The Christmas Blend — Veronica Bale

Much to the dismay of her very Victorian parents, young widow Isobel Duckett takes over her dead husband's brewery and finds the strength of her convictions--and a most unexpected love. SWEETER THAN EXPECTED In Victorian England, a young widow has two choices: remarry for security or remain in mourning for the rest of her days. Isobel Duckett is determined to do neither. When she learns her brother, who was entrusted with the management of her dead husband's brewery, has nearly run it into bankruptcy, she takes over to save her legacy. What she learns about herself is more than startling. She can love again. In London's East End, a man has few options for bettering himself. Silver-tongued and handsome or not, hard-working and clever or not, his place in society is fixed. But Nat Cotter is unwilling to play by those rules. Not when his father and the rest of his family are on the brink of ruin. This holiday season he must make a choice to obey the dictates of society or challenge all that stands in the way of happiness. The reward will be greater than he ever imagines: the heart of a woman not only above him, but his equal.