A Scrooge-like mill owner gets a chance at redemption in this holiday Regency romance that mixes Gaskell’s North and South & Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. Born into poverty, Joseph Stratford’s clever mind has made him a rich mill owner, but he has earned himself a wicked reputation among the villagers of Fiddleton. Only firebrand Barbara Lampett can see beyond the cold heart of this gentleman in disguise. When visited by ghosts of Christmas past, present and future Joseph is brought down to earth with three thumps! But as the clock strikes midnight on Christmas Eve, has Joseph left it too late to claim the beautiful Barbara and enjoy learning the most delicious Christmas lesson of all?