by King, Karen
‘And our friends and neighbours? If I come back, it will cause trouble between you and Lily, and you’ll be the subject of gossip that could ruin your business.’ Maria shook her head, ready to protest again, but Gareth’s arms were around her and he was holding her close.
‘Don’t you know that there is an online petition demanding a review of your case? That shows how many people believe in you.’
‘Really?’ She was staggered to think that so many people believed in her.
Gareth nodded. ‘Now will you please come home?’
‘If you’re sure?’
‘Absolutely sure.’
She sighed and relaxed into his shoulder. Was the nightmare really over?
62
Lily
A year later
Emma bounced into the room, stopped and stared at Lily then squealed, ‘Lily, you look like a princess!’
Lily smiled, patting down the front of the wedding dress she’d bought in a sale a few months ago. She’d been surprised and delighted when Seb had proposed to her at Christmas. They’d grown stronger as a couple since Emma’s kidnapping and the truth about Maria had been revealed. Lily was grateful that Maria had saved Emma’s life – and after speaking to Maria and Simon, had finally accepted that Alicia’s death had been an accident.
Thanks to an online petition there was going to be an appeal against Maria’s conviction and Simon had agreed to alter his statement, so they were hopeful it would eventually be overturned. Lily had felt for Maria – to be convicted of such a crime at such a young age and to have her family turn against her must have been devastating. She had also been impressed at how Maria had changed her life around, determined to make amends for the mistake she had made. It had taken a while, but now they had a good relationship and Maria had given Lily a makeover for the wedding. It was only a small gathering, Jenni and Emma were bridesmaids, and the wedding ceremony was taking place at a local hotel where they were all having lunch afterwards.
Lily gave her little sister a hug. ‘Thank you, darling, you look like a princess too.’
There was a knock on the door and Maria came in, looking very elegant in a pale blue dress and jacket. ‘I was wondering, Lily, do you have anything borrowed?’
Lily shook her head. She wasn’t really bothered about tradition. ‘I hadn’t thought about it.’
‘I wondered if you’d like to borrow this. I don’t mind if you’d prefer not to.’ She handed Lily a small black box. Lily opened it and saw the sparkling diamond necklace Maria had worn to her own wedding to Lily’s father. She was touched.
‘Are you sure?’
‘I would be honoured.’
Lily smiled. ‘Would you put it on for me?’
Maria fastened the necklace around Lily’s neck then both women walked out of the room, Emma and Jenni behind them, to the room where the ceremony was being held.
As she walked along the red carpet to Seb, her arm linked with her father’s, Emma and Jenni behind her, Lily thought about her mother. She wished that Mum was here but she felt that she would be pleased things were working out for Maria. Ruth always said that everyone should be given a second chance if they were truly sorry. And Maria was so sorry for the terrible mistake she had made when she was so young, the consequences of which she had to live with for the rest of her life. Finally, Lily felt ready to accept her stepmother.
The past was over. They were safe.
Epilogue
Alicia’s gone. That’s what everyone keeps telling me. My precious little girl has gone forever and I have to accept it or I will never get out. They’re lying. I don’t know why they’re telling me such a terrible lie but I have to pretend that I believe them. ‘You’ve got to play the game.’ That’s what my sister Joan keeps telling me. ‘Play the game, Sarah, and they’ll let you out.’ I desperately want to get out. I hate it in here. I hate the smell, the noise, the tablets they give me. I want to get out and be with Simon and Joan and Alicia. It was so wonderful, holding Alicia in my arms again. I’ve missed her so much. We were going to be together forever, me and my beautiful little girl, then Stefanie ruined everything. Again.
I hadn’t seen Stefanie for such a long time. She’d grown. Like Simon. Alicia was the same though. I wanted to hold my daughter forever but she was getting heavy so I had to put her down. Then Stefanie took her. I hate Stefanie for that. I wanted to kill her. Stefanie had always loved Alicia. Always wanted her as her own. Now she has her again because the doctors say I am too ill to look after my little girl. I’m not ill. The doctors are lying, everyone is lying. I’ll get out and get Alicia back soon though. I just have to play the game.
I look up as the doctor comes into the room. ‘Hello, Sarah. And how are you today?’ he asks.
I smile at him. Smiling is good. ‘Don’t scream and shout,’ Joan told me.
‘I’m very good, doctor,’ I reply.
‘Now, Sarah, I want to ask you a couple of questions,’ the doctor says as he sits down beside me.
I know what questions he’s going to ask. They’re always the same. My name, my age, about my family. Then the important one.
‘And your daughter Alicia?’
‘Alicia is dead. She’s been dead a long time,’ I reply.
The doctor smiles and pats my hand. ‘Well, you really are making progress.’
I watch as he walks out of the room, then I pick up the picture of Alicia that they let me keep by my bed.
‘I’m playing the game, darling. Soon we’ll be together again. And this time it will be forever.’
If you loved The Perfect Stepmother, don’t miss Karen King’s brilliant psychological suspense novel The Stranger in My Bed.
* * *
Buy now!
The Stranger in My Bed
Get it here!
* * *
‘We have a patient who has been involved in a serious accident. We believe he’s your husband.’
* * *
When Freya first met Phil, she thought he was the man of her dreams. He bought her roses every week, booked surprise trips to sun-soaked destinations, and showed her affection like she’d never experienced before. But over time the dream had become a violent nightmare. And now Freya is packing her bags, knowing it’s time she escaped their increasingly broken marriage.
* * *
But then Freya gets a visit from the police. Phil’s been in a horrific car crash and – as he comes around – it becomes clear that remembers nothing since their blissful honeymoon two years before, back when their relationship was perfect. All he wants is to be happily married again.
* * *
Freya knows giving him another chance could be dangerous. But now he’s the one who needs her, it’s a chance to turn the tables, and to change the outcome of their relationship once and for all. After all, he will only know what she chooses to tell him…
* * *
But what really happened during those two years of marriage? And as they start over again, who is safe? And whose life is in danger?
* * *
Fans of The Girl on the Train, Behind Closed Doors and Date Night who are looking for a dark, gripping psychological thriller, with a final twist that will leave their jaw on the floor, will love The Stranger in My Bed.
* * *
Buy now!
Hear More from Karen
If you’d like to keep up to date with the latest news on Karen’s new releases, just click on the link below to sign up for a newsletter. We’ll only contact you when there’s a new book out, and we promise not to share your email with anyone else.
* * *
Sign up here!
Books by Karen King
Psychological Thrillers
The Perfect Stepmother
The Stranger in My Bed
* * *
Romantic Comedies
Single All the Way
The Year of Starting Over
Snowy Nights at the Lonely Hearts Hotel
AVAILABLE IN AU
DIO
The Stranger in My Bed (Available in the UK and the US)
A Letter from Karen
I want to say a huge thank you for choosing to read The Perfect Stepmother. If you enjoyed it, and want to keep up to date with all my latest releases, just sign up at the following link. Your email address will never be shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.
* * *
Sign up here!
* * *
The question of whether you can ever atone for a terrible deed has fascinated me for some time now. I think of all the awful stories I read in the newspapers, of kidnappings and murders, and wonder what happens when the perpetrators really regret what they did. Can they ever atone for their terrible act? Would society ever forgive them no matter what they did to put it right? Could they ever forgive themselves? Especially if they were accidentally responsible for the death of a child and no one believed that it was an accident? I imagine that would be a terrible thing to live with, how distraught and guilty the person would feel, how much they would try to atone for their actions. This is the concept behind this book.
I hope you loved The Perfect Stepmother, and if you did, I would be very grateful if you could write a review. I’d love to hear what you think, and it makes such a difference helping new readers to discover one of my books for the first time.
I love hearing from my readers – you can get in touch on my Facebook page, through Twitter, Goodreads or my website.
* * *
Thanks,
* * *
Karen
* * *
www.karenking.net
Single All the Way
Get it here!
* * *
I can see my mother is calling me. I answer the phone, knowing I’ll have to tell her about Oliver and me breaking up. But before I can, she announces, ‘I don’t exactly know how to tell you this… But I’m leaving your dad.’
* * *
Single together for the first time, 34-year-old Meg and her warm-hearted, long-suffering mother Sally are cancelling Christmas, and running away to a tiny cottage on the Cornish coast. For Meg, it is the perfect place to heal, away from all the mistletoe, while for her mother it has a special, and secret, place in her heart – from a love story that seems a lifetime ago…
* * *
Meg and Sally find they’re getting to know themselves, and each other, better than ever before. But as they are unable to resist getting involved in the village Christmas celebrations, they encounter two handsome local strangers.
* * *
Sometimes, it’s being away from home that helps you realise where your heart is. What neither woman knows is that, by the time the new year rolls around, one woman will have fallen in love with her husband all over again, and one marriage will be over for good…
* * *
An escapist, romantic and heart-warming novel for fans of One Day in December and No One Cancels Christmas.
* * *
Single All the Way is available here!
The Year of Starting Over
Get it here!
* * *
What if – to find yourself – you had to run away?
* * *
Last year was meant to be when Holly got her happy-ever-after. But stuck in a job that’s going nowhere, and a relationship that feels more like it’s going backwards… this year Holly has decided it’s time to change her life. She just has to:
End the relationship with the commitment-phobic boyfriend
Go on a proper adventure
Learn to be herself again
Definitely, categorically not fall in love.
Cramming her belongings into her little yellow Mini, Holly drives on to a ferry bound to Spain, to stay at a remote farmhouse near a beautiful village in the Andalusian hills.
* * *
But the day she arrives she nearly crashes her car into a gorgeous guy on a motorbike. He’s called Matias and their paths keep crossing, much to Holly’s irritation. Because as she learns to speak Spanish from the locals, finally starts laying out plans for her own design business, and sips sangria in the sunlit village square, Holly is beginning to remember who she is and what she wants.
* * *
So she won’t allow herself be distracted by Matias. Because this year – for Holly – there are more important things in life than love. And she won’t let yet another bad relationship ruin everything… will she?
* * *
A moving and uplifting romantic comedy about living each moment and learning to trust yourself again, for fans of Jenny Hale, Debbie Macomber, and Sophie Kinsella.
* * *
The Year of Starting Over is available here!
Snowy Nights at the Lonely Hearts Hotel
Get it here!
* * *
Snowy rooftops, mulled wine, and a hot single dad. Not the Christmas Saffy wished for… but maybe the one she needs?
* * *
Twenty-nine year old Saffron Baxter knew her holiday plans didn’t stand a chance the moment her sister called to say she was stuck abroad with no hope of being home before Christmas. Saffy would just have to abandon thoughts of wild festive parties in the city and head down to remote Cornwall.
* * *
Because every year her sister hosts a huge Christmas meal for all the single parents in her village. And Saffy knows it’d break her heart to let them down.
* * *
Arriving as snow starts to fall over the thatched cottages of the little harbour town of Port Breok, she meets Logan – the tall, fair-haired, blue-eyed, devoted single dad who lives next door, with his adorable daughter Chloe. At first she thinks he might help her make Christmas Day extra-memorable, but he just seems convinced she’ll never manage – that she’s just a party girl who doesn’t care about Christmas, or anyone’s feelings.
* * *
Maybe he’s right. After all – she doesn’t want to settle down, she’s only there for a few days… But she’s still determined to do her sister proud with gorgeous decorations, the most beautiful real tree – complete with extra twinkly lights, and delicious mince pies. To make it a Christmas everyone will remember, especially little Chloe. Even if, when the mistletoe comes down, she knows she’ll probably never see Logan again…
* * *
The perfect festive romance novel, ideal for fans of Nora Roberts, Jenny Hale and Debbie Macomber.
* * *
Snowy Nights at the Lonely Hearts Hotel is available here!
Acknowledgements
There’s a lot that goes on in the background when writing a book, and a lot of people who help with the process. First and foremost, I’d like to thank my fantastic editor, Isobel Akenhead, who is definitely editor extraordinaire. This is the fifth book we’ve worked on together and, as always, her support, guidance and advice have been invaluable. I would particularly like to thank her for believing in my writing enough to support me in writing my second book for this new genre, and for being such a pleasure to work with. You’re an absolute star.
I’d also like to thank the lovely Bookouture editing team, DeAndra Lupu, Alexandra Holmes and Becca Allen, for all their hard work and constructive advice. A special thanks to Aaron Munday for creating another stunning cover. And to the fabulous social media team of Kim Nash, Noelle Holten and Sarah Hardy, who go above and beyond in supporting and promoting our work, and making the Bookouture Author Lounge such a lovely place to be. You guys are amazing! And to the other Bookouture authors who are always so willing to offer support, encouragement and advice. I’m so grateful to be part of such a lovely, supportive team.
Thanks also to all the bloggers and authors who support me, review my books and give me space on their blog tours. I am lucky to know so many incredible people in the book world and appreciate you all. Special thanks to Lisa Hardy for talking me through current police procedure for when a child goes missing, and for Noelle Holten for answering my query about having a sentence reviewed – your advice was invalua
ble and any mistakes are my own.
Massive thanks to my husband, Dave, for always having my back, for being a sounding board for my ideas and for supplying much-needed logic to some of my more fanciful ideas. Thanks also to my family and friends who all support me so much. I love you all.