A love like this only strikes once...
The storm that devastated the town of Logan Beach also ravaged everything Rosanna Turner once knew. First she lost her childhood home. Then the Thorn family bought out the store where she comfortably worked for most of her adulthood. Rosanna isnât thrilled when eldest sibling David Thorn arrives in town, seeking her input before the grand reopening. Just like a Thorn, the man doesnât play fair. Heâs too charming, too gorgeous to resist...until she uncovers his secret agenda.
David wants to help repair the stricken townâall while discovering whoâs been embezzling from his familyâs new acquisition. Could it be Rosanna? The woman is irresistible and a force of nature in her own right. And he is in need of her expertise to make his store a success. Soon he also needs her in his arms...and anywhere else he can have her. Will mutual mistrust undermine their chance to build something wonderful together?
âWhat was that?â she asked. âA show of your superior strength? Was the seduction included or just the brute strength? Iâm no high school girl trembling at the appearance of a guy she has a crush on.â
âSo you have a crush on me.â
âWeâre not changing the subject. The point is you think you can force me to bend to your wishes with a simple kiss?â
âYou think that kiss was simple?â
He was baiting her and she didnât like it.
David took a step forward. There was only a little space between them and heâd just decreased it by half. âDid you forget that you were in my arms? You were part of that kiss, simple or not. You were matching me tongue for tongue.â
Images of them kissing, with no space, not even air, between them threatened her resolve. Her stomach felt as if it would turn over or, worse, sheâd fall into Davidâs arms as he was suggesting.
He grinned, something she wasnât expecting. âIs it working?â he asked.
âIs what working?â
âYour memory. Your body. Is it pumping passion juice and you want to continue what I started?â
Dear Reader,
Welcome to the first book in my new series, House of Thorn. Youâll meet David and watch as he rebuilds a store and a relationship devastated by a major storm. The idea for this book came from a real place along the Atlantic Ocean. I love the sea, the salt air, the sound of the birds. But I know the sea can turn from friend to foe in an instant. This is what happens in Love in Logan Beach.
Rosanna Turner fully expected the manager position of Bachâs Department Store to fall to her. But a storm took everything she owned, and nearly her life. With David Thornâs arrival, sheâs sure it will finish her. Rose considers David a privateer profiting from the sorrow of others. Yet his actions prove the opposite and she finds that the storm in her heart is greater than anything Mother Nature could throw at her.
Shirley
SHIRLEY HAILSTOCK began her writing life as a lover of reading. She likes nothing better than to find a quiet corner where she can get lost in a book, explore new worlds and visit places she never expected to see. As an author, she can not only visit those places, but she can be the heroine of her own stories. The author of forty novels and novellas, Shirley has received numerous awards, including a National Readersâ Choice Award, a Romance Writers of Americaâs Emma Merritt Award and an RT Book Reviews Career Achievement Award. Shirleyâs books have appeared on several bestseller lists, including the Glamour, Essence and Library Journal lists. She is a past president of Romance Writers of America.
To my brother, Eugene, gone too soon. He and I read, watched movies and laughed together. Thanks for the memories. I will always love and miss you.
Chapter 1
David Thorn stood on the seawall in Logan Beach, New Jersey, his arms stretched out. The salty wind blew against his face and the open neck of his white shirt. The Atlantic Ocean stretched from here to the Scottish shores and beyond. Overhead, gulls cawed and swooped to the water in search of todayâs lunch. David thought about his family vacations in this very spot. And now he would be here daily, working and making the House of Thornâs new Logan Beach store the best he could.
âYouâre going to work here?â his brother, Blake, shouted with envy over the roar of the waves. âIâd be at the beach every day.â
David checked the sky, lowering his arms. It was blue and cloudless, and reminded him of his carefree days as a barefoot boy running through the sand along this beach. David gave his brother a quizzical look. âWhen you reported the finances, how would you explain your actions to the board?â The board being the family, since Thornâs had always been a family-run business. Their mother started it by selling cakes and pastries out of the family kitchen when her children were barely out of diapers.