She invented a husband to save her child. She never expected him to walk through the door.
London, 1870s. Three weeks before Christmas, and the fog lies thick over Limehouse.
For three years, Ellen Barnes has kept a secret. There is no husband away making his fortune in America. There never was. She made him up, name and all, to shield her little daughter, Nan, from the shame of being born without a father. It is the only protection she has.
Then, on a raw December night, a stranger walks into The Holly and the Ivy, the struggling dockside pub where Ellen works. He gives his name as Tom Barnes. Before Ellen can say a word, the kindly old landlord is shouting the news to the whole room. Her husband has come home.
She can’t deny him without ruining herself and her child. He can’t walk away without drawing the very attention he is running from. So they strike a bargain: to play husband and wife until Christmas.
But pretending is harder than either of them imagined, especially when the fog traps them in one small room. As Tom mends the old pub and wins over Nan, Ellen finds herself falling for the one man she knows least of all. And their shared lie may not survive the season. A man from Ellen’s past has come back with a price for his silence. And down by the river, a menacing stranger from New York is asking questions about an Englishman lately off the boats.
TheBarmaid's Christmas Secret by Sophie Winsor is a heartwarming Victorian romance about two people hiding behind the same lie, and the chance that it might just come true.
Perfect to curl up by the fire with. Full of holly, snow, and the magic of a Victorian Christmas.
Genre: Romance
London, 1870s. Three weeks before Christmas, and the fog lies thick over Limehouse.
For three years, Ellen Barnes has kept a secret. There is no husband away making his fortune in America. There never was. She made him up, name and all, to shield her little daughter, Nan, from the shame of being born without a father. It is the only protection she has.
Then, on a raw December night, a stranger walks into The Holly and the Ivy, the struggling dockside pub where Ellen works. He gives his name as Tom Barnes. Before Ellen can say a word, the kindly old landlord is shouting the news to the whole room. Her husband has come home.
She can’t deny him without ruining herself and her child. He can’t walk away without drawing the very attention he is running from. So they strike a bargain: to play husband and wife until Christmas.
But pretending is harder than either of them imagined, especially when the fog traps them in one small room. As Tom mends the old pub and wins over Nan, Ellen finds herself falling for the one man she knows least of all. And their shared lie may not survive the season. A man from Ellen’s past has come back with a price for his silence. And down by the river, a menacing stranger from New York is asking questions about an Englishman lately off the boats.
TheBarmaid's Christmas Secret by Sophie Winsor is a heartwarming Victorian romance about two people hiding behind the same lie, and the chance that it might just come true.
Perfect to curl up by the fire with. Full of holly, snow, and the magic of a Victorian Christmas.
Genre: Romance
Used availability for Sophie Winsor's The Barmaid's Christmas Secret