Day Leclaire - Shotgun Marriage (Fairytale Weddings) (Harlequin Romance)

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Day Leclaire invites you to a wedding...

The Location: the Cinderella Ball.

The Bride: Ella Montague. She had grown up with fairy tales, but this year was her last chance to meet her handsome prince and live happily ever after.

The Groom: Rafe Beaumont He didnt believe in fairies, hope or marriage. He had come to stop the Cinderella Ball once and for all, until he discovered an even better way to exact his revengea SHOTGUN MARRIAGE to Ella Montague!

A nd it could be your own !

On one very special night, single people from all over America come together in the hope of finding that special ingredient for a happy ever aftertheir soul-mate. The Cinderella Ball offers the opportunity for immediate matrimony: come single, leave wed. Which is exactly what is about to happen to three unsuspecting couples in Day Leclaires magical new trilogy:

Titles in this series are:

November: TEMPORARY HUSBAND
December: ACCIDENTAL WIFE
January 1997: SHOTGUN MARRIAGE

Dear Reader,

Ella Montague grew up on fairy tales and happily-ever-after endings. So is it any wonder that she would expect the magic of the Cinderella Ball to work for her? Unfortunately, Rafe Beaumont doesnt believe in faith or hope or miracles. Worse, hes determined to prove how wrong Ellas dreams are by making this the very last event of its kind.

Ive really enjoyed writing the Fairytale Weddings series. And I hope youll enjoy sharing in the romance and fantasy of the Cinderella Ball just one more time.... A very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

P.S. My next book, The Secret Baby , will be out in May!

Books by Day Leclaire

HARLEQUIN ROMANCE

3028JINXED
3139WHERE THERES A WILL
3183IN THE MARKET
3238A WHOLESALE ARRANGEMENT
3285TO CATCH A GHOST
3301ONCE A COWBOY
3338WHOS HOLDING THE BABY?
3361MAIL-ORDER BRIDEGROOM
3376ONE-NIGHT WIFE
3404MAKE-BELIEVE ENGAGEMENT
3433TEMPORARY HUSBAND
3438ACCIDENTAL WIFE

Dont miss any of our special offers. Write to us at the following address for information on our newest releases.

Harlequin Reader Service
U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo. NY 14269
Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3

Day Leclaire

Shotgun Marriage

TORONTO NEW YORK LONDON
AMSTERDAM PARIS SYDNEY HAMBURG
STOCKHOLM ATHENS TOKYO MILAN
MADRID WARSAW BUDAPEST AUCKLAND

To Kathy Smith Acosta. Thank you so much for always
being there when Ive needed you.

And to Susan Ashmore Fairbank, who exemplifies faith,
hope and incredible courage every day of her life.

PROLOGUE

The MontaguesForever, Nevada

YOURE dreading tonight, arent you?

Ella Montague glanced at her mother, reluctant to hurt her feelings with an honest reply. To be precise, shed been dreading this evenings Cinderella Ball for five long yearsever since the last ball her parents had thrown. For on that bleak night, all her hopes and dreams had been thoroughly shattered. But to admit that aloud and risk causing her mother pain... She shook her head. She just couldnt do it.

I know how much this occasion means to you and Dad.... she offered cautiously.

The Cinderella Ball does mean a lot to us, Henrietta conceded. Its our dearest wish that others experience the sort of love and joy your father and I found in our marriage. Thats why every five years we sponsor these ballswhy weve kept the tradition going for thirty-five years. She reached for her daughters hand. But you must know that what we want most of all is for you to be happy.

Happy? Ellas fingers trembled within her mothers grasp. What had once seemed such a certainty crept ever closer to the realm of impossibility. Maybe some of us werent meant to find happily-ever-after, she whispered.

Of course you were. Alarm filtered through her mothers voice. How could you think otherwise?

Ella bowed her head. Id always imagined Id meet the man of my dreams on a night like this, that wed fall in love and marry in the space of one magical evening. Just like you and Dad. But maybe She fought for control, fought to voice a possibility her parents had always refused to face. Maybe the Cinderella Ball doesnt work for everyone.

It works for those who believe, Henrietta insisted.

Does it? Are you certain?

Sadness crept into Henriettas gentle blue gaze. That Beaumont man hurt you badly, didnt he?

Ill survive, Ella said with a shrug.

Not a day goes by that your father and I dont regret that night. Its all our fault. We should have known... Her hand fluttered in the air like a wind-blown butterfly. We should have realized...

You werent to blame, Ella instantly denied. No one could have known what Rafes sister intended to do. Shayne never told any of us what shed planned. Besides, I didnt fall in love with Rafe at the Cinderella Ball.

You just lost him there, came the shrewd observation.

There wasnt any point in denying it. Im not a naive twenty-one-year-old. Nor am I a starry-eyed dreamer. Ella lifted her chin and met her mothers gaze resolutely. Not anymore. The past five years had seen to that.

Henriettas breath caught in dismay. Youve stopped believing, havent you? Oh, darling, you mustnt give up.

I havent. Thick, dark lashes fanned Ellas cheeks. Not yet.

Not unless tonight ended those few remaining dreams of finding an everlasting love. Shed give it a final chance, a last Cinderella Ball in which to find her Prince Charming. And if it didnt happen, shed know. Shed know that she wasnt one of the special people meant to find that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, one of those who discovered the happily-ever-after that turned fantasy into reality.

She stood, despair tarnishing the amber clarity of her eyes. Over the past several years shed made up her mind. If daylight broke and she remained unwed, shed face the inescapable truth. Shed accept that heaven never met earth. That stars were but distant pinpricks of cold firelight rather than vehicles for wishes. And that fairy godmothers didnt help dreams come true, even for little girls named Cinderella. Shed finally concede that Rafe had been right all along. Fairy tales were just pretty stories and most people never lived happily ever afterher parents the one exception that proved the rule.

Ella? Please tell me the truth. You do still believe, dont you?

She turned and offered her mother a reassuring smile. Its all right. I still believe. For this one last night, shed cling to the wispy remains of her hopes and dreams. Shed give the magic of the ball a final opportunity to work.

I have to be certain you havent given up, Henrietta said anxiously. Its so important to me...to us.

I know. Ellas smile grew. You and Dad are incurable romantics. You always have been.

Theres no point in denying it, her mother confessed. But thats not why Im so concerned. Theres something else. Something I havent told you.

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