Eira Pritchard has been holding everything together since she was twenty-three.

Her parents are dead, and her little brother's boarding school tuition swallows her salary whole. She's one of London's best preservation architects—and she's living in an illegal basement apartment with a hot plate and no windows. She keeps it a secret from everyone.

By day, Eira is bringing a crumbling Victorian landmark back to life: soaring stone archways, leaded glass saved pane by pane, and a breathtaking ceiling fresco covered in a century of dust. In six weeks, a marquess will hold a Christmas Ball beneath it, and the man overseeing it all is Cián Carrington: Irish, unfairly handsome, and quietly protective of what's his.

Eira has spent her career saving things other people would throw away. It's never once occurred to her that she might need saving herself... but Cián seems to know what she needs before she does. There are things she hasn't told him, though. And as the snow falls and the ball draws closer, one of them is about to catch up with her...

The newest book in the bestselling O'Brien Tales series—a Christmas romance that will have you laughing and crying! Perfect for fans of Jean Grainger and Tricia O'Malley.

Featuring: a snow-dusted English Christmas; a fiercely protective Irish hero; forced proximity and slow-burn romance with open-door spice; found family; hurt/comfort and a heroine who finally learns to let herself be loved; a magical Regency-style Christmas Ball.

Includes a bonus novella, A Galway Christmas.