Anne Eames - Two Weddings And A Bride

Cover Page

Excerpt “I’m Not Really Married,” Catherine told Jake as they drove away from the wedding hall. “Expensive rehearsal, don’t you think?” Catherine shot him an exasperated look, ripped off her veil and tossed it in the back seat. “You know what I mean….” Her voice trailed off as she turned away. “No consummation, no marriage. Besides, we never completed the paperwork.” Just then, a convertible full of teenage girls pulled alongside. Noticing Catherine in her wedding dress and Jake in the one suit he owned, they started honking the horn, tapping keys against soda cans in the familiar symbolic gesture and blowing kisses at what they assumed were newlyweds. Catherine slumped in her seat and groaned, and for just one crazy second, Jake wanted to plant one heck of a kiss on the bride….

Dear Reader Dear Reader, Can you believe that for the next three months we’ll be celebrating the publication of the 1000th Silhouette Desire? That’s quite a milestone! The festivities begin this month with six books by some of your longtime favorites and exciting new names in romance. We’ll continue into next month, May, with the actual publication of Book #1000—by Diana Palmer—and then we’ll keep the fun going into June. There’s just so much going on that I can’t put it all into one letter. You’ll just have to keep reading! This month we have an absolutely terrific lineup, beginning with Saddle Up, a MAN OF THE MONTH by Mary Lynn Baxter. There’s also The Groom, I Presume? — the latest in Annette Broadrick’s DAUGHTERS OF TEXAS miniseries. Father of the Brat launches the new FROM HERE TO PATERNITY miniseries by Elizabeth Bevarly, and Forgotten Vows by Modean Moon is the first of three books about what happens on THE WEDDING NIGHT. Lass Small brings us her very own delightful sense of humor in A Stranger in Texas. And our DEBUT AUTHOR this month is Anne Eames with Two Weddings and a Bride. And next month, as promised, Book #1000, a MAN OF THE MONTH, Man of Ice by Diana Palmer! Lucia Macro, Senior Editor Please address questions and book requests to: Silhouette Reader Service U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269 Canadian: P.O. Box 609. Fort Erie. Ont L2A 5X3

Title Page Two Wedding And A Bride Anne Eames www.millsandboon.co.uk

Dedication With thanks and appreciation to my insightful editor, Melissa Senate, and to all my RWA friends, especially fellow critiquers Jeanne Couzens, Corky Conrad and Fran Krauss, as well as to authors who generously shared their time and “secrets”—Shelly Thacker, Ruth Ryan Langan, Kate Hoffmann and my own personal guardian angel, Lucy Taylor. Special thanks to my tolerant and sexy husband. Bill, who learned to cook, put up with my odd hours and moods, and helped research a few particular scenes. Hugs and kisses all around!

About The Author ANNE EAMES has a varied background, including managing a theater, a bridal salon, and a constuction association, netting several marketing and communications awards along the way. In 1991 she joined the Romance Writers of America, later becoming a Golden Heart finalist, the winner of the Maggie Award, and, finally, a published author—her lifelong dream. Anne and her engineer husband, Bill, live in Southeastern Michigan and share a family of five—two hers (Tim and Tom), two his (Erin and David), and one theirs (an adorable miniature dachshund, Punkin).

Dear Reader Dear Reader, There you are! I’m glad I finally found you—and vice versa. After a lifetime of dreaming about sharing my stories with you, I decided we’d meet a lot quicker if I wrote them down. Last summer I visited New York and a clairvoyant named Zena told me if I applied myself, in 1996 I’d exceed my expectations. I didn’t want my friends and family thinking I was crazy plopping down cash for Zena or that she might be wrong, so I wrote like a banshee and voila, Two Weddings and a Bride won the coveted Maggie award and shortly after was snatched up by Silhouette Desire. Six weeks later Desire bought my second book, and I’m hard at work on a third. Now I find myself driving down the freeway engrossed in my stories, missing exits and, too often, nearly rear-ending the car in front of me. The fact that Two Weddings and a Bride is part of Desire’s Celebration 1000 makes this debut experience a doubly exciting one for me. I hope the following pages bring a smile to your face, an occasional tear to your eye, the need for an oscillating fan. My next story, You’re What?!, will take you on a Caribbean cruise where my heroine meets her Mr. Right— just hours after she’s artificially inseminated. Watch for You’re What?! late summer. I’d love to hear from you, whether you’d like a little autographed something, or just to say hi. In the meantime, happy reading! Warmest regards, c/o Silhouette Desire 300 E. 42nd Street, 6th Floor New York, NY 10018

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Copyright

Catherine told Jake as they drove away from the wedding hall.

“Expensive rehearsal, don’t you think?”

Catherine shot him an exasperated look, ripped off her veil and tossed it in the back seat. “You know what I mean….” Her voice trailed off as she turned away. “No consummation, no marriage. Besides, we never completed the paperwork.”

Just then, a convertible full of teenage girls pulled alongside. Noticing Catherine in her wedding dress and Jake in the one suit he owned, they started honking the horn, tapping keys against soda cans in the familiar symbolic gesture and blowing kisses at what they assumed were newlyweds. Catherine slumped in her seat and groaned, and for just one crazy second, Jake wanted to plant one heck of a kiss on the bride….

Can you believe that for the next three months we’ll be celebrating the publication of the 1000th Silhouette Desire? That’s quite a milestone! The festivities begin this month with six books by some of your longtime favorites and exciting new names in romance.

We’ll continue into next month, May, with the actual publication of Book #1000—by Diana Palmer—and then we’ll keep the fun going into June. There’s just so much going on that I can’t put it all into one letter. You’ll just have to keep reading!

This month we have an absolutely terrific lineup, beginning with Saddle Up, a MAN OF THE MONTH by Mary Lynn Baxter. There’s also The Groom, I Presume? — the latest in Annette Broadrick’s DAUGHTERS OF TEXAS miniseries. Father of the Brat launches the new FROM HERE TO PATERNITY miniseries by Elizabeth Bevarly, and Forgotten Vows by Modean Moon is the first of three books about what happens on THE WEDDING NIGHT. Lass Small brings us her very own delightful sense of humor in A Stranger in Texas. And our DEBUT AUTHOR this month is Anne Eames with Two Weddings and a Bride.

And next month, as promised, Book #1000, a MAN OF THE MONTH, Man of Ice by Diana Palmer!

Lucia Macro,

Senior Editor

Please address questions and book requests to:

Silhouette Reader Service

U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269

Canadian: P.O. Box 609. Fort Erie. Ont L2A 5X3

www.millsandboon.co.uk

With thanks and appreciation to my insightful editor, Melissa Senate,

and to all my RWA friends, especially fellow critiquers

Jeanne Couzens, Corky Conrad and Fran Krauss, as well as to authors

who generously shared their time and “secrets”—Shelly Thacker,

Ruth Ryan Langan, Kate Hoffmann and my own personal guardian

angel, Lucy Taylor. Special thanks to my tolerant and sexy husband.

Bill, who learned to cook, put up with my odd hours and

moods, and helped research a few particular scenes. Hugs and kisses all around!

has a varied background, including managing a theater, a bridal salon, and a constuction association, netting several marketing and communications awards along the way. In 1991 she joined the Romance Writers of America, later becoming a Golden Heart finalist, the winner of the Maggie Award, and, finally, a published author—her lifelong dream.

Anne and her engineer husband, Bill, live in Southeastern Michigan and share a family of five—two hers (Tim and Tom), two his (Erin and David), and one theirs (an adorable miniature dachshund, Punkin).

There you are! I’m glad I finally found you—and vice versa. After a lifetime of dreaming about sharing my stories with you, I decided we’d meet a lot quicker if I wrote them down. Last summer I visited New York and a clairvoyant named Zena told me if I applied myself, in 1996 I’d exceed my expectations. I didn’t want my friends and family thinking I was crazy plopping down cash for Zena or that she might be wrong, so I wrote like a banshee and voila, Two Weddings and a Bride won the coveted Maggie award and shortly after was snatched up by Silhouette Desire. Six weeks later Desire bought my second book, and I’m hard at work on a third. Now I find myself driving down the freeway engrossed in my stories, missing exits and, too often, nearly rear-ending the car in front of me.

The fact that Two Weddings and a Bride is part of Desire’s Celebration 1000 makes this debut experience a doubly exciting one for me. I hope the following pages bring a smile to your face, an occasional tear to your eye, the need for an oscillating fan.

My next story, You’re What?!, will take you on a Caribbean cruise where my heroine meets her Mr. Right— just hours after she’s artificially inseminated. Watch for You’re What?! late summer.

I’d love to hear from you, whether you’d like a little autographed something, or just to say hi. In the meantime, happy reading!

Warmest regards,

c/o Silhouette Desire

300 E. 42nd Street, 6th Floor

New York, NY 10018

The last place Jake Alley wanted to be on this hot, cloudless Saturday evening was in a hot, humorless chapel, watching some fool surrender his freedom.

His bumper sticker didn’t he. He’d rather be sailing. Or at the very least, downtown Detroit at Tiger Stadium for the twi-night doubleheader. Anywhere other than this highfalutin Birmingham wedding would be an improvement.

But there he sat beside Aunt Helen, his shirt stuck to his back, wondering if dark blotches were beginning to show through his new khaki suit. Why had he let himself get roped into this? He didn’t even know these people—Catherine something-or-other, the daughter of Aunt Helen’s boss, and the supposedly handsome hunk she had snared. Poor sap.

The organist struck a loud chord. Jake stood along with the others, fanned his opened jacket against his soggy shirt and started calculating how much longer before he could be on his way. He’d drive Aunt Helen to the reception, grab a brew or two and sit with her through dinner as promised. Sounded like at least three hours. Unless he could find her a ride…