A Christmas Wager: Scholars of Seduction by Emily Royal

A Yuletide wager… an unlikely match… will the pickpocket steal the duke’s heart?

After surviving destitution, the orphaned Eleanor Hawkins re-enters society with a new identity, courtesy of her guardian, the renowned silk merchant Sir Arthur Evans. With a penchant for pickpocketing, learned on London’s streets, Eleanor seeks vengeance on the society that abandoned her. A Christmas houseparty is the ideal venue to hone her skills, and lighten a few gentlemen’s pockets for good measure.
Self-professed matchmaker extraordinaire, Lady Pandora Osborne, is determined to show her prowess by securing a match between Society’s most eligible bachelor, the Duke of Sedgewick, and Sir Arthur Evans’s new ward—a young woman whose origins are shrouded in mystery. Where better to achieve her aim than Lady Westfield’s Christmas houseparty, where mulled wine, mistletoe, and the season of goodwill would tempt even the most committed rake into love?

But, unbeknown to Lady Pandora, Sedgewick is the man who broke Eleanor’s heart and was instrumental in her downfall. What will Christmas bring? Redemption…or revenge?