Dad paused, looking down, his mustache twitching slightly. Poker-faced as always, but Gemma knew he was fighting back his emotions. She felt Jess reach for her hand, and she reached for Livie’s in turn. Her eyes burned with tears as Dad got himself together enough to keep speaking.
“It’s been an honor to be a part of this neighborhood,” he said at last, looking to Maria DiPaola, Amen Shadid, Pat Russo, Soo Jin Kim, Leo Vinelli, and Joe Caruso. “This community has been our extended family, and that’ll still be true, long after Romano’s Bar is gone.”
Maria DiPaola dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. Mrs. Kim sniffled loudly. Even Joe Caruso looked a little red eyed. Gemma wasn’t even trying to hold it back anymore. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
“Angelo Romano, my grandfather, came to this country all alone when he was just sixteen, with nothing but the clothes on his back. He worked hard for what he had, but neighborhoods like this, neighbors like you, made his success possible. Immigrants...they banded together and built a future for themselves, and for us, their descendants. Thank you for the past ninety years,” he said, lifting his beer bottle. “And here’s to the next ninety. Here’s to the future. May it be as successful as our past.”
The bar erupted in cheers. Dad stepped off his makeshift stand and wrapped his arms around Teresa, kissing her soundly. Gemma pulled her sisters into a clumsy three-way hug, all three of them weepy, laughing messes.
When she let them go, Alex was there to wrap Jess in his arms, and Nick pulled Livie into a tight hug, too. Brendan was right there, right behind her, waiting for her moment with her sisters to finish.
He slid his arms around her waist and she looped her hands behind his neck. “You okay? Not too sad?”
She shook her head, smiling up at him. “Sad, but happy, too. Does that make sense? It’s good. All of this. It’s been good. And now it’s over.”
“And the future’s just beginning.”
She leaned up and pressed her lips to his. “And that future looks so very bright.”
* * *
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Acknowledgments
This is my sixth book with Alissa Davis, my Carina editor, and I am so grateful for her hard work and insights. She sees things in my characters that I didn’t see myself, and then she pumps up my ego and convinces me that it was my idea all along. She makes every book so much better.
Many, many thanks to my agent, Rebecca Strauss, who’s been out there fighting for my books for three years. I feel so lucky to have her.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Anne Forlines, for still reading everything I send you and giving me such great feedback every time. Seven years of stories! And thanks to Dr. Zaira Lopez for help with the specifics of medical school and residencies.
Love Around the Corner is a work of fiction, but almost every location mentioned in the book is closely based on a real Brooklyn business. Without their inspiration, this book would lack all its color and life. Thanks to Sal’s Pizza, Sam’s Restaurant, Esposito & Sons Pork Store, and Caputo’s Bakery of Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, and J&H Farm of Windsor Terrace. And thank you to Farrell’s Bar & Grill of Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn. Without Farrell’s, there would be no Romano’s Bar.
About the Author
Amanda has loved romance since she read that very first Kathleen E. Woodiwiss novel at fifteen. After a long detour into a career as a costume designer in theatre, she’s found her way back to romance, this time as a writer.
A native Floridian, Amanda transplanted to New York City many years ago and now considers Brooklyn home, along with her husband, daughter, two cats, and nowhere near enough space.
You can find her online at:
www.amandaweavernovels.com
You can find out all about her next release here:
eepurl.com/bvgkEv
She’s on Facebook as @AmandaWeaverAuthor here: on.fb.me/1W6LnGS
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She’s on Goodreads here: bit.ly/1KcRpPu
She’s on BookBub here: www.bookbub.com/profile/amanda-weaver
As a former visual artist, Amanda adores Pinterest. Check out her profile for pages of visual inspiration for all her books, plus costume history, textile arts, Wonder Woman, rock stars, and more! bit.ly/22Z0JlB
Introducing the Carina Press Romance Promise!
The Carina Press team all have one thing in common: we are romance readers with a longtime love of the genre. And we know what readers are looking for in a romance: a guarantee of a happily-ever-after (HEA) or happy-for-now (HFN). With that in mind, we’re initiating the Carina Press Romance Promise. When you see a book tagged with these words in our cover copy/book description, we’re making you, the reader, a very important promise:
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One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!
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ISBN-13: 9781488054013
Love Around the Corner
Copyright © 2020 by Amanda Weaver
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in a
ny form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 22 Adelaide St. West, 40th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5H 4E3, Canada.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.
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