***KINDLE STORE BESTSELLER***
Romance Series
Women’s Fiction/SagasVoted Best Book Series of 2013
by Supportive Business Moms, UK 4.5 stars – 156 reviews!
Award-winning and New York Timesbestselling author Melissa Foster brings us the engaging Snow Sisters in her fun, passionate contemporary romance series, Love in Bloom…
“Steamy love scenes, emotionally-charged drama and a family-driven story, make this the perfect story for any romance reader…”
— Midwest Book Review
Find out what happens to Danica and Kaylie Snow — and the sexy men in their lives — while SISTERS IN WHITE is 75% off the regular price!
4.5 stars – 156 Reviews
Text-to-Speech and Lending: Enabled
Here’s the set-up:
Danica and Kaylie Snow are about to celebrate the biggest day of their lives–their double wedding–on an island in the Bahamas. But no wedding is complete without a little family drama. The two sisters aren’t ready to face the father they haven’t seen since he divorced their mother and moved away to marry his mistress, and live with Lacy, the half sister they’ve never met.
While Danica has exchanged letters and phone calls with Lacy, Kaylie has fervently tried to pretend she doesn’t exist. Lacy is sweet, fun, and nearly a mirror image of Kaylie. To make matters worse, not only is Lacy looking forward to meeting her sisters, but she idolizes them, too. As the countdown to the wedding date ticks on, their parents are playing a devious game of revenge, and there’s a storm brewing over the island, threatening to cancel their perfect wedding. The sisters are about to find out if the bond of sisterhood really trumps all.
Please note: This book contains adult content. Not meant for readers under 18 years of age.
Praise for Sisters in White:
“…another incredible book in the Snow Sisters series…full of all the crazy things that can and do tend to happen on your wedding day, amped up a few degrees. I loved it!…”
“…Love the series, love these men! Good, quick reads with lots of sigh-worthy moments. Melissa Foster is one of my new favorite authors…”
an excerpt from
SISTERS IN WHITE
(Snow Sisters, Book 3)
by Melissa Foster
Copyright © 2014 by Melissa Foster and published here with her permission
Chapter One
“I thought they were going to do a cavity search,” Danica joked as she and her fiancé, Blake Carter, finally passed through security at the Nassau Airport. After six hours on an airplane, she felt like she’d been folded, packed tight, boxed, and shipped. The sooner she stepped out those glass doors and into the sunshine, the better. “Maybe we should go walk around a bit.”
“Don’t you want to wait for your sister?” Blake asked, holding the doors open for Danica to pass through. Her sister, Kaylie, and Kaylie’s fiancé, Chaz, were not far behind. His consideration of Kaylie and his gentlemanlike manners were just two of the many reasons Danica had fallen in love with—and finally agreed to marry—Blake.
“I guess. Then maybe we can take a walk after we get to the hotel.”
Blake set their bags down and pulled Danica in close. He lowered his voice to a sexy, sleepy drawl. “If you think I’m gonna let you out of our room any longer than to attend our wedding, you’re wrong.”
She playfully pushed him away as he made a show of nibbling on her neck.
A few minutes later, Kaylie breezed through the doors with Chaz, who was weighed down by two enormous suitcases. Her hair blew in the warm breeze like thick, shimmering strands of gold. “That took for-e-ver!” She took a deep breath and drew her arms open wide. “So this is what freedom feels like.”
“If you call six hours on a plane freedom,” Chaz joked. His blond hair was slightly disheveled, and still, in his ever-present khaki shorts and smart linen shirt, he and Kaylie looked like Ken and Barbie.
Kaylie shot him a flirty smile.
“Oh, you mean as in no-children freedom,” he said.
Kaylie and Chaz had met three years earlier, and Kaylie’s unexpected pregnancy, and the surprise birth of their twins, had kept them running at a frenetic pace ever since. Chaz Crew had proven himself as not only a loving and involved father, but he was the calm to Kaylie’s dramatic storms.
“I love my babies, but after two years of chasing the twins nonstop, I need this little break. Three whole days before they come with Mom. Three. Whole. Days. And two whole nights. It feels so decadent to be here in the middle of the week.”
It had taken Kaylie two years after Lexi and Trevor were born to feel like herself again, and as Danica watched her sister’s face light up at the prospect of time alone with her soon-to-be husband, she was glad they’d waited to have the wedding. At first, a double wedding had seemed like a bad idea. Danica had been sure Kaylie would want to be the star of the show, and wasn’t it just as much Danica’s day as Kaylie’s? But Kaylie had proven her wrong time and time again; from choosing flowers to bridesmaid dresses, Kaylie was agreeable, and even deferred to Danica on several occasions. At times, Danica still had trouble processing just how much Kaylie had changed since she’d met Chaz. She was no longer a party girl, but a mature mother of two…who just so happened to have a flair for drama at times.
“Two whole nights,” Chaz repeated.
“Now, that’s what I’m talkin’ about.” Blake picked up their bags and hailed a cab.
Although the others thought he was teasing, Danica saw the gleam in his eye and recognized the hunger that had yet to abate between them. She felt a flush rush up her neck and ducked into the cab so no one would notice. Each time they made love, it left her wanting more, like a hormone-infused teenager. Or a sex addict, she mused. Lately, in the darkest hours of the night, when Blake lay sleeping beside her ravished and sated body, she found herself wanting more, thinking about new and different things she and Blake might try. Things that, in her pre-Blake years, she’d never have even entertained. But she’d never—ever—say such things out loud. Not even to him. She’d learned that from her parents’ divorce a few years earlier. Danica knew that no matter how much she loved, and how much she trusted, sometimes life kicked you to the curb, and all that love—and all those promises in the dark—could be forgotten just as quickly as they’d slipped from her lips. A partner could walk away at any moment, taking the dirty scenes of their intimate moments with them and sharing them with God knew whom. She wasn’t having cold feet, and she trusted Blake explicitly, but some lessons were engrained too deeply to simply forget.
“Oh no. I’m talking about sleep, my friend.” Kaylie linked her arm through Chaz’s as they climbed into the cab. “My man needs to rest.”
After Chaz had taken over full ownership of the Indie Film Festival his father had started, he’d planned on taking the business to a whole new level. He’d been working night and day to ensure that he would never be desperate for sponsors again, and he’d succeeded. The bags under his eyes, and his slow pace, revealed the stress of working twelve-hour days and then coming home to late nights with the toddlers.
*****
Danica and Kaylie both gasped as they entered the elaborately decorated hotel. The incredibly high ceilings, and the widely sculpted, artistically weathered pillars, were highlighted by salmon-colored granite floors speckled with flecks of black, white, and gold, dramatically reflecting the crystal of the chandeliers.
Kaylie took Danica’s hand. “Oh my God. This belongs to Blake’s cousin?”
“Yeah. Treat Braden,” Danica said in a breathy voice. “This is too much.”
Blake put his hand on the small of her back. “He was happy to comp us the venue. It’s his wedding gift to us.”
“He must be loaded,” Kaylie said.
“Kaylie!” Maybe Kaylie hasn’t changed that much after all.
Kaylie smiled, and covered her mouth with her hand. “Oops. Sorry.”
Blake took it in stride. “He is loaded. His entire family is well off, but you’d never know it. All five brothers, and his sister, too. But they’re good people. Very humble, generous to a fault.”
“And from what Blake told me, each one is more handsome than the next, and yet they’re all single. Even Savannah, their sister.”
Kaylie furrowed her brow. “Are they all gay? I mean, women must flock to them, and guys to her.”
Blake shook his head as he checked in at the registration desk.
“They’re not gay; trust me, they all play the field. A lot,” he said as they headed to their separate rooms, agreeing to meet for a quick bite once they were settled in.
*****
Danica brought her wedding checklist to the café to go over it one last time.
“Everyone arrives Friday. Sally and Max are bringing our dresses with them; the flowers and food are all set, and Treat has reserved an entire island for the ceremony. Oh, and of course a boat, too, to get to the island.” Danica let out a relieved sigh, wondering what she might have forgotten. She still couldn’t believe that they were really getting married. She grabbed Blake’s hand, and when he turned his green eyes toward her, the yellow specks that had always intrigued her were dancing in the light.
He put his other hand on her cheek and said, “Yes, we’re really doing this.”
He’d been reminding her every chance he got that she would soon be his wife. Danica found it funny. He’d been the player when they’d met, not her, and yet he was the one afraid she’d leave him at the altar. “Yes, we are,” she assured him.
“Oh, please. Get a room.” Kaylie set the menu down as the waitress arrived and took their orders.
The waitress’s pearl-white teeth contrasted against her deeply tanned skin, and colorful beads were weaved through tiny braids in her long dark hair. Danica expected some sort of island accent, but when the summer beauty spoke, she was as American as apple pie. “I’ll be y’all’s waitress today. What can I get ya?”
They ordered tropical drinks, salads, and sandwiches, and Danica watched Kaylie survey the young waitress as she sauntered away, her hourglass figure expertly defined beneath the long, tight skirt and slinky tank top. She waited for Kaylie’s snarky remark.
Kaylie moved her chair closer to Chaz and said, “Wow, she is gorgeous. If that’s what the tropical sun does to a girl, then I’m never leaving.”
“Who are you and what have you done with my sister?” Danica was only half joking.
Kaylie swatted the air. “I’m old now, sis. I’m almost thirty, with two kids to boot.”
“If that’s old, then what does it say about me?” Danica asked.
“You’re right. At almost thirty-two, you are old. I’m still a spring chicken.”
The waitress brought their drinks and meals, and Blake raised his glass. “To two marriages. May they last forever.” They all clinked glasses.
Chaz took a drink, then asked, “What time does your father get in?”
Kaylie groaned.
“Play nice, Kaylie,” Danica said. Kaylie hadn’t seen their father since right after she graduated from college, when she’d found out about his long-term affair and he’d moved away and married his mistress. “He, Madeline, and Lacy get in today around six.”
“Madeline is coming, too?” Kaylie asked with a long sigh.
Of course, Kaylie already knew their father’s wife was coming. Danica shook her head at her sister’s penchant for drama.
“Please tell me why he’s coming on Wednesday when our wedding isn’t until Sunday,” Kaylie said. “I’ll need more of these, please.” Kaylie sucked down her drink and held up the glass, indicating to the waitress that she wanted a refill.
“Slow down, girl. You should at least be coherent when he arrives,” Danica said. “He wants time with us, and he knows we’ll be busy the day of the wedding. I told you all of this, and you agreed.”
“I didn’t agree,” Kaylie said with a vehement shake of her head. “You just didn’t listen to me when I said it would ruin my week. And that girl is coming, too. At least I don’t have to be nice to her,” Kaylie said.
Blake and Danica exchanged a worried glance. They’d anticipated how Kaylie might react to meeting their half sister, Lacy—their father’s love child—who was born just a few years after Kaylie, while their parents were still married.
When the twins were born, Kaylie had refused to call her father. Danica had taken it upon herself to give him the news about his grandchildren, and through her father, she’d made contact with Lacy. Although Danica had yet to meet her in person, they’d been exchanging emails, phone calls, and even a few handwritten letters over the past year and a half. Kaylie had been livid at her for weeks about contacting their father, so Danica decided to keep her relationship with Lacy a secret…just until Kaylie settled down. And by her reaction, it appeared that the subject of their father was still an open wound.
“Kaylie, I let you make most of the decisions, and you won on the dress decision. You were worried about Chelsea and Camille forgetting the dresses, or something happening to them, and practically demanded that Max be in charge.”
“She’s Chaz’s work wife. She gets everything done perfectly,” Kaylie said with a wave of her hand.
“Work wife? Whatever. Listen, whether you like it or not, Lacy is our blood relative,” Danica said carefully.
Kaylie pointed at Danica. “Half. If even that. I mean, how do we know she’s really his? We don’t know this Madeline woman. Maybe she’s a slut. I mean, she has to be to break up a marriage, right?”
Chaz had heard this from Kaylie dozens of times. He pushed back from the table. “Do you mind if I go lie down for a bit? I’m beat.”
Kaylie touched his thigh. “Do you want me to come with you?”
“No, babe. I’m fine. I’m just gonna rest a bit so that I’m awake when your family arrives.”
So, Chaz has learned the art of escape.
They kissed, and Kaylie turned back to Danica and Blake. “Sorry. He’s been working a lot.”
Danica had given up her therapy license almost three years earlier, when she’d realized her feelings for her new client—Blake—were not therapist-client appropriate. Even now, so many years later, she still could not ignore the therapist’s voice inside her head. Danica tried to hold back the worry that nipped at her nerves, but as she watched Kaylie suck down another drink, the words tumbled out.
“Kaylie, is something wrong between you and Chaz?”
“What? No, of course not. Why?”
Danica shrugged, trying to downplay her concern. “He just seemed to take off awfully fast when we started talking about Dad.”
Kaylie rolled her eyes.
There’s the old Kaylie.
“He thinks I’m being childish about the girl.”
Danica saw the pleading in her eyes; Support me. Tell me I’m right. She’d decided, after almost turning down Blake’s proposal because of her sister’s relationship drama, that she would play things straight from then on. She was done putting her own feelings aside in order to save Kaylie’s from being hurt. Danica was sticking to her guns and allowing her true feelings to be known; she was determined to no longer placate Kaylie’s needy side—too much. Her relationship with Lacy, however, was excluded from that straightforward deal. That subject had to be handled with kid gloves.
“Well…” Danica said.
Blake kissed her cheek and stood. “I’m gonna check out the gift shop. I’ll meet you back at the hotel?”
“Sure.” She watched him lazily, sexily saunter away, his thick, muscular back swaying with each step, and her favorite pair of jeans hugging his—
“What are you, fifteen?”
Danica hadn’t realized she was licking her lips until Kaylie’s voice interrupted her thoughts. She snapped her attention back to Kaylie. “What?” Oh God. I’ve turned into one of those sex-crazed girls. She made a mental note to tame her libido. At least in public.
“You look at him like he’s a Chippendales dancer and you’re made of one-dollar bills.” Kaylie crinkled her nose, like she was disgusted at the thought.
“Don’t you look at Chaz like that sometimes?”
Kaylie shrugged. “I guess. But once you have kids, you kind of put all that stuff aside.”
Uh-oh. “Kaylie, now that the guys are gone, can we talk about Dad and Lacy? Just you and me?” She’d tried to bring up her father at least once each month since the twins were born, and each time, Kaylie had refused to discuss him. Danica had to try, just one last time.
“Why do you do this? Why do you feel the need to ruin a perfectly beautiful day? Isn’t it bad enough that he’s coming to the wedding?”
No need to beat me over the head with a stick. Lesson learned.
Chapter Two
Blake and Danica hashed out every scenario surrounding her father’s arrival, and in the elevator on their way to the lobby, her muscles were pinched so tight she could hardly breathe. She had little faith that Kaylie would actually show up, and even though she and her father had been exchanging emails, letters, and phone calls, she knew that seeing him in person might do all sorts of painful things to her mind and body. Was she dressed okay? What would he think of her? Should she have worn more makeup? Would he be upset with her for giving up her practice? He hadn’t seemed to be upset, but Danica knew that face-to-face meetings could bring out all sorts of emotions.
Blake took her hand as they crossed the lobby to the plush chairs beside the windows. “Relax. It’ll all be fine.”
She wished it were true, but she had known Kaylie too long to think tonight would be an easy reconciliation. She watched the elevator like a hawk. “She better get her butt down here.”
“She will. Don’t worry. It’s not like we’re going anywhere. We’re meeting him here, so even if she’s late, it’s okay.” Blake picked up a magazine and leafed through it.
Twenty minutes later, Kaylie still hadn’t come downstairs. Danica stood in her too-high heels and paced. She’d put on her favorite royal blue wrap-around dress, the one she felt most confident in. She’d tried to tame her mass of curly hair, which she’d cropped back to shoulder length after the twins were born so her niece and nephew would stop pulling at it, and it had freakishly obeyed. She’d won the battle of Afro versus curly chic, and still, her heart raced within her chest.
She thought she was ready to see her father again. Out of support for her mother and Kaylie—at least that’s what she told herself—she hadn’t seen him since he moved away. If I’m this nervous, Kaylie must be petrified. She opened her purse and pulled out her cell phone, texting Kaylie.
U coming?
Her phone vibrated a minute later. Not yet.
“Damn it, Kaylie,” she said under her breath. Her phone vibrated again. Ha-ha. Just joking. “She’s such a fool,” Danica said with a terse smile. She was glad to see Kaylie was in good spirits. Maybe that would bode well for their impending meeting.
At six thirty she texted her father’s cell phone. Ten minutes later, when he hadn’t responded yet, she texted Lacy. Where r u? Can’t wait to meet u! Her cell vibrated a few minutes later. Flight late. Stuck in immigration line. Go eat. Be there soon. A few seconds later it vibrated again. Me 2!!
“They’re going to be a while. Let’s get Kaylie and grab a bite.” She texted Kaylie as they headed for the restaurant. Meet us in restaurant. Dad’s gonna B late.
*****
Kaylie and Chaz walked into the restaurant forty minutes later, bright-eyed and slightly flushed. Kaylie brushed her hair from her shoulders. Her black minidress accentuated every perfect curve of her body. She clung to Chaz’s arm like a groupie, looking up at him with something in her eyes that Danica didn’t recognize. It wasn’t just lust or love. It was a look that bordered on need.
Oh God, really, Kaylie?
“Sorry we’re late. We were—” She looked at Danica and winked. “Napping.”
“Napping, my ass,” Danica said, relieved to see that whatever strife had been present before seemed to have subsided. “Did you talk to Mom?”
“Yeah, the kids are great. She said they barely miss us.” She frowned as she sat in one of the cushioned dining chairs across from Chaz. “It feels so weird not to have them here. I kept expecting to hear Mommy! Daddy!”
“Not me. I was out like a light. I miss them, but whew.” Chaz shook his head. “I think I could sleep for a week and still not catch up.” He looked at Kaylie and smiled lazily. “Of course, she’ll have no part of my sleeping all day.”
“Oh stop.” Kaylie swatted him. “We have no time together, so I’m just gonna take advantage of the time we do have.”
They nibbled on appetizers and had a few drinks. A half hour later, Danica broached the subject of her father again. I’m a glutton for punishment.
“Dad’s so late. They must’ve been hung up in immigration.” She turned toward Kaylie with a serious gaze. “Are you gonna be civil tonight?” she asked.
“What do you think I am, a monster? Of course I’ll be civil.” Kaylie looked around the table for support.
Chaz’s eyes were trained on the stuffed mushroom at the end of his fork.
“Well, I’ll be civil,” Blake said. “I’m actually looking forward to meeting the man who raised two independent, beautiful women.”
How does he always know just what to say?
“That would be my mother,” Kaylie said.
“Kaylie, that’s not true. Dad was there the entire time we were growing up, and he was a good father, regardless of what he did to Mom.”
Kaylie downed her third drink. “Whatever. All I know is, everything I thought was true when we were growing up wasn’t true. I mean, he wasn’t on business trips; he was with her. And all those birthdays that girl and that woman had, you know he was with them instead of us then, too. So—”
She was right to some extent, but Danica’s therapist brain saw both sides of the argument, and she had no interest in starting World War III right then and there, in the midst of a lovely evening with a stunning view of the water.
“All I’m asking, Kaylie, is for you to be kind to them. Try to tolerate the situation without making snarky remarks and making everyone uncomfortable.”
Kaylie’s eyes were locked on the entrance to the restaurant. “Oh. My. God.”
An almost mirror image of Kaylie—tall, blond, with innocent baby blues—nervously fingered a black clutch purse as she scanned the restaurant. Her skin was the same fair shade, and the oval shape of her face was a replica of Kaylie’s, just a few years earlier. The familiar Snow long and lean legs ended in—Danica cringed—the same black sling-back heels that Kaylie had on her feet. The only difference between Kaylie and Lacy, as far as Danica could see, was the corkscrew curls tumbling to Lacy’s shoulders. While she possessed the body and face of Kaylie, she had Danica’s and their father’s kinky curls.
Her hopeful eyes landed on Danica’s and caught. And in that breath, so did Kaylie’s.
“Wait.” Kaylie’s eyes shot back and forth between the young girl who was headed directly toward them to her sister, who was now rising from her seat with a wide smile across her mulberry-colored lips and taking long strides toward the interloper.
Danica felt Kaylie’s stare piercing her back as she crossed the restaurant. The sight of Lacy there in the flesh, the sister she’d secretly longed to meet, caused her heart to increase in size, filling her chest. She opened her arms, and the blonde fell comfortably into them, like she’d always had a spot right there against Danica’s chest. Danica heard the competitive click of Kaylie’s heels as she approached from behind.
“Danica?” Kaylie tugged on her arm.
Danica reluctantly pulled away, holding on to Lacy’s forearms for just a beat longer. She wanted to hug Lacy even longer, but she was painfully aware of the hurt it would cause Kaylie. Over the months, their emails had shifted from cordial topics like work and hobbies to more intimate subjects, and eventually, they’d each slipped into the sisterly role of offering support and guidance. Guilt shrouded Danica like a woolen shawl, heavy and unmistakably present, as she realized that she’d shared things with Lacy that she’d never shared with Kaylie. What have I done? She didn’t have time to ponder the whys and hows of it all. Lacy already felt like a sister to her, someone she loved, and by the look on Kaylie’s face, Lacy was a living, breathing threat. A betrayal. Danica was quick to react to the brewing storm behind Kaylie’s stare.
“Kaylie, this is our sister, Lacy.” She regretted the words our sister as soon as they fell from her lips.
Kaylie feigned a smile, while Lacy’s warmth was true and real. Eye to eye, with the same shade of buttery blond hair and identical full, sensuous lips, their familial connection could not be denied.
Danica had warned Lacy before she came to Nassau that Kaylie might not be as welcoming as she might hope, but to wait it out, and surely Kaylie would come around.
Lacy opened her arms and leaned in toward Kaylie. “You’re even more beautiful in person,” she said sincerely.
Kaylie pulled out of reach and crossed her arms, her eyes darting back to Danica with a you’re in so much trouble look. “Nice to meet you.” Kaylie’s efforts at even the simplest of pleasantries were soiled by the tension surrounding her like a shield.
… Continued…
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SISTERS IN WHITE
(Love in Bloom: Snow Sisters, 3)
by Melissa Foster
4.5 stars – 156 reviews!!
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