Sleepless in Staffordshire — Celeste Bradley

Grieving widower Lord Matthias of Havensbeck Manor sends messages in a bottle to his lost wife and child, never knowing they are being found and read by spirited vicar's ward Bernadette Goodrich!

It's been six years since Matthias lost his family to a Christmas Eve fire at the manor. Still grieving, he secludes himself there every year, unable to bear the holiday celebrations of others. And every year, he sends his love and his broken dreams off in a series of letters tossed into the river.

Every holiday season, orphaned Bernadette looks for the dramatic and beautiful letters to arrive at her riverside vicarage. Will anyone ever love her the way the mysterious letter-writer loved? And who is the author of the heart-stopping letters she treasures so much?

A Christmas Ball brings the two together in a conspiracy by a mischievous little brother and an interfering butler. By turns heartfelt and hilarious, Sleepless in Staffordshire is a charming Regency historical take on the romantic Nora Ephron film “Sleepless in Seattle.”