Have Gown, Need Groom

Have Gown, Need Groom
Rita Herron

This couldn't be happening to her!Dr. Hannah Hartwell was the good sister, the calm, responsible member of the zany Hartwell clan. But since she'd received the beautiful, hand-carved hope chest from her beloved Grammy Rose, Hannah had canceled her wedding, made a scene at work–and had intimate dreams of a sexy stranger!Worse, she had a new patient–the bold, unsettling and highly unsuitable Jake Tippins, her notorious father's new right-hand man. Jake was secretive, maddening and downright opposed to settling down. He was also, quite indisputably, the man of her dreams….

“It can’t be…”

Hannah’s chest tightened as she stared at the man’s birthmark. She’d seen it before.

His head snapped up. “What’s wrong?”

His dark gaze locked with hers, the unmistakable cleft in his chin hauntingly familiar. Hannah staggered backward, a bolt of heat engulfing her as if an inferno had burst into flames at her feet.

She recognized this man. She knew him…intimately.

He was the man from her dreams.

Dear Reader,

Happy New Year! May this year bring you happiness, good health and all that you wish for. And at Harlequin American Romance, we’re hoping to provide you with a year full of heartwarming books that you won’t be able to resist.

Leading the month is The Secretary Gets Her Man by Mindy Neff, Harlequin American Romance’s spin-off to Harlequin Intrigue’s TEXAS CONFIDENTIAL continuity series. This exciting story focuses on the covert operation’s much-mentioned wallflower secretary, Penny Archer.

Muriel Jensen’s Father Formula continues her successful WHO’S THE DADDY? series about three identical sisters who cause three handsome bachelors no end of trouble when they discover one woman is about to become a mother. Next, after opening an heirloom hope chest, a bride-to-be suddenly cancels her wedding and starts having intimate dreams about a handsome stranger, in Have Gown, Need Groom. This is the first book of Rita Herron’s new miniseries THE HARTWELL HOPE CHESTS. And Debbi Rawlins tells the emotional story of a reclusive rancher who opens his home—and his heart—to a lovely single mother, in Loving a Lonesome Cowboy.

In February, look for another installment in the RETURN TO TYLER series with Prescription for Seduction by Darlene Scalera.

Wishing you happy reading,

Melissa Jeglinski

Associate Senior Editor

Harlequin American Romance

Have Gown, Need Groom

Rita Herron

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

To all the sisters and mamas and grandmamas who hold families together through their family traditions.

And especially to my own mom, who spent numerous hours sewing handmade quilts for each of her grandchildren.

You gave them something to treasure forever—your love in the shape of a blanket to wrap around them and remind them of family.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rita Herron is a teacher, workshop leader and storyteller who loves reading, writing and sharing stories with people of all ages. She has published two nonfiction books for adults on working and playing with children, and has won the Golden Heart Award for a young adult story. Rita believes that books taught her to dream, and she loves nothing better than sharing that magic with others. She lives with her “dream” husband and three children, two cats and a dog in Norcross, Georgia.

My dearest, loving Hannah,

You are a very special granddaughter because you were the first miracle in the Hartwell family. You represented love and hope.

But you are the one who remembers the problems; the one old enough to realize that when your mother walked away she wasn’t coming back. And with your own little heart bleeding, you were the one to square your shoulders, console your heartbroken father and nurture your little sisters. And you never complained. You showed us strength when we thought we had none left.

You are studious and smart, dependable and responsible, but cautious to a fault. Don’t forget how to dream, my dear Hannah. Learn to take chances, laugh and have fun. I wish for you happiness, true love and a man who will give you all the joy a partner can.

Love you always,

Grammy Rose

P.S. Inside the hope chest you should find something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue!

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen