Finding Mr. Perfect

Finding Mr. Perfect
Nikki Rivers

Okay, maybe she did need a man…But first Hannah Ross has to make sure that the new ad campaign for Granny's Grains begins without a hitch–after all, it was her idea to locate America's "perfect" family and then slap their faces on every cereal box.Yet when Hannah ventures to Timber Bay, Michigan, the Walkers aren't the "perfect" she was thinking of (the mother's poker playing is only the start–"little" Danny isn't little in any way. And he's also frustrating and handsome and…).With days before Granny's Grains' CEO shows up for the meet-and-greet, can Hannah turn the Walker clan into something they aren't? Or will she change to fit into something she's always wanted, like a real family? And will Danny Walker be the one to show her the way.?

Dear Reader,

Like my heroine—Hannah Ross—I’m a city girl, but I grew up in a small town that was like Timber Bay, Michigan, the fictitious setting for Finding Mr. Perfect. As I’ve changed over the years, so has my hometown. For instance, the drugstore, with its funky lunch counter, is now a sub-sandwich shop, but the glittering white band shell still graces the park on the bay and the library, where I spent so many hours as a kid, still stands. As does the opera house, sadly with no irreverent local hottie like Danny Walker to restore it—yet. And the tunnel that runs beneath the streets really does exist. Was it ever known as the Tunnel of Love? Hmm, maybe not. But as modern, practical Hannah finds out, a girl has got to believe in something.

I hope you enjoy spending the Fourth of July in Timber Bay with Danny and Hannah, and please come back soon to find out what happens when another big-city girl invades Timber Bay—and the heart of Danny’s best friend, Lukas McCoy.

Best wishes,

Nikki Rivers

“I do not hawk cereal,” insisted Hannah

“I am a research sociologist, working as an independent consultant.” It wasn’t her style to sound so haughty, but Danny Walker brought it out in her.

“What’s a consultant?” Uncle Tuffy asked.

Danny replied before Hannah could open her mouth. “That’s what a person does when she can’t find a real job.”

Kate, Danny’s mother, looked up from her lunch plate. “Oh, you poor dear. Have you been out of work long?”

Hannah gave Danny a look she hoped would freeze his mouth shut. “I am not out of work, Kate. I feel very privileged to be with a company modern enough to hire a sociologist for this project. Your family was chosen, Mr. Walker, because they embody standards and values that Granny’s Grains wants to promote. This contest, I mean project, was conducted in the same manner a scientific study would be.”

Danny gave a short laugh. “Well then that explains it, Professor. I always knew these studies weren’t accurate because if you think you’re going to find normal around here, you’ve definitely taken another wrong turn!”

Finding Mr. Perfect

Nikki Rivers

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

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nikki Rivers loves writing romantic comedy because she believes that laughter is just as necessary to life as love is. She also gets a kick out of creating quirky characters, having come from a long line of them herself. Nikki lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with her very own Mr. Right. She loves to hear from readers. E-mail her at RiversWrites@aol.com (mailto:RiversWrites@aol.com).

Books by Nikki Rivers

HARLEQUIN DUETS

66—A Snowball’s Chance

HARLEQUIN AMERICAN ROMANCE

550—Seducing Spencer

592—Daddy’s Little Matchmaker

664—Romancing Annie

723—Her Prince Charming

764—For Better, For Bachelor

To my editor, Kathryn Lye, for the encouragement and the laughs—and for always making me work harder. Many thanks for helping give birth to my babies.

Contents

Chapter 1 (#ubd31921f-d7f4-592b-bdb4-478a9292a837)

Chapter 2 (#u77f65f4d-33e5-5dac-82ed-e25f55e39ad1)

Chapter 3 (#uea7d72cd-c728-51c7-b66e-5a13cf2035ae)

Chapter 4 (#uc757de98-2722-5750-a3ab-488eb679b8a5)

Chapter 5 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 6 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)

1

HANNAH ROSS HAD NEVER SEEN such a long table in all her life. At the head of its glassy expanse sat Randall Pollard, the jowly and robust CEO of Granny’s Grains Cereal, Inc. On one side sat the CFO, a thin fierce-looking man, and on the other the impeccably dressed, bored-looking brand-new head of the marketing department. Hannah, in a tailored pantsuit that had cost more than she could afford even though it was on clearance, had the other end of the table all to herself. Plenty of room. But under her new suit jacket she was sweating as though she was in the middle of a crowded elevator stuck between floors.

Pollard had been on his cell phone ever since they’d sat down in the fifth-floor boardroom of the home office on Chicago’s south side. The wait was making Hannah more nervous by the minute. She focused her attention on the banner behind Pollard’s head. Printed in a font that mimicked cross-stitch, on paper that tried to look gingham, was Granny’s Grains new slogan: Granny is bringing America’s families back to the breakfast table.

A good slogan, but definitely problematic, thought Hannah. Chiefly because it was just as faux as the cross-stitch and gingham. The last three business quarters had been so dismal that Granny was in real danger of losing her ruffled apron.