“Where is your car?”
“Stuck at the bottom of the hill.”
“Are ya saying ya walked?”
I nod my head and my teeth chatter together.
“It’s not the first time I have risked h-hypothermia to be near you.”
His scowl softens and he reaches for me.
“Come inside before ya freeze, ya fecking eegit!”
“No,” I say, shaking his arm off. “I need to say something and if I don’t say it now, I might lose the nerve.”
“Grace Murphy?” He chuckles softly. “Lose nerve? Impossible.”
An SUV pulls into the driveway and I worry Colin is about to leave.
The words come to me, pour out of me. I tell him about my dysfunctional childhood and how I escaped into the make-believe world of television, watching movies about fathers who stayed, mothers who loved. I tell him I went to college and learned how to make a career out of selling illusions, packaging and marketing something to be better than the reality. I tell him that I came to Ireland to find my dream man because I wanted to see if the reality was as wonderful as the illusion.
He clenches his jaw.
“And I did . . .”
“Aye, you found Colin Monaghan, all right.”
“No. I am talking about you, Colin Banks. You are the Colin of my dreams—only I didn’t know that until I met you. I am sorry I didn’t tell you about my Colin Monaghan thing.... I didn’t want you to think I was a weird stalker or that I was using you to get a chance to meet Colin . . . the other Colin.”
“So, are ya over Colin Monaghan?”
“Yes.”
“Completely?”
“Totally.”
“Does that mean ya don’t want to meet him?”
I think about his question before answering and realize I don’t want to meet Colin Monaghan. I have been cured of the madness.
“I really don’t care about meeting Colin Fecking Monaghan. I would rather be with Colin Banks.”
“That’s too bad.”
My heart drops to my boots. I blew it. He isn’t going to give me another chance.
The door behind Colin opens and . . . Colin “Still Cute Even If He Does Have a Wee Bit of a Dad Bod” Monaghan walks out. He smiles at me, slaps Colin on the back, and climbs into the idling SUV.
I turn back to my Colin. He has his arms crossed over his broad chest and is staring at me with a mischievous grin on his face.
“Merry Christmas, Grace Murphy,” he says, pulling me into his arms and giving me a big kiss.
“Merry Christmas, Colin . . . my Colin.”
Dear Readers:
When I wrote Faking It, the first book in my four-book It Girls series, I wanted to create a cast of young, quirky, pop-culture-savvy characters who face challenges that force them to look for the deeper meaning in their lives. Grace Murphy was a throwaway character—my heroine’s college roommate who had a comical obsession with actor Colin Farrell.
The more I thought about Grace and her obsession with Colin, the more I wanted to write a book about her. I told myself that the only way I could write a book about a girl who travels to Ireland to find Colin Farrell was to actually travel to Ireland and attempt to find Colin Farrell.
So, I talked my best friend into tagging along on a trip to Ireland. We bought our tickets and booked a hotel in Dublin and a cottage along the coast in County Kerry.
Then, I did a little Googling. You can imagine my shock when I discovered Colin lives in Los Angeles and only spends a small part of each year in Dublin. I spent hours on the Internet, searching fan sites, news sites, gossip sites—any site with information about Colin’s Dublin. It paid off. I learned where Colin likes to jog, which restaurants he prefers, and which clubs and pubs he has frequented. If I couldn’t meet Colin in person, I would have to content myself with visiting his fave haunts.
A few weeks before we were supposed to depart for Dublin, I learned that Colin was in Ireland filming The Lobster. I did more digging and hyperventilated when I discovered that Colin was filming a few miles from the cottage we had rented in County Kerry.
Serendipity was working her magic.
Thanks to the lovely and charming Peter O’Brien, manager of Lillie’s Bordello, I was able to score two invites to the posh VIP club that celebs visit when they are in Dublin. We spent two days in Dublin, visiting Colin’s favorite places before heading to County Kerry.
Everywhere we went in Ireland, we met someone who had a Colin story. They all spoke fondly of the actor and called him “our Colin.” I rehearsed in my head how my meeting with “my Colin” would go. I would be cool and witty. He would be so attracted to my magnetic personality that he would invite me to grab a pint with him and his mates at a nearby pub.
Some might call it delusions of grandeur.
The reality ? I was sitting in the lobby of the Parknasilla Resort, waiting to have a spa treatment, when my best friend whispered, “There he is.” I looked up just as he was walking out of the dining room (cue choir of angels and rays of heavenly light). I jumped up, ran over to him, and acted like the worst kind of fangirl, gushing about his movies and telling him how I was working on a novel about a girl who was obsessed with him and tracks him down . . . but not in a creepy way. I must have blacked out after that because all I remember is him looking into my eyes, touching my arm, and calling me “lovely” (twice), and then he was gone in a cloud of woodsy aftershave.
I saw him in the corridor later that day. He smiled and nodded his head. Sigh. Over the next few days, we were able to watch Colin and his fellow actors filming. We made friends with one of the assistant directors and some of the extras (one gave me a call sheet from the movie as a souvenir). It was a closed set, which meant we weren’t supposed to take pictures with the actors, but we were able to get a few memorable snappies. And then our magical, serendipitous trip to the Land O’Farrell was over.
I went home vowing I would never wash the place where Colin touched my arm. I bored my friends with the telling (and retelling) of how Colin touched my arm and called me “lovely” . . . twice.
And, I wrote this story.
I hope you enjoyed reading Grace’s story as much as I enjoyed (researching) and writing it. I also hope you will read about the many adventures of Vivia Perpetua Grant and her friends in my It Girls series.
All the best and happy holidays,
Leah Marie Brown
Grace Murphy’s Ireland Must-See List:
LILLIE’S BORDELLO, IN DUBLIN
1-2, Adam Court, Grafton Street
Glam up and bat your eyes at the doorman and you might find yourself admitted to this swank VIP club.
PEACOCK GREEN, DUBLIN
Lord Edward Street
A fab tea shop and bakery with the most darling painted, wood facade. I highly recommend the caramel-chocolate shortbread.
CAFÉ TOPOLIS, PARLIAMENT STREET, DUBLIN
37 Parliament St, Dublin Southside
Everything about this café is inviting, from the wide-plank wood floors and old brick walls to the garlic and bubbling cheese–scented air. It’s the perfect place to tank up on pasta before a night of pubbing.
O’DONNABHÁIN’S RESTAURANT AND PUB, KENMARE
10 Henry Street
The owner, Jer Foley, is friendly and extremely knowledgeable about the area. His wife is a fantastic chef. Her shepherd’s pie is heaven in your mouth.
CROWLEY’S BAR, HENRY STREET, KENMARE
26 Henry Street
If you blink, you might miss this small pub located on Kenmare’s busiest commercial street. My advice: Don’t blink! Crowley’s is dark and a little dank and utterly fecking charming. If you are looking for the real Irish pub experience and some amazing trad (traditional Irish music), Crowley’s is where you want to head.
BRAY HEAD LOOP HIKE, VALENTIA ISLAND
Off Route 565
This moderate hike takes approximately three hours and is well worth the effort, offering sweeping
views of the sea and Valentia Island and culminating at a ruined guard tower perched on a rocky cliff.
PARKNASILLA SPA AND RESORT, SNEEM
Derryquin
The spa at Parknasilla has some of the finest views of Kenmare Bay. Schedule a massage or facial and then head to the deck to soak in the hot tub overlooking the forest and sea.
QUINLAN’S SEAFOOD BAR, HIGH STREET, KILLARNEY
77 High Street
Crazy good chipper, with golden crusted, flaky fish and perfectly crispy, salty chips. So fresh you half expect the fish to flop off the table and back into the ocean.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Fern Michaels is the USA Today and New York Times bestselling author of the Sisterhood, Men of the Sisterhood, and Godmothers series, and dozens of other novels and novellas. There are over seventy-five million copies of her books in print. Fern Michaels has built and funded several large day-care centers in her hometown, and is a passionate animal lover who has outfitted police dogs across the country with special bulletproof vests. She shares her home in South Carolina with her four dogs and a resident ghost named Mary Margaret. Visit her website at fernmichaels.com.
International bestselling author Susan Fox (who also writes as Savanna Fox and Susan Lyons) has been a finalist in Romance Writers of America®’s prestigious RITA® contest and has won the HOLT Medallion, the Booksellers Best Award, the Book Buyers Best Award, the Aspen Gold Readers Choice, the Golden Quill, the More Than Magic, the Lories, the Beacon, and the Laurel Wreath. She is a Pacific Northwester with homes in Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia. She has degrees in law and psychology, and has had a variety of careers, including perennial student, computer consultant, and legal editor. Fiction writer is by far her favorite, giving her an outlet to demonstrate her belief in the power of love, friendship, and a sense of humor. Visit her website at www.susanfox.ca.
National bestselling author Jules Bennett is a former salon owner turned full-time author. Considering she met her husband at the age of fourteen and they’ve been together since, Jules knows a thing or two about romance and happily ever after. She and her husband live in the Midwest with their two young children. When Jules isn’t creating emotional, witty stories, she’s spending time with her family, working out or procrastinating on social media. She loves to hear from readers. You can connect with her through Facebook, Twitter, or her website: julesbennett.com.
Leah Marie Brown has worked as a journalist and photographer. An avid traveler, she has had adventures and mishaps from Paris to Tokyo. She doesn’t buy cheesy tee-shirts or useless bric-a-brac, but prefers friendships and memories as souvenirs from her travels. She lives a bike ride away from the white sand beaches of Florida’s Emerald Coast with her husband, children, and pampered poodles. She is hard at work on the next novel in the It Girls series, but loves to hear from readers. Please visit her website at www.leahmariebrown.com. You can also visit her blogs: leahmariebrownhistoricals.blogspot.com and leahmariebrown.blogspot.com, and follow her on Twitter @18thCFrance and @leahmariebrown.
NEED TO KNOW by Fern Michaels
The Sisterhood: a group of women from all walks of life bound by friendship and a quest for justice. Armed with vast resources, top-notch expertise, and a loyal network of allies around the globe, the Sisterhood will not rest until every wrong is made right.
Through all their missions and adventures, the tight-knit group of friends who make up the Sisterhood have learned one vital lesson: everybody—whether good guy or bad guy—has a weak spot. In the case of Yoko Wong’s dear friend Garland Lee, the multimillion-selling performer known as America’s beloved songbird, that weak spot was trusting her lawyer, Arthur Forrester. For years, he’s secretly taken advantage of her faith in him to siphon off a fortune in fees and commission. And now, in the deepest betrayal yet, he’s dragged her into a massive lawsuit that could cost her home and everything she has left.
The Sisterhood, gathered at Pinewood for an emergency meeting full of laughter, camaraderie, and righteous anger, know they can’t let that happen. Forrester has some of the country’s top judges in his pocket, and a list of influential and ruthless friends—not to mention knowledge of all the ways the law can be corrupted to work in his favor. But he doesn’t have the Vigilantes’ deep-seated loyalty and determination. And all his years of underhanded dealings won’t prepare him for the type of creative payback that the Sisters have made their specialty . . .
FLY AWAY WITH ME by Susan Fox
Known for its rugged beauty and eccentric residents, tiny Blue Moon Harbor is big on love . . .
For busy lawyer Eden Blaine, a trip to a Pacific Northwest island she’s never even heard of is far from a vacation. Eden’s ailing mother has tasked her with finding her long-lost aunt, who once had ties to a commune on the island. Still reeling from a breakup with her longtime boyfriend, romance is the last thing Eden is looking for. But her gorgeous seaplane pilot has her wondering if a carefree rebound fling is exactly what she needs . . .
Aaron Gabriel has no illusions about happily ever after. His troubled childhood made sure of that. But he does appreciate a pretty woman’s company, and Eden is the exact combination of smart and sexy that turns him on. Still, as he helps her search for her missing aunt, the casual relationship he imagined quickly becomes something much more passionate—and much harder to give up. Can two people determined to ignore romance recognize that their heated connection is the kind of love destined to last?
LOST IN YOU by Jules Bennett
The only thing that could bring Liam Monroe back to Haven, Georgia, is his loyalty to his late sister—so he’s agreed to serve as a chef at the resort his brothers have built in her honor. But he’s not staying. At least that’s the plan . . .
Macy Hayward always admired the Monroes. Adopting four kids—including the brooding, mysterious Liam—they were an example of the loving family she wanted for herself someday. Now, ironically, Macy’s got an unexpected new tenant in the apartment above her hardware store: none other than Liam.
Most of Liam’s furniture consists of weightlifting equipment, since he has no intention of settling in. He can’t wait to run away again, from his brothers and his bitter memories—and from Macy, with her relentlessly seductive curves. Still, while he’s around, he should do the poor woman a favor and teach her to cook, before she poisons someone . . .
Soon, their sessions in the kitchen are getting spicy. But Macy has roots in Haven, and she wants to plant more, including taking in a little girl who needs a home. Meanwhile, Liam has an opportunity for his own restaurant in Atlanta. Will choosing love mean giving up their separate dreams? Or will the heart find a way?
OWNING IT by Leah Marie Brown
The chance of a lifetime . . . or just another bad decision?
Delaney Lavender Brooks needs to grow up. At least, according to her parents. After getting evicted from her apartment and wrecking her car, Laney is almost ready to trade in her paintbrushes and surrender to a more sensible 9-to-5 existence. Almost. Until she’s awarded an internship at a prestigious art gallery in Paris. What else can the free-spirited artist do but follow her dreams? Even if her latest attempt at chasing rainbows might cost her a real future . . .
Once in the city of lights, Laney is almost undone by the glaring truth: maybe she isn’t sophisticated or talented enough to make it as an artist—or an independent woman, for that matter. And when she’s hotly pursued by a seductive Frenchman, she has to wonder if she’s about to be a fool for love, too. Soon Laney’s greatest challenge is not proving herself to her parents, but having the courage to live the life—and love—of her dreams . . .
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Winter Wishes Page 31
