Recipe For Redemption

From the frying pan...

Abby Manning has to take home first prize in an amateur cooking competition to save her town’s landmark inn—and longtime home for her ailing grandmother. Too bad the Butterfly Harbor innkeeper is a complete disaster in the kitchen. Undeterred, Abby asks her latest guest to teach her the basics.

A family tragedy and ensuing scandal derailed Jason Corwin’s high-profile career. But is the gifted celebrity chef going to let one mistake define the rest of his life? Add in a generous helping of mutual attraction and another burgeoning scandal, and it could be a recipe for star-crossed romance...or disaster, especially if a win for Abby costs Jason his professional future.

“I’ll make you a deal.”

He paused before continuing. “If you come up with the application fee, I’ll do what I can to teach you, Abby. But again, I can’t guarantee—”

“I know, I know.” She flew across the room, grabbed his shoulders and kissed him full on the mouth. A quick kiss. One of gratitude and happiness with a touch of that electric excitement he was fast becoming familiar with. In that moment Jason also tasted fire and determination.

She must have surprised herself because she rocked back on her heels and lifted her stunned face to him. He clenched his fists to stop himself from touching her cheek, from finding out if her skin was as soft as he imagined it would be. “You heard me, right? This is going to be hard work, Abby.”

“Sure. I hadn’t considered it anything but.”

I’m a believer in the butterfly effect—those ripples that occur with the simple beating of wings. Sometimes it’s a person who gives us a gift we didn’t know we needed.

My cousins Ron and Colleen lived a short drive away from my family. They had three children, all older than me and their house was always filled with the enthusiasm of living each day to its fullest. It was there that I first heard the words of Shakespeare. To listen to Ron utter the beautiful intricacies of language (he was an actor and Shakespeare professor) with clarity and affection touched my heart. He was one of my biggest cheerleaders and, in recent years, as his heath declined due to Parkinson’s, he carried one of my books with him in his walker, showing it off at his care facility. I’ve joked it was the best book tour I could have ever gone on. But it’s the truth.

With Recipe for Redemption, I knew Abby Manning would be struggling: her historic inn on the brink of ruin, the town’s survival, finding where she belonged in the world and coming face-to-face with a hero who would push her emotional buttons. But then Abby’s grandmother Alice (named for Ron’s mother) arrived on the page fighting a battle of her own: the same battle Ron fought and, unfortunately, lost this past summer. Another butterfly effect? I think so.

Family connections, whether by blood or choice, are at the heart of Butterfly Harbor. How different my own life would have been without Ron quoting Shakespeare to me, or lending an encouraging ear when I needed it most. Just as Abby’s grandmother and her friends do for Abby. Community, connections. Is there anything more important?

Anna J.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ANNA J. STEWART says the greatest gift her mother ever gave her was never saying no to a book. A lifelong bookworm, Anna discovered romances early in high school and soon began writing her own. Hundreds of notebooks and reams of paper later, she writes “refreshingly unique, quietly humorous and profoundly moving romance” (RT Book Reviews). New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak says, “The talented Anna J. Stewart never disappoints.” Anna lives in Northern California with an overly attentive cat named Snickers.

For Ronald Trouse

Cousin, teacher, father figure and kind, kind man.

Your brave battle will never be forgotten, and neither will you.

Contents

COVER

BACK COVER TEXT

INTRODUCTION

Dear Reader

TITLE PAGE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

DEDICATION

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

EXTRACT

COPYRIGHT

CHAPTER ONE

JASON CORWIN’S HAND stilled over the hotel registration form as he sniffed the air. “Do you smell smoke?”

A middle-aged woman with short-cropped gray hair passed through the reception area of the Flutterby Inn, Butterfly Harbor’s main hotel, a stack of freshly laundered towels in her arms. The lack of concern on her face might have made Jason wonder if he were imagining things, but as a former professional chef, he was more than familiar with this particular smell.

“I have you down for three weeks, Mr. Corwin,” Lori, the plump young woman who had introduced herself minutes ago, said. She leaned her hands on the whitewashed batten-board counter, lively green eyes devoid of concern as the air thickened. “Is that correct?”