The Wedding Planner. Millie Criswell

      Adam Morgan was every woman’s ultimate dream…every wedding planner’s financial fantasy!

      Meredith reached into her portfolio and pulled out an assortment of wedding invitation samples and cake photos, spreading them out on the leather desktop. “These are just samples, of course. I have others, if none meet your needs.”

      What would meet Adam’s needs, or rather who, was seated right in front of him. Meredith Baxter, with her bow-shaped, kissable mouth and figure that conjured up erotic thoughts, was an incredibly sexy woman.

      “You’re frowning, Mr. Morgan. Is something the matter?”

      Pushing the material back to her, he shook his head. “Just use your own judgment, Miss Baxter. The only requirement I have is that the date be set and the invitations printed immediately.”

      “But you don’t have a bride—”

      “No buts about it, Miss Baxter. Plan the wedding…as if it were your own.”

      “Millie Criswell rules when it comes to humor and passion. Don’t miss The Wedding Planner!”

      —Bestselling Silhouette Desire author

      Leanne Banks

      Dear Reader,

      Welcome to another month of wonderful books from Harlequin American Romance! We’ve rounded up the best stories by your favorite authors, with the hope that you will enjoy reading them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you.

      Kick-start a relaxing weekend with the continuation of our fabulous miniseries, THE DADDY CLUB. The hero of Mindy Neff’s A Pregnancy and a Proposal is one romantic daddy who knows how to sweep a woman off her feet!

      Beloved historical author Millie Criswell makes her contemporary romance debut with The Wedding Planner. We are thrilled to bring you this compelling story of a wealthy bachelor out to find himself a bride…with a little help from the wedding consultant who wishes she were his only choice!

      We’ve also got the best surprises and secrets. Bailey Dixon has a double surprise for Michael Wade in Tina Leonard’s delightful new Western, Cowboy Be Mine. And in Bonnie K. Winn’s The Mommy Makeover, a dedicated career woman is suddenly longing for marriage—what is her handsome groom’s secret?

      With best wishes for happy reading from Harlequin American Romance…

      Melissa Jeglinski

      Associate Senior Editor

      The Wedding Planner

      Millie Criswell

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      Millie Criswell is a national bestselling author and winner of the Romantic Times Magazine Career Achievement Award and the Reviewer’s Choice Award. She’s published more than a dozen historical romance novels, but is making her contemporary category romance debut with Harlequin American Romance. Millie lives in Virginia with her husband and her neurotic but loving Boston terrier. Her daughter is a practicing attorney in Florida and her son attends law school at West Virginia University.

      Contents

       Chapter One

       Chapter Two

       Chapter Three

       Chapter Four

       Chapter Five

       Chapter Six

       Chapter Seven

       Chapter Eight

       Chapter Nine

       Chapter Ten

       Chapter Eleven

       Chapter Twelve

       Chapter Thirteen

       Chapter Fourteen

       Chapter Fifteen

       Chapter Sixteen

       Chapter Seventeen

       Chapter Eighteen

      Chapter One

      Adam Morgan was certifiable, totally irrational and just plain-old nuts.

      Money couldn’t buy happiness. Well, it obviously couldn’t buy sanity, either. For all his money, good looks and breeding, the man seated across the round mahogany table from Meredith, looking so earnest in his two-thousand-dollar Armani suit and three-hundred-dollar white shirt, while he tossed sunflower seed remains all over her new carpet, was a few slices short of a two-dollar loaf of white bread.

      She continued to stare at him in disbelief, wondering if she’d heard him correctly. When he repeated himself, there was no doubt in her mind that a large vacuum existed between those well-shaped ears.

      “I need a wife, Miss Baxter. I’d like you to find me one as soon as possible. I’m on a tight deadline, and I’m willing to pay handsomely for your effort.” He cracked another sunflower seed between his flashing white, oh-so-very-straight teeth. It was obvious he flossed regularly. Another reason to dislike him.

      Gazing at the checkbook now being waved in her direction, her toe started tapping against the mauve carpeting. When nervous, some people chewed their nails, toyed with the ends of their hair or gnawed the inside of their cheek. Meredith tapped. In fact, she was tapping so fast at the moment she could probably qualify for a job at Radio City dancing with the Rockettes. Her right knee knocked against the underbelly of the table, and she pressed it with her palm to stop the motion.

      She was an excellent wedding planner and took pride in making her customers’ special day the most perfect it could be. But she wasn’t a magician or a marriage broker.

      Adam Morgan didn’t need a wife. He needed a shrink. And with his millions, he could afford the best psychiatrist Morgantown had to offer.

      “Perhaps you don’t understand what it is I do, Mr. Morgan. I’m a wedding consultant, not a matchmaker. Best Laid Plans will be happy to arrange for a church, rent a banquet hall for the reception, take care of the flowers, music and catering. But we don’t enter into bridal selection—unless, of course, you’re talking about bridal gowns. Those we can find.”

      Flicking an imaginary speck of dust off his expertly tailored navy-blue jacket, Adam Morgan drummed manicured fingers on the table. Everything about the man was manicured, from his perfectly coifed dark, wavy hair, to his highly polished cordovan wing tips. Meredith was pretty certain that if she were to