A wedding brings a shocking surprise in New York Times bestselling author Lori Wilde’s newest Moonglow Cove novel. Perfect for fans of Susan Wiggs, Jill Shalvis, and Robyn Carr.
It wasn’t the wedding night she’d expected!
When Samantha said “I do” to Luca Ginelli, she knew she’d found a reliable soulmate—a strong, sexy man who’d stand beside her through thick and thin. And so she’d started her wedding day filled with joyful expectation, only to have her dreams shattered when the man she married years before shocking, unexpectedly, reappears, insisting she was still his wife!
Seven years before, Luca’s brother, Nick, had stubbornly set off in a sailing adventure, ignoring the pleas of his young bride and all common sense. He’d disappeared without a trace; everyone thought he was dead—but now he’s expecting to pick up where they’d left off. He’d once been Samantha’s “lightning strike,”—the person you know is the one from the moment you first see them.
But seven years is a long time and so much has changed. Now Samantha is faced with an impossible choice and no matter which decision she makes, it threatens to shred the very fabric of the one thing she holds most dear—family.
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The first time Samantha Riley married into the Ginelli family, her fanciful in-laws called it the “Lightning Strike.” In reverential tones, Nick’s parents, Marcella and Tino, told romantic tales of legendary ancestors who’d been hit by metaphorical love-lightning. Generations of Ginellis had fallen madly in love at first sight and ended up in solid, long-lasting marriages, and they had the genealogical records to prove it.
There wasn’t a single story of the Lightning Strike gone awry. Legend had it, once you got walloped by the one-two punch of predestined love, in Ginelli-land you were mated for a happily-ever-after life.
She’d fallen in love with the entire Ginelli clan as surely as she’d fallen in love with their youngest son. The Ginellis represented everything she’d longed for as an orphaned child—a loving tight-knit family who always had her back. They might be a little meddlesome at times, but it all came from a place of genuine love and respect.
Samantha met Nick on the first day of her high school junior year.
Her foster family, the Dellaneys, had just moved from Houston a month earlier, as her foster father, Heath, had taken a position working with the Moonglow Cove Chamber of Commerce. After years in a high-pressure corporate human resources job, he was ready for the slower pace of a small beachside tourist town.
Piper, Samantha’s foster sister and best friend in the entire world, declared the town b-o-r-i-n-g, and she was pouting as they walked into Moonglow Cove High School together, unsure of where the registrar’s office was or how to find their classrooms.
“Hey, look. What a cute mascot,” Samantha said to cheer up her pal, and pointed at a chubby-cheeked chipmunk painted on the wall. Chipmunk Charlie had his head thrown back in raucous laughter, his white teeth flashing and big tail thumping.
“Seriously? A ground squirrel? That is so lame.”
“But look at his beautiful grin.” Samantha widened her own smile in effigy.
“Chipmunk Charlie would be an amuse-bouche for Ivan.” Piper studied her fingernails with their chipped chartreuse polish.
In Houston, their mascot had been a tiger nicknamed Ivan the Terrible. Cheesy? Oh yeah, but Piper was right. Fierce Ivan would make short work of cheerful Charlie.
“A school the size of Moonglow Cove wouldn’t scrimmage our old high school.”
“Gawd, don’t be so literal.” Piper rolled her eyes. “Let me guess. Their class song has to be that silly Chipmunks song.” In a voice that sounded like she’d been inhaling helium, Piper sang a few bars of the Christmas tune by Alvin and the Chipmunks.
Samantha interlaced her fingers and brought her hands to her heart. “Please try to like this place . . . for me?”
“Okay, sure.” Laughing, Piper slipped her arm through Samantha’s and pulled her into a skip, and they bounced jauntily down the hallway. People turned to stare as they skipped past. Boldly, Piper stuck out her tongue as Samantha’s face heated up.
“We’re really doing this on the first day?” Samantha asked, feeling self-conscious.
“Yeah, baby. Flying our freak flag. Let ’em put that in their Zig-Zags and smoke it.”
They rounded the corner, and a thick stream of students came pouring in through the side door, forcing them to halt abruptly. Piper blinked. “Okay, Miss Spreadsheet, where do we go from here?”
“Come on.” Samantha led the way to the registrar’s office. “Where’s your normal sunshiny self?”
“Back in Houston. Dad ruined my life dragging us to Podunk, USA.”
“How can you say that? We’re living at the beach! I feel like I’ve died and flown to heaven.”
“You’re so easily amused. Now I feel all guilty and shit.”
Someone jostled Samantha’s elbow, and she fumbled with her phone, almost dropping it.
“We’re gonna get trampled. We gotta move.” Piper took hold of Samantha’s arm and dragged her back into the foot traffic.
Samantha pulled the school handbook from her purse to read it as if more knowledge could save her.
“It says here that . . .” Samantha glanced up to show Piper the handbook and watched horrified as her friend approached a folding ladder erected below the Moonglow Cove High School sign. A maintenance guy stood on the top rung tightening down the “M” with a power drill.
“We’re really doing this on the first day?” Samantha asked, feeling self-conscious.
“Yeah, baby. Flying our freak flag. Let ’em put that in their Zig-Zags and smoke it.”
They rounded the corner, and a thick stream of students came pouring in through the side door, forcing them to halt abruptly. Piper blinked. “Okay, Miss Spreadsheet, where do we go from here?”
“Come on.” Samantha led the way to the registrar’s office. “Where’s your normal sunshiny self?”
“Back in Houston. Dad ruined my life dragging us to Podunk, USA.”
“How can you say that? We’re living at the beach! I feel like I’ve died and flown to heaven.”
“You’re so easily amused. Now I feel all guilty and shit.”
Someone jostled Samantha’s elbow, and she fumbled with her phone, almost dropping it.
“We’re gonna get trampled. We gotta move.” Piper took hold of Samantha’s arm and dragged her back into the foot traffic.
Samantha pulled the school handbook from her purse to read it as if more knowledge could save her.
“It says here that . . .” Samantha glanced up to show Piper the handbook and watched horrified as her friend approached a folding ladder erected below the Moonglow Cove High School sign. A maintenance guy stood on the top rung tightening down the “M” with a power drill.
Excerpt provided by HarperCollins.
About the Author
Photo Courtesy of Avon & HarperCollins Publishers
Lori Wilde is the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of 97 works of romantic fiction. She’s a three-time Romance Writers of America RITA finalist and has won numerous other awards as well. Her books have been translated into 26 languages, with more than five million copies of her books sold worldwide.
Her series, Wedding Veil Wishes, inspired six movies from Hallmark, which went on to shatter viewing records. The Hallmark movie inspired by her breakout novel, The First Love Cookie Club, came out Christmas 2022 under the title A Kismet Christmas. It was named one of the top 15 Christmas movies of 2022 by Vanity Fair.
Lori is an RN with a BSN and an MLA from Texas Christian University. She holds a certificate in screenwriting from UCLA, a certificate in forensic nursing from Kaplan and she is also an RYT-200 yoga instructor.
A sixth-generation Texan, Lori lives with her husband, Bill, in the Cutting Horse Capital of the World.
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