Lorraine Paton

Annie's Christmas Plan (Morning Lake) (Volume 2) Lorraine Paton

Can glitter and glue make her dreams come true?
Recent divorcee and empty-nester, Annie Bingley wants her family back. Desperate to prove to her ex and her daughter that she can be more than just a craft-obsessed mom, Annie decides to start fresh, move to a small town, and emulate the lifestyle she sees splashed in crafting and home-making magazines. Living from holiday to holiday, Annie works at creating an ideal home and picture-perfect memories full of glitter and hope - and it works. Before the year is out Annie's house is filled with relatives and their pets, but it is nothing like what she'd expected.

And, she certainly hadn't anticipated her sexy new neighbor, John Quinn, changing her carefully constructed plans.
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Book 2 of Morning Lake Series. 67,000-word Contemporary Romance. Contains adult language and sexual situations. This is the second book in the Morning Lake series, but it can be read as a stand-alone book.
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Excerpt:
She waved to him and raised her index finger. She mouthed, "I'll be right back."

When he nodded, she ran into the house to pour antibacterial soap over her hands and forearms. The house was quiet. Milt and Merry were probably having a nap. They'd have to meet him later, like tomorrow at Thanksgiving.

Hearing the front door open, she said, "Do you have my turkey? Bring it into the kitchen."

"Are you sure?"

He arrived in the kitchen with empty hands.

"Where is it?"

"In the truck," he said.

"Well, it can't stay there."

"Annie, did you know you ordered a living turkey?"

She shook her head. "What do you mean, living?"

"It made turkey noises at me the whole drive back. It wasn't happy about the wind, by the way."

"It wasn't ... happy? What do you mean? It's alive?

"I guess I should have called, but I figured it seemed like something you'd want, what with you planning a traditional Thanksgiving and all."

"Authentic is different from a bloodletting. I can't ... I can't kill ... Oh, my God ..." Her head spun. "I have a dog and a cat and now a turkey. I have no dinner. There is no Thanksgiving without a turkey."

"Why don't you sit down a minute?" Quinn guided her to a chair. "It isn't the end of the world."

"Oh, no, don't laugh at me, not today. Today wasn't supposed to be a funny sort of day--it was supposed to be a perfect and wonderful day." Then the dog bounded down the stairs barking, his feet slipped on the hardwood floors and he slid into the wall with a thud.

"When did you get a dog?"

"He must hear the turkey." A crushing, tight pain seized her lungs. She was breathing too fast. "I could handle the pumpkin, the unexpected tag-alongs, and even the puddle on my new porch, but no dinner? You can't coast through Thanksgiving without dinner. Thanksgiving is all about the dinner."

"Annie." He placed his hands on either side of her face. "Annie, don't be so melodramatic."

"I can't get to the grocery store before it closes, and nothing is open tomorrow. If we were in the city ..." She stopped then. Quinn's face was so close. He was touching her. Her heart pounded with new panic--no, panic wasn't the right word--excitement? Would he kiss her? His gaze strayed down her face before becoming snagged on her lips. She opened her mouth. "Oh ..."

His quick intake of breath caused an erratic jump in her stomach that felt suspiciously like butterflies. She leaned closer.