Excerpt

Tokyo 1897

Foreign Quarter of Tsukiji

Shaky hands and racing heart notwithstanding, Suki gave herself a fighting chance. The incorrigible rake might have accusations, threats, and plans for retaliation, but she had feminine cunning. While she lacked familiarity with the mechanics involved in that sort of cunning, she’d seen how furtive glances and teasing words reduced men to foolishness. The basics of flirtation rivaled neither the complexity of French verbs nor the convolutedness of English spellings, both of which she’d mastered with ease.

A maid hastened across the garden and opened the front gate. “Mr. Spenser is expecting you,” she said in the clear, precise English of servants in Tokyo’s foreign quarter of Tsukiji.

Suki followed the maid through Spenser’s front garden, past azalea bushes boasting radiant displays of scarlets, lavenders, and magentas. Flurries of pale pink temple bells burst forth in a graceful arrangement that bore a decidedly feminine touch.

Of course it did. Spenser’s gardens would’ve been planted by his former wife.

Suki pictured the fair-haired young woman vigorously fanning herself at last summer’s festival. She’d worn one of those heavy dresses that trapped sweat and exacerbated the summer itch. Several months later, news had traveled through Tsukiji that Spenser’s bride had returned to England for good.

As Suki stared up at the Japanese-style wooden beam home with the gingerbread trim and second-story dormer windows favored by Tsukiji’s British residents, dread once again grew in the pit of her stomach. If Spenser had seen fit to alienate the woman he’d pledged to honor and protect, what did he have in store for the woman he most certainly despised?

Heather Hallman will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click here to enter the giveaway!

Meet Heather Hallman

Heather Hallman writes witty, sensual, contest-winning romances set in Meiji-era Japan (1868-1912). She is the author of the Tokyo Whispers series that includes SCANDALS OF TOKYO and TALK OF TOKYO.

She is fluent in Japanese language, history, and culture, and earned a doctoral degree in cultural anthropology based on fieldwork research in Japan. She lives in Tokyo with her professor husband and two young daughters. In her free time, she can be found translating ancient Japanese poetry and observing the passing of seasons while sipping green tea. Just kidding, she has no free time. But she does watch something that makes her laugh while she does the dishes.

Perennial obsessions include the weather forecast (she checks three different apps at least three times a day, as no single app can be trusted), Baltimore Ravens football (hometown obsession), and making smoothies that taste like candy bars.

Feel free to chat her up about any of her obsessions, or, even better, about historical Japan—any era is fine, she loves them all. She also enjoys exchanging book recommendations, discussions about the craft of romance writing, and stories about life in present-day Tokyo.

Visit her website to learn more: https://www.heatherhallman.com/

Follow Her:

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22050466.Heather_Hallman

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/heather-hallman

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heatherhallman_author/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hallmanheather/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@writing_romance_in_japan?lang=en&is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1

Buy Links for Talk of Tokyo:

Boroughs Publishing Group: https://boroughspublishinggroup.com/books/talk-tokyo

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NF9NRPP

Apple iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/talk-of-tokyo/id1599810827

Indecent

by Darcy Burke

GENRE: Historical Romance

Blurb

If Bennet St. James, the Viscount Glastonbury, doesn’t find a bride with a sizeable dowry, he’ll be in the poorhouse along with his interminable number of female relatives—all of whom he loves but are a drain on the negative fortune his father left when he died of a broken pocketbook. Desperate, he hatches a scheme to snare an heiress only to be foiled by a most vexing and alluring—and unfortunately equally destitute—paid companion.

 

Lady’s companion Prudence Lancaster is single-minded about finding her mother and filling in the missing pieces of her life. But a villainous viscount interrupts her plans, and his surprising charm and understanding tempts her in the most indecent ways. Soon, she’s dreaming of the future instead of wallowing in the past.

 

But when Bennet shares a dark secret, her hopes are dashed. For he won’t break the promise he made to his family, even if it means losing the greatest love he’s ever known.

Read an Excerpt

“What will you do after you return me to London? Do you plan to stay for the rest of the Season?”

“If you’re wondering whether I’ll slink back to Somerset with my tail between my legs, the answer is no. I do need to go home to check on things, but hopefully, I’ll find an heiress first.” He lifted a shoulder. “Someone will want to marry a viscount. At least I have a title to sell.”

She frowned gently, her lush lips pulling down. Lush? He ought not characterize her in such a way. She was not for him to lust after. Still, it was difficult to ignore her beauty.

“You can’t marry for love, then,” she said matter-of-factly.

He gave a humorless laugh. “I haven’t the luxury of that, I’m afraid. I will hope to marry someone I like and admire.”

“I can understand. Love is a luxury, isn’t it?”

“Why do you say that?” He found her to be rather enigmatic. She was very stiff, save her bouts of pique, which he’d thoroughly earned.

“Love brings obligations and…messiness,” she said offhandedly. “I’m alone now, and it’s far more convenient—financially, emotionally, in all ways, really.”

He couldn’t argue that love was untidy. He had only to think of his family. They loved one another dearly, even his father, but there were plenty of other messy, complicated emotions and situations. “You’ve no desire to fall in love? To marry?”

“No.”

Darcy Burke will be awarding an ebook copy of book 1 of the Phoenix Club series, IMPROPER, to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click here to enter the giveaway.

Meet Darcy Burke

Darcy Burke is the USA Today Bestselling Author of sexy, emotional historical and contemporary romance. Darcy wrote her first book at age 11, a happily ever after about a swan addicted to magic and the female swan who loved him, with exceedingly poor illustrations. Click here to Join her Reader Club.

A native Oregonian, Darcy lives on the edge of wine country with her guitar-strumming husband, artist daughter, and imaginative son who will almost certainly out-write her one day (that may be tomorrow).

They’re a crazy cat family with two Bengal cats, a small, fame-seeking cat named after a fruit, an older rescue Maine Coon with attitude to spare, and a collection of neighbor cats who hang out on the deck and occasionally venture inside. You can find Darcy at a winery, in her comfy writing chair, or binge-watching TV with the family.

Her happy places are Disneyland, Labor Day weekend at the Gorge, Denmark, and anywhere in the UK—so long as her family is there too.

Social Links

Website https://www.darcyburke.com/

Reader Group Newsletter https://smarturl.it/DBReaderGroup

Facebook https://smarturl.it/DarcyBurkeFB

Darcy’s Duchesses Facebook Group https://smarturl.it/Duchesses

Instagram https://smarturl.it/IGFollowFB

Twitter https://www.twitter.com/darcyburke

BookBub https://smarturl.it/DBbookbubfb

Goodreads https://smarturl.it/grfollowfb

INDECENT Buy Links

AMAZON https://www.amazon.com/Indecent-Phoenix-Club-Book-4-ebook/dp/B09GXNQD8H/

SCANDALS OF TOKYO

by Heather Hallman

GENRE:  Historical Romance

Blurb

ENJOY THIS PREQUEL TO THE TOKYO WHISPERS SERIES

In the Foreign Quarter of Tsukiji, Tokyo, Japan, Victorian England is alive and well. Manners and etiquette are as valuable as gossip and deceit. Men are more rakish than ever – so far from home, societal rules seem to be relaxed. But courting young women still requires a deft hand, a smart wit, and a man with something to offer.

INTERNATIONAL SCANDAL

Intent on being an international journalist of repute, Evelyn Prescott will do what it takes to make her mark.

It doesn’t hurt that her father has built a newspaper empire, but finding a scandal in Japan is no easy task.

As much as she hates to admit it, she is forced to meet with the owner of the Tokyo Daily News, Ned Taylor, also an Englishman.

Ned holds a deep-rooted dislike of Evelyn’s father’s approach to journalism, and Ned, a notorious rake, pushes her to see just how far Evelyn is prepared to go to get her story.

From Reedsy Discovery: “Written as a prequel novelette to her forthcoming Tokyo Whispers series, “Scandals of Tokyo” drops readers into the immigrant quarter of Meiji era Tokyo, with hints of all of the glitz, the temptation, and the salacious gossip one could wish. At just under 30 pages, Hallman has a lot of ground to cover, introducing characters and a world that will be expanded on in future novels, but if “Scandals” is just a taste of this series, then it’s going to be huge.

Lovingly researched and brilliantly detailed, Hallman knows the place and time she’s writing about and it shows! Turn of the century Tokyo is alive and well on her pages and in her characters, and it is certain to delight.”

Read an Excerpt

Tokyo 1896

Foreign Quarter of Tsukiji

Several matrons strolled towards the balustrade, their chatter enveloped in the rustling of silk skirts and clattering of heels against the terrace flagstones. Aunt Prissy warbled an evening greeting to some of them, which they returned in kind. Over the course of their residence at the Hotel Metropolis, she’d become friendly with most of the guests. As the women walked away, Aunt Prissy offered another large yawn from behind her fan.

“Really, you should retire. I’ll stay a bit longer on the terrace. I’m too fidgety to join you.” Evelyn’s gratitude for her aunt’s permissiveness as chaperone had never been greater, but she was determined to speak with a certain charming gentleman this evening, and the conversation would proceed more smoothly if Aunt Prissy wasn’t taking part.

“I perfectly understand, dear Evie. Better you fidget on the terrace. It’s quite windy tonight. Do beware of catching a chill. Shall I bring you a wrap?” Even at the end of August, summer’s heat held Tokyo in its grip. Night brought a modicum of relief, but the breezes off Tokyo Bay remained sultry.

Evelyn declined the offer and kissed Aunt Prissy good night. As the swish of her aunt’s skirts faded, Evelyn contemplated her target.

Ned Taylor was her last hope.

She hadn’t wanted to use the letter she carried, but she’d been in Tokyo for over a month and still didn’t have a scandalous story she could send to Papa. Most of her time had been spent convalescing from a summer malady she’d picked up a few days after arriving and chasing a baroness through the countryside for a scandal-worthy headline. She’d inquired around the foreign quarter as to the reputations of its prominent residents, but all her efforts had amounted to was unsubstantiated rumours and trivial innuendo.

Evelyn had no choice but to present Mr Taylor with a request from her papa he couldn’t ignore.

Heather Hallman will award a $25 Amaon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter. Click here to enter the giveaway.

Meet Heather Hallman

Heather Hallman writes witty, sensual, contest-winning romances set in Meiji-era Japan (1868-1912). She is the author of the Tokyo Whispers series that includes Scandals of Tokyo and Talk of Tokyo.

She is fluent in Japanese language, history, and culture, and earned a doctoral degree in cultural anthropology based on fieldwork research in Japan. She lives in Tokyo with her professor husband and two young daughters. In her free time, she can be found translating ancient Japanese poetry and observing the passing of seasons while sipping green tea. Just kidding, she has no free time. But she does watch something that makes her laugh while she does the dishes.

Perennial obsessions include the weather forecast (she checks three different apps at least three times a day, as no single app can be trusted), Baltimore Ravens football (hometown obsession), and making smoothies that taste like candy bars.

Feel free to chat her up about any of her obsessions, or, even better, about historical Japan—any era is fine, she loves them all. She also enjoys exchanging book recommendations, discussions about the craft of romance writing, and stories about life in present-day Tokyo.

Visit her website to learn more: https://www.heatherhallman.com/ 

Follow Her:

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22050466.Heather_Hallman

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/heather-hallman

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heatherhallman_author/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hallmanheather/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@writing_romance_in_japan

Buy links for Scandals of Tokyo:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Scandals-Tokyo-Whispers-Book-ebook/dp/B09MQ5ZHPR/ref=sr_1_1

Boroughs Publishing Group:  https://boroughspublishinggroup.com/books/scandals-tokyo

iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/scandals-of-tokyo/id1597821837

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/scandals-of-tokyo-heather-hallman/1140567923

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/scandals-of-tokyo

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1117921