Sherryl Woods - Return to Rose Cottage: The Laws of Attraction For the Love of Pete

Dear Reader,

I hope youve enjoyed the first two entries in the Rose Cottage Sisters series. In this volume, youll meet two more DAngeloshigh-powered attorney Ashley and tender-hearted Jo.

Though the thought of the isolation of Rose Cottage practically gives Ashley hives, her sisters convince her its the best place to recover as her professional life unravels. Despite the family track record, which is two for two in finding love at Rose Cottage, the last thing Ashley expects to find is the perfect match while shes nursing her injured pride. Josh Madison is Ashleys exact opposite. He craves the peace and quiet, and he has a thing or two to teach Ashley about relaxation and the magic of love.

Unlike her three skeptical older sisters, Jo DAngelo knows firsthand just how powerful a pull this place by the Chesapeake Bay can have when it comes to love. She met her first love thereand had her heart broken. But this is Rose Cottage, after all, and it definitely has enough mystique left to mend one more heart. In its cozy rooms, Jo remembers why she fell in love with Pete Catlett the first time, and he does everything in his power to see that she doesnt get away a second time.

I hope youve enjoyed sharing the enchantment of Rose Cottage and its effect on the DAngelo sisters. The truth is, wherever we find love will forever be touched with magic in our memories.

All best,

Praise for the novels of
New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author
Sherryl Woods

Woodsis noted for appealing character-driven stories that are often infused with the flavor and fragrance of the South.

Library Journal

a whimsical, sweet scenariothe digressions have their own charm, and Woods never fails to come back to the romantic point.

Publishers Weekly on Sweet Tea at Sunrise

What better way to welcome spring back into our lives than to be able to sit down with a book by a beloved author, a cool drink, and dreams of young love blooming?

Romance Review on Home in Carolina

Woods readers will eagerly anticipate her trademark small-town setting, loyal friendships, and honorable mentors as they meet new characters and reconnect with familiar ones in this heartwarming tale.

Booklist on Home in Carolina

Warm, complex, and satisfying.

Library Journal on Harbor Lights

Sparks fly in a lively tale that is overflowing with family conflict and warmth and the possibility of rekindled love.

Library Journal on Flowers on Main

Launching the Chesapeake Shores series, Woods creates an engrossingfamily drama.

Publishers Weekly on The Inn at Eagle Point

Woods is a master heartstring puller.

Publishers Weekly on Seaview Inn

SHERRYL WOODS

Return to Rose Cottage

Also by New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Sherryl Woods

HOME AT ROSE COTTAGE

A CHESAPEAKE SHORES CHRISTMAS

HONEYSUCKLE SUMMER

SWEET TEA AT SUNRISE

HOME IN CAROLINA

HARBOR LIGHTS

FLOWERS ON MAIN

THE INN AT EAGLE POINT

WELCOME TO SERENITY

SEAVIEW INN

MENDING FENCES

FEELS LIKE FAMILY

A SLICE OF HEAVEN

STEALING HOME

WAKING UP IN CHARLESTON

FLIRTING WITH DISASTER

THE BACKUP PLAN

DESTINY UNLEASHED

FLAMINGO DINER

ALONG CAME TROUBLE

ASK ANYONE

ABOUT THAT MAN

ANGEL MINE

AFTER TEX

Look for Sherryl Woodss next original novel

DRIFTWOOD COTTAGE

available April 2011

And newly reissued

THE BACKUP PLAN

available January 2011

CONTENTS

The Laws of Attraction

Prologue

T he headline said it all: Guilty Man Freed.

Albert Tiny Slocum was a charming two-bit punk whod hoodwinked his lawyer and an entire jury into believing in his innocence. It hadnt helped that the case presented against him hadnt been airtight. He walked out of the courtroom a free man with a clean slate, thanks to Ashley DAngelo, whod once been dubbed Bostons savior of the innocent.

Of course, Tiny had spoiled his innocent act a bit when hed had the audacity to turn to the jury in front of the judge and call them all suckers. That moment of pure cockiness had proved just what a psychopath he was. It had also earned him a promise from the prosecutor that he would find a way to put Tiny right back behind bars, maybe not for the crime of killing Letitia Baldwin for which hed just been acquitted, but for some other heinous act he had already committed. There were bound to be some.

That appalling scene had also been the moment that every criminal defense attorney with a conscience dreaded. Ashley DAngelo was no exception.

Ashley hadnt much liked three-hundred-pound Tiny, but she had believed in him. Hed declared his innocence with such passion. He had a clever mind and a sharp wit that hed used effectively to charm her into thinking he couldnt possibly be guilty of such a barbaric crime. In the course of what appeared to have started as a botched purse-snatching, elderly, frail Letitia Baldwin had been beaten nearly to death by someone in an obvious rage at finding only a few dollars in her wallet. Tiny had professed to love and respect women. His own mother had backed him up, saying he was the ideal son. Ashley, whod built her entire reputation on defending the innocent, had been taken in.

Shed also seen all the holes in the prosecutions case. Shed spent months building a defense, but before she could spend a single second feeling triumphant over the not-guilty verdict, shed been hit with the gut-wrenching realization that Tiny was indeed responsible for Letitia Baldwins massive injuries. The elderly woman had later died in the emergency room, changing the charge from assault to murder.

There wasnt enough merlot in all the wine cellars in Boston to help Ashley get over that sickening image. The crime scene photos played over and over in her head, like a looping newsreel that never quit.

Later, in the dark of night, when she was lying sleepless in her fancy penthouse apartment, Ashley had finally admitted that on some level shed known all along that she was defending a murdererand doing it with the kind of aggressive tactics that were almost guaranteed to win an acquittal. She didnt know how to defend a client any other way, which was one reason shed always been very, very careful about whom she chose to represent. Her firm had allowed her that latitude because shed racked up courtroom victories and a lot of press in the process.

But even as shed planned Tinys defense, shed suffered pangs of guilt. Shed been assailed by doubts. Thats why shed run to Rose Cottage before the trial had begun. It had been eating at her even then. Not that shed wanted to say it aloud or even allow the thought to form. Shed wanted to go right on believing in Tiny, because she had to in order to live with herself. In retrospect, she knew she should have quit the case the moment shed had that first niggling doubt, but somehow winning had become more important than anything else, and shed known she could win.

Now that the truth was out, she was sick of the law, sick of her own ability to twist it for her clients benefit. Her self-respect was in tatters. How had her life come to this? This victory tarnished all the others, all the cases shed been proud to win, all the cases that had earned her a full partnership at her law firm in record time.

Heartsick, shed been locked away in her apartment for nearly twenty-four hours now, refusing to answer the phone, refusing to go to the door. Shed given a brief press conference, declaring that she was stunned after the debacle in the courtroom, then gone into hibernation to avoid the inevitable media frenzy over that disturbing courtroom spectacle.