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Happily Ever After...: His Reluctant Cinderella / His Very Convenient Bride / A Deal to Mend Their Marriage
Sophie Pembroke
Jessica Gilmore
Michelle Douglas
Happily Ever AfterHis Reluctant CinderellaCastor Rafferty needs a convenient girlfriend, but his reluctant cinderella – gorgeous single mum Clara Castleton – doesn’t seem to be falling for his charms! Still, there’s something about Raff that makes her want to open her heart…and believe in a happy ending after all!His Very Convenient BrideStepping into her sister’s place and saying ‘I do’ to gorgeous tycoon Flynn Ashton, Helena Morrison hopes that uniting their families will finally be enough to redeem her in her father’s eyes. But the perfect Tuscan honeymoon, could turn this paper marriage very real…A Deal To Mend Their MarriageAntiques dealer Caroline Fielding is married more to her job than she is to dashing Jack Pearce. After five years apart their relationship should be over – only when Jack shows up asking for a divorce, the chemistry is as strong as ever…Could this be their second chance?
After learning to read aged just two, JESSICA GILMORE spent every childhood party hiding in bedrooms in case the birthday girl had a book or two she hadn’t read yet. Discovering a Mills & Boon novel on a family holiday, Jessica realised that romancewriting was her true vocation and proceeded to spend her maths lessons practising her art, creating Dynasty-inspired series starring herself and Morten Harket’s cheekbones. Writing for Mills & Boon really is a dream come true!
On the rare occasions when she is not writing, working, taking her daughter to activities or tweeting, Jessica likes to plan holidays—and uses her favourite locations in her books. She writes deeply emotional romance with a hint of humour, a splash of sunshine and usually a great deal of delicious food—and equally delicious heroes.
SOPHIE PEMBROKE has been dreaming, reading and writing romance for years—ever since she first read The Far Pavilions under her desk in chemistry class. She later stayed up all night devouring Mills & Boon books as part of her English degree at Lancaster University, and promptly gave up any pretext of enjoying tragic novels. After all, what’s the point of a book without a happy ending?
Sophie keeps a blog at www.sophiepembroke.com (http://www.sophiepembroke.com), which should be about romance and writing but is usually about cake and castles instead.
MICHELLE DOUGLAS has been writing for Mills & Boon since 2007 and believes she has the best job in the world. She lives in a leafy suburb of Newcastle, on Australia’s east coast, with her own romantic hero, a house full of dust and books, and an eclectic collection of sixties and seventies vinyl. She loves to hear from readers and can be contacted via her website: www.michelle-douglas.com (http://www.michelle-douglas.com).
Happily Ever After…
His Reluctant Cinderella
Jessica Gilmore
His Very Convenient Bride
Sophie Pembroke
A Deal to Mend Their Marriage
Michelle Douglas
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-08164-1
HAPPILY EVER AFTER…
His Reluctant Cinderella © 2014 Jessica Gilmore His Very Convenient Bride © 2015 Sophie Pembroke A Deal to Mend Their Marriage © 2016 Michelle Douglas
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.
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www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Table of Contents
Cover (#u9d9c5258-ed24-5124-b844-545163f7a92e)
About the Authors (#u129cdb75-3ff9-58e0-98b8-30d339704e92)
Title Page (#ufc734d6f-3aa1-504e-9d0f-740c50acc139)
Copyright (#ua1b9fa1d-7f0f-503f-9198-b7d010ce17e1)
His Reluctant Cinderella (#u20ec5bd2-4966-533f-9954-6f1a75f49bf8)
Dedication (#u2bb3b322-4ae5-5765-81a6-928469e839ca)
CHAPTER ONE (#ufa02789e-394b-511b-ae0d-d92290a9e318)
CHAPTER TWO (#u1dd357e3-d435-57b5-a25d-9797995a3e8b)
CHAPTER THREE (#u582e9022-3208-53f1-9e17-8909ec7f34d7)
CHAPTER FOUR (#u18fa2504-9846-5b58-95a4-182dd5b2e3a5)
CHAPTER FIVE (#u819cc516-8d10-5f1a-a5a9-2393f1b54026)
CHAPTER SIX (#u0e4cc552-103d-525a-aac4-68f9a87c927e)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#u1a193cf0-0cec-5961-bdfa-70f89e657651)
CHAPTER EIGHT (#u02430c47-e1ce-5ac1-83ec-803f402d906e)
CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)
His Very Convenient Bride (#litres_trial_promo)
Dedication (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWO (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THREE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
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)
EPILOGUE (#litres_trial_promo)
A Deal to Mend Their Marriage (#litres_trial_promo)
Dedication (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWO (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THREE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
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)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
His Reluctant Cinderella (#uaec53e5e-3c04-5952-a526-5f610f85a3a6)
Jessica Gilmore
For my parents
To mum, thank you for weekly trips to the library,
for never telling me to “put that book down”,
for the gift of words and stories and dreams.
And to dad for proving that families are more
than genes, that blood isn’t thicker than water, that
nurture totally trumps nature—and for being the
best grandpa in the world. I love you both x
CHAPTER ONE (#uaec53e5e-3c04-5952-a526-5f610f85a3a6)
‘IF YOU TELL ME where my sister is, I’ll give you ten thousand pounds.’
The down-turned head in front of him lifted slowly and Raff found himself coolly assessed by a pair of the greenest eyes he had ever seen, their slight upward tilt irresistibly feline, the effect heightened by high, slanting cheekbones and a pointed chin.
If this lady had a tail, it would definitely be swishing slowly. A warning sign.
He’d never been that good at heeding warnings. He liked to see them more as a challenge.
‘I beg your pardon?’ Her voice was as cold as her stare. Maybe he should have tried charm before hard cash, but somehow Raff doubted that even his patented charm would work on this cool cat.
Her dismissal should have annoyed him, he was used to people snapping to attention when he needed them, but he had to admit he was intrigued. He smiled, slow and warm. ‘Clara Castleton?’
There was no answering upturn of her full mouth as she nodded at the name tag, displayed neatly on the modern oak desk. ‘As you can see. But I don’t believe you introduced yourself?’
‘I don’t believe I did.’ Raff hooked the wooden chair out from opposite her desk and slid into it. He knew his six-foot-two frame could be intimidating, used it to his advantage sometimes, but for some reason, standing before her incredibly neat desk, he was irresistibly reminded of being summoned to the headmaster’s office.
Although that was where any resemblance to his long-suffering former headmaster ended despite her severely cut suit—her strawberry-blonde hair might be ruthlessly scraped back but it looked as if it was all there and she lacked the terrifying bushy eyebrows. Hers were rather neat lines, adding a flourish to what really was a remarkably pretty face, although the hair, the discreet make-up and the suit were all designed to hide the fact. Interesting. Raff filed that fact away for future use. He sensed he was going to need all the weapons he could get.
He leant back in his chair, keeping his eyes fixed on her face. ‘Castor Rafferty, but you can call me Raff. I believe you know my sister.’
‘Oh.’ Her eyes flickered away from his searching expression. ‘I was expecting you a couple of days ago.’
‘I’ve been busy dropping everything and rushing back to England. So, are you going to tell me where Polly is?’
Clara Castleton shook her head. ‘I wouldn’t tell you if I knew,’ she said. ‘But I don’t.’
Raff narrowed his eyes. He didn’t believe her, didn’t want to believe her. Because if she was telling the truth he was at an utter dead end. ‘Come now, Clara. I can call you Clara, can’t I? This short and simple email...’ he held up his phone with the email displayed. Not that he needed to be reminded what it said; he knew it off by heart ‘...tells me quite clearly that in an emergency my sister can be contacted via Clara of Castleton’s Concierge Consultancy. Nice alliteration by the way.’
