He hired her
...now he can’t imagine life without her
Widower Simon Kessler is doing just fine on his own. Or at least he thought so, until he met Rachel Clarion. Rachel instantly connects with his daughter, and her instincts are spot-on when it comes to his wife’s struggling clothing line—a legacy he’s determined to preserve. Can Rachel save the business and, just maybe, his cynical heart?
As a kid, Callie Endicott had her nose stuck in a book so often it frequently got her in trouble. The trouble hasn’t stopped—she keeps having to buy new bookshelves. Luckily ebooks don’t take up much space. Writing has been another help, since she’s usually on the computer creating stories instead of buying them. Callie loves bringing characters to life and never knows what will prompt an idea. So she still travels, hikes, explores and pursues her other passions, knowing a novel may be just around the corner.
Also by Callie Endicott
Emerald City Stories
A Father for the Twins
Moonlight Over Seattle
Montana Skies
The Rancher’s Prospect
At Wild Rose Cottage
Kayla’s Cowboy
That Summer at the Shore
Until She Met Daniel
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk
Family by Design
Callie Endicott
ISBN: 9781474094740
FAMILY BY DESIGN
© 2018 by Callie Endicott
Published in Great Britain 2018
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, 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 publisher.
® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.
Rachel was intrigued.
“Preserving the business for Livvie was desperately important to my wife. It also connects Livvie to her mother. I have to keep Liv’ing Creations going for my daughter’s sake.”
It was a motivation that Rachel understood.
She didn’t know much about Simon, though one of the Carthage residents had mentioned he was a successful businessman. But wanting to save the design house for his daughter—when it would be easier to sell or close the operation down—must mean he had a good heart.
“I admire your goal,” she said, “but I’m not sure what I could do to help. Are you trying to find models who might turn things around?”
Simon leaned forward in his chair. “Actually, I realize this isn’t what your agency generally deals with, but I have a special proposal for you...”
I’m sometimes asked how I come up with characters or book plots. When it comes to the Emerald City Stories, it began with Nicole George, the sister of Emily, who was the heroine of At Wild Rose Cottage. I wondered what Nicole’s life might be like. What if she wanted to stop being a supermodel and try something new? At that point, her friends Adam, Rachel and Logan seemed to stand up and introduce themselves.
Nicole’s story was told in Moonlight Over Seattle. And I was pleased to continue the series with Adam Wilding in A Father for the Twins. Now it’s Rachel Clarion’s turn. She’s a woman whose beauty seems almost otherworldly to widower Simon Kessler. But underneath it all, he discovers a strong woman who might be the key to not only saving the design business his wife left to their young daughter, but to redesigning a new happy family.
I always love hearing from readers and can be contacted on my Facebook page at Facebook.com/callie.endicott.author.
Best wishes,
Callie
To Mom
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