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A Winter's Wish
Alice Ross
A perfect, feel-good festive read about love, life and family.Tis the season to be jolly…isn’t it?Amelia is at breaking point. She’s just lost her job and Doug, the love of her life, still hasn’t broken up with his girlfriend. Surely a trip to the quiet countryside is just what she needs?Phil is about to leave beautiful Buttersley for the other side of the world! The sunny shores of Australia will mean a new life with his girlfriend, but something is holding him back…Ella has never felt this way before – Jake O’Donnell is the most gorgeous man she’s ever seen. And the more time she spends babysitting his kids, the more her feelings grow!Stan should be happy. He loves his wife and their adorable baby girl more than anything! So why, when everything’s finally going right, are they arguing more than ever?One thing’s for sure, even when Buttersley’s first snowflakes begin to fall, it’s never too cold for love to blossom…Perfect for fans of Trisha Ashley, Cathy Bramley and Claire Sandy.Praise for A Winter’s Wish:‘A great, comfy read- curl up in the armchair with a lovely cuppa and lose yourself with everyone in Buttersley.’ – Bookworms and Shutterbugs‘Heartwarming and touching.’ – Sweet is Always in Style‘Unpredictable and joyous!’ – Lilac Diaries‘A lovely seasonal feel-good book…a joy to read.’ – Lisa Houston (NetGalley reviewer)‘A great read at any time of the year, but especially leading up to Christmas!’ – Gemma Gray (NetGalley reviewer)
Tis the season to be jolly…isn’t it?
Amelia is at breaking point. She’s just lost her job and Doug, the love of her life, still hasn’t broken up with his girlfriend. Surely a trip to the quiet countryside is just what she needs!
Phil is about to leave beautiful Buttersley for the other side of the world! The sunny shores of Australia will mean a new life with his girlfriend, but something is holding him back…
Ella has never felt this way before – Jake O’Donnell is the most gorgeous man she’s ever seen. And the more time she spends babysitting his kids, the more her feelings grow!
Stan should be happy. He loves his wife and their adorable baby girl more than anything! So why, when everything’s finally going right, are they arguing more than ever?
One thing’s for sure, even when Buttersley’s first snowflakes begin to fall, it’s never too cold for love to blossom…
Perfect for fans of Trisha Ashley, Cathy Bramley and Claire Sandy.
Available from Alice Ross (#ulink_bae85285-6efe-5cd6-b635-b1f72b5ae429)
Countryside Dreams
An Autumn Affair
A Summer of Secrets
A Winter’s Wish
Forty Things to do Before You’re Forty
A Winter’s Wish
Alice Ross
Copyright (#ua672a93f-5135-54df-bab5-89f30cf77eb3)
HQ
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2016
Copyright © Alice Ross 2016
Alice Ross 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 2016 ISBN: 9781474058155
Version date: 2018-07-23
ALICE ROSS
escaped her dreary job in the financial services industry a few years ago and has never looked back. Dragging her personal chef (aka her husband) along with her, she headed to Spain, where she began writing witty, sexy romps destined to amuse readers slightly more than the pension brochures of her previous life. Now back in her home town of Durham, when not writing, she can be found scratching out a tune on her violin, walking her dog in wellies two sizes too big (don’t ask!) or standing on her head in a yoga pose. Alice loves to hear from readers, and you can follow her on Twitter at @AliceRoss22 or on facebook.com/alice.ross.108 (http://www.facebook.com/alice.ross.108).
A huge thank you, as always, to my fabulous editor, Charlotte Mursell, for all her input, guidance and hard work on this book. It is very much appreciated.
A special thanks to the HQ Digital design team for all three covers in the Countryside Dreams series – I absolutely love them.
And finally, a humongous thank you to Kaisha and Eva for their invaluable help with all my (many) child-related questions. ‘Wowatoes’ – who knew!
For the gorgeous girls in Galashiels
Thank you for all your encouragement with the book – and the laundry!
Contents
Cover (#u0fe998f2-f550-552a-a18a-356b86690ae5)
Blurb (#u17e3465b-8136-5e45-971b-997b3f21cf4e)
Book List (#ulink_0987a193-91af-5908-9ad1-4586be17ff45)
Title Page (#u76fa569e-acc6-57f6-9e41-7383abc1d11b)
Copyright
Author Bio (#u9843f8f2-29f6-567a-8b96-56279eab40a2)
Acknowledgement (#ub35dcc1d-927f-5d05-b9b7-30f75afe3f1b)
Dedication (#u7c597ac9-02ab-565c-a0f4-b29e0c0b2ef4)
Prologue (#u31e6d004-a770-5bde-a749-6fb6a9098412)
Chapter One (#ulink_3b4628e8-ba11-5978-9d4c-dabb1470f7ab)
Chapter Two (#ulink_a5b379cc-99ba-51dd-9b5d-612bde2635de)
Chapter Three (#ulink_fc8cf19e-e2b2-5664-8e4a-d317d9725da4)
Chapter Four (#ulink_ac11995f-e2cb-583a-808c-0fa91c1b67e0)
Chapter Five (#ulink_165d0dec-e815-5d0d-bedc-29dcc0522e42)
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)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Endpages (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher
A few days earlier
‘Guess who’s coming to stay,’ announced Annie O’Donnell in the kitchen of The Cedars.
Seven-year-old Sophie began jumping up and down. ‘Who? Who?’
‘Aunty Amelia.’
Sophie ceased jumping and yanked the zip of her tiger onesie all the way up to her hairline.
Husband Jake’s cheese and pickle sandwich came to a halt midway to his mouth.
Two-year-old Thomas dunked Mr Potato Head into his full pot of yoghurt.
And Pip the dog rolled over and played dead.
The response was much as Annie had expected.
Chapter One (#ulink_3debd30b-8bf7-5f1f-9565-ecd2fe149e66)
In her walk-in wardrobe, clutching the handle of her empty suitcase, a surge of panic swept over Amelia Richards.
What on earth had inspired her to accept her sister’s invitation to Yorkshire? Yorkshire for heaven’s sake. She couldn’t even recall the name of the out-in-the-sticks village where Annie lived. Buttersworth, or Butterton, or something resembling a low-fat spread. More to the point, what did people wear there? She very much doubted the residents of Butters-whatever-it-was-called would be tottering about in Ted Baker pencil skirts, fitted jackets and six-inch Manolos. Her usual weekday attire.
Not, she hastily reminded herself, that she would have need of such attire again. Not for a while at least. Because it wasn’t just sartorial problems triggering this fit of panic. Her job situation – or, rather, lack of job situation – was adding to her fragile state.
‘I’m so sorry, Amelia, but with the new restructure, we’re going to have to let you go.’
Have to let you go. For the last three days, ever since they’d floated across the managing director’s walnut desk, those words had rebounded around the confines of Amelia’s head like a snooker ball refusing to find a pocket.
‘And I know there’s never a good time for these things, but I hate to have to break the news just before Christmas,’ he’d added.
Amelia couldn’t have cared less about the timing. She was too busy beating herself black and blue. With the benefit of hindsight, she should have seen this coming; should have known that, in the cut-and-thrust world of finance, no one was safe; that even the enviable benefits package lavished on her by the UK’s largest insurer didn’t include job security – especially after the company had been gobbled up by a massive American corporation.
And gobbled it they had. But Amelia had seemingly not been to the usurper’s taste. She’d been spat out. Discarded. Abandoned. Her pride subjected to a monumental battering. She should have got out before being pushed, taken the initiative, followed her instincts. But she hadn’t. She’d sat back and let them screw her up and toss her aside like a used sandwich wrapper. Never, in all her twenty-nine years, had she felt more stupid.
Admittedly, though, stupid was one thing Amelia was not. Desperate to do well, she’d worked her socks off at school, her efforts being rewarded by an impressive stream of qualifications and accolades: Head Girl, Head of the Debating Society, President of the Chess Club – and, ultimately, a scholarship to Cambridge, where she added a double first in Mathematics to her collection.
Before she’d even left university, Providential Assurance had dangled a ridiculously juicy carrot before her. They’d spotted her potential, nurtured her career, supported her through the maze of actuarial exams, promoted her with astonishing regularity right up to head of department. Next step would be board member.
Except now it wouldn’t. At least not with Providential.
Of course Amelia knew once she put herself back on the job market, she would likely be bombarded with offers. But she couldn’t face it. Not yet.
She felt winded, like she’d been run over by a tank. Confidence crushed. Self-esteem shattered. Ego bruised. And she was tired. So very very tired.
She needed a break.
From London.
From Doug.
And for all she could afford to jet off to any of the world’s exotic, exclusive locations, she didn’t want to. The mere thought of facing a bustling noisy airport brought on a mild panic attack. Instead, a yearning for quite the opposite had overtaken her: one for all things familiar. England in winter might not be everyone’s ideal, but Amelia, in her present confused state, could think of nowhere more perfect. Frosty mornings, roaring log fires, steaming mugs of hot chocolate, long evenings curled up with a good book, and hearty country walks wrapped up in six layers of clothes was exactly what she needed.
She’d considered booking a little cottage where she could indulge in all of the above, but for all she couldn’t face swarms of people, neither could she face being alone. As pitiful as it sounded, she needed to be around people she knew – to feel cosseted and cared for. Not that she expected her sister, Annie, to cosset and care for her. Why would she when the two of them had never been close? Yet, for some reason, when she’d received the crushing redundancy news, Annie had been the first person, after Doug, that Amelia had wanted to speak to – had felt an overwhelming desire to speak to. And as soon as Annie had answered the phone, she’d known why. Her calming manner, sensible words and pragmatic advice had momentarily lifted Amelia’s spirits. And when Annie had invited her up to Yorkshire, she’d found herself accepting without a moment’s hesitation.
Of course, in hindsight, she realised Annie had probably only asked her out of politeness – probably hadn’t thought for a second that she’d say yes. But despite these misgivings, Amelia couldn’t think of a better place to escape to, to lick her wounds and regroup. And so, despite her sartorial deliberations, she’d made up her mind. She was going to Yorkshire.
*
‘Hi. I’m home.’
‘Hi. We’re upstairs. In the bathroom.’
Stan Suffolk heaved a weary sigh, before dumping his laptop case and jacket onto the sofa, and making his way up the creaky old staircase of Pear Tree Cottage.
