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The Little Shop of Hopes and Dreams
Fiona Harper
Nicole Harrison is planning the proposal of the century. Too bad it's not her own…Nicole, a born organiser and true romantic, has created her dream job when she sets up the Hopes & Dreams proposal agency – staging YouTube worthy proposals… until she’s hired to plan a proposal by gorgeous photographer Alex Black’s girlfriend.Alex is the New Year’s kiss that Nicole hasn’t been able to forget – and now she’s planning his wedding to someone else! But if she lets herself fall for Alex’s charms, her reputation and business will be ruined before it’s even got off the ground! Suddenly, the girl who's always prepared is at a loss… and falling head over heels.Praise for The Little Shop of Hopes and Dreams"Sweet and romantic, a story guaranteed to have you smiling" - Milly Johnson"Perfect cosy feel you want from a good book" - Paris Baker's Book Nook"A nice warm hug" - Fabulous Book Fiend"Fiona Harper writes with an abundance of warmth and wit" - Dot Scribbles"I would whole heartedly recommend this and I will be looking what else Fiona has done" - Afternoon Bookery"A great romantic read" - Book Chick CityFans of Jenny Colgan, Abby Clements and Miranda Dickinson will love Fiona Harper's fresh, fun writing.
As a child, FIONA HARPER was constantly teased for two things: having her nose in a book and living in a dream world. Things haven’t changed much since then, but at least she’s found a career that puts her runaway imagination to use!
Fiona loves dancing, so clear the floor if you’re ever at a party with her, and her current creative craze (one of a long list!) is jewellery making. She loves good books, good films and good food, especially anything cinnamon-flavoured, and she can always find room in her diet for chocolate or champagne!
Fiona loves to hear from readers and you can contact her through fiona@fionaharper.com (mailto:fiona@fionaharper.com) or find her on her Facebook page (Fiona Harper Romance Author) or tweet her! (@FiHarperAuthor (http://www.twitter.com/FiHarperAuthor))
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (#ulink_94c59999-27ff-5d10-be0c-a4b0a5d76c63)
Thank you to Anna Baggaley and all the team at Harlequin for their hard work and enthusiasm, and also to Lizzy Kremer, my fabulous agent.
To the members of the Romantic Novelists’ Association. So many of you have supported and encouraged me along the way and I have made friendships that will last a lifetime. May love always turn your pages.
YES!
Planning on proposing to the woman of your dreams? Feeling the pressure to deliver a romantic spectacle worthy of YouTube?
Don’t panic! Help is at hand!
HOPES & DREAMS,
London’s first proposal-planning agency, can work with you to create a romantic personalised proposal on any scale, for any budget. Give your loved one a memory to treasure and increase the chance of hearing that all-important word—YES!
To make your hopes and dreams come true, contact:
Nicole Harrison, 2a Old Carter’s Yard, Clerkenwell,
London EC1M 7BB
nicole@hopes-and-dreams.co.uk
Table of Contents
Cover (#u8c09eeee-8955-54fc-8408-6e2ff5d3845b)
About the Author (#ue93f860c-755f-5f2a-93f2-7b9f5e219d3c)
Title Page (#u7973b29e-0c08-5af1-8252-9f2272ee83a8)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (#ulink_182762bf-8bf9-5e06-b891-85f5fff693b1)
Dedication (#ud11aa012-b63e-5c40-a382-a22870a90266)
CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_3dbdbf5a-b383-5c56-8bba-3edb5044de4a)
CHAPTER TWO (#ulink_e1c5d56d-15bb-5d1e-8c3a-b2367a054a6e)
CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_640f0896-c4c9-5a56-ba08-2bf6e2cdfc65)
CHAPTER FOUR (#ulink_46fdc073-20d1-53c3-88bd-b847c4dce3b9)
CHAPTER FIVE (#ulink_e6379077-cbf8-54d6-a9dd-0853865f659a)
CHAPTER SIX (#ulink_47f9dbff-2646-5742-8060-d60acaca5de9)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#ulink_8a933b88-cd8d-5f88-b4b8-f05fdf9b8c9e)
CHAPTER EIGHT (#ulink_c7537897-3c2f-51e6-b8d9-1ce446ef5ca2)
CHAPTER NINE (#ulink_d22b9288-5177-5291-b9c1-23f34dc84362)
CHAPTER TEN (#ulink_4ce84664-ab40-5386-822f-3dd1fad27506)
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)
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTY (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FORTY (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIFTY (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Endpage (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_79f74308-f088-5e0b-a10f-ce8a3ae0edac)
‘What you need is another cosmopolitan.’
Nicole Harrison swayed on her high heels and frowned at her best friend and soon-to-be business partner, who was starting to look a little fuzzy around the edges. ‘You sure about that?’
She squinted at the large clock behind the bar of Déjà Vu, a trendy little place not too far from Covent Garden. Quarter to twelve. One more cocktail and she might not stay vertical until midnight, and she really wanted to be conscious when the new year started. Next year was the year when everything was going to fall into place and all her plans and hard work paid off.
‘‘Course I’m sure,’ Peggy said, beckoning the bartender with an elegant wave of her blood-red nails. ‘Best remedy for a broken heart.’
Nicole took a few seconds to unfocus from the clock and refocus back on her friend. She blinked slowly. For a moment she’d forgotten this was a fancy-dress party. The sight of Doris Day sitting on the next stool had momentarily confused her. The real Peggy was loud and curvy, and while she often dressed in vintage, it was always something with a little more va-va-voom than this pastel frock. As Nicole stared at her, the white polka dots started to dance around on the pale pink background.
‘My heart’s not broken,’ she mumbled.
At least not any more. But it had been. Once. What she’d felt today had just been an echo of that.
‘It was just an engagement announcement,’ she said, absent-mindedly accepting the glass of ruby liquid that Peggy slid in her direction. ‘And Jasper and I were over a long time ago.’
It shouldn’t matter any more. It didn’t.
‘Well, he’s an idiot,’ Mia, her other best friend, muttered with her usual bluntness. ‘No matter how long ago he let you slip out of his fingers.’
Mia had been sitting so quietly sipping her drink that Nicole had almost forgotten she was there, although she was hard to miss in her Lara Croft outfit, complete with chicken-fillet enhanced chest and thigh holsters. She wasn’t in the best of moods this evening, seeing as her army fiancé was out of the country on active duty. Lots of women got soppy when they missed their other halves, but Mia just got feisty.
Nicole raised her glass. ‘To the idiot,’ she said and toasted her friend’s ineffable wisdom by downing the contents in one go.
Only she knew she was lying. Jasper hadn’t been an idiot. Not at all. He was the most wonderful man she’d ever known.
‘Steady there, Nicole,’ Mia said. ‘You don’t normally put this much away.’
Peggy sighed and rolled her eyes. ‘She’ll be fine. And it was either this or sitting home with six gallons of ice cream in those tatty tracksuit bottoms of hers, and I know which one I’d rather watch her do.’
Mia frowned but nodded. ‘Forget the jerk,’ she said vehemently. ‘You were too good for him back then and you’re definitely too good for him now.’
