A New Year Marriage Proposal

A New Year Marriage Proposal
Kate Hardy

Will Christmas work its magic? When reclusive Quinn O’Neill’s new neighbor Carissa Wylde asks for his help with a Christmas charity project, he can’t resist her vivacious energy. And soon he’s caught up in the work…and the beautiful, fun-loving woman behind it! Like Quinn, Carissa carries hurt and pain beneath her smiles and holiday cheer. On an ice rink, surrounded by twinkling lights, he’ll start to kiss it all better. There’s plenty of festive magic…but now he’s got the toughest challenge of all: proving this romance is not just for Christmas but for a lifetime….

It was the first time a man had kissed her in three years.

It should have sent Carissa running straight for cover.

And he looked as shocked as she felt.

Swept off her feet.

This is magical. The words echoed through her head. The way his mouth had made her lips tingle. The Christmas tree lights and the scent of hot chocolate. The Christmassy music playing.

Yes, this was magical.

Unable to help herself, she reached up to lay the flat of her palm against his cheek.

“Quinn,” she whispered, and he dipped his head again. Brushed his mouth against hers all over again. And she was shaking so much that she had to hold on to him to stop herself falling over on the ice. She felt as if she were spinning in an endless pirouette, faster and faster and totally out of control.

This had to stop.

And yet she didn’t want it to stop.

A New Year Marriage Proposal

Kate Hardy

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

KATE HARDY lives in Norwich, in the east of England, with her husband, two young children, one bouncy spaniel, and too many books to count! When she’s not busy writing romance or researching local history she helps out at her children’s schools. She also loves cooking—spot the recipes sneaked into her books! (They’re also on her website, along with extracts and stories behind the books.) Writing for Mills & Boon has been a dream come true for Kate—something she wanted to do ever since she was twelve. She also writes for Medical Romance

.

Kate’s always delighted to hear from readers, so do drop in to her website at www.katehardy.com (http://www.katehardy.com).

For Chris and Chloe—

who inspired the song between them and

who always make my Christmas special.

Contents

Cover (#u1ac4b889-869b-5412-b086-59fd3182800b)

Introduction (#u212721e9-8b0e-52b4-bd33-c90629d61864)

Title Page (#u997575db-60f3-5086-9782-8cce90e361a3)

About the Author (#ue1fc5cf4-e8ed-5ea4-8105-a01897c552a0)

Dedication (#u6de56615-ae67-59a2-a67d-a058c489c5a2)

Contents (#ubdfdcabb-62e5-5b31-afee-156790c5fe3a)

CHAPTER ONE (#ue1da66fa-5759-558e-b0c2-e5cefe7d12c3)

CHAPTER TWO (#u531b3697-b6c0-59e3-934b-1c810b9a18b8)

CHAPTER THREE (#u908dc01d-bfd5-5894-aa61-7d0016468ffa)

CHAPTER FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

Extract (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_836dd52a-03f6-50a0-b516-a0cdf131a6af)

‘GO AWAY,’ QUINN O’NEILL muttered as the doorbell rang. Right now was the worst possible time for an interruption; he was running a test on the new system, and if it fell over then he’d prefer to see it happen, to save him having to wade through thousands of lines of coding to find out exactly where the problem was. Whoever was at the door wasn’t expected, hadn’t been invited, and definitely wasn’t wanted right now. And who would ring someone’s doorbell at a quarter to eight in the morning anyway?

The bell rang again.

Oh, for pity’s sake. It wasn’t as if he could pause the test. If he cancelled it, that would be an hour and a half wasted. ‘Give up and go away,’ he said, scowling.

It rang again.

Whoever was at the front door clearly wasn’t going to go away, so he didn’t really have any choice. He’d have to answer the door, get rid of whoever it was as quickly as he could, and just hope that the system didn’t fall over before he got back to it.