Dear Reader
A turquoise ocean, palm-fringed beaches, and lazy days spent sipping cocktails from a sunlit veranda … What better way to try to mend a broken heart and lay plans for the future?
That’s what I had in mind when I set out to write Alyssa and Connor’s story. An exotic paradise island seemed to me to be the very best setting for their romance. Anything can happen. Dreams can come true … eventually.
Even paradise can suffer storm clouds now and again, though, and that’s exactly what happens to Alyssa’s attempts to restore her soul. Of course she needs a very special person to make her dreams come true …
Enjoy!
Joanna
Praise for Joanna Neil:
‘I’ve never given a romance novel 5 stars before,
but I loved this one.’
—www.goodreads.com on
A COTSWOLD CHRISTMAS BRIDE
About the Author
When JOANNA NEIL discovered Mills & Boon®, her lifelong addiction to reading crystallised into an exciting new career writing Medical Romance™. Her characters are probably the outcome of her varied lifestyle, which includes working as a clerk, typist, nurse and infant teacher. She enjoys dressmaking and cooking at her Leicestershire home. Her family includes a husband, son and daughter, an exuberant yellow Labrador and two slightly crazed cockatiels. She currently works with a team of tutors at her local education centre to provide creative writing workshops for people interested in exploring their own writing ambitions.
Recent titles by Joanna Neil:
TAMED BY HER BROODING BOSS
DR RIGHT ALL ALONG
DR LANGLEY: PROTECTOR OR PLAYBOY?
A COTSWOLD CHRISTMAS BRIDE
THE TAMING OF DR ALEX DRAYCOTT
BECOMING DR BELLINI’S BRIDE
These books are also available in eBook format from www.millsandboon.co.uk
His Bride
in Paradise
Joanna Neil
CHAPTER ONE
‘I CAN’T believe my luck,’ Alyssa said excitedly, cradling the phone close to her ear. ‘The house is magnificent, Carys, and it’s right next to the ocean.’
‘Mmm … that’s exactly how I imagined it,’ her cousin answered. ‘So you managed to find the place all right? How’s it all going for you?’ On the other end of the line, Carys’s voice held a note of eager anticipation.
Alyssa smiled at her enthusiastic tone. Carys lived on the mainland in Florida, some sixty or seventy miles away from here, and she was keen to know everything that was going on.
‘Oh, it was easy enough,’ Alyssa said. ‘The taxi driver dropped me off. Apparently everyone around here knows the Blakeley property.’ She adjusted the fluffy bath towel around her damp body. She’d not long come from the shower and had been sitting for a few minutes by the dressing table, blowdrying her long hair so that the mass of chestnut-coloured curls gleamed softly in the lamplight. ‘I’m doing just fine,’ she added. ‘It’s lovely here. You wouldn’t believe how beautiful it is.’
She left the dresser and went to settle down on the luxurious softness of the large divan bed, stretching out her long, slender limbs. ‘I only arrived here a couple of hours ago, so I haven’t really had time to look around, but the house is perfect. There are double glass doors everywhere, even in the bedrooms, and when you step out onto the deck you look out over the Atlantic Ocean. It’s fantastic, Carys … it’s so incredibly blue.’
A faint breeze wafted in through the open veranda doors, and glancing there from across the room Alyssa could see the branches of the palm trees swaying gently against the skyline of the setting sun. Birds called to one another, sleepy in the warm evening air. ‘I’m sitting here now, and I can hear the waves breaking on the shore.’
‘It sounds heavenly.’
‘Mmm, it is.’ Alyssa couldn’t believe her change in fortune. Within a few weeks she’d gone from enduring a bleak, desperately unhappy situation back in the UK to finding herself in this idyllic haven on a sand-fringed island in the Bahamas. ‘I keep thinking that any minute now someone will come along and pinch me and tell me it’s all a dream.’
Carys chuckled. ‘No, I think it’s really happening. Is Ross there with you? I know he was keen to help you get settled in.’
‘No. He rang to tell me he’d be along a little later. He had a meeting with the director so that they could iron out a few things before filming starts tomorrow.’
Alyssa stopped to listen for a moment as a faint creaking sound caught her attention, like a footfall on the steps leading to the deck. Was someone walking around outside? Could it be that there was a change of plan and Ross was coming home earlier than expected? Then one of the voile curtains fluttered on a light current of air, distracting her, and she shook her head. Ross had stressed the importance of the meeting. It must have been the door that was creaking, that would be it.
‘Well, he’ll make sure that everything goes smoothly for you, I’m sure,’ Carys murmured. ‘You can put all your troubles behind you now, and forget about your awful ex. I’ve known Ross for ages, and he has a heart of gold. He’ll take good care of you. I know he was besotted with you from the moment he set eyes on you.’
Alyssa sat up against the pillows. ‘Oh, no … surely that can’t be true … At least, I hope it isn’t.’ Ross knew how she felt. She’d come here to get away from all the mess that relationships involved, clutching at the chance Ross had given her to make her escape. This was her sanctuary.
Her work back in the UK had proved to be a stumbling block, too, and she’d reluctantly decided to put what had once been a promising medical career temporarily on hold. At least, she hoped it was only a relatively short-term move. In the end, things had proved too much for her, and she’d had to accept that she needed to take time out to recover from the burnout that had crept up on her and caught her unawares.
Somehow, she had to try to get herself back together again and she was pinning her hopes on the healing qualities of these next few months. As to the rest …
‘I’ve finished with romance,’ she said, her tone quiet and restrained. ‘I’m done with all that.’
‘So you say.’ Carys laughed. ‘Anyway, your ex is finally out of the picture, so with a bit of luck you can relax now and look forward to a few months of sheer luxury and self-indulgence.’
‘Well, of course,’ Alyssa answered, tongue in cheek. ‘How could I not enjoy all this? I’ve got it made, haven’t I? Nothing much to do but enjoy the sunshine and surf and thank my lucky stars. I’ll take money and all these rich trappings over love any time. Who wouldn’t?’
‘Sure you will,’ Carys murmured drily. She knew full well that Alyssa was joking. ‘Look, I have to go. I’ll call you again. You take care. Love you.’
‘And you.’
Alyssa cut the call and put down the phone, listening once more as the creaking grew louder. Was someone or something out there? It couldn’t be Ross, surely? He’d said he would be delayed for at least