Sarah Morgan - Suddenly Last Summer

‘Full of romance and sparkle’

—Lovereading

‘Morgan is a magician with words.’

—RT Book Reviews

‘Sarah Morgan continues to hang out on my autobuy list and each book of hers that I discover is a treat.’

—Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

‘Morgan’s brilliant talent never ceases to amaze.’

—RT Book Reviews

‘Dear Ms Morgan, I’m always on the lookout for a new book by you …’

—Dear Author blog

SARAH MORGANis the bestselling author of Sleigh Bells in the Snow . As a child Sarah dreamed of being a writer and, although she took a few interesting detours on the way, she is now living that dream. With her writing career she has successfully combined business with pleasure and she firmly believes that reading romance is one of the most satisfying and fat-free escapist pleasures available. Her stories are unashamedly optimistic and she is always pleased when she receives letters from readers saying that her books have helped them through hard times.

Sarah lives near London with her husband and two children, who innocently provide an endless supply of authentic dialogue. When she isn’t writing or reading Sarah enjoys music, movies and any activity that takes her outdoors.

Readers can find out more about Sarah and her books from her website: www.sarahmorgan.com. She can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

HQ

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2014

Copyright © Sarah Morgan 2014

Sarah Morgan asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Ebook Edition © June 2014 ISBN: 9781472054869

Version: 2018-05-23

Dear Reader,

They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, so when fiery French chef Élise Bonnet meets supercool surgeon Sean O’Neil, there should be nothing standing in the way of true love. Except neither is interested in true love.

Like his two brothers, Sean grew up at the beautiful Snow Crystal Resort in Vermont, but he couldn’t wait to get away, to pursue his career as a surgeon and enjoy life in a big city. Reluctant to make the sacrifices he believes come with a long-term relationship, he has stayed resolutely single. But when circumstances force him to return home, he finds himself confronting more than just his conflicted feelings about his family.

Writing this story was so much fun. I loved bringing together two characters determined to stay apart and I loved writing about Snow Crystal in the summer. It also made me hungry, because I was forced to spend hours drooling over Vermont cookery books (and quite a few bottles of pinot noir just might have been harmed during the research process, but we won’t talk about that). Unfortunately, writing leaves me little or no time to shop, so sadly the chances of finding a delicious, freshly baked loaf of rosemary and sea-salt bread in my kitchen are about as likely as opening my front door to find Henry Cavill standing there wearing nothing but a towel. (Wait! Is that the doorbell …?)

Suddenly Last Summer is the second book in my O’Neil Brothers series, but you don’t have to have read the first one for it to make sense (but just in case you want to, it’s called Sleigh Bells in the Snow ).

I’m thrilled you decided to pick up this story. I hope you enjoy it and, if you feel like letting me know your thoughts, then the best way to get in touch is to send me an e-mail via my website or find me on Twitter, @SarahMorgan_ (don’t forget the underscore) or www.Facebook.com/AuthorSarahMorgan.

Have a happy summer!

Love,

Sarah

To Flo.

Behind every happy author is a brilliant editor.

I’m so lucky to have you.

PUBLISHING A BOOK is always a team effort and there are many people who deserve thanks. I’m always anxious I might miss someone so it sometimes takes me as long to write the acknowledgments as it would to write a whole chapter of a new story.

As always, my biggest thanks go to the readers who buy my books. I feel privileged that you choose to read my stories.

I’m grateful to my agent Susan Ginsburg, and to Susan Swinwood, Flo Nicoll and the team at Harlequin in the U.S. and U.K. who work so hard to make my book the best it can be and put it into the hands of readers across the globe.

I’m indebted to lovely Ele for helping with my French. Any mistakes are mine (blame it on the Pinot Noir consumed for research purposes).

Thanks to the fabulous Sharon Kendrick, who read the first sentence of this book over my shoulder on a flight and told me it was crap (thanks, Sharon, you’ll be relieved to hear I rewrote it). She then read out the first sentence of hers in a loud voice and we were subsequently banned from flying with that airline ever again. Just kidding. Or maybe not. I won’t know until I try and book my next flight.

As always, thanks to my family for their endless patience. Living with a writer isn’t easy and no amount of pizza and chocolate can compensate for those times when a book is going badly and I’m pulling my hair out. You make me happy and I’m lucky to have you.

Cover

Praise for Sarah Morgan

About the Author

Title Page

Copyright

Dear Reader

Dedication

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Table of 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

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

Extract

Endpage

About the Publisher

“PHONE CALL FOR YOU, Dr. O’Neil. She says it’s an emergency.”

Sean rolled his shoulders to ease the tension, his mind still in the operating room.

His patient was a promising soccer player. He’d torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, a common enough injury that had ended plenty of sports careers. Sean was determined it wasn’t going to end this one. The procedure had gone well, although surgery was only the beginning. What followed would be a lengthy rehabilitation that would require dedication and determination from all involved.