Michelle Vernal - Sweet Home Summer - A heartwarming romcom perfect for curling up with

A division of HarperCollins Publishers

www.harpercollins.co.uk

Harper Impulse

an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2018

Copyright © Michelle Vernal 2018

Cover images © Shutterstock.com

Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2018

Michelle Vernal asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of 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.

Source ISBN: 9780008226541

Ebook Edition © January 2018 ISBN: 9780008226534

Version: 2017-12-04

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page A division of HarperCollins Publishers www.harpercollins.co.uk

Copyright Harper Impulse an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2018 Copyright © Michelle Vernal 2018 Cover images © Shutterstock.com Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2018 Michelle Vernal asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. A catalogue copy of 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. Source ISBN: 9780008226541 Ebook Edition © January 2018 ISBN: 9780008226534 Version: 2017-12-04

An Introduction of Sorts An Introduction of Sorts I am a Matchmaker, and I’m a long way from what was once my family’s home. Us Sullivans were put on this earth to bring together two halves of a pair and make a whole. I’ve been here drifting through these brutal but beautiful Badlands for a long time now, and I’m half a world away from where my great-grandfather once roamed the equally rugged lands of West Cork. He rode the seas before you or your parents; even your grandparents were born to the Land of the Long White Cloud, Aotearoa. He came to New Zealand on a ship with billowing sails and a cargo of Irish folk seeking a better future and a sniff of gold. Only he knew that some wouldn’t get either without his help. You see, we know something, us Sullivans, something I’ll share with you now. It’s not a fortune having been made that makes the world continue to go round – oh no, it’s love, and that’s our business. The years have gone by, and the book we carry has been passed down with many a successful match made between its pages. You, yourself, might be a product of a Sullivan’s meddling, you just never know. It’s all there, inscribed in our book if you care to take a look. This last wee while, I’ve been keeping my eye on a right pair; young Isla Brookes and her grandmother Bridget, the two most stubborn women I’ve ever witnessed walk the West Coast. They’ve both got it wrong along the way but it’s not too late, it’s never too late to call the Matchmaker, and when they do, I will come. That’s enough about me and mine though; now it’s time I told you their story.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

A Final Word If I May

Acknowledgements

Also by Michelle Vernal

About the Author

About HarperImpulse

I am a Matchmaker, and I’m a long way from what was once my family’s home. Us Sullivans were put on this earth to bring together two halves of a pair and make a whole. I’ve been here drifting through these brutal but beautiful Badlands for a long time now, and I’m half a world away from where my great-grandfather once roamed the equally rugged lands of West Cork.

He rode the seas before you or your parents; even your grandparents were born to the Land of the Long White Cloud, Aotearoa. He came to New Zealand on a ship with billowing sails and a cargo of Irish folk seeking a better future and a sniff of gold. Only he knew that some wouldn’t get either without his help. You see, we know something, us Sullivans, something I’ll share with you now. It’s not a fortune having been made that makes the world continue to go round – oh no, it’s love, and that’s our business.

The years have gone by, and the book we carry has been passed down with many a successful match made between its pages. You, yourself, might be a product of a Sullivan’s meddling, you just never know. It’s all there, inscribed in our book if you care to take a look.

This last wee while, I’ve been keeping my eye on a right pair; young Isla Brookes and her grandmother Bridget, the two most stubborn women I’ve ever witnessed walk the West Coast. They’ve both got it wrong along the way but it’s not too late, it’s never too late to call the Matchmaker, and when they do, I will come.

That’s enough about me and mine though; now it’s time I told you their story.

Two weeks or thereabouts earlier…

Isla Brookes was a woman on the edge of a nervous breakdown. The fact she was teetering on the brink of something terrifying was not common knowledge, and she intended to keep it that way. She’d told anybody who’d asked or needed to know that in a couple of days she’d be off-grid for a few weeks. She was taking a much-needed sabbatical from her job as an Interior Design Consultant for Upscale Development, a high-end London property development company. The reason? Stress – she needed to step off the corporate ladder and take some time to heal, because the collapse of her relationship with Tim was still so very raw.