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First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins 2016
Copyright © Sue Moorcroft 2016
Cover illustration and Design © HarperCollinsPublishers 2016
Sue Moorcroft 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.
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Source ISBN: 9780008175528
Ebook Edition © October 2016 ISBN: 9780008175535
Version: 2017-02-06
In memory of my mother
Connie Moorcroft
17 January 1934–17 March 2016
My number one fan
Table of Contents
Chapter One: Christmas Begins in Blaggard’s Bar
Chapter Two: The Trouble With an ex-Boyfriend
Chapter Three: Not Currently Dating
Chapter Five: Princess Leia Claus
Chapter Six: A Christmas Kiss for Ava Bliss
Chapter Seven: Not Dating at Gaz’s Caff
Chapter Eight: A Hat, but no Kid Gloves
Chapter Nine: Seeing, Not ‘Seeing’
Chapter Eleven: No Blame or Shame
Chapter Twelve: The Beautiful Business of Hat Making
Chapter Thirteen: The Christmas Ball
Chapter Fourteen: Football Stars and Booby Ruby
Chapter Fifteen: Wendy Gets a Real Buzz
Chapter Sixteen: Mixed Messages
Chapter Seventeen: Village Affairs
Chapter Eighteen: Putting the ‘Trick’ in Patrick
Chapter Nineteen: The Gallery of Shame
Chapter Twenty: The Zombie Formerly Known as Ava
Chapter Twenty-One: A Pretty Cheeky Idea
Chapter Twenty-Two: Hats Off to Ava Bliss
Chapter Twenty-Three: The Collateral Consequences of Criminal Convictions
Chapter Twenty-Four: Bubbling Under