by Loretta Hill
However, if she were truly honest with herself, it felt like the guts of her life had been ripped out. Natasha spent most of her days reliving scenes from her past. Old arguments they’d had when she either regretted saying something or wished she hadn’t said so much. Her distraction had not gone unnoticed by the managing director of Gunnings Food Group, a confectionary company where she’d headed up the marketing department. ‘As much as I like you, Natasha, I can’t afford to continue to pay you if you can’t get any work done.’
So she’d started making promises. Promises she couldn’t keep. Poor concentration and a lacklustre campaign had eventually cost her her job. Now she was surviving on savings but telling all her friends she was too busy to catch up with them.
‘Tash, is something going on with you?’ Her sister’s voice was in her ear again like an annoying fly. ‘I feel like you’re not listening to a word I’m saying.’
‘Of course I’m listening.’ Natasha tried to inject a little indignation into her tone.
‘Then what did I just say?’
‘Um …’
‘I rest my case.’ Phoebe was unimpressed. ‘Mum said you were acting a little distant with her last week too when she called.’
Natasha licked her lips nervously. ‘You know Mum, she calls at completely the wrong time and tells you some weird trivia that you really just don’t care about. Last time she wanted to know if I knew pineapples were in season.’
‘Well, do you?’ Phoebe demanded, but she could hear the smile in her sister’s tone.
‘Not till she told me.’
‘But they’re so good for your immune system and metabolism,’ Phoebe responded in mock protest.
‘I see you got the phone call too.’ Natasha grinned.
‘Yes,’ Phoebe returned. ‘She is adamant that I pass solids regularly.’
Natasha laughed. ‘So can you blame me for being vague?’
‘I guess not. Mum does worry far too much.’ To Natasha’s relief her sister dropped the subject and they talked more on other less touchy topics before she rang off.
Since that day most of Phoebe’s phone calls had been about how stressed she was. And Natasha had harboured the slight hope that the wedding planning, in all its overwhelming and time-consuming glory, had made Phoebe’s idea of a short engagement wither and die. But now she was staring at this white card, realising that she had four months to come clean or invent a story.
She chewed nervously on her lower lip, trying to imagine an out.
Perhaps she could go home. She could just slip her wedding ring back on and say Heath was too busy in Melbourne and he couldn’t get away. Then there would be no awkward questions. She wouldn’t have to provide any difficult answers. And she’d get a break from all this – walking round and round in circles wishing her life was something other than it was. She could just enjoy being a big sister. Maybe she and Eve could even reconnect.
It would be a relief.
A single tear drew a wet path down her cheek. Could she lie to her family?
What sort of coward behaved like that?
Resolutely, Natasha put the invitation on the coffee table. She needed some time to think about this.
Because once she started lying … it would be very hard to go back.
Wanting Mr Wrong
by Avril Tremayne
Evie Parker has never been one to swoon after celebrities – give her a neuroscientist over an actor any day! So when she develops her first movie-star crush, she’s determined to date her way out of it, starting with the next good-looking doctor she sees.
Yet hovering on the fringes of her life is her gay best friend’s determined brother, Jackson J Stevens, a famous actor who comes with trailing paparazzi.
The one thing worse than a celebrity in Evie’s eyes is a media circus, so Jack isn’t an option no matter how hard he flirts with her.
Wanting Mr Wrong is an irresistible rom com about a girl who refuses to fall for the man the whole world is in love with.
Available now!
Lovelorn
by Claire Andersen
When Mia Beaufort flees Melbourne after a scandal turns her life upside down, she finds refuge in the beautiful town of Lorne on the Great Ocean Road. There she’s happy to keep her head down, working on illustrations for a children’s book.
Then one evening, at the local Italian restaurant, Mia finds herself locking eyes with the tall, dark, devastatingly handsome Jack Brunelli – in a way that both excites and disturbs her.
Because Jack Brunelli appears to have taken a passionate dislike to her, despite - or perhaps because of - Mia’s close friendship with his father, the elderly Signor Alberto.
Could he have discovered the secret from her past? Is Mia falling hopelessly and helplessly in love with the man who could destroy her?
A scintillating love story in the Random Romance series. She has every reason to hate him - so why is her heart telling her to love him?
Available now!
Bet On It
by Cheryl Adnams
Gabrielle didn’t believe men like this existed in real life – the three Muller brothers are ridiculously good-looking, and they’re officially her new bosses. She’s in need of a change of scenery, and the Muller’s winery might just be the right place …
Seth Muller isn’t sure it’s a good idea to bet on who can seduce Gabby first, but the new girl working at the winery is too gorgeous to give up to his brothers without a fight. But what happens if he starts to fall for her? Will he lose everything if she finds out what he’s done?
A sizzling rural romance set in the McLaren Vale, with a girl who’s ready for a change and the three brothers who are determined to win her over.
Available now!
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Version 1.0
Operation: Valentine
9780857982582
Copyright © Loretta Hill, 2014
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
A Random House book
Published by Random House Australia Pty Ltd
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www.randomhouse.com.au
Addresses for companies within the Random House Group can be found at http://www.randomhouse.com.au/about/contacts.aspx
First published by Random House in 2014
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry is available from the National Library of Australia http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/
Cover images: Be My Valentine Man © Nadya Lukic/Getty Images; Wooden Bench in a Garden, Tuscany © GiorgioMagini/iStockphoto; Woman Smiling at camera © PhotoAlto/Alamy
Cover design by Cathie Glassby
Ebook by First Source
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are 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.
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