Take My Breath Away. Christie Ridgway

      From USA TODAY bestselling author Christie Ridgway comes a sparkling new series set in the California mountains, where Hollywood glamour meets rustic charm, and the sparks fly among the unlikeliest of couples…

      Poppy Walker has a plan to restore the family resort, and she’s sticking to it. So when a good-looking guy with plenty of cash rents one of her half-repaired vacation cabins, she figures he’s just what the handyman ordered. But when a storm blows through, it takes down some trees, her roof and then…her self-control. Even though she’s been burned before by a wealthy passer-through, she can’t stay away from the brooding but gorgeous stranger in the bungalow next door.

      Former teen idol turned Hollywood exec Ryan Hamilton wants a private place in which to endure his very personal heartbreak. Finally, at this rustic mountain cabin, he has all the seclusion one man could want—until sparks begin to fly with his sexy, formerly chilly landlady. By the time the weather dies down, they’re both hot, bothered and certain they’re still wrong for each other. But there’s no telling how they’ll face the new storm brewing on the horizon.…

      Praise for USA TODAY bestselling author

      Christie Ridgway

      “Emotional and powerful…

      everything a romance reader could hope for.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Bungalow Nights

      “Kick off your shoes and escape to endless summer.

      This is romance at its best.” —Emily March, New York Times bestselling author of Nightingale Way, on Bungalow Nights

      “Sexy and addictive—Ridgway will keep you up all night!”

      —New York Times bestselling author Susan Andersen on Beach House No. 9

      “A great work of smart, escapist reading.”

      —Booklist on Beach House No. 9

      “Ridgway’s feel-good read, with its perfectly integrated, extremely hot, and well-crafted love scenes, is contemporary romance at its best.”

      —Booklist on Can’t Hurry Love (starred review)

      “Sexy, sassy, funny, and cool, this effervescent sizzler

      nicely launches Ridgway’s new series and is a perfect pick-me-up for a summer’s day.” —Library Journal on Crush on You

      “Pure romance, delightfully warm and funny.”

      —New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Crusie

      “Christie Ridgway writes with the perfect combination

      of humor and heart. This funny, sexy story is as fresh and breezy as its southern California setting. An irresistible read!” —New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs on How to Knit a Wild Bikini

      Take My Breath Away

      Christie Ridgway

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      Dear Reader,

      Take a trip with me to the region known as the Alps of Southern California. Here, an hour from the glamour and glittering lights of Los Angeles, the wealthy retreat to “Hollywood on High,” where rocky peaks, tall pines and clean air surround their mansions flanking the shores of Blue Arrow Lake. At this more than mile-high elevation, California has four full seasons and two kinds of people: the moneyed who come for their alpine visits, and the more modest mountain locals, who are rooted to their rugged surroundings.

      In Take My Breath Away, Los Angeleno Ryan Hamilton seeks solitude by retreating to the rustic cabins managed by lovely single mother Poppy Walker. But her beauty and her can-do attitude draw him out, and soon he finds himself leaning in for a kiss…and then another. Poppy’s been burned by love before and has no intention of falling for a guy who seems so out of her league, yet Ryan has a way of getting under her skin and reminding her that being a mom doesn’t mean she can’t have a man.

      I love bringing together two people who think they are absolutely wrong for each other and then letting them wrestle with fate and with their growing feelings. Ready to enjoy it with me? Then come aboard. Destination…romance!

      Christie

      In grateful memory of Harlow

      (aka Best-Dog-in-the-World) for his eleven-plus years of loyal companionship that included escorting small boys into dreamland every night. And with thanks to Hank (aka Sweetest-Dog-in-the-World), who makes us glad we risked our hearts to love again.

      Contents

       Epigraph

       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 Nineteen

       Chapter Twenty

       Chapter Twenty-One

       Chapter Twenty-Two

      If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?

      —Percy Bysshe Shelley

      CHAPTER ONE

      POPPY WALKER JUST wanted something good to come from the next ten days. The next ten days, the first ten in March, when she had to do without the company of the only man she’d ever love. Earlier that morning, she’d worn her game face as she’d waved goodbye to her five-year-old son.

      The tears she’d saved for