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Married By Christmas: His Pregnant Christmas Bride / Carter Bravo's Christmas Bride
Christine Rimmer
Olivia Gates
Nancy Robards Thompson
The perfect season for a sparkling snowbound wedding!Billionaire Ivan spent decades struggling with the treachery that almost destroyed him. But when Anastasia Shepherd, the only woman he’s ever loved, suffers a near-fatal injury, he risks everything to save her. Could a Christmas wedding erase the scars of Ivan’s past…or will darker secrets ruin all they hold dear?*When no-nonsense Carter Bravo decides it’s time to settle down this Christmas, he chooses a woman who isn’t looking to be swept off her feet. Not only does his business partner and best friend Paige Kettleman, say yes, soon the chemistry sizzling between them could make her his ideal mate.*Join Becca Flannigan and Nick Ciotti as they promise to love, honour, and cherish each other in front of their family and friends…and her baby bump! With a little Christmas mag-ic for the bride and groom, this may be the happiest-ever-after in Celebration!
About the Authors (#u33fc248c-492a-5333-b0bf-5875baa1c127)
USA TODAY bestselling author OLIVIA GATES has written over forty books in action/adventure, thriller, medical, paranormal and contemporary romance. Her signature is her über-alpha male heroes. Whether they’re gods, black-ops agents, virtuoso surgeons or ruthless billionaires, they all fall in love once and for life with the only women who can match them and bring them to their knees. She loves to hear from readers, so don’t hesitate to email her at oliviagates@gmail.com (http://oliviagates@gmail.com).
CHRISTINE RIMMER came to her profession the long way around. She tried everything from acting to teaching to telephone sales. Now she’s finally found work that suits her perfectly. She insists she never had a problem keeping a job—she was merely gaining “life experience” for her future as a novelist. Christine lives with her family in Oregon. Visit her at christinerimmer.com (http://www.christinerimmer.com).
National bestselling author NANCY ROBARDS THOMPSON holds a degree in journalism. She worked as a newspaper reporter until she realized reporting “just the facts” bored her silly. Much more content to report to her muse, Nancy loves writing women’s fiction and romance fulltime. Critics have deemed her work “funny, smart and observant.” She resides in Florida with her husband and daughter. You can reach her at nancyrobardsthompson (http://nancyrobardsthompson). com and facebook.com/nancyrobardsthompsonbooks (http://www.facebook.com/nancyrobardsthompsonbooks).
Married by Christmas
His Pregnant Christmas Bride
Olivia Gates
Carter Bravo’s Christmas Bride
Christine Rimmer
His Texas Christmas Bride
Nancy Robards Thompson
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-08605-9
MARRIED BY CHRISTMAS
His Pregnant Christmas Bride © 2016 Olivia Gates Carter Bravo’s Christmas Bride © 2015 Christine Rimmer His Texas Christmas Bride © 2015 Nancy Robards Thompson
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)
Version: 2018-08-29
Table of Contents
Cover (#ud248be8d-a218-5490-ab5b-bc7277240c5a)
About the Authors (#u528ceef6-744e-5865-acf5-62f0d95bd2ae)
Title Page (#ud0fd5a7c-e4ab-5e6e-8905-7f14fa60e504)
Copyright (#u5c40ee7f-3162-5a36-8028-400bc45de480)
His Pregnant Christmas Bride (#u1c9beb53-92c3-5d55-9ecd-cfc6a7aead84)
Back Cover Text (#u3ceb5c9f-0136-517c-9aa5-55fbcab5de5e)
One (#ua1645ccc-dfb7-59b3-903b-ed21354c0b3f)
Two (#u7d221f28-8215-5271-b2a8-2b5b8558b37f)
Three (#ubabe9724-82f9-540b-a560-1aa31eeea602)
Four (#u3fccf5f1-ffdf-5d85-bac1-729d222f25ad)
Five (#u286d45d3-1fc0-5467-91c1-2cde6d434c3c)
Six (#ub5e903b7-b86f-5255-b270-e306b81eed28)
Seven (#u07ca8578-480f-5b7d-88e0-18b36a895cf5)
Eight (#u8cc9d975-da98-55fd-9c55-596519b95e2c)
Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Carter Bravo’s Christmas Bride (#litres_trial_promo)
Back Cover Text (#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)
His Texas Christmas 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)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
His Pregnant Christmas Bride (#u33fc248c-492a-5333-b0bf-5875baa1c127)
Olivia Gates
Can a pregnant bride heal this tycoon’s tormented past? Only from USA TODAY bestselling author Olivia Gates!
Russian billionaire Ivan Konstantinov spent decades struggling with the treachery that almost destroyed him. But when Anastasia Shepherd, the only woman he’s ever loved, suffers a near-fatal injury, he risks everything—even exposure to his betrayers—to save her.
He intends only to heal her then walk away again, but their explosive passion can’t be denied. Then she gives him the ultimate Christmas gift: she’s expecting his child. Will the promise of a holiday wedding and a perfect future erase the scars of Ivan’s past...or will darker secrets ruin all they hold dear?
One (#u33fc248c-492a-5333-b0bf-5875baa1c127)
The beeping of the instruments measuring Anastasia Shepherd’s vitals quickened as she surfaced from her oppressive slumber.
But she didn’t want to wake up. She preferred the horrors she faced in sleep over the nightmare her life had become after the attack that had ended her brother’s life, and left her struggling for hers.
She squeezed her lids harder against the macabre images. The masked gunmen, the muted gunfire, the crimson blossoming over Alex’s white shirt as he collapsed beside her, bullets tearing into her own body.
In her shock, she’d somehow known she wouldn’t die, not immediately. She’d also known one other thing. That she’d needed to protect her brother from further injury with whatever was left of her life. She’d thrown herself over Alex’s body as their attackers approached them like inescapable doom.
But she’d only seen them fall. Like disposable opponents in a vicious video game at the hands of an expert player. It had made no sense. Until she’d seen him.
Ivan.
The man who’d walked away from her without a word seven years ago.
He’d swooped down on her and Alex, and right before darkness had claimed her, she’d heard him say what she’d dreamed he’d come back one day and say.
I’m here now.
And he’d been with her ever since. Through the whole ordeal of the past three weeks. Always sitting beside her bed like a sentinel. Watching over her, catering to her every need. Answering none of her questions.
“It isn’t a mercy anymore, Ivan.”
The words she hadn’t intended to voice just came out, laden with all her agony and frustration, before she even opened her eyes.
Ivan made no response, probably thinking she was talking in her sleep. But she felt him move closer, until he was standing over her.
She finally forced her eyes open and was once again overwhelmed by his sheer beauty and physical presence.
He’d always been the most incredible man she’d ever seen. The exact combination that had appealed to her every taste and enslaved her every sense. In the short time she’d known him, she hadn’t been able to tear her eyes and thoughts off of him. Not to mention her hands, lips and every inch of her. No man had ever compared to him, before or since; she’d given up before she’d even tried.
But the thirty-three-year-old juggernaut she’d once known had been nothing compared to the forty-year-old god he’d become.
Everything about him had been...magnified, intensified, until it choked her up just looking at him, just feeling him near. Any softness she hadn’t even realized he’d had had been chiseled away. What remained looked as if it had been carved from polished steel, perfect and impenetrable.
