It Had To Be You: Man of the Year 2016
Following a nationwide hunt for a modern day hero, we are proud to reveal the winner of Mills & Boon’s Man of the Year campaign, Courtney Hayles, on the cover of this special edition Valentine’s book, It Had To Be You.With two Mills & Boon stories that treat you to two favourite heroes, in two contrasting romantic settings, this book is the ultimate package for a hit of romance this Valentine’s Day.Molly Cooper’s Dream DateMolly Cooper has travelled all the way to London to find her dream man! The trouble is, the sexy emails with hot millionaire Patrick Knight – the man she swapped houses with – are strangely addictive. But what do you do when you realise the one you really want is a world away…sleeping in your bed?Shipwrecked with Mr WrongConservationist Honor Brier loves working in her island paradise. It’s the perfect place to lick her wounds in peace…until arrogant playboy Rob Dalton is shipwrecked on its shores. Yet Rob’s passion for life is impossible to resist – and he’s infuriatingly attractive! Could Mr Wrong actually be oh-so-right?
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Mills & Boon>® launched a nationwide hunt to discover their Man of the Year 2016, a modern-day hero who is fun, authentic and romantic! With help from celebrity judges Denise Welch, Robin Windsor and Rosie Nixon, we are proud to reveal that special someone as the cover star of this book, Courtney Hayles.
Courtney is an actor, writer and teacher who works hard and dreams big, believing that with determination and motivation, anything is possible. Embracing life to the full, he has travelled widely and says that the only thing he fears is fear itself. ‘When I leave this earth I want to know that I really lived and had a blast with my many adventures.’ Courtney’s perfect date would be meeting for a drink, enjoying good food, dancing and a lot of laughter – ‘There’s nothing better than spending time with someone who makes you laugh and excites the socks off you. The nerves build up and the energy is electric!’
It Had to Be You
Molly Cooper’s Dream Date
Barbara Hannay
Shipwrecked with Mr Wrong
Nikki Logan
Table of Contents
Barbara Hannay
BARBARA HANNAY has written over forty romance novels and has won Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA>® award, the Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice award, as well as Australia’s Romantic Book of the Year.
A city-bred girl with a yen for country life, Barbara lives with her husband on a misty hillside in beautiful Far North Queensland where they raise pigs and chickens and enjoy an untidy but productive garden.
Special thanks to Jenny Haddon,
whose wonderful London hospitality inspired this story.
‘THIS is my favourite part,’ Molly whispered as the glamorous couple on her TV screen walked sadly but stoically to opposite ends of London’s Westminster Bridge. ‘He’s going to turn back to her any minute now.’
Molly was curled on her couch in a tense ball. Karli, at the other end of the couch, helped herself to more popcorn.
‘Don’t miss this, Karli. I cry every time. Look. He hears Big Ben, and he stops, and—’ Molly’s voice broke on a sob. ‘He turns.’ She hugged her knees. ‘See the look on his face?’
‘Ohhh …’ Karli let out a hushed breath. ‘You can see he really, really loves her.’
‘I know. It’s so beautiful.’ Molly reached for tissues as the gorgeous hero stood alone on the bridge, stricken-faced, shoulders squared, waiting for the woman in the long fur coat to turn back to him.
Karli grabbed a cushion and clutched it to her chest. ‘He’ll chase after her.’
‘No. It’s up to her now. If she doesn’t turn back, he knows she doesn’t love him.’
On the screen, a red double-decker London bus slowed to a stop and the movie’s heroine, in her ankle-length, glamorous coat, hurried to catch it.
‘No,’ Karli moaned as the bus took off with the woman on board, and the camera switched to another close-up of the hero’s grimly devastated face. ‘Don’t tell me it’s a sad ending.’
Molly pressed her lips together to stop herself from speaking. The camera tracked upwards to a bird’s eye view of London, showing the silvery River Thames curving below, and the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben … the solitary figure of the hero standing on Westminster Bridge … and the red bus driving away.
Karli was scowling. Molly hugged her knees tighter, gratified that her friend was hooked into the tension.
The camera climbed higher still, and the London bus was matchbox-size. The sounds of the city traffic were replaced by music—violins swelling with lush and aching beauty.
Molly had seen this movie more than a dozen times, but tears still rolled down her cheeks.
And then … at last …
At last …
The bus stopped.
The tiny figure of the heroine emerged …
The camera swooped down once more, zooming closer and closer as the lovers ran towards each other, arms outstretched, embracing at last.
The credits began to roll. Karli wrinkled her nose. ‘OK. I admit that wasn’t bad.’
‘Not bad?’ Molly sniffed. ‘I suppose that’s why you practically bit a piece out of my sofa cushion? Come on—admit it’s amazing. The look on Christian’s face when he thinks he’s lost Vanessa is the most emotional moment in cinematic history.’ She gave a dramatic sigh. ‘And London has to be the most romantic city in the world.’
Shrugging, Karli reached for more popcorn. ‘Isn’t Paris supposed to be the most romantic city?’
‘No way. Not for me. Paris is—Paris is … Oh, I don’t know.’ Molly gave a helpless flap of her hands. ‘Paris just … isn’t London.’
‘Admit it, Mozza. You have a thing for English guys. You’re convinced that London is full of perfect gentlemen.’
It was best to ignore her friend’s sarcasm. Molly wasn’t going to admit that it held a grain—OK, maybe even more than a grain—of truth. Her love affair with London was deeply personal.
