JENNIFER LABRECQUE - Northern Fascination

Alaska—the last frontier

The nights are long. The days are cold.

And the men are really, really HOT!

Can you think of a better excuse for a trip up north?

Come on back to the unorthodox and

unforgettable town of Good Riddance

and experience some …

Alaskan Heat!

Enjoy the adventure!

Dear Reader,

I’m so happy to be back in Good Riddance, Alaska with you. Even though the series only started last year, it seems to have touched a chord with a lot of readers. I’m glad people love the place as much as I do.

Many of my readers asked me to give Jenna Rathburne her own happy ending. And there’s nobody more deserving. Jenna’s the girl you’d love to hate, but she’s just so darn nice, you can’t. She possesses the proverbial heart of gold and an ability to see the best in everyone.

Not just any hero would do for Jenna. She deserved a man who would see and appreciate the real woman inside. At first glance, Logan Jeffries, a former school acquaintance, seems like a long shot when he shows up in Good Riddance. But nothing overcomes obstacles like true love.

If you’ve been before, I hope you enjoy returning to Good Riddance. If this is your first time, well, I hope you’ll come back. I love to hear from readers. You can drop me a line or visit me at www.jenniferlabrecque.com.

Happy reading!

Jennifer LaBrecque

After a varied career path that included barbecue-joint waitress, corporate numbers cruncher and bug-business maven, Jennifer LaBrecque has found her true calling writing contemporary romance. Named 2001 Notable New Author of the Year and 2002 winner of the prestigious Maggie Award for Excellence, she is also a two-time RITA ®Award finalist. JENNIFER LABRECQUElives in suburban Atlanta with a chihuahua who runs the whole show.

Jennifer LaBrecque

www.millsandboon.co.uk

In memory of Maurice L. Beckett and the love he

shared with Emily Beckett.

LOGAN JEFFRIES TRIED TO organize his thoughts around the afternoon’s debate in a quarter of an hour. As captain he needed his wits about him. The team had yet to lose a match under his direction, the same as when his father had been debate team captain back in the day. Thus far, he was doing a decent job of “upholding the Jeffries tradition.”

However, thought organization was easier said than done when Jenna Rathburne was in the vicinity. He dialed the combination to his locker and opened it. He’d just passed her in the hall. As usual, he’d looked the other way when he walked by. He’d be damned if he’d be the geek caught staring at the prettiest, most popular girl in school, especially since the halls had cleared out considerably since the last bell had sounded half an hour ago.

With his head buried in his locker, he felt her before he saw her. It was as if every nerve ending in his body fired off a signal to his brain when she was in his immediate vicinity. Maybe she was waiting for someone who had a locker near his. He straightened but steadfastly stared straight ahead.

She cleared her throat. “Uh … hey, Logan.”

Startled she’d actually sought him out, he turned. His heart pounding, his breath stuck somewhere inside him, he managed to respond. “Hi.”

“So, are you ready for the debate this afternoon?”

He stood there, clueless. His brain didn’t seem to be fully functioning. Thank God she wasn’t part of the debate team—as unlikely as him joining the cheer squad—or he’d flub every match for sure. “Yeah. I guess.”

Brilliant. Scintillating. He searched for something clever but came up blank. Instead he just stared at her.

Her blond hair was caught up in a ponytail. He’d always known her eyes were blue but up close this way, they were more intense. But then again, everything was more intense—the pounding of his heart, the swing of her hair against her shoulder, the way his stomach knotted in his gut.

She shifted from one foot to another and if he hadn’t known better, he might’ve thought she was as nervous as him. That, however, was highly improbable considering her popularity, her cuteness and the fact she was cheerleading captain.

“I, uh, wanted to ask if you’d escort me to the Homecoming game. You know, unless you already have another date or something.” Her words came out in a breathless rush.

Logan stood stock-still for a moment, certain he’d heard her wrong. For a second, he thought she’d just asked him to escort her to one of biggest events in high school. “Huh?”

“If you’re available, would you escort me to Homecoming?”

He hadn’t heard her wrong. Jenna had just asked him to be her date.

Something over her shoulder caught his attention. Her best friend, Bethany, stood over by the water fountain staring at the two of them. When she caught him looking at her, she quickly turned and drank from the fountain, as if that’s why she’d been there all along.

The logic which served him so well as debate captain took over. Okay. Right. Now it all made sense. This had to be some kind of dare. The whole thing was a set-up. He was supposed to say yes and then Jenna and Bethany would collapse into hysterical laughter, as would everyone else once they all heard that Logan Jeffries, who was supposed to be so smart, had been dumb enough to really think Jenna Rathburne wanted to go out with him.

“Thanks but no thanks. Homecoming’s not really my deal.”

For a split second he thought he saw tears shimmer in her eyes but it must’ve been the lighting. She pasted on her mega-watt smile. “Sure. Thanks. Okay, have a nice day.”

“Yeah, you, too.” He turned his attention back to his locker, as if the contents fascinated him.

“Um, good luck today with the debate.”

“Thanks.”

He saw, out of his peripheral vision, her turn and walk away.

That was one humiliating experience narrowly averted. He’d very nearly made an utter fool of himself.

Twelve years later …

JENNA STEPPED OUT ONTO Good Riddance, Alaska’s snow-covered sidewalk, into the last of the October sun’s dying rays.

Edging back into the middle of Main Street, Norris Watts dodged a pothole and waved Jenna more to the left. “I want to make sure I get the entire window in the shot.” Curl’s lettered window was something of an attention grabber. Curl’s Taxidermy, Barber Shop, Salon and Mortuary.

“Wait. Let me grab Tama. He needs to be in the photo, too.”

Norris sighed. “Fine, go get the cat.” Norris wasn’t really put out. She liked Tama as much as everyone else did.

Jenna dashed back into Curl’s and picked up the big Maine Coon mix lounging on top of his scratching post on the far side of the room. “C’mon, you big punkin’, photo op.”

Tama blinked at her, unimpressed and she laughed, pressing a kiss to his furry head. She’d adopted him two months ago from a no-kill shelter in Anchorage. He was, without a doubt, the most awesome, perfect cat on the planet. Of course, he just happened to be her very first pet ever but he was still perfect.

He went everywhere with Jenna, except Gus’s. Honestly, it was as if he was half dog because he followed her everywhere. She adored her fur-baby.

Holding Tama, Jenna stood to the right as Norris had previously directed. “How’s this?” She held up one of Tama’s paws as if he was waving and said to him, “Say kitty treat.”

“Perfect,” Norris said, speaking without removing the lit cigarette in her mouth. Her gravelly voice interested Jenna. The older woman, an unapologetic chain smoker, sounded as if she’d been puffing a pack of unfiltered cigarettes a day since birth.