Patricia Kay - Holiday by Design

Turning thirty? Time for artist Joanna Spinelli to put her life plan into action! Will true love be on her to-do list? USA TODAY bestselling author Patricia Kay opens a new chapter of The Hunt for Cinderella!

Joanna Spinelli was determined to make her design dreams finally happen. Getting a show at Marcus Barlow’s art gallery was key. Sure, the straitlaced businessman might be just a little too sedate for her taste. But just one look and she could feel herself melt like chocolate….

She was like a fresh breeze to his all-work, no-play life. And though Marcus appreciated her carefree lifestyle, he knew Joanna would have to change to fit into his world. Yet by asking her to become someone she was not, would Marcus lose the things he cherished in her the most? Or would he finally learn to loosen his tie—and open his heart?

He didn’t like that feeling.

What was it about Joanna that so strongly affected him?

Just looking at her—the way her hair had gotten blown by the wind and was even messier than usual, the way her dark eyes met his for one naked moment before moving on, and the way it seemed to take an effort for her to smile as naturally as she had Friday night before he’d kissed her—all reminded him more forcefully than words or any lectures he might have given himself that he might already have crossed into territory he’d never been in before.

That maybe it was too late to go back.

The Hunt for Cinderella: Seeking Prince Charming

Dear Reader,

Writing a new book is always an adventure. So is life. Both are like going on a long road trip; you never really know what’s coming. You might plan your route, what you’ll see and do, but invariably something happens to thwart your plans, and you have to adapt and change accordingly.

This first book of the third Hunt for Cinderella series was planned more than three years ago, with the expectation that it would be published in late 2011. But in July 2010, just after I’d first begun writing it, my husband was diagnosed with a terminal illness, and everything else I was doing had to be put aside so that I could spend all my time with him.

My husband passed away in January of 2012 and it took almost a year for me to feel as if I could write again. I’m so glad that Holiday by Design and the two books that will follow in the series are finally going to be in readers’ hands. It was fun for me to write about Joanna and Marcus and to revisit characters from the previous Hunt for Cinderella books. I hope you enjoy the story and would love to hear from you. You can find me at www.patriciakay.com.

With warmest wishes to all,

Patricia Kay

Holiday by Design

Patricia Kay

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Formerly writing as Trisha Alexander, PATRICIA KAYis a USA TODAY bestselling author of more than forty-eight novels of contemporary romance and women’s fiction. She lives in Houston, Texas. To learn more about her, visit her website at www.patriciakay.com.

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This book is dedicated to my first writing teacher,

the wonderful Bunny Paine-Clemes,

who’s always known how to inspire

and draw the best from her students,

and to my longtime “PAL ” from West Houston

RWA, Pat O’Dea Rosen, who has become a

dear friend, an always-helpful critique partner

and a second Mama to my cats.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Epilogue

Chapter One

“Happy birthday, dear Joanna...happy birthday to youuu.”

As the Spinelli family raised their glasses in a birthday toast, Joanna smiled at the gathered clan and hoped it didn’t show that her heart wasn’t in it.

Thirty years old.

Today she was thirty years old, and on this milestone birthday, instead of being well on her way to a successful career in fashion design, married to the man of her dreams and—at the very least—pregnant with her first child, she was still struggling for recognition in her chosen field, still employed as a part-time assistant to her former lover—who had dumped her less than two weeks ago!—and she was so far from being pregnant with any child she might as well forget about ever becoming a mom.

My life needs a major overhaul. Oh, who am I kidding? My life needs a miracle.

And tonight, adding insult to insult, she didn’t even have a date. But her state of woe wasn’t her family’s fault, was it? So she had been doing her best to look cheerful and happy to be here with them tonight. And heaven knew, they’d tried to make her feel good. Her mom had knitted Joanna a gorgeous, dark red, oversize cashmere shawl—perfect for chilly Seattle fall weather—and her dad, always generous toward his one and only daughter, had given her a hundred-dollar gift card, while her four brothers had pitched in to buy her an iPad, which was incredibly sweet of them.

In fact, she still couldn’t believe they’d done it. She could hardly wait to buy some design software she’d been eyeing. Now she’d be able to work no matter where she was without having to lug her heavier laptop.

And then there was Granny Carmela, her dad’s mom, who had tucked a check for five hundred dollars into her card. Bless Granny, Joanna thought as she gave her eighty-six-year-old grandmother an extra hug. Such a loving, generous gift. If only five hundred dollars would solve Joanna’s financial problems...but that was another story, one Joanna didn’t want to even think about today. She subscribed to Scarlett O’Hara’s philosophy that anything bad could be thought about tomorrow.

Her family was a good bunch, for all that she complained about her dad’s controlling ways and her mom’s seeming subservience and the way her brothers sometimes acted like neanderthals. But what were families for, if not to bear the brunt of complaints? Who better to blame when your life went offtrack?

“Who wants a slice of cake?” her mother asked with an eager smile.

“Make mine a wedge,” said Tony, Joanna’s oldest brother.

“Tony,” his wife, Sharon, warned, looking meaningfully at his waistline.

“I know, I know.” He grinned. “German chocolate’s my favorite, Share.”

“Everything’s your favorite,” she grumbled.

“I’ll be good tomorrow. I promise.”

They all laughed. Tony’s promises concerning food were rarely serious. Or adhered to.

After cake and their favorite MORA ice cream had been consumed, Joanna figured she’d stayed the obligatory amount of time and could now leave without hurting her mother’s feelings.

“Oh, honey, I thought you were going to spend the night,” her mother protested, dark eyes filled with disappointment.

Joanna’s parents lived in the same small house in Georgetown that they’d lived in since the day they bought it. Located south of Seattle, their area was the oldest residential neighborhood in the city and had been a great place to grow up in. “Can’t, Mom. I need to get an early start tomorrow.”