You've all met the children and Eleanora and Tom English but how exactly did
down-on-her luck waitress, Eleanora Watters, meet trust fund hottie, Tom
English?
You won't want to miss this Christmas novel that tells the story
of how Eleanora met Tom, while he was visiting Vail in the 1980s.
**This
is the second of two novellas entitled MARRYING MR.
ENGLISH. The first novella was included in the 12 CHRISTMAS ROMANCES TO MELT
YOUR HEART anthology. This is not a standalone novella. You must read
MARRYING MR. ENGLISH, Part 1 first!**
Excerpt:
Eleanora and Tom walked back up the driveway toward Tom's car, their
hands bound together as gleaming white gravel crunched under their feet.
Eleanora's mind was spinning from the decision they'd just made together: Tom
had turned down fifteen million dollarsβan almost unfathomable sum of moneyβso
that he could give their two-day marriage a chance.
It felt foolish and reckless, and his impetuousness frightened
her.
It also made her heart swell with tenderness and her body tremble
with longing.
Eleanora had never been anyone's first choice for anything. How in
the world did she find herself hereβwith a man who had, literally, chosen
her over diamonds and gold?
Looking up at the austere exterior of Haverford Park, she gulped,
counting the sparkling windows nervously as she wondered if Grandfather English
was watching them and hoping he wasn't. He was a hateful, hurtful old man who'd
judged her before knowing her, and she couldn't wait to get back into Tom's car
and leave Haverford for good.
She'd just asked him, What about the money? How can you do this?
How can you turn it down for me? And he'd sweetlyβand resolutelyβanswered,
I want you more.
Clutching his hand more tightly as they approached the car, she made
him stop and face her, ignoring the tears that blurred her vision.
"Are you sure, Tom?"
He glanced up at the old house, narrowing his eyes and tightening
his jaw before looking down at her upturned face with such gentleness, she
couldn't keep the tears from spilling over the edges of her eyes.
He nodded, using his thumbs to swipe at the wetness before it could
wind down her face.
"Positive."
A quiet surge of pure joy lifted her heels from the ground as she
wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to kiss her. His armsβ so
strong and so certain, it twisted her heartβpulled her against his solid body,
her thrift shop coat colliding with his carmel-colored cashmere.
The kiss lasted only a moment before Tom rested his cold cheek
against hers, still clutching her tightly.
"We'll be okay, sunshine. I promise."
"You don't know what it's like," she said softly, looking over his
shoulder at a tennis court and a swimming pool in the distance, "to be
poor."
"We won't be poor," he said. "I have some savings, and as soon as I
get a job, we'll have a decent income too."
"You don't know what it's like to be alone," she pressed on, fearful
for him, "without family."
"Believe me, a crotchety grandfather, an ineffective father, and a
kid brother I barely know don't constitute a family. Somehow I think I'll get
by." He leaned back, grinning at her. "Plus, I have you, baby. You're my family
now."
She clenched her eyes shut against the welcome sweetness of his
words, rubbing her cheek against his soft shoulder as tears ran over the bridge
of her nose and plopped onto his expensive coat.
"Let's go," he rumbled near her ear. "I want to be alone with my
family."
100% of the proceeds from sales of this anthology go to the Autism
Society of America.
~ Katy Regnery ~ Marrying Mr.
English ~ Long before the English brothers met their wives and
girlfriends, their father, Tom, captured the heart of their mother, Eleanora.
Travel back in time to Christmas 1981 and find out how it all began!
Katy Regnery, award-winning and Amazon bestselling author, started her
writing career by enrolling in a short story class in January 2012. One year
later, she signed her first contract for a winter romance entitled By Proxy. Now
a hybrid author who publishes both independently and traditionally, Katy claims
authorship of the six-book Heart of Montana series, the six-book English
Brothers series, and a Kindle Worlds novella entitled βFour Weddings and a
Fiasco: The Wedding Date,β in addition to the standalone novels, Playing for
Love at Deep Haven and Amazon bestseller, The Vixen and the Vet. The Vixen and
the Vet is included in the charity anthology Hometown Heroes: Hotter Ever After,
and Katyβs novella βFrostedβ will appear in the upcoming (Jan β15) anthology,
Snowy Days Steamy Nights. Additionally, Katyβs short story, βThe Long Way Homeβ
will appear in the first RWA anthology (Feb β15), Premiere. Katy lives in the
relative wilds of northern Fairfield County, Connecticut, where her writing room
looks out at the woods, and her husband, two young children, and two dogs create
just enough cheerful chaos to remind her that the very best love stories begin
at home.
The excerpt that I just read, touched me so deeply, that I had tears in my eyes!! Although I sort of have my own Mr. English of a sort, and he might not be wealthy, we are pretty much together, without family, and have been that way for some time. I was really able to relate to that excerpt, and am looking forward to reading your novella!!! Have a wonderful Christmas!! You earned it, after writing such a wonderful piece!! (Peggy Roberson 4:49am December 23, 2015)
I read every book with a Christmas time theme I can get my hands on. It is a great time of year. I even read The Miracle of 34th Street again this past week. (Gladys Paradowski 2:04am December 27, 2015)
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