Spending Christmas in Hell — Sandra Sookoo

When two disenchanted people come unexpectedly together, Christmas is suddenly brighter. Ever since Sir Timothy Dashfield—a baronet with a few holdings—became partners in a successful counting house with his best friend who'd recently married, his life has taken on a sense of restlessness and boredom. When he's tasked with collecting the overdue rent on a townhouse owned by a clockmaker, that last thing he expects is a pretty Irish young lady with mix of annoyance and sorrow in her eyes. Miss Ashlynn Athercrombe lost her father six months before. Since the clock repair shop closed, there is no money coming to pay bills. To make matters worse, Christmastide is upon London, and she doesn't feel like celebrating. When a man from the counting house comes to collect the unpaid rents, something inside her snaps and she rounds on the unfortunate, handsome man in a spectacular display of hysterics. Perhaps it was the maudlin mood or perhaps it was the unwillingness to spend the holiday alone, but when Timothy temporarily loses his mind and asks Miss Athercrombe to marry him and she accepts, they embark on a very different future than they both had planned. Immediately, the differences between them create misunderstandings and obstacles, but by working together and remembering a bit of mistletoe magic, they might just find everything they have been too fearful to seek out themselves... ...and if they can't find common ground, they'll surely spend Christmas in hell.