The Ladies’ Essential Guide Book Club

The Ladies' Essential Guide to the Art of Seduction Book Club by Claire Delacroix available at Ream

My book club for The Ladies’ Essential Guide to the Art of Seduction launches today at Ream!

Beginning today, this series will be published at Ream in two installments per week. You’ll get one chapter each Monday and one each Thursday, beginning with The Christmas Conquest. We’ll work our way through the three existing books, then The Hellion’s Heart (and the rest of the series) will be available first at Ream. Subscribers will also have access to a community forum to discuss the books as well as be able to read all four books in the Brides of North Barrows series (set in the same fictional realm) at leisure.

This subscription costs $5 US per month.

Sign up for the Ladies’ Essential Guide Book Club on my Claire Delacroix Ream page.

99¢ Historical Romance Book Blast

December 2023 One Day Book Blast of 99cent Historical Romances

Today’s the day for a 99¢ historical romance book blast! There are So Many Titles included in this promotion, all discounted to 99¢ for one day only. (The original plan was to have 100 books, but I think there are a lot more.)

Each book should be discounted to .99 in US, UK, AU, CA, NZ and EU.

You’ll find The Christmas Conquest among the included titles.

Visit the landing page to shop the sale!

The Christmas Conquest is just 99¢

Through December 8, The Christmas Conquest, book 1 of The Ladies’ Essential Guide to the Art of Seduction series of Regency romances, is discounted to 99 cents! This is a Regency romance and a Christmas story, a second chance romance featuring a marriage on the rocks and a matchmaking courtesan in disguise. It’s set in the same world as The Brides of North Barrows and some characters reappear.

The Christmas Conquest, a Regency romance novella by Claire Delacroix

Love was not part of the plan when this marriage was arranged…

Rhys Bettencourt, Baron Trevelaine, had every intention of avoiding his family’s curse. An arranged marriage to a plain bluestocking of fortune should have ensured the provision of at least one heir. After all, it was beloved Bettencourt wives who always died in childbirth. But practical Catherine undermined her husband’s scheme by stealing his heart. The only way for Rhys to protect her is to deny them both physical satisfaction, against his own desires.


Catherine Carruthers was content to wed for practical considerations and accept an arranged marriage to please her family. Two years later, though, Catherine is certain that her dashing aristocrat of a husband regrets his choice and that her marriage will never be more. She accepts an invitation to Rockmorton Manor for Christmas to decide whether to leave Rhys and return to her father’s house. Upon arrival, though, Catherine discovers pages of sensual advice left in her room—as well as Rhys determined to convince her to stay. Can their marriage be saved?


Armed with information and with little to lose, Catherine embarks upon a campaign of seduction that Rhys is powerless to resist—even as he fears for Catherine’s fate if he surrenders to temptation. Caught between love and the wretched curse, can Rhys find a way to keep his cherished wife safely by his side?

The ebook now includes the bonus epilogue, Upon a Midnight Clear.

Buy the ebook:


Buy The Christmas Conquest in mass market paperback.

This edition includes Upon a Midnight Clear.

Grab This Regency Romance Anthology for 99¢

Today, our second Regency romance Christmas anthology, Twelve Lords for Yuletide, is on sale for just 99 cents!

Twelve Lords for Yuletide, a multi-author collection of Christmas Regency romances

From sweet kisses under the mistletoe to passionate encounters at holiday house parties, secret identities to second chances, find your Christmas cheer in these twelve different historical romance tales from bestselling and award-winning authors! The lord you’ve been looking for might be just a story away…

ONCE UPON A MIDNIGHT CLEAR(**medium) – Ava Stone
Only a duke will do for Lady Ivy Dallimore. If her unhappily married sisters have taught her anything, it’s that love is fleeting but a title lasts forever, which is all well and good in theory until she finds herself falling for the scandalous third son of a marquess who is bound and determined to make his fortune in trade!

THE VISCOUNT’S TEMPTING MINX (*mild) – Erica Ridley
He’s an unbendable lord. She’s an unstoppable force. When these two clash, their winter nights will never be the same!

THE CHRISTMAS CONQUEST (***hot) – Claire Delacroix
Love was not part of the plan when this marriage was arranged… Can a matchmaking courtesan in disguise save this match before the new year dawns?

LADY, IT’S COLD OUTSIDE (*mild) – Deb Marlowe
Neither Lord Ellesworth nor Miss Glenna Bolton have much Christmas spirit this year. Neither have much desire to travel during the season, either, but a Star in the East, an abandoned child and a quest for holiday cheer might just convince these two that love is the best gift of the Season.

A WINTER WISH (*mild) – Nadine Millard
Mariah Bolton is as headstrong as she is clever, as strong-willed as she is beautiful. She enjoys her life and, apart from a rather snobbish mama, she is happy with her lot. Imagine her consternation then when her world is turned upside down by the brooding and aloof Mr. Brandon Haverton!

LYING BENEATH THE MISTLETOE (***hot) – Sadie Bosque
Matilda needs a miracle. She left Henry, her first and only love, over a decade ago. Now she’s back and determined to piece his heart back together. But she only has one night to do it.

A VERY MERRY VISCOUNT (*mild) – Jane Charles
The thought of spending Christmas at Danby Castle with her matchmaking great-uncle fills Lady Tabitha Storm’s heart with dread, until she spies the handsome horseman from Hyde Park. Would Andrew Delaney, Viscount Straffan, receive more this holiday than he ever dreamed, or would his Irish heritage stand in his way?

THE LADY’S GUIDE TO A HIGHLANDER’S HEART (***hot) – Emmanuelle de Maupassant
Meet a young bride in disguise and a battle-hardened Highland warrior in this passionate ‘enemies to lovers’ medieval romance.

MASKED LOVE (*mild) – Nicole Zoltack
An evening of enchantment has a maid wishing a lord might look past his station this Christmas season.

THE MISTLETOE TEMPTATION (***hot) – Eve Pendle
She deliberately steps on his toes to avoid marriage and he retaliates by proposing a fake engagement. A Regency enemies to friends to lovers romance, with a touch of brother’s best friend, and a whole lot of banter and steamy scenes.

A SNOWLIT CHRISTMAS KISS (**medium) – Larissa Lyons
When a mischievous feline nudges two lonely souls together on a wretched, snowy night, a few Christmas kisses might be all they need. But he’s engaged, and she’s decided to never marry, so in the morning they go their separate ways, leaving pieces of their hearts behind…until a Twelfth Night Ball brings misunderstandings to light and merry tidings to one and all.

A DUKE FOR MIDWINTER (*mild) – Anthea Lawson
After a gentleman rescues her from a winter storm, Miss Selene Banning finds herself snowbound with Sir Jared Kendrick, who is not precisely who he claims to be…

Scoop up the first collection, Twelve Lords for Christmas, for more heartwarming tales of the holidays!

Buy the ebook:

This Year’s Holiday Anthology!

Ten Lords for the Holidays, a Regency Christmas romance anthology featuring stories by Jennifer Ashley and Claire Delacroix

Ten Lords for the Holidays is this year’s Regency Christmas anthology and it’s available now!

Escape into ten tempting stories of the holiday season! Roguish lords and lovely ladies find their happily-ever-afters amidst the warmth and glitter of a historical Christmas. Whether you prefer a dashing spy, a haughty prince, or a scoundrel who is more than he seems, the lord you’re looking for is just a page turn away…

A FIRST FOOTER FOR LADY JANE (*mild)
Jennifer Ashley
When Grandfather MacDonald predicts Lady Jane will marry this year’s First-Footer–the first guest into the house on Hogmanay—she dismisses the notion. Her childhood sweetheart is fighting on the Peninsula, and she can’t imagine marrying anyone but the staid Major Barnett. But when the clock strikes midnight, and Hogmanay begins, a knock at the front door changes Jane’s life forever. 

LORD LOCRYN AND THE PIXIE’S KISS (*mild)
Deb Marlowe
When is a kiss actually a curse? When an irate Pixie forbids you to kiss the wrong girl — ever.

A DUKE BY ANY OTHER NAME (***hot)
Claire Delacroix
The Duke of Inverfyre disguises himself as a vain fop in order to catch a notorious jewel thief, which proves most inconvenient when he meets a lovely maiden who might steal his heart under other circumstance. But Daphne Goodenham is not deterred by his outrageous clothing and foppish manner. Is she a fortune hunter indifferent to appearances, a perceptive lady who sees his hidden truth, or an ally of the villain? At the very least, she is a perilous and untimely distraction…

A COUNTERFEIT CHRISTMAS SUMMONS (*mild)
Ava Stone
Lady Emma Whitton has decided its time to take her future in her own hands. She has been in love with Viscount Heathfield since she was in leading strings. Unfortunately, it’s been almost that long since she’s laid eyes on her brother’s old friend and vice versa. Tired of waiting for him to remember her, Emma pens a holiday invitation (in her brother’s hand) to Heathfield and waits as patiently as she is able for her one true love to arrive…

LADY HOLLY’S JOLLY CHRISTMAS (**medium)
Nadine Millard
Lady Holly has no interest in the Christmas season, and hasn’t since the tragic death of her mother. The widowed Earl of Stockton has as much reason to despise the season as Holly does. But fate and the arrival of a mysterious old lady have plans for these two. Will Lord Stockton learn to open his heart? And will Lady Holly finally have a jolly Christmas?

CHRISTMAS KISSES (*mild)
Nicole Zoltack
Lady Anna has her sights on a scoundrel of a duke. Her mother insists on Anna befriending a marquess’s son, a man Anna finds far too rude. Is either gentleman the right one for Anna? 

THE DUKE WAGER (***hot)
Eve Pendle
Her family’s Christmas eve bankruptcy means aspiring doctor Miss Tamara Patterson must save them with a marriage to a wealthy man. Any man except her longtime nemesis, The Duke of Newton. Until he offers her a wager she can’t refuse…

A PRINCE FOR YULETIDE (*mild)
Anthea Lawson
Miss Eliana Banning attends the Midwinter Masque. There, she meets a gentleman in wolf’s clothing who might prove to be her heart’s desire…or her worst enemy.

RESCUED BY A CHRISTMAS KISS (**medium)
Larissa Lyons
Seeking shelter from danger during an ice storm, an unemployed companion barges in on an unsuspecting widower. Thanks to his mischievous, superior cat, love blooms during the topsy-turvied days before Christmas.

MAKING MERRY (*mild)
Erica Ridley
Holiday romance blossoms in Christmas, England, between theatre director Miss Estelle Blaire and Marlowe Castle solicitor Mr. Aaron Thompson… discover the 12 Dukes of Christmas series with this prequel novella!

Scoop up the other two collections, Twelve Lords for Christmas and Twelve Lords for Yuletide for more heartwarming tales of the holidays!

Buy the ebook: