скачать книгу бесплатно
Back To The Lake Breeze Hotel
Amie Denman
The Almost Happily-Ever-AfterThey lost each other once… Now they have one more chance.Every wedding has a happy ending – except for Alice Birmingham. She's never forgiven herself for leaving the love of her life at the altar five years ago. Nate Graham hasn't forgiven her, either. Now they must work together at Starlight Point amusement park, caught between the mistakes they made…and a love that refuses to stay buried in the past.
The Almost Happily-Ever-After
They lost each other once... Now they have one more chance.
Every wedding has a happy ending—except for Alice Birmingham. She’s never forgiven herself for leaving the love of her life at the altar five years ago. Nate Graham hasn’t forgiven her, either. Now they must work together at Starlight Point amusement park, caught between the mistakes they made...and a love that refuses to stay buried in the past.
AMIE DENMAN is the author of more than a dozen contemporary romances full of humor and heart. A devoted traveler who grew up with parents who always kept a suitcase packed, she loves reading and writing books you could take on vacation. Amie believes everything is fun, especially wedding cake, show tunes, roller coasters and falling in love.
Also By Anna J. Stewart (#ulink_9128b201-4ca6-5b34-845a-4a5b956ff24e)
Starlight Point Stories
Under the Boardwalk
Carousel Nights
Meet Me on the Midway
Until the Ride Stops
Carina Press
Her Lucky Catch
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Back to the Lake Breeze Hotel
Amie Denman
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-08293-8
BACK TO THE LAKE BREEZE HOTEL
© 2018 Amie Denman
Published in Great Britain 2018
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
“Weddings are my business now.”
Nate laughed heartlessly, but there was so much chatter and music echoing in the room that he knew only Alice would hear. “Oh, the irony,” he said.
Alice’s cheeks colored deeper, and he felt a tiny stab of guilt for being so harsh. “It’s not as ironic as you think,” she protested. “I guess you could consider it a way to atone for what—”
“For what you did,” he said bitterly.
Alice shook her head. “For what I didn’t do.”
Nate wished he was anywhere else. He’d often wondered what he would say if he ever saw Alice again. There was no worse time and place than right here and now.
He just had to ask one question.
“Have you ever wondered what would have happened if you hadn’t walked out on our wedding?”
Alice’s shoulders dropped and she looked at the floor. “Every day for the last five years.”
Dear Reader (#ulink_4d2b3db7-eb62-54f4-9e39-e5e349d3d23d),
Thank you for reading Back to the Lake Breeze Hotel and visiting Starlight Point. This is the fifth book of Starlight Point Stories, which also includes Under the Boardwalk, Carousel Nights, Meet Me on the Midway and Until the Ride Stops. From the first book, one of my favorite characters has been Virginia Hamilton. When her husband suddenly passes away at the beginning of the summer amusement park season, she has to be strong and make quick decisions in the best interests of her beloved Starlight Point and her three children. I’m so glad Virginia has her second chance at love five seasons later. I also love the second-chance theme of Alice and Nate meeting again after she left him at the altar five years ago. A lot can change in five years!
Writing the Starlight Point series has been an absolute joy for me, and I feel so attached to these characters and Starlight Point that I hate to let them go! I hope you’ll love this book. You can stay in touch with me at amiedenman.com (http://www.amiedenman.com), follow me on Twitter, @amiedenman (https://twitter.com/amiedenman), or send me an email at author@amiedenman.com.
Best wishes!
Amie Denman
To my wonderful friends of twenty-five years,
Fran, Chris and Connie. Fran gave me
the idea for this book, but you are all an inspiration to me! Thank you for
your loyalty, laughter and love.
Contents
Cover (#uda1ec0a4-8d61-52e8-8254-85d1a87d123a)
Back Cover Text (#u884a0fc1-48de-5534-9a48-26a68a5033d9)
About the Author (#uda9c858e-c4d2-5709-94a0-25cedd4f2a0b)
Booklist (#ulink_cb7a505f-ebf7-543c-a913-8de604005154)
Title Page (#u6b5f7dad-0bf2-587a-b203-b18e704fe751)
Copyright (#u8e96813f-01b0-5186-ba32-ee0f19f7ac27)
Introduction (#ud98bace4-666d-5361-a255-1204e6a2a464)
Dear Reader (#ulink_3883aada-1c21-54b0-a5d0-0d39f4a809c8)
Dedication (#u6c1d1703-66f2-5a50-900a-ef81b68630fb)
CHAPTER ONE (#ubce29926-a1b7-5828-8c37-a0a9c03ce3ac)
CHAPTER TWO (#u62a86c2d-1444-56ad-9bd2-5f3682c46b5f)
CHAPTER THREE (#u7830d9ad-b07e-551c-8c18-b38d4acb3931)
CHAPTER FOUR (#u99a45675-a50a-52bf-9737-2d32255c9031)
CHAPTER FIVE (#ufd77903b-cdd7-5738-9a8c-471fa7037c59)
CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FOURTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIFTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIXTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINETEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
EPILOGUE (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_c6be8360-fb5f-5347-abd1-bc3c8a59ea73)
IF ALICE BIRMINGHAM could have custom-ordered weather, she would have requested exactly what she saw. Blue sky, temperature in the mid-seventies zone of perfection, a tiny breeze off the lake.
Planning an outdoor wedding at the end of August in Michigan was tempting fate because of late summer storms, but this ceremony was going to be all right. Alice brushed back a long strand of red hair and relaxed her shoulders.
“Are all the weddings you plan this perfect?” June Hamilton whispered, pausing to stand with Alice well behind the last row of seated guests. “I hope no one will mind if I stop and watch.”
Alice smiled. “You own one third of Starlight Point. I don’t think anyone is going to complain.”
White chairs gleamed in neat rows on the boardwalk. A flowered arch stretched gracefully over the heads of the groom, in a black tuxedo, and the bride, in an airy white gown. The top layer of organza on the bride’s skirt caught the breeze and floated for a moment. “I should have had you plan mine and Mel’s.”
Alice laughed softly and whispered, “You’ve been married several years, right?”
June nodded. “Almost three. And I still think his annoying habits are cute. Of course, I knew all his habits long before we got married because we met when I was four.”
“That’s a long engagement.”
“More like a long estrangement between meeting and getting married, but Starlight Point brought us back together.”
Growing up in nearby Bayside, Alice was well aware of the amusement park’s reputation for thrills of all kinds. With roller coasters piercing the sky, Lake Huron lapping at three sides of the peninsula, and good food and fun all summer long, Starlight Point was where everyone went to have a good time.
“You missed the best part,” Alice whispered to June as they stood side by side in the August sunshine. “The moment when the bride and groom first see each other and the groom looks as if he’s been hit by lightning.”
“In a good way, right?”
“Yes, if the wedding is meant to be. Now that overseeing weddings is in my job description, I’ve developed a system for determining if the marriages will last.”
June laughed quietly. “I know you’re organized, but doing a spreadsheet on the couple’s chances makes you sound like a bookie.”
“No spreadsheets, just anecdotal observation. A thunderstruck look on the groom’s face says a lot.”
