Red Clover Inn. Carla Neggers

      

      New York Times bestselling author Carla Neggers delivers an irresistible story about love, family and finding a place to call home..

      Marine archaeologist Charlotte Bennett is no stranger to risk, but her dives into sunken wreckage are always meticulously planned. However, being the maid of honor in her cousin Samantha’s English wedding gives her a new perspective on her life as a nomad who’s given up on romance altogether. Though an encounter with roguish wedding guest Greg Rawlings leaves her unsettled, the other people she meets make a trip to the tranquil town of Knights Bridge, Massachusetts, enticing. Acting on impulse, Charlotte offers to house-sit at Red Clover Inn while Sam and Justin Sloan are away on their honeymoon.

      The quaint inn isn’t open to the public yet and Charlotte will have quiet time to plan her next project. It might also give her a chance to see how her cousin found love and a sense of family. But the peace is immediately disrupted when Greg shows up at the inn. The Diplomatic Security Service agent lives a dangerous life, and he, too, wants to clear his head before his next assignment. Juggling work, raising his two teenage children and nursing a wounded heart has left him jaded, and the last thing he expects is to find himself falling for the willful Charlotte. As the attraction between them flares, Charlotte realizes she might be in too deep. And each of them must decide if they can put love first before it’s too late.

      Praise for Carla Neggers’ New York Times bestselling Swift River Valley novels

      “Masterful attention to detail, conversational dialogue and past-character catch-up expertly draw readers into her potent mix of romance, mystery and small-town drama.”

      —RT Book Reviews on The Spring at Moss Hill

      “Appealing protagonists, good neighbors, small-town Christmas traditions, and Neggers’ own recipes make for a fine romance.”

      —Publishers Weekly on A Knights Bridge Christmas

      “A heady mix of romance, mystery and genuine Quabbin history packaged in an enchanting holiday tale.”

      —RT Book Reviews on A Knights Bridge Christmas

      “Neggers does the near impossible: she brings a small-town, family-loving heroine and a footloose hero together in an engaging romance that has its fair share of surprises.”

      —Library Journal on Echo Lake

      “Her people, places and things are colorfully and expertly rendered in this compelling work of fiction.”

      —RT Book Reviews on Cider Brook

      “Neggers captures readers’ attention with her usual flair and brilliance and gives us a romance, a mystery and a lesson in history.”

      —RT Book Reviews, Top Pick, on Secrets of the Lost Summer

      Red Clover Inn

      Carla Neggers

       www.mirabooks.co.uk

      To Niamh Amalia, daughter of my daughter

      Contents

       Cover

       Back Cover Text

       Praise

       Title Page

       Dedication

       One

       Two

       Three

       Four

       Five

       Six

       Seven

       Eight

       Nine

       Ten

       Eleven

       Twelve

       Thirteen

       Fourteen

       Fifteen

       Sixteen

       Seventeen

       Eighteen

       Nineteen

       Twenty

       Twenty-One

       Twenty-Two

       Twenty-Three

       Author’s Note

       Extract

       Copyright

       One

      The Cotswolds, England

      Charlotte Bennett was no stranger to trouble but never had she encountered it in the form of a US federal agent who was exhausted, somewhat inebriated or both. “Agent Rawlings.” She paused, debating the wisdom of continuing. “Are you by any chance armed?”

      “Armed with a smile.”

      And smile he did, as if to prove his point. It was a casually sexy