Dear Reader
Almost everyone in Australia would associate the Gold Coast, Queensland, with theme parks, beaches, holidays and fun. Everyone except, of course, the people who live there. For them itâs just home. They get to enjoy the lovely beaches and the tranquillity of the rainforest in their own back gardens. Last year, when I was at a conference of romance writers on the Gold Coast, I wondered what it would be like to live in a tourist townâbecause everyday life isnât vacationâ¦itâs everyday life! How often do the residents get to the beach or the rainforest?
So, when my editor asked me if I would like to be part of the Gold Coast Angels series, I leaped at the chanceâbecause this was my opportunity to explore living and working in a place that ticked 24/7 with a holiday vibe but was still home to so many people.
Chloe hasnât really ever had a vacation, even though sheâs lived on the Gold Coast for a decade. Sheâs been too busy supporting her brother Nick and getting her own life back together after being abandoned by her parents at sixteen. Now sheâs just turned thirty, and sheâs reflecting on her life and where itâs headed. Have the sacrifices sheâs been forced to make been worth it?
Luke loved the casual Gold Coast lifestyle in the huge house on the canal that he shared with his wife and daughter, but one moment in time stole all that from him. Now heâs living in a town known for its fun, and yet heâs cloaked in sadness and not able to see a way out of it.
I hope you enjoy Chloe and Lukeâs story, set against the backdrop of sun, surf and life lived to the full, and seeing how they manage against the odds to find their place in it and each other.
For photos of the Gold Coast, and tourist information to help you plan your next vacation, head over to my website: www.fionalowe.com. I love to hear from my readers, and you can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, my website and blog, or e-mail me at [email protected]
Happy reading!
Fiona x
âHAPPY BIRTHDAY!â
The cheers rained over Chloe Kefes and she didnât know if she wanted to laugh, cry or run. Truth be told, she wanted to do all three as she stared in shocked surprise at the smiling faces of her colleagues.
Somehow she managed to get her legs to move and as she stepped forward into the meeting room, the staff enthusiastically rushed her with balloons and hugs before pressing a polystyrene cup containing a small drop of champagne into her hand. So much for this being a vital patient review meeting on the busy Gold Coast City Hospitalâs plastic surgery wardâinstead it was a well-meant ambush.
âTo Chloe.â They raised their cups.
âMany happy returns, Clo.â
âHave a good one.â
Her shoulders were squeezed, she was patted on the back, and her arm was pummelled with birthday bumps as half the roomâthe afternoon shiftârushed past her, dashing back to work.
âDonât let Richard eat all the Tim Tams,â Julie, the radiographer, called out over her shoulder.
Their departure left behind the now off-duty day staff, which comprised a student nurse, a medical student and the plastics registrar, Richard, who had a reputation for eating all the chocolates.
Chloe finally found her voice. âOh, you guys, you didnât have to do this.â Really, I wish you hadnât.
Keri Letterman, the unit nurse manager, gave her a wide smile. âYou didnât think weâd let the big three-oh go past without acknowledging it, now, did you?â
âWow,â muttered the barely twenty-year-old student nurse to the twenty-one-year-old med student, âI didnât think she was that old.â
Chloe tried to give the bright and breezy smile she was known for but, despite her very best attempt, her âI guess notâ came out a tad strangled.
Up until a few minutes ago sheâd really thought sheâd managed to slip under the birthday policeâs radar, otherwise known as Keri and Kate. Given the fuss theyâd made of Lizzie, the ward clerk, on her fiftieth birthday, Chloe probably should have known better. Except that, unlike the rest of the staff, she hadnât spent the preceding days giving a birthday countdown to anyone whoâd listen.