title: On a Midnight Clear
author: Sookoo, Sandra
description: Sometimes, the greatest truths of life come on a midnight clear. Major Cecil Stapleton is struggling with his new life as a civilian after nearly twenty years in the military. Wounds received in the Battle of Toulouse left him angry, disfigured, and sent him home to England. All he wants now is to retire to the country and be left alone, especially since it's the Christmastide season. Finding his old lover in his cottage leaves him at sixes and sevens… and perhaps wanting more. Widow Sarah Presley has worked hard to conceal her existence in the Buckinghamshire countryside. She's looking forward to giving her seven-year-old son a special holiday, but that idyllic intention is shattered when a knock upon her door reveals the man she'd shared a night of exquisite passion with eight years ago—her son's father… and the man she never forgot. With no other choice, a tentative peace is struck, but memories intrude, as do new and confusing feelings, for their future is just as entwined. When a dangerous secret from Sarah's past comes back to haunt her, the dynamic with her and Cecil shifts once again. For the love of their son, as well as the sweet romance brewing between them, they'll need to work together to survive… and a Christmas miracle wouldn't hurt either.