The New Year Resolution (16 page)

Realising he had a chance, Ryan stood up. “Does that mean you’ll agree to go out with me?”

“I don’t know. I have Olivia....” Her voice faltered.

“She likes me, I could tell.” Ryan began nibbling at her neck. Flutters of anticipation spread through her body.

“That’s because you bought her a teddy bear.” Nicole laughed. “It doesn’t count.”

“Tell me you’ll see me again, Nicole?” The way he was looking at her made her legs go weak.

“Of course I will,” she whispered. If she was going to make space in her life for a man he’d have to be pretty darn special – and that’s what Ryan was. With him, she was willing to take a chance on love again.

Her heart filled with joy seeing his face light up. He grabbed her and swung her around before planting a huge kiss firmly on her lips.

“With you by my side I feel as if I can conquer anything,” he stated grandly.

Nicole laughed. “Don’t get too carried away. We’re only dating, remember? This could still all end in tears.”

“No way,” said Ryan, playfully running his hands over her body. “Do you know how I know?”

Nicole shook her head, shivering under his sensual touch.

“Because I ran into your kissing buddy the other day and he told me some interesting news.”

“Dominic. He’s not my kissing buddy. I told you he caught me by surprise on the beach.”

“I know, I’m kidding.” He looked at her tenderly. “He told me you never returned his calls, despite his repeated attempts to contact you.”

“That means nothing,” she breathed. “I didn’t feel like getting involved with anyone else right now. Not with the press still sniffing around.”

“Liar,” said Ryan softly, lifting her hair off her neck to kiss it.

Nicole shivered.

“Okay, you win.” Nicole took a deep breath. “I couldn’t bear to see him when I’m still not over you. I didn’t feel it was fair to Dominic to lead him on.”

“I doubt he would have cared,” scoffed Ryan, “But I have to admit I’m over the moon at your confession, because I’m not over you either. Far from it.”

“Sex fades,” Nicole reminded him, pragmatically. “Once the novelty wears off you may find you get over me really fast.”

“Well, there’s something else I didn’t mention.” Ryan paused.

“Really? What’s that?” asked Nicole.

“Love. I love you, Nicole.”

Nicole felt her knees give way. Luckily Ryan was holding her around the waist.

“Is that so shocking?” He grinned.”I know I’m a male, but I can say the L-word too, you know.”

Nicole laughed. “Oh, Ryan. You must know I love you, too? I realised as we left Medjumbe. Letting you go was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.”

“Well, now you don’t have to,” smiled Ryan, tenderly. “You never have to leave me again.”

“I can’t believe you’re getting married,” cooed Janine, tying up the back of Nicole’s wedding dress. Olivia floated around at their feet dressed in a flowery pink bridesmaid’s dress.

“Me neither.” Nicole smiled. “It feels so surreal. The last year has flown by like a dream.”

“Valentine’s Day is the perfect day to do it. It’s so romantic.” Janine stood up and admired her handy work. “You look perfect.”

“Thanks, Jan.” Nicole hugged her and admired herself in the mirror. Her face shone with happiness. Ryan had stayed true to his word and been the perfect boyfriend. They’d been together for a little over a year and he still couldn’t keep his hands of her, a fact she secretly adored. Hopefully it would always be that way.

Olivia had adjusted well to having Ryan in her life, and the transition had been surprisingly easy. Ryan was incredibly easy-going and didn’t put any pressure on her with regards to her daughter. There would be more changes to come, especially since they were moving in together after the honeymoon, but Nicole was confident it would all work out perfectly.

Nicole and Janine, with Olivia following, holding her little basket of rose petals, made their way to the church entrance. Nicole took her father’s arm and gazed down the aisle to where Ryan stood with Dave, Janice’s husband and his best man, looking incredibly smart and eager.

I’m a lucky girl,
Nicole thought as she glided down the aisle to the wedding march. Their guests rose to their feet. In the front row on the bridegroom’s side stood Vincent and Sylvia Mahler. Vincent had come round eventually and gone back into business with Ryan, giving him the financial support he needed to make his project wildly successful.

Who would have thought a New Year’s Resolution could have such a happy ending?

Louise Rose-Innes writes contemporary romance and romantic suspense. Born in sunny South Africa, Louise is a lover of sunshine and the sea, and this is often reflected in her novels. After completing a post graduate in Marketing Management, Louise headed off to the United Kingdom to gain work experience and travel. She now lives in leafy Surrey with her family, and when she’s not writing, is traipsing through the beautiful countryside, or kayaking on the river Thames.

Louise is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association (RNA) as well as the Professional Writers Alliance. She supports the Alliance of Independent Authors, and strives to help authors self-publish and market their own books through her marketing blog,
MarketingforRomanceWriters.com
.

Louise gives marketing workshops and mentors for SavvyAuthors.com. Her marketing company also provides services for fellow authors such as
Cover Design
and
Website creation
. Visit her blog at
http://www.marketingforromancewriters.com/
.

Louise loves to hear from her readers, so pop in and say hi at
http://www.LouiseRoseInnes.com
or follow her on
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. Louise can be contacted at
[email protected]
.

ANTARCTIC AFFAIR (The Romance Collective) [Kindle Edition]

Antarctic Affair

Assistant magazine editor and bona fide city girl, Georgina McKellar is put on a last minute assignment to interview intrepid explorer and wildlife photographer, Taj Andrews, while on board an exploration liner bound for the Antarctic. Totally out of her element, Georgina has to overcome her dislike of the great outdoors and melt the frosty heart of her subject to get him to open up to her so she can write the prize-winning feature article that will secure her the editor’s position at Verve Magazine.

Pushy journalist Georgina McKeller is everything Taj dislikes in a woman. She’s pampered, ambitious, draped in designer clothes and adores the city - his total opposite. He proposes a deal. He’ll agree to grant her the in-depth interview she desires if she agrees to accompany him on his excursions into the frigid Antarctic wilderness. He’s prepared to show the well-heeled princess how wild he can really be, but what he didn’t count on was her rising to the challenge.

The Italian Inheritance

After discovering a letter written by her mother shortly before her death, Anna Crawford, a London-based nurse, decides to travel to the Italian island of Capri in search of her father. What she doesn’t expect to find is that she’s heir to a vast family fortune.

She’s even more surprised when the suspicious trust attorney questions her very identity.
Rafael Vialli has a suspicious nature – it’s the reason he became a lawyer. He blames his rough childhood. It may also have something to do with the fact that in the months since Giovanni Albertosi’s death, he’s been inundated with opportunistic women claiming to be his client’s missing heir.

Can Anna prove to Rafael that she really is the legitimate heir? And can Rafael trust enough to award her the inheritance… as well as his heart?

Available December 2013

Hanna ran for her life. She didn’t wait to hear the end of the Prince’s conversation with his security advisor. She’d heard enough. The message was clear. She knew too much. Now they wanted her dead.

Trapped in a country in the midst of a rebellion, Hannah is on the run for her life. Her only hope of escape is to join forces with disgraced Special Forces operative, Tom Wilde. Tom has been posted to the Arab nation to oversee the extraction of all British nationals from the embassy. It’s a form of punishment for his last failed mission, from which neither his body, nor his mind has fully recovered. When he meets Hannah, he realizes that this is his chance for redemption. The information she holds is important enough to end the civil war. All he needs to do is get her out of the war-ridden country alive and back to Britain.

Hannah wants to trust Tom, especially since the sexual attraction between them is too intense to ignore. But she knows the career-soldier has a hidden agenda. Can she trust him to lead her to safety, or will he sacrifice her in order to save his own skin and redeem himself in the eyes of the SAS?

Available
July 2013

Contemporary, erotic, suspense or paranormal, it doesn’t matter what brand of romance you write, you still need to market it to your readers.

As a writer, you know that a certain amount of self-promotion comes with the job. Generally speaking, the more marketing you do, the wider your reach and the more copies of your novel you’ll sell.

These days, with the explosion of digital publishing, online marketing has become more important than ever. Ebooks are outselling print books almost two to one, according to publishing giant, Amazon.com. Everyone wants a piece of the publishing pie. That means the competition is more fierce than ever.

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