A Counterfeit Christmas Summons
By Ava Stone
4/5
()
About this ebook
*Previously found in A SUMMONS FROM YORKSHIRE and LADIES & GENTLEMEN
Lady Emma Whitton has decided its time to take her future in her own hands. She has been in love with Viscount Heathfield since she was in leading strings. Unfortunately, it's been almost that long since she's laid eyes on her brother's old friend and vice versa. Tired of waiting for him to remember her, Emma pens a holiday invitation (in her brother's hand) to Heathfield and waits as patiently as she is able for her one true love to arrive.
Heath isn't quite certain what to make of the very strange summons he received, but his curiosity is most definitely piqued. He heads north to Danby Castle, only to find that his very orderly life is about to be turned upside down.
Ava Stone
Ava Stone is a USA Today bestselling author of Regency historical romance and college age New Adult romance. Whether in the 19th Century or the 21st, her books explore deep themes but with a light touch. A single mother, Ava lives outside Raleigh NC, but she travels extensively, always looking for inspiration for new stories and characters in the various locales she visits.
Read more from Ava Stone
Once Upon a Regency Christmas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lady Hope's Dashing Devil Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Introducing Red Door Reads: First Chapters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Haunted Bundle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5One More Haunted Evening Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to A Counterfeit Christmas Summons
Titles in the series (9)
By Any Other Name Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Prelude to a Haunted Evening Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5My Lord Hercules Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Counterfeit Christmas Summons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lady Vanishes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lady Patience's Christmas Kitten Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Bit of Mistletoe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lady Grace's Husband Hunt Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lady Unmasked Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related ebooks
Mr. Clarke's Deepest Desire: Enterprising Scoundrels, #2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Encounter With an Adventurer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Gypsy's Christmas Kiss: Connected by a Kiss, #6 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrom Cinderella to Countess Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Duke's Margaret Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Promised Away Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Earl’s Scholar (Hart and Arrow #3) (A Regency Romance Book): Hart and Arrow, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Passionate Encounter Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Duke's Hellion (Hart and Arrow #2) (A Regency Romance Book): Hart and Arrow, #2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5His Duchess at Eventide: A Legend to Love, Book 11 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Lord Fenton's Revenge: Winthrop Family, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Secrets Of Colchester Hall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Entangled (formerly known as Spellbound) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Lady's Sinful Secret: Sins & Scandals Series, #4 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Vexed by a Viscount: All's Fair in Love, #5 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Falling for Mr. Townsbridge: The Townsbridges, #4 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Loving Lord Ash Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Lady Pear's Duke: Bluestockings Defying Rogues, #9 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fate Gave Me a Duke: Fated for a Rogue, #3 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Miss Compton's Christmas Romance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In The Stars Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lady Concealed: Tenacious Trents, #8 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Wulf in Duke's Clothing: A Legend to Love, #6 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Reckless Rules Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Wallflower Under the Mistletoe: Wallflowers and Rogue, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHistorical Romance: The Duke’s Ever Burning Passion A Lord's Passion Regency Romance: Fire and Smoke, #2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lady Unmasked Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Wallflower's Folly: Fated for a Rogue, #1 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Duke Who Stole My Heart: Sweet Regency Tales, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Odds of Love: Scandal Meets Love, #4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Royalty Romance For You
Bred By The King In Public: Dominant King Erotic History Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Simply Sinful Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Seven Years to Sin Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mr. Darcy's Passion - A Sensual Pride and Prejudice Compromise: Pemberley Intimate, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Simply Sexual Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Submitting to the Marquess Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unlaced Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Surrender to Sin Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Simply Carnal Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Simply Shameless Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pride and Pleasure Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Depravity: A Beauty and the Beast Retelling Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5She Whom I Love: Treading the Boards, #2 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Rake's Guide To Pleasure Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devil’s Submission Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cold-Hearted Rake: The Ravenels, Book 1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Make Me Love You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dancing at Midnight Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stranger I Married Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Painter's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Bit of Rough Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bound To Please Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jane Austen Six Pack (Illustrated) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Le Morte d’Arthur Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wild Irish Girl: Lady Sydney Morgan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTemptation's Darling Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Smallest Man: the most uplifting book of the year Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What Not To Bare Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bargain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Simply Wicked Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for A Counterfeit Christmas Summons
12 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
A Counterfeit Christmas Summons - Ava Stone
A COUNTERFEIT CHRISTMAS SUMMONS
AVA STONE
A Counterfeit Christmas Summons
Copyright © 2013 by Ava Stone
Cover design by Lily Smith
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Vellum flower icon Created with Vellum
THE REGENCY SEASONS SERIES
A Counterfeit Christmas Summons
By Any Other Name
My Lord Hercules
A Bit of Mistletoe
The Lady Vanishes
Prelude to a Haunted Evening
The Lady Unmasked
Lady Patience’s Christmas Kitten
Lady Hope’s Dashing Devil
Lady Grace’s Husband Hunt
On the Way to the Castle
Whitton Family TreeDEDICATION
The Duke of Danby has the power to summon his family to him at Christmas, and I find I am a bit jealous of him in that regard. I'll be on the opposite coast from my family this holiday season and I will miss them desperately. So for my family - Mom, Dad, Jill, Ryan, Nick, Grandma, Matt, Camden, Luke & of course Brandt - this Christmas story is for you.
~ Ava
CONTENTS
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Epilogue
By Any Other Name
One
About Ava Stone
Also by Ava Stone
ONE
Danby Castle, Yorkshire
December 1812
Lady Emma Whitton studied an old correspondence penned by her eldest brother. It was always so difficult to duplicate his E’s just right. Blast the letter E for being the most frequently used letter in the English language. How was she to ever convince Lord Heathfield her summons was from Drew if she couldn’t master her brother’s squatty E’s?
Practice would have to make perfect. After all, when might she get another opportunity such as this? Emma dipped her quill in her inkpot and wrote E after E, not certain if she was getting better or worse for her efforts. For heaven’s sake! Drew really should have much better penmanship. It would make forging a summons from him so much easier if his scrawl was somewhat legible.
What are you doing?
came an all-too-familiar voice from behind her.
Emma jumped, nearly breaking her quill and overturning her inkpot in the process. Heavens!
she gasped, looking over her shoulder to find her twin, Isabel, standing just a foot away. Izzy! You took five years off my life.
Isabel grinned unrepentantly. Five whole years of make-believe wedded bliss to Heathfield? I suppose I should be sorry.
Emma scowled at her sister. Oh, hush.
Then she handed Isabel the foolscap she had been so diligently working on. Do you think any of these resemble Drew’s hand at all?
Isabel glanced over the list of E’s, and she shook her head. "You’re worrying too much. He’s a man, Em. Do you think he’ll notice if Drew’s scrawl looks off? Just don’t sprinkle it with rosewater and he’ll never know the difference. Then her brown eyes lit with amusement.
Better yet, roll the letter around in the stables before you send it. At least it will smell like Drew that way."
Emma couldn’t help but laugh. I hardly think our brother would appreciate that.
Unconcerned, Isabel shrugged and handed the foolscap back to Emma. I do wish you would wait to lure the estimable Heathfield here some other time, however. The castle will already be overrun by those people.
Emma laughed again. No matter that they were twins, she and Isabel were as different as night and day. "You mean our cousins?"
Cousins are people.
True,
Emma conceded. "But it is precisely because those people will be here that my ruse will work. I can’t very well beg Heathfield to come visit me, now can I?"
But Drew can.
Isabel smirked.
But Drew can,
Emma agreed. And how fortunate she was that Grandpapa had summoned her brother home along with everyone else.
I suppose it’s too bad for you that Drew hasn’t done so, then. It would save you time and effort in trying to duplicate his hand.
Very true, but one could never count on one’s brother where matters of the heart were concerned. Besides, Emma would rather die than confess to Drew that she was desperately, madly in love with one of his oldest friends, and that she always had been. But at the ripe old age of nineteen, she was tired of waiting for Alden Barrett, Viscount Heathfield, to notice her. No, after spending two fruitless Seasons, it was most definitely time to take matters into her own hands as far as her destiny was concerned.
Just make certain you address it to ‘Heath’. Anything more formal will catch Lord Heathfield’s notice faster than whether or not Drew’s penmanship is off.
Alden Barrett, Viscount Heathfield, sank into the overstuffed leather chair behind his desk and frowned at the letter in his hand. He read it, and then he reread it, as something was most definitely strange with the note.
My dearest Heath,
I hope this letter finds you well. As I write this, I am on my way to Danby Castle. Grandpapa has summoned me home, as well as each and every one of my cousins. I fear I shall end up in Bedlam simply to recover from this holiday and the hordes that will swarm around and inside the castle.
As I know you will be alone this Christmas, pray rescue me from the insanity that is my