Praise for award-winning author Helen Brenna
âBrenna combines nonstop action and great sexual
tension for a story readers wonât want to put down.â
âRT Book Reviews on The Moon That Night,
nominated for a Reviewerâs Choice award for Best Harlequin Superomance of 2010
âIâve found a new series romance writer to put
on the auto-buy list.â
âAll About Romance on Along Came a Husband
âOne book you must have on your listâ¦donât miss it!â
âRomance Reviews Today on Along Came a Husband
âIn this touching story about the power love has to
heal all wounds, Brennaâs characters have terrifically real depth and emotional appeal.â
âRT Book Reviews on Then Comes Baby
âA talented storyteller, Brenna has a gift for writing
category romance. She understands how to create intimate, heart-touching stories with the kind of vigorous writing that makes a series romance a satisfying little peek into the lives and loves of unique people and families. If you donât know her work, Next Comes Love is a nice place to start.â
âMichelle Buonfiglio, BN.com
âHighlighting the eternal tension between safety and
risk and the familiar and the unknown, this poignant, sweet, gently humorous story focuses on a pair of deeply conflicted protagonists and nicely sets the stage for the Mirabelle Island books to come.â
âLibrary Journal on First Come Twins
Dear Reader,
Growing up a tomboy, I felt almost immune to the pressure placed on young women with regard to beauty. Raising a daughter changed all that. I donât have enough space here to opine on body image, but our daughters deserve better. Just ask Grace.
So why do I write beautiful heroines and handsome heroes? Iâve always figured itâs part of the fantasy. After all, I do write fiction. Grace has me thinking, though, that maybe I should mix it up. Weâll see.
In September 2011, please watch for the seventh and last Mirabelle Island story, Redemption at Mirabelle. Missy Charmsâs sister Marin, who first appeared in book four, Along Came a Husband, comes to the island to do a little soul searching. The last thing she expects is for that search to lead her to a gruff widower and his two kids.
If youâre curious about Mirabelle, check out my website. I hope to add pages of pictures, a character chart and maybe even a map of the island. I love hearing from readers, and you can contact me at [email protected], or P.O. Box 24107, Minneapolis, MN 55424.
My best,
Helen Brenna
Helen Brenna grew up in central Minnesota, the seventh of eight children. Although she never dreamed of writing books, sheâs always been a voracious reader. So after taking a break from her accounting career to be an at-home mom, she tried her hand at writing the romances she loves to read. Since she was first published in 2007, her books have won many awards, including a Romance Writers of Americaâs prestigious RITA® Award, an RT Book Reviews Reviewerâs Choice, a Holt Medallion, a Book Buyers Best, and a National Readersâ Choice Award. Helen lives happily ever after with her family in Minnesota. Sheâd love hearing from you. Email her at [email protected] or send mail to P.O. Box 24107, Minneapolis, MN 55424.
Visit her website at www.helenbrenna.com or chat with Helen and other authors at Riding With The Top Down.
For Mark Twomey
Thanks, big bro, for being you and for all you do!
Thanks to fellow writer Lois Greiman for letting
me muck out barn stalls and dig fence posts. With friends like you⦠Seriously, thank you, dear, for allowing me to ride your precious and beautiful Sage, for advice on this manuscript and for giving me a glimpse into a life with horses. If only I had a couple extra acres, a barn and a pair of those sexy riding bootsâ¦
Thanks, also, to my lovely and very talented
niece Angi Twomey for her expert advice and insight with regard to the Los Angeles fashion world and for letting me sleep on her couch while doing research! What happens in L.A. stays in L.A. You know that, right?
Love you both,
Helen
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
A SIMPLE, UNCOMPLICATED LIFE. Was that too much to ask?
Apparently.
A sense of dread churning in his stomach, Sean Griffin glanced out at the choppy waters of Lake Superior and waited impatiently as the ferry approached Mirabelle Island. How ironic that this should happen to him now. Right now. When heâd finally orchestrated for himself the perfect life.
Well, almost the perfect life.
For the first time ever, he had close, trusted friends. This past winter, heâd bought the business of his dreams while managing to keep his part-time medical practice. He now owned a significant chunk of land and horses, lots of horses. And although the old farmhouse that had come with the Mirabelle Island Stable and Livery operation had needed a lot of work, heâd spent the last several months refurbishing the place, getting every piece of furniture, every wall color and window treatment just right. The only thing he was missing was a woman to share it all with, a wife, and a wife was definitely not coming for him on that ferry.