The Idea of Him. Holly Peterson

      

      

       Copyright

      Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

      77–85 Fulham Palace Road

      Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      First published in Great Britain by Harper 2014

      Copyright © Holly Peterson 2014

      Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2014

      Cover images © Shutterstock.com

      Holly Peterson asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

      A catalogue copy 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: 9780007233052

      Ebook Edition © September 2014 ISBN: 9780007583881

      Version: 2014-08-05

       Dedication

       To my four parents in their starring roles as role models: Sally for teaching empathy, Pete for personifying drive, Joan for dispensing wisdom at every turn, and Michael for setting a high intellectual bar for all of us.

      Table of Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

1. Memory Lane

2. Homefront

3. Power Jaunt

4. Party in the House

5. That Woman Again

6. Bizarre Behavior

7. Wifely Conundrums

8. Pulled Toward the Edge

9. No Choice but the Grindstone

10. Necessary Reckoning

       11. Crash Course

       12. Left-Field Curveball

       13. Date with Destruction?

       14. Danger Zone

       15. Spin Cycle

       16. Confrontation Catalyst

       17. Torn in All Directions

       18. Guests at the Masquerade

       19. Focused and Frustrated

       20. Playing the Procrastinator

       21. Under His Spell

       22. Blasting Heat

       23. Landed Gentry

       24. The Guard Saw All

       25. Texan Rage

       26. How to Keep It Clean Now?

       27. Can’t Climax Yet

       28. Simmering Situations

       29. Please Don’t Let This Happen

       30. Rare Moment of Maturity

       31. Life in Boxes

       32. Fear of the Unknown

       33. Percolating Problems

       34. Girl Loses Girl?

       35. Cash Call

       36. Afternoon Feast

       37. Girls Can Hurt More Than Boys