Shiro Setsu No Eikoku Monogatari / Original Title: ALWAYS and FOREVER Gentitle : the WINTER BRIDE Hoka (Harlequin Presents Special PS 113 the Christmas Love Stories)

[Machine Translation] On a night when Amabelle, the sole proprietor of a small inn, was feeling discouraged by a sudden storm, a doctor named Oliver came to her for a room. His friendly and warm personality made her feel at ease, and for the first time in her life, she longed for a man. One day, as Amabelle, tormented by loneliness, weeps in private over her fears for the future, Oliver comes to her by chance... ("Prayer for the Holy Night"). Angie, the butler's daughter, who lives in a dimly lit servant's room in the basement, is the heir to the family estate, Leo, and when he loses his wife and child, she leans in close to comfort him, and they share a passionate affair. However, when she finds out she is pregnant, she is called a woman pregnant with a child of unknown origin, and she is thrown out of the house. Neither Leo nor her own father would defend her... Two years later, Leo appears before her as she raises her child! ("Eternal Eve"). It's Ian! At a Christmas gathering, Julia is surprised to find the beautiful nobleman she has been thinking about for so long, whom she hasn't seen in four years. He had been absent from the social scene since an accident that nearly killed him. Julia rushed to him, but he had a cane in his hand and his face was stiff. Where is that dazzling smile? ("The First Love I Continued to Keep Secret").

小さな宿を独りで切り盛りするアマベルが突然の嵐に心細い思いをしていた夜、オリヴァーという医師が部屋を求めてやってきた。彼の気さくで温かい人柄に安心感を覚えた彼女は、人生で初めて男性に憧れを抱いた。ある日、孤独に苛まれたアマベルが将来への不安に人知れず涙していると、そこへ偶然オリヴァーがやってきて...。(『聖夜に祈りを』)。薄暗い地下の使用人部屋で暮らす執事の娘アンジーは、屋敷の主の跡継ぎレオが妻子を亡くしたとき、慰めたい一心で彼に寄り添い、情熱を交わした。だが妊娠がわかると、出自不詳の子を孕んだ女呼ばわりされて追い出されてしまう。レオも、実の父も、かばってはくれず...。2年後、幼子を育てる彼女の前に、レオが現れた!(『永遠のイブ』)。イアンだわ!クリスマスの集まりで、ジュリアはずっと想いつづけてきた美しい貴公子を見つけて思わず声をあげた。4年ぶりの再会。彼は事故で瀕死の傷を負って以来、社交界から姿を消していた。ジュリアは喜び勇んで駆け寄ったが、彼の手には杖が握られ、顔も堅苦しいまま。まぶしかったあの笑顔はどこへ行ってしまったの?(『秘めつづけた初恋』)。