Without even looking at the naughty or nice list, I've got a special little Christmas gift for all my awesome readers. Pull out your jingle-ringers and doodle-horns because the curtain is about to part for a sneak peek at a brand new book coming your way next September.

**excessive drum roll**

**ear-splitting cymbal crash**

**hearty waves of applause**

Ready?

Here's the cover for

12 Days at Bleakly Manor

. . .

And here's a blurb . . .

When CLARA CHAPMAN receives an intriguing invitation to spend Christmas at an English manor home, she is hesitant yet compelled to attend—for if she remains the duration of the twelve-day celebration, she is promised a sum of one thousand pounds. That’s enough money to bring her brother back from America and reinstate their stolen family fortune. But is she walking into danger? It appears so, especially when she comes face to face with one of the other guests—her former fiancé, BENJAMIN LANE.

Imprisoned unjustly, Ben wants revenge on whoever stole his honor. When he’s given the chance to gain his freedom, he jumps at it—and is faced with the anger of the woman he stood up at the altar.

Brought together under mysterious circumstances for the Twelve Days of Christmas, Clara and Ben discover that what they've been striving for isn't what ultimately matters. What matters most is what Christmas is all about . . . love.

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Merry Christmas to all my Writer Off the Leash peeps!