It Started With A Kiss. Miranda Dickinson

      MIRANDA DICKINSON

       It Started with a Kiss

Copyright

      AVON

      HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

      77–85 Fulham Palace Road

      Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2014

      Copyright © Miranda Dickinson 2014

      Miranda Dickinson asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

      A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library.

      This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

      Source ISBN: 9781847561671

      Ebook Edition © OCTOBER 2011 ISBN: 9780007387083

      Version: 2014-12-09

Dedication

       For the Peppermints: Andi, Clarko, Dan, Ed, Phil and Susanna. The best friends ever.

      ‘I dwell in possibility.’

      Emily Dickinson

      I’m a big believer in following your heart – and that’s so much easier to do when you have wonderful people believing in you. While writing and editing this book, I have been joined a merry band of lovelies who have watched my vlogs, tweeted with me and offered me so much enthusiasm and love. I hope this book is worth the wait for you!

      Three books in, and I’m still blown away by everyone’s support. Big thanks to my family and friends for their constant love, Julie Cohen for wise words and woops, Ritzi Cortez, Ella, Barry and Sue for help with narrowboat questions, Joanne Harris for the signal box wedding pictures and Serena at Combermere Abbey (www.combermereabbey.co.uk) for sharing your wonderful wedding venue with me. Thanks also to Vickie Pritchett (Mrs Bou) from The Boutique Baking Company (www.boutiquebaking.co.uk) for providing magical cake inspiration for Auntie Mags. And, as ever, huge thanks to Kim Curran (Next Big Thing) for reading every draft, giving awesome advice and being a fab friend.

      Massive thanks as always to my lovely editor Sammia Rafique for her constant belief in me (and long phone chats!), and to the fabulous team at Avon, especially Claire Bord, Caroline Ridding and Charlotte Allen. Big thanks also to Rhian McKay and Anne Rieley.

      Inspiration for my characters comes from everywhere, but this time several real-life lovelies have inspired characters in my story. Big love to Phil White (father-in-law-to-be and the inspiration for Uncle Dudley), Wayne McDonald (top bloke and the inspiration for D’Wayne) and my wonderful chums in The Peppermints wedding band (www.peppermintmusic.co.uk) for inspiring The Pinstripes (we’re available for weddings, birthdays, events …!).

      And last, but not least, thanks to my lovely fiancé, Bob – for putting up with tons of wedding research, being my constant cheerleader and making me smile. I can’t wait to marry you next year!

      This book is about following your heart. I hope it inspires you to follow yours. xx

      Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

       Epigraph

Chapter One: The most wonderful time of the year

Chapter Two: Dream a little dream of me

Chapter Three: You’ve got a friend

Chapter Four: We are family

Chapter Five: People get ready

      Chapter Six: Get the party started …

      Chapter Seven: Keep on moving …

      Chapter Eight: Love is all around …

      Chapter Nine: Help!

      Chapter Ten: Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (a man after midnight)

      Chapter Eleven: Rescue me

      Chapter Twelve: Move on up …

      Chapter Thirteen: Could it be magic?

      Chapter Fourteen: Please don’t stop the music …

      Chapter Fifteen: I will survive

      Chapter Sixteen: Spinning around …

      Chapter Seventeen: Here come the girls …

      Chapter Eighteen: Respect

      Chapter Nineteen: Stuck in the middle

      Chapter Twenty: Let there be love

      Chapter Twenty-One: It had to be you

       Keep Reading …

       Character Fact Files

       Deleted Scenes

      Cake Therapy by Auntie Mags

      About the Author

      By the Same Author

       About the Publisher

       CHAPTER ONE

       The most wonderful time of the year

      When it comes to telling your best friend that you love him, there are generally two schools of thought. One strongly advises against it, warning that you could lose a friend if they don’t feel the same way. The other urges action because, unless you say something, you might miss out on the love of your life.

      Unfortunately for me, I listened to the latter.

      The