Lindsay Longford - A Kiss, A Kid And A Mistletoe Bride

Her voice was the, first thing he’d noticed about her back then. Her voice was the, first thing he’d noticed about her back then. The soft breathlessness of Gabby’s voice had held something sweet and kind that soothed the savage creature raging inside him. At seventeen, cool Joe Carpenter didn’t have time to waste on thirteen-year-old skinny girls with kind voices, not when high school girls fell all over each other offering to give him anything he wanted. But touching that bitter, angry place he’d closed off to the world, her voice made him remember her over the years as she grew into a woman, made him lift his head in baffled awareness whenever he heard that soft voice reminding him all the world wasn’t hard and mean and nasty. And now her voice sent his pulse into overdrive with its pure breathlessness. And to think that now, after all this time, they were going to be neighbors.... Letter to Reader Dear Reader, Happy Holidays! Our gift to you is all the very best Romance has to offer, starting with A Kiss, a Kid and a Mistletoe Bride by RITA-Award winning author Lindsay Longford. In this VIRGIN BRIDES title, when a single dad returns home at Christmas, he encounters the golden girl he’d fallen for one magical night a lifetime ago. Can his kiss—and his kid—win her heart and make her a mistletoe mom? Rising star Susan Meier continues her TEXAS FAMILY TIES miniseries with Guess What? We’re Married! And no one is more shocked than the amnesiac bride in this sexy, surprising story! In The Rich Gal’s Rented Groom, the next sparkling installment of Carolyn Zane’s THE BRUBAKER BRIDES, a rugged ranch hand poses as Patsy Brubaker’s husband at her ten-year high school reunion. But this gal voted Most Likely To Succeed won’t rest till she wins her counterfeit hubby’s heart! BUNDLES OF JOY meets BACHELOR GULCH in a fairy-tale romance by beloved author Sandra Steffen. When a shy beauty is about to accept another man’s proposal, her true-blue true love returns to town, bearing Burke’s Christmas Surprise Who wouldn’t want to be Stranded with a Tall, Dark Stranger—especially an embittered ex-cop in need of a good woman’s love? Laura Anthony’s tale of transformation is perfect for the holidays! And speaking of transformations... Hayley Gardner weaves an adorable, uplifting tale of a Grinch-like hero who becomes a Santa Clans daddy when he receives A Baby in His Stocking. And in the New Year, look for our fabulous new promotion FAMILY MATTERS and Romance’s first-ever six-book continuity Series, LOVING THE BOSS, in which office romance leads six friends down the aisle. Happy Holidays! Mary-Theresa Hussey Senior Editor, Silhouette Romance Please address questions and book requests to: Silhouette Reader Service U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269 Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont L2A 5X3 Title Page A Kiss, A Kid And A Mistletoe Bride Lindsay Longford www.millsandboon.co.uk Dedication To my very own “scullery wenches” who gave of their time and of themselves on a difficult day: Suzette Edelen, Patty Copeland, Myrna Topol and Margaret Watson. You worked like dawgs, you were sunshine through the clouds and you gave me the greatest gift of all: yourselves. I don’t have words eloquent enough to thank you. About the Author LINDSAY LONGFORD, like most writers, is a reader. She even reads toothpaste labels in desperation! A former high school English teacher with an M.A. in literature, she began writing romances because she wanted to create stories that touched readers’ emotions by transporting them to a world where good things happened to good people and happily-ever-after is possible with a little work. Her first book, Jake’s Child was nominated for Best New Series Author, Best Silhouette Romance, and received a Special Achievement Award for Best First Series Book from Romantic Times Magazine. It was also a finalist for Romance Writers of America’s RITA Award for Best First Book. Her Silhouette Romance Annie and the Wise Men won the RITA for the best Traditional Romance of 1993. Letter to Reader Dear Reader, Recently my nineteen-year-old son casually asked, “So, Mom, were you a virgin bride?” After I picked myself up off the floor and hemmed and hawed a few minutes, I answered him. Then we talked for two hours about love and sex and commitment. And, no, I didn’t blush! Kids. They’ll surprise you every time. I was touched by his explanation that for him, sex without emotion wasn’t worth much. Love, he explained with all the wisdom of his accumulated years, is the emotional bond that makes everything meaningful because you care about the other person’s feelings as much as you care about your own. And the one you love puts your feelings first, too. Love is worth waiting for, he said. When I thought about Gabrielle, the heroine of A Kiss, a Kid and a Mistletoe Bride, I wanted a heroine who was virgin by choice, not because she’d never had the opportunity to date, not because she’d had a terrible childhood. I wanted a smart, caring woman who knew the value of her own heart—and body—especially in today’s risky world. She knows what she wants, what she deserves, and she’s not willing to settle for less. Gabrielle is a woman whose first love is her only and forever love. First love has an incredible power. It’s the one we never forget. Sometimes we’re lucky and our first love is the right love, the person who completes us and makes us better for knowing him. That man becomes our time capsule, the guy who remembers us when we were young, the person who knows us at our deepest levels, both good and bad, and still loves us. My husband of thirty-three years was my first love, a boy when we fell in love, and a man of courage and kindness. I think he would be proud of his son, who knows the value of love. First love is special, like no other, and that’s what I wanted for Gabrielle. Like her, may you, too, discover love with all its magic and power, whether it’s your first love. only love or last love. Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Copyright

Her voice was the, first thing he’d

noticed about her back then.

The soft breathlessness of Gabby’s voice had held something sweet and kind that soothed the savage creature raging inside him.

At seventeen, cool Joe Carpenter didn’t have time to waste on thirteen-year-old skinny girls with kind voices, not when high school girls fell all over each other offering to give him anything he wanted.

But touching that bitter, angry place he’d closed off to the world, her voice made him remember her over the years as she grew into a woman, made him lift his head in baffled awareness whenever he heard that soft voice reminding him all the world wasn’t hard and mean and nasty.

And now her voice sent his pulse into overdrive with its pure breathlessness. And to think that now, after all this time, they were going to be neighbors....

Dear Reader,

Happy Holidays! Our gift to you is all the very best Romance has to offer, starting with A Kiss, a Kid and a Mistletoe Bride by RITA-Award winning author Lindsay Longford. In this VIRGIN BRIDES title, when a single dad returns home at Christmas, he encounters the golden girl he’d fallen for one magical night a lifetime ago. Can his kiss—and his kid—win her heart and make her a mistletoe mom?

Rising star Susan Meier continues her TEXAS FAMILY TIES miniseries with Guess What? We’re Married! And no one is more shocked than the amnesiac bride in this sexy, surprising story! In The Rich Gal’s Rented Groom, the next sparkling installment of Carolyn Zane’s THE BRUBAKER BRIDES, a rugged ranch hand poses as Patsy Brubaker’s husband at her ten-year high school reunion. But this gal voted Most Likely To Succeed won’t rest till she wins her counterfeit hubby’s heart! BUNDLES OF JOY meets BACHELOR GULCH in a fairy-tale romance by beloved author Sandra Steffen. When a shy beauty is about to accept another man’s proposal, her true-blue true love returns to town, bearing Burke’s Christmas Surprise