by Karen King
‘Don’t they look fantastic?’ Meg asked, cuddling her baby daughter. As soon as she and Stefan had found out they were having a little girl they’d postponed their wedding for eighteen months so their daughter could be a flower girl. Meg had asked Saffy to be her chief bridesmaid too.
‘They certainly do,’ Saffy agreed. ‘And so happy together.’
Robbie and Duncan hadn’t been able to keep their eyes off each other, and both wore broad grins for the entire ceremony.
‘Talking about happy, have you and Logan set a wedding date yet?’
‘There’s no rush, we’ve only been living together a couple of weeks,’ Saffy told her. Moving in with Logan had made her happier than she’d ever imagined but neither of them had discussed the wedding since they had got engaged.
‘I was wondering if you wanted to have a double wedding with us next summer?’ Meg asked mischievously.
‘I’m not sure. We haven’t had time to discuss it yet but I want something a bit low-key,’ Saffy replied. To be honest, good friend as Meg was, she wanted her and Logan’s wedding day to be a special day just for the two of them – well, three, Chloe would be bridesmaid, of course. They hadn’t really discussed wedding plans though. Things had been so hectic. She’d tell him about Meg’s suggestion tomorrow and see what he thought of the idea.
Just then Robbie and Duncan took the floor for their first dance and everyone turned to watch them as ‘Perfect Day’ by Lou Reed started playing.
‘This is such a lovely song,’ Saffy said. And apt, she thought. It had been a perfect day.
‘Just look at them, they look so happy,’ Meg sighed as Robbie and Duncan glided across the floor in a smoochy waltz. ‘I can’t wait for our wedding next year.’ She kissed her baby on the forehead. ‘Ella May will make a beautiful flower girl.’ She turned to look at Chloe dancing with a couple of other little girls. ‘Chloe will make a gorgeous bridesmaid too,’ she added.
‘Yes she will.’ Robbie and Duncan’s wedding had been lovely but Saffy felt that she wanted something different. Everyone had summer weddings. She quite fancied a winter one. Scarlet bridesmaids’ dresses with white sashes, white fur capes over their dresses. Chloe would look so cute like that.
‘Fancy a dance?’ Logan suddenly appeared at Saffy’s side and held out his hand. She took it and followed him onto the dance floor. As he held her waist she rested her head on his shoulder. She wanted this man in her life forever.
The music changed to ‘You are the Best Thing’ and Logan pulled her even closer. ‘How do you fancy a Christmas wedding?’ he whispered. ‘We could book it for the weekend before Christmas and then we can celebrate our first Christmas together as a married couple.’
A Christmas wedding? He’d been thinking along the same lines as her. They might even have snow.
‘That sounds perfect,’ Saffy said happily. ‘That would make it the best Christmas ever.’
‘I can’t believe that we only met last Christmas,’ Logan whispered in her ear. ‘I guess this means that I’ll no longer be eligible to join the Lonely Hearts Christmas dinner, seeing as I’ll be a married man.’
‘You won’t get out of making the Christmas cake that easily, you’ll be family and we’ll definitely be spending Christmas at Liwus Helyk,’ Saffy said. ‘That is if you want to?’
‘I very much want to. It’s part of Christmas for me and Chloe, and it’s your sister’s party that brought us together.’
‘It brought me and Hannah together too. We’re closer than we’ve ever been.’
‘We could have the twins as bridesmaid and pageboy,’ Logan said. ‘Then it will be a real family affair.’
‘That would be perfect.’ Saffy smiled. ‘Hannah always hoped her Christmas get-together would end in a wedding for someone. I bet she never guessed in her wildest dreams I would end up being the bride.’
Logan wrapped both arms around her as the music slowed down. ‘Happy?’
‘Ecstatic.’
‘Me too.’
Then, as the closing lyrics to ‘You are the Best Thing’ played out they both joined in, gazing into each other’s eyes as they moved to the music.
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A Letter from Karen
I want to say a huge thank you for choosing to read Snowy Nights at the Lonely Hearts Hotel. I really hope it gave you a happy glow and made you feel all warm and cosy inside. If you did enjoy 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.
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I hope you loved Snowy Nights at the Lonely Hearts Hotel as much as I enjoyed writing it. Cornwall will always have a special place in my heart – it’s so beautiful whatever the season. It was a pleasure to recall snowy winters, mulled wine, log fires, carols and twinkling fairy lights and to write about love, family and friendships.
If you enjoyed reading my book I wonder if you could spare the time to write a review for me. I’d love to hear what you think. It doesn’t have to be a long one, and I’d be very grateful as reviews make such a difference helping new readers to discover my books for the first time.
I love hearing from my readers too so do get in touch on my Facebook page, through Twitter, Goodreads or my website.
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Thank you again for choosing my book to read.
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Love Karen xx
www.karenking.net
Acknowledgements
This story is set in Cornwall, a place I will always hold close to my heart. I’m delighted to visit it again, this time in winter, and remember all the good times and friends I had when living there. Thank you for the memories.
Many thanks to Isobel Akenhead for approaching me and inviting me to write for Bookouture and for being a fabulous editor; her expertise and guidance has made this a stronger story. Also to Jennie Ayres for her excellent copy-editing and to Alexandra Holmes and all the Bookouture team.
Also to all my fantastic Facebook friends for the support, advice and laughs. You are all stars.
To my family. My wonderful husband Dave, who is always ‘the wind beneath my wings’ and my four amazing grown-up daughters who are a constant source of inspiration and ‘chick lit’ knowledge. I love you all.
Finally, a big thank you to my readers for buying my books, taking the time to message me, write reviews and spur me on to write more stories. And to the many reviewers and bloggers who are kind enough to give me space on their blog, take part in my blog tours and help promote my books. You are all wonderful.
Published by Bookouture in 2018
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An imprint of StoryFire Ltd.
Carmelite House
50 Victoria Embankment
London EC4Y 0DZ
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www.bookouture.com
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Copyright © Karen King, 2018
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Karen King has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work.
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.
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eBook ISBN: 978-1-78681-552-1
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organization
s, places and events other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.