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Taken by Storm
Rochelle Alers
ISBN: 9781472018939
Taken by Storm
© Rochelle Alers 2013
First Published in Great Britain in 2013
Harlequin (UK) Limited
1 London Bridge, London SE1 9GF
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. The text of this publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, including without limitation xerography, photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
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All characters in this work have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises II B.V./S.à.r.l.
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Version: 2018-01-18
The Whitfield Brides series
You've met Ryan, Jeremy and Sheldon—the Blackstones of Virginia—and now it's time to meet the Whitfields of New York. In this Arabesque trilogy, you will meet the Signature Bridals' wedding divas: Tessa, Faith and Simone Whitfield. These three women are so focused on their demanding careers that they've sacrificed their personal happiness. Within a year, though, each will encounter a very special man who will not only change them but change their lives forever.
In Long Time Coming, wedding planner Tessa Whitfield never imagined that opening the doors of Signature Bridals to Micah Sanborn would lead to their spending the next twelve hours together after a power outage hits her Brooklyn, New York, neighborhood. Her vow never to mix business with pleasure is shattered when the Brooklyn assistant district attorney offers Tessa an extraordinary friendship with a few special surprises that make her reevaluate everything she's come to believe about love.
Wedding-cake designer Faith Whitfield, who owns the fashionable Greenwich Village patisserie Let Them Eat Cake, has all but given up on finding her prince, and refuses to kiss another frog. But, when she least expects it, she discovers love in the passionate embrace of pilot to the rich and famous—and modern-day knight-in-shining-armor—Ethan McMillan in The Sweetest Temptation.
After a disappointing marriage and an ill-fated reconciliation with her high-school sweetheart, floral designer Simone Whitfield wants nothing to do with men. She's content to run her business, Wildflowers and Other Treasures, in the greenhouses on her White Plains, New York, property. In Taken by Storm, Simone witnesses an attack on a federal judge, and suddenly finds her cloistered suburban life turned upside down when U.S. Marshal Raphael Madison from the witness protection unit is assigned to protect her 24/7. Although they are complete opposites, Simone and Raphael come to share a heated desire and a love that promises forever.
Yours in romance,
Rochelle Alers
To Brie Edmonds-Ashton—
Thank you for the exquisite packaging and incredible
marketing of the Whitfields of New York
They that sow in tears, shall reap in joy.
—Psalm 126:5
Contents
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank the authors, editors and photographers of the following books, which proved invaluable in writing the Whitfields of New York's Signature Bridals:
Victoria Romantic Weddings, Hearts Books, 1998;
Bouquets: A Year of Flowers for the Bride
by Marsha Heckman, Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2000;
The Knot Book of Wedding Gowns
by Carley Roney, Chronicle Books, 2001;
For Your Wedding Cakes
by Bette Matthews, Barnes & Noble, 2003;
Wedding Flowers Made Simple
by Stephen Roberts, Watson-Guptill Publications, 2003;
Martha Stewart Weddings, winter 2004;
InStyle Weddings
by Hilary Sterne, Time, Inc. Home Entertainment, 2005;
Bride's Receptions Special Issue, spring 2006;
Grace Ormonde Wedding Style, spring/summer 2007.
Chapter 1
Simone Whitfield got up at the same time every day regardless of the season. This morning, rather than prepare to work in the greenhouses on her property, she readied herself to go to a nearby park. She'd waited months for spring and the return of warmer weather to resume jogging.
Staring at her reflection in the mirror over the bathroom vanity, she pulled a large-tooth comb through her hair, securing it off her face in an elastic band. It'd been years since she'd worn her hair off her shoulders, but had been reluctant to cut it because her ex-husband said he liked long hair. Their on-again, off-again relationship from high school sweethearts, to marriage, divorce and a failed reconciliation spanned sixteen years, and Anthony Kendrick no longer had a place in her life.
Now at thirty-three, she'd moved on and had no intention of ever looking back. She'd given Tony more chances than he deserved to get his act together and his last plea of just one more time had fallen on deaf ears. Besides, she had other things on which to concentrate. She was involved in running her own floral business, Wildflowers and Other Treasures, while planning her sister's wedding that was only seven weeks away.
Simone couldn't believe her very staid younger sister was planning to marry. Tessa Whitfield,