by Cassandra Samuels

Angels We Have Heard on High was always my favourite as a kid. I loved to sing the chorus as loud as I possibly could, not sure that everyone appreciated the screeching but I am sure they at least understood the enthusiasm. Now, as an adult, I still love it. When it comes to watching the Carols at Christmas time on TV, I always feel like it is finally Christmas. It is usually the first carol played on Christmas morning unless my husband gets there first and then it’s Bing Crosby all the way.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYUx0RgkCDw&w=560&h=315]

A new to me carol that I have come to love is called Mary, Did you Know? sung by Pentatonix. Just lovely.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifCWN5pJGIE&w=560&h=315]

As the Black Raven, she’s cold, distant and alone…untouched by the gossip and scorn of her aristocratic peers. Until he enters her house — and her life — then suddenly her icy shell is no match for the heat of attraction…

Notorious Widow Lisbeth Carslake, Countess of Blackhurst was acquitted of her husband’s murder, but no one believes in her innocence. Known as the Black Raven, bringer of bad luck and death, she is eviscerated by the gossips and mocked in the clubs.

She’s also the subject of London’s most scandalous wager.

Oliver Whitely, Earl of Bellamy, needs money, but it takes more than a few drinks to take on The Black Raven Wager. He finds himself drunk, at her house, and—more surprisingly—agreeing to a business proposal at the end of a fire poker.

She will let him win the wager, and he will help find her husband’s killer before the killer finds her. But business agreements don’t mean trust, and Lisbeth certainly doesn’t trust Oliver, her body’s reaction to him, or her heart.

Love may be the biggest gamble of their lives, but is it a wager their hearts can afford to lose?