Her Real Family Christmas

Her Real Family Christmas
Kate Hardy

Dr Stephanie Scott’s smile can light up a room and she certainly catches the eye of single dad and obstetric surgeon Daniel Conner! But getting close to him and his little girl isn’t an option for recently divorced and heartbroken Stephanie. She's long since felt she'll never fit into a family.But spending time with Daniel and his cute daughter Mia, opens Stephanie’s eyes to the possibility that her longed for wish – a family of her very own – might just come true this Christmas…

Praise for Kate Hardy (#u88177437-9d2c-54fc-8e54-2eb2f1d197ef):

‘A spellbinding tale about moving forward,

new beginnings and the redeeming power of love by an extraordinary writer whose books

I just cannot get enough of!’

—Cataromance.com on THE SPANISH DOCTOR’S LOVE-CHILD

‘A spellbinding novel which you will want to devour in a single sitting.’

—Cataromance.com on A CHRISTMAS NIGHT

Mia was thrilled to help choose not only the tree but the decorations, too. They spent half the afternoon putting the decorations on the tree, and Stephanie lifted her up so she could put the angel on the very top.

‘You’ve done a fantastic job. Thank you so much,’ Stephanie said, and kissed the tip of Mia’s nose.

Mia stared at her, then put her arms round Stephanie’s neck. ‘You kissed me.’

‘Is that OK?’ Had she gone too far?

Mia nodded. ‘But you only kiss people you love.’

‘Ye-es.’

‘I love you,’ Mia said, and kissed the end of Stephanie’s nose.

Stephanie had a huge lump in her throat as she whispered, ‘I love you, too.’

The little girl fell asleep on the sofa not long afterwards, clearly tired out. Stephanie gently put a blanket over her.

‘I ought to get her home,’ Daniel said.

Stephanie shook her head. ‘Don’t wake her just yet, Dan.’ She paused. ‘Well, now I have a tree, I really ought to have a Christmas party.’

‘The three of us?’ he asked.

‘I was thinking… is it too late to ask your family over for Christmas Eve?’

‘That’s a great idea,’ Dan said. ‘Call them.’

‘What, now?’

He smiled. ‘Yes, now.’

Dear Reader

I rather like stories where the hero and heroine teach each other to trust again and/or love again.

My heroine doesn’t think she’ll ever fit into a family because she’s never had one—except in-laws who didn’t ever accept her for who she was. This is where my hero and his daughter come in. They need to learn to love again and open their hearts—which is what she does for them.

This idea actually started last year, when I got my twice-yearly cold. It always turns into a horrible croupy cough, nobody in the house gets any sleep for about a week, and I can’t nag about homework because I lose my voice (that bit is popular and almost makes up for the lack of sleep). I was having a bit of a pity party on Facebook about it when one of my readers e-mailed me and suggested I got checked out for reactive airways. I looked up the condition (which I don’t have, by the way—I’m just prone to croup), and thought it would be a great way for my hero and heroine to meet… (A special thank you to Pat Amsden for the lightbulb moment.)

I also love writing about Christmas. The season’s one of my favourites, with its chance to spend some real quality time with my family. (And I admit I love all the sparkling lights and the special ornaments on the tree. And now my littlest is old enough she helps me find the perfect presents for her dad’s and brother’s stockings.) When my children were really small, one of our favourite Christmas traditions was taking them to see Santa. So I couldn’t resist getting my hero and heroine to take his daughter to see Santa—and that, of course, led to finding out what she really, really wanted for Christmas…

Oh, and then there are the scallops. My daughter and I discovered them while I was writing the book, played around with different ways of cooking them, and thought it should be this book’s recipe :) Enjoy!

I’m always delighted to hear from readers, so do come and visit me at www.katehardy.com

With love

Kate Hardy

Her Real

Family

Christmas

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’s been writing Medical Romances

for over ten years now and also writes for Mills & Boon

Romance. She says it’s the best of both worlds, because she gets to learn lots of new things when she’s researching the background to a book: add a touch of passion, drama and danger, a new gorgeous hero every time, and it’s the perfect job!

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

To Pat Amsden, with thanks for the lightbulb moment.

Table of Contents

Cover (#u7fdee20d-603b-52a2-9515-475ef56abe7d)

Praise for Kate Hardy

Excerpt (#ub8927743-e0ee-5377-b4dc-99b573d08050)

Dear Reader (#ua32868a5-fcb9-5bd6-97a8-770671f582fb)