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    An Ocean Away
    An Ocean Away
    An Ocean Away
    Ebook69 pages53 minutes

    An Ocean Away

    By Heather B. Moore

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Gina Graydon knows the last thing she’ll attract on her holiday in France is an eligible bachelor. Tall, outspoken, and with a weakness for laughing at the wrong moment, not to mention being much too occupied with reading gothic romances, Gina decides she’d rather live in her fictional world. Besides, the only man who pays attention to her at the resort hotel happens to be her father’s worst enemy. And that is far from romantic. Reading in a secluded garden, and dreaming about the perfect kiss, all keep Gina much too busy to consider Mr. Edmund Donaldson any sort of hero.

    AN OCEAN AWAY was originally published in the Timeless Romance Anthology: European Collection, and it's a companion novella to the USA Today bestselling romance HEART OF THE OCEAN.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMirror Press, LLC
    Release dateJan 17, 2017
    ISBN9781386733553
    An Ocean Away

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      Book preview

      An Ocean Away - Heather B. Moore

      Dear Reader,

      To receive my next book for FREE, sign up for my newsletter here. Enter your email, and you’ll receive a confirmation email with a download link to my next book. Free! Your email will not be shared and you may unsubscribe at any time. I always appreciate reviews but there is no obligation.

      Thank you!

      Heather

      Other Works by Heather B. Moore

      Heart of the Ocean

      The Fortune Café

      The Boardwalk Antiques Shop

      The Mariposa Hotel

      Power of the Matchmaker

      Love is Come

      A Season in London

      A Fortunate Exile

      The Aliso Creek Series

      The Newport Ladies Book Club Series

      Timeless Romance Anthologies

      Chapter One

      1841—Bordeaux, France

      Gina Graydon tucked a deliciously romantic gothic novel under her arm and stepped onto the hotel balcony of her second-floor room. That the hotel balcony perched over a shadowed garden, and the sun had yet to rise, didn’t deter Gina from hiking up her wrapper and nightgown and climbing over the rail.

      In her twenty years, she’d had plenty of experience climbing from balconies. Doing so was her favorite early morning pastime back at home in New York City. Of course, her parents would not be happy if they knew what she was doing now.

      Currently, it was dark enough to avoid detection by her parents, who slept in the next room over, should they awaken unexpectedly. And it was light enough to climb down the protruding stones without falling into a heap.

      This was Gina’s third early morning foray that week into the Bordeaux garden, and she’d become quite expert at scaling the now-familiar wall. She’d found, after a bit of slipping on her first attempt, that going barefoot gave her the needed grip, and the only tricky part was keeping her book from falling out of her bodice.

      It was no ordinary book, but one by a female author who published under a nom de plume. Full of intrigue, dark English moors, a mysterious hero, and intricacies of kissing, which Gina had never before experienced, this was a book to be read in the wilds of the garden—a French garden, to be exact. The pristine order of her rented room would not do for this story. The words on the page had to be savored and mulled over in an atmosphere worthy of both the characters and the setting.

      Gina took her literature seriously, and if truth be told, she’d rather read a delicious novel than do much else . . . with the exclusion of eating; Gina didn’t want for much in life. Except for the fact that her parents, namely her father, had scared off any eligible suitor for the past three years. She’d experienced no romance, no courting, and hardly even a conversation with an eligible gentleman since she had become of age.

      Because of this, Gina had been driven to desperate measures, such as hiding in gardens, and reading forbidden books. As the only child of the esteemed Mr. and Mrs. Graydon of New York City, she was expected to act properly at all times, marry a wealthy man who’d add his fortune to her father’s, and produce at least two grandchildren—preferably a boy and a girl—to be considered of value to the family name.

      She let out a long, heavy sigh as her feet touched the ground. She made her way to the garden, entering through the arched gateway topped with thick vines. How could she ever secure a proposal with her father’s intimidation toward other men? As a powerful and wealthy shipping tycoon, he believed no one was good enough for his little girl.

      As Gina followed the twisting path outlined by tall rose bushes, she wondered if she’d ever have the chance to fall madly in love—a rare occasion even under the best of circumstances and without a tyrant for a father. But falling in love was entirely possible if she knew anything about her best friend, Eliza Robinson. The week before they’d left for France, Gina had attended Eliza’s wedding in the coastal town of Maybrook, Massachusetts. Eliza had gone against great odds to marry the man she loved.

      Gina stopped at a bush in full bloom with exquisite white roses. In the growing light, the white looked ethereal, reminding her of the flowers at her friend’s wedding. Eliza’s ceremony had been terribly romantic—so quaint and simple, with only the closest family and friends present. Far from society’s prying eyes and ears, the wedding had been almost secretive, daring, one step from an elopement.

      She bent down to smell the roses, letting

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