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Winter's Fairytale
Maxine Morrey
The #1 Bestseller! ‘As a festive love story, this book has it all: romance, an engaging heroine you feel you could be friends with, a handsome caring hero…lots of warmth and humour and plenty of snow.’ – PortobelloBookBlogStep into a winter wonderland and fall in love in the snow this Christmas…Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…A few weeks before Christmas and a sudden blanketing of snow has closed the roads and brought public transport grinding to a halt, stranding Izzy miles from home and in desperate need of rescuing.That doesn’t mean she’s looking to bump into Rob and spend a cosy weekend holed up in his swanky flat watching London become a winter wonderland! Because Izzy and Rob have history…Six months ago, they were standing in the vestry of a beautiful country church, while best man Rob delivered the news that every bride dreads on their big day.But at the time of year when anything is possible, can Rob and Izzy let go of the past and let Christmas work its magic? Or will this be one holiday wish that Izzy lets walk right out of her life…Winner of the Carina UK #WriteChristmas competitionWhat reviewers are saying about Winter’s Fairytale‘One of my favourite Christmas reads. Maxine Morrey writes the most gorgeous heroes. – Jules Wake, author of Covent Garden in the Snow, on The Christmas Project‘This book was a real wintry treat, with all the snow nicely contrasting with all the warmth the story exuded. I couldn’t help but find myself laughing away or sighing with happiness and I’m so excited to read more from Maxine if this is the kind of feel-good novel she’s capable of. I just want to read it all over again and probably will do in Christmases to come.’ – Sophie at Reviewed the Book‘This is a beautiful fairytale for adults, set in and around Christmas, with a healthy helping of romance… this story draws you in and won't let you go. It is beautifully written, very easy and pleasurable to read.’ – Rachel’s Random Reads‘Fantastic strong characters, along with beautifully descriptive writing enabled me to immerse myself into their world and become a fly on the wall. I love books that transport me to Christmas and make me feel all festive and warm and Winter’s Fairytale certainly delivered for me.’ – Jill Loves to Read
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…
A few weeks before Christmas and a sudden blanketing of snow has closed the roads and brought public transport grinding to a halt, stranding Izzy miles from home and in desperate need of rescuing.
But that doesn’t mean she’s looking to bump into Rob and spend a cosy weekend holed up in his swanky flat watching London become a winter wonderland! Because Izzy and Rob have history…
Six months ago, they were standing in the vestry of a beautiful country church, while best man Rob delivered the news that every bride dreads on their big day…
But at the time of year when anything is possible, can Rob and Izzy let go of the past and let Christmas work its magic? Or will this be one holiday wish that Izzy lets walk right out of her life…
Winter’s Fairytale
Maxine Morrey
Copyright (#ulink_14d383c9-3683-5c6f-8f82-44e43dda84b2)
HQ
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2015
Copyright © Maxine Morrey 2015
Maxine Morrey asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, 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 HarperCollins.
E-book Edition © June 2015 ISBN: 9781474046817
Version date: 2018-07-23
MAXINE MORREY
has wanted to be a writer for as long as she can remember and wrote her first (very short) book for school when she was ten. Coming in first, she won a handful of book tokens – best prize ever at the time!
As time went by, she continued to write, but ‘normal’ work often got in the way. Finally though, she really decided to go for it, and wrote. Really wrote. And after a while she had a bunch of articles, and a non-fiction book to her name. But her first love is novels, which is where Carina come in.
In August 2015, Maxine got the call to say that she had won Carina UK’s ‘Write Christmas’ competition, with a publishing deal being offered as a result. Suffice to say, there was a whole lot of ‘can’t-stop-smiling’ going on for several days following this.
Maxine lives in Sussex in the UK, with her very supportive husband.
Her website is: www.scribblermaxi.co.uk (http://www.scribblermaxi.co.uk)
You can also find her on Twitter @Scribbler_Maxi
On Facebook www.facebook.com/MaxineMorreyAuthor (http://www.facebook.com/MaxineMorreyAuthor)
On Instagram @Scribbler_Maxi
On Pinterest @ScribblerMaxi
I would like to thank the team at HQ Digital UK/Harlequin, especially Victoria Oundjian, for their support and incredible enthusiasm for this book, and for the validation that this has given me.
I’d also like to say thanks to Emma Dellow for her continual support and wise words in my moments of panic and insecurity during the process of writing this book – they were very much appreciated.
And finally, I’d like to thank my husband, James, who always had complete faith that I’d get there and because without his support and belief in me, none of this would have happened.
For James
Contents
Cover (#ue0b3bb5c-f09d-512c-be14-c83324ef5561)
Blurb (#u8946d984-0f2a-5e1f-99cf-46d6c2e0d2d0)
Title Page (#uca9c0bc3-5ea5-504c-aecc-bc1e60825ef3)
Copyright (#ub89d3256-97fd-549b-ba72-9922cc00a353)
Author Bio (#ub05ca088-e69b-5ca4-a508-fe2f51c09200)
Acknowledgement (#uec34be92-ae76-5d90-bba8-3e1fda937db1)
Dedication (#uca3a91a0-3843-59a2-9961-d11eee8e3357)
Chapter One (#ub61d046b-426c-5810-bba6-653c51e4c452)
Chapter Two (#ud9baa563-fdf3-5cbf-b448-e27df7a457bd)
Chapter Three (#ub1c522f9-0f95-5d80-ae86-842415ebbd98)
Chapter Four (#u52f953b4-0cd6-5cd1-a444-b92c93631086)
Chapter Five (#u8a30a5be-dde4-5e6b-a8ea-a323d3332731)
Chapter Six (#u76cf80b9-4a3b-5b97-9e61-a248182d1200)
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)
Endpages (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One (#ulink_33a8bcad-3a07-524d-8631-9b5945c18420)
There were whole chapters dedicated to the throwing of the bouquet in the very many books I had pored over in the run up to this day, all instructing me on How To Have The Perfect Wedding. Oddly enough, there wasn’t one sentence referring to the appropriate etiquette involved in throwing your first ever punch instead. In fact, there was also a conspicuously absent chapter on what to do if your spineless fiancé decides that the actual wedding day is the best time to tell you he doesn’t want to get married. Not that it mattered. It turned out I didn’t need tuition on how to punch – I was a natural, apparently. Unfortunately – or fortunately, depending on whose perspective you were looking at it from – my ex Groom To Be hadn’t even had the guts to turn up to the church at all. Which is why Rob, the best man, a perfectly nice bloke, was sat on his backside on the vestry floor, holding a hastily acquired wodge of tissues to his now bleeding nose.
‘I’m so sorry!’ I held out my hand to help him up and he, understandably, looked at it warily before opting to push himself up. I let my hand fall back down to my side.
‘I don’t know what came over me. That obviously wasn’t really meant for you. But honestly? It was either you or the vicar.’
We both glanced over at the vicar who had paled and was now the same colour as his crisp white robe.
Rob nodded. ‘You probably made the right choice,’ he pulled the tissues away and looked at them briefly before shoving them back on his nose, ‘I think.’
An awkward silence settled on the three of us.
‘I really had no idea.’ Rob said, his voice muffled and thick through the barrier of tissues.
I looked up at him from where I’d been staring at the crystals on my dress. Each one painstakingly sewn on by hand. My own hand. Rob looked wretched. Almost as miserable as I did. Almost. If he was lying then he deserved an Oscar. I didn’t think he was that good of an actor.
‘No. Me neither.’ I smiled, sadly.
Again there was silence. Eventually the vicar gave a polite cough. We both looked at him. He was looking at me.
‘How would you like to proceed, my dear?’
He was a sweet man. Steven, my fiancé, and I had met with him several times, going over everything, confirming to him that we were serious about our intentions. We’d sworn (not literally) that this was what we wanted, and that both of us knew that it was not something to be undertaken lightly. And yet, here we were. Groom-less.
How did I want to proceed? I’m pretty sure that the vicar didn’t really want an honest answer to that question as, right now, it involved a pair of nutcrackers, Steven and a soundproof room.
‘I don’t know. How do you, I mean, what happens normally if…’ I couldn’t bring myself to finish the question.
‘Well, I can go out and make an announcement that there has been a change of plan, and request that everyone be kind enough to understand. Or if you wish, you can do it. But only if you want to.’
Oh God. What I wanted to do was throw up.
Rob answered before I could. ‘I’ll do it. It’s supposed to be the best man’s job to get the groom to the church. I seem to have failed spectacularly in that task, so it should be me that goes out there to explain.’
The vicar nodded sympathetically.
‘What will you say?’ I asked, quietly.
‘I don’t know yet,’ Rob shrugged his shoulders, ‘it’s not exactly the speech I had prepared.’
I nodded, feeling numb. It all felt weirdly unreal.
‘I’ll think of something. Don’t worry.’ He gave me a half smile, trying to lighten the moment. An almost impossible ask right now, but I appreciated the effort. The vicar moved towards the door and Rob followed. I touched Rob’s arm.
‘Thank you.’
His hand reached out to mine and took it, squeezing gently, ‘I’m so sorry.’
That was a phrase I was going to have to get used to hearing a lot…
Chapter Two (#ulink_d4c578a7-dd6d-54fa-9f56-bdef93bb2e5e)
‘I’m so sorry. How awful for you!’
The friend of an acquaintance of an acquaintance was passing on her condolences on my failed wedding. Even though I had absolutely no idea who she was.
‘And in front of all those people too!’
Yes. In front of pretty much everyone I know. Thanks for bringing that up. Again.
‘Mmm.’ I made a non-committal noise and tried to change the subject. ‘So, are you looking for a dress for yourself or someone else?’
‘A dress?’
‘Yes, I mean, I assume you’re looking for a dress. Is it for a wedding, a prom or another special occasion?’ I tried again.
