A Candlelight Courting: A Short Christmas Romance

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When Burthred comes courting on Christmas Eve, Meg rejects his advances. She has her heart set on becoming a nun and insists that he call her Christina, the spiritual name she has chosen for herself. She tries to make him swear on her box of holy relics that he will not pursue her, but he carefully words his oath to allow him to stay in her candlelit chamber and try to change her mind.

What Meg does not confess is that her reliquary box holds a secret.

Burthred needs a wife, and no one will satisfy him except Meg. He swore on his father's deathbed that he would marry her. But Burthred has a secret, too. When they come together before the Yule fire, their shared revelations will either join their hearts together or tear them apart.

A Candlelight Courting is a 13,500 word novelette.

"Her stories will transport you through time." Aimee Brown, "Getting Your Read On"

Other books by Joyce DiPastena

About the author

Joyce DiPastena


Joyce DiPastena illuminates the Middle Ages for modern readers through timeless, heartfelt historical romance. However many changes a few centuries may bring, she believes that stories of love can unite people across time. Joyce is a two-time Whitney Award finalist. The Historical Novel Society rated her romantic historical novel, The Lady and the Minstrel, as “highly recommended,” while the same title won a Swoony Award for Excellence in Clean Secular Romance. 

​​​​​​​ Joyce grew up in southern Arizona and can easily withstand summer temperatures of 115 degrees, as long as she’s sitting in a restaurant, movie theater, or under a ceiling fan—inside an air-conditioned building. She can be bribed with chocolate chip cookies and enjoys attending the Arizona Renaissance Festival every year. She holds a degree in history, specializing in the Middle Ages, from the University of Arizona. Joyce currently resides in Mesa, Arizona with her black cats, Nyxie and Calypso, who bring her good luck every day. Visit her at joycedipastena.com.