by Nancy Peach
“I was going to wait until later today. I wanted to do it properly, somewhere nice, but then, this is my favourite place,” he smiles at her, “and I can’t think of anything nicer than you wearing nothing else but this.”
He hands her the box, his eyebrows knitted together for a second – a moment of anxiety. She sees and smooths it away with a smile.
She sits up, opens the box, and inside is a ring. Between two large diamonds sits a square-cut, sparkling sapphire, the colour of his eyes – the colour of his mother’s eyes, she realises.
“It was Mum’s,” he says. “I’ve had it resized, but obviously, if… you know, if you wanted something else, if it’s a bit weird having her ring? Or if… you didn’t want a ring at all? If maybe you didn’t want to…”
She stares down at the box and the jewels contained within it, and then looks at him, her smile as radiant as the sun catching the diamonds. She’s giggling now. Giddy with the excitement of it.
“What are you asking me, Edward? Come on, out with it! What did I tell you about repressing your emotions and hiding your feelings!”
She prises the ring out of its setting and slides it onto her finger, holding her arm out at full length to admire it.
“I want to marry you,” he says, not looking at the ring, but at her, gazing intently at her face, earnest and serious despite her attempts at levity. She knows that this will be the pattern of their lives, the ebb and flow, the brooding, the laughing, the sad times, the moments of gentle teasing. This gorgeous, fierce, passionate man is hers. Both challenging each other, supporting each other, there for each other. Always.
“Yes,” she says.
In the corner of the room the television host claps his hands in glee.
“Janie, old girl!” His voice is tight with excitement. “Just picture it: A Wedding Special Episode! Fabulous! I’ll probably get my own cable channel on the back of this!”
Jane Austen gives him a side-eye glance and purses her lips to disguise her pleasure.
“It seems likely that I shall be in need of a new bonnet,” she says.
Acknowledgments
Firstly, thanks must go to my lovely agent, Tanera Simons, and my wonderful editor, Charlotte Ledger, for both taking a punt on a debut author, writing a rom-com set in a hospice, and publishing in the middle of a pandemic. It’s not a classic formula for success but I like to think it was worth the gamble.
Another huge thank you to the amazing people behind Comedy Women In Print and the Romantic Novelists’ Association, both organisations who have been stalwart champions of all things Rom and indeed Com, and have been endlessly generous and supportive of the writers within their respective folds. In fact, the online writing community generally has been nothing but a force for good; a sounding board during the bleak times and a chorus of trumpets for even the tiniest of celebrations. Thank you to everyone who has shared the literary love online and in real life.
When I started writing Love Life as a romantic comedy, I knew immediately that I wanted to set it in a hospice – a cathedral of powerful human emotions and the perfect place to observe a whole range of relationships. Over the years I’ve worked closely with palliative care teams looking after terminally ill patients and I know that there will be hospice staff out there averting their eyes from some of the more ridiculous components of Love Life’s plot. Clearly what happened in the shed would be in contravention of many aspects of the GMC’s code of conduct for a start, but in writing Love Life I wanted to celebrate the work that hospices do and bring the conversation about dying out into the open. I would also like anyone who has enjoyed the book to donate to their local hospice if they are able. These remarkable institutions receive minimal state funding and are almost entirely reliant on charitable donations. As a result, a proportion of profits from every copy of Love Life sold this year will go to hospice charities.
But anyway, back to me.
Friends – I would love to name you all but because I want to stay under the radar, I’m afraid you all have to stay under it with me. You know who you are – old friends (yes, you girls from school), local friends (for local people), medical friends and just generally anyone who has ever been nice or kind or even tolerably polite to me. It all counts. It all matters.
My parents and my amazing sister are responsible for shaping me into the kind of person who felt she could do anything, and be anything she wanted. They are the reason behind the absurdly inflated sense of my own abilities that led me to write a book, so you can blame them.
And finally, to my husband, Mr Peach. I always assume that you know how much I love you, but it doesn’t hurt to be reminded. You are everything to me; my port in the storm, my number one cheerleader, my favourite and my best. So, to you and the three little peaches who fill me with joy – all my love for all my life.
Thank you for reading…
We hope you enjoyed Love Life!
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Do leave a review if so on all your preferred platforms to help spread the word!
Be sure to follow Nancy Peach on Twitter @mumhasdementia, on Facebook @NancyPeach.Writer and check out her website at nancy-peach.com for all the updates on her latest work.
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You will adore The Spark by Jules Wake, a heartwarming and thoroughly feel-good romantic comedy… Jess is falling for Sam. Sam is falling for Jess. But it seems life will do whatever it takes to make them fall apart. When they lock eyes at a party, a spark ignites. The spark. Everyone knows what should happen next… Will love at first sight be enough to keep the flame alight or will the spark fall prey to the dark?
Get your copy here!
You will also love A Secret Scottish Escape by Julie Shackman, an utterly delightful cosy romance that will whisk you away to the majestic Scottish Highlands with Layla Devlin as she falls into an unexpected inheritance amidst swirling rumours that a reclusive celebrity has moved to the sleepy community of Loch Harris to hide from his mysterious past… She sets her heart on convincing him to headline the opening night at her music venue but all is pitched into chaos as his secrets break the surface…
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And don’t miss Duvet Day by Emily Kerr, a laugh-out-loud romcom following young lawyer Alexa Humphries as she’s worn down by the endless demands of her suspicious boss and her competitive, high-flying housemate and fellow lawyer Zara. Alexa barely recognises herself anymore. This wasn’t how life was supposed to be. But today is different. Today, Alexa just cannot get out of bed to face the world. Everyone deserves a duvet day, don’t they?
Get your copy here!
Happy reading!
Nancy Peach is a writer of romantic comedy, a mother of three, an owner of various ridiculous-looking pets, and a practicing GP working for the NHS and a national cancer charity.
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She has been longlisted for the Comedy Women in Print Prize 2020 and shortlisted for the HarperCollins / Gransnet competition 2019. Nancy is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and is represented by Tanera Simons at Darley Anderson.
nancy-peach.com
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