It is Christmastime, and all is not well with the Malorys. As the family gathers at Haverston to celebrate the holidays together, underlying tensions disturb the union of black sheep James and his wife Georgina, while eldest brother Jason, the Marquis of Haverston, remains unable to convince Molly - the love of his life and mother of his only son - to marry him. In the midst of the turmoil, a mysterious present arrives that will dramatically affect the lives of everyone with Malory blood.
The gift is an old journal - a tender and tempestuous account of the love affair between Christopher Malory, the second Marquis, and an enigmatic dark beauty named Anastasia; a remarkable, first-hand story proving that a long-held family suspicion is indeed astonishingly true: the Malory's grandmother was a gypsy!
The granddaughter of her nomadic tribe's keeper of magic and charms, Anastasia was betrothed since childhood to a brute - and the only way to escape the planned union would be to wed a non-gypsy. And it was the dashing English lord Christopher Malory upon whom she set her sights. But the marriage must be based on love. And while Christopher burned for the exquisite, darkly sensual miss - and would be willing and eager to take her as a mistress - a wedding with the exotic low-born lady would be unthinkable. It would take nothing short of a Christmas miracle to permanently unite two such different souls, separated by the circumstances of birth but bound by destiny and desire. But as winter's snow white beauty adorned the English landscape and spirits everywhere soared at the advent of that most joyous of days, a dance of passion, will and wiles began between two truly extraordinary people. And in the miraculous blossoming of a resplendent romance at another Christmastime so long ago, there are wise and well-learned lessons that will enrich the hearts of their descendants - and, indeed, of everyone who has ever dreamed - in this season of peace and giving and love.
