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Jupiter Island, Florida where Lily Foster, owner of an eclectic landscape
nursery, is mistaken for a wealthy socialite by billionaire resort developer
Rhett Buchanan. Overdue for a little romance in her life, Lily is anxious for
one fabulous date with her handsome prince, so she cultivates her inadvertent
masquerade.
the Palm Beach social scene, dominated by scheming women desperate for more
money — his money. Rhett falls hard when he meets Lily Foster. She is a breath
of fresh air after the smog of gold diggers constantly surrounding him.
first sight until her deception comes to light and pitches their relationship
into a disastrous tailspin. Well-meaning friends are determined to intercede
and resort to inept high jinks to reunite the estranged couple while a wicked
ex-girlfriend plays dirty to keep the couple apart.
Rhett Buchanan drove into the parking area. Like he had time for this
foolishness. Whoever heard of the CEO of a billion-dollar development
firm approving a truckload of trees, even if they were species no other
nursery could grow?
overhead sign. Evidently, a small-time nursery called Bloom & Grow
had heard of such nonsense. He tugged his tie loose and rolled up the
sleeves on his white dress shirt before angling out of his black SUV. At
least a nice breeze was whipping off the Intracoastal Waterway.
had argued with Garrett over lunch about doing this inspection alone.
Apparently, this eccentric nursery insisted on a final inspection
conducted only by the actual owner—no substitutes. Sounded more like an
interview. He let out a resigned sigh. Garrett Tucker made Rhett’s new
resort developments stand out like diamonds in the rough and
accomplished the feat with specialty landscape materials. The man had a
gift, but only Garrett could find an oddball place like this to buy
trees.
the threshold, he froze. His gaze slowly took in a pair of perfect
slender legs, then inched up to a spectacular yellow sundress with a
cleavage that made his mouth water.
complexion, shoulder-length blond hair, and delicate features finished
the marvelous package who appeared to be perusing some sort of plant
brochure. At that moment, Rhett wished he owned this oddball nursery, so
he could spend all day selling plants to the beauty in the yellow
sundress.
nodded, started to reply, then didn’t. He just wanted to stare a while
longer. Quickly realizing he’d look like an idiot if he did, he cleared
his throat and began again. “Sorry, I’m being rude. My name is Rhett
Buchanan.”
her eyes widened almost imperceptibly. If he hadn’t been staring at her
eyes, he might have missed it. Had she felt the spark, too?
He just stuttered like a bashful high-school boy. This from a man who
bought and sold corporations over lunch. What the hell was wrong with
him today?
dusted off what he hoped was his most charming smile. “Maybe you could
help me with my inspection. It’s too many trees for me, and I could sure
use some help.”
laughed, a musical sound like delicate wind chimes. “I’m not kidding.
Tammy says her mother loved the country western singer.”
nodded. Again. “Do you know if she went to the laydown yard? My
assistant said the trees would be staged in the laydown yard. We could
meet her there and get started.”
well, Tammy’s here to sell trees, and I’m looking for an objective
second opinion on what I should keep or exchange. I could sure use your
help since you’re pretty good with landscaping and all.”
that he had any intention of exchanging anything. He couldn’t tell a
diseased tree from a healthy one, but he’d look at every single tree if
it meant spending more time with Lily Foster.
led Buchanan outside where they grabbed the customer golf cart parked
in front of the office. Rhett climbed behind the wheel and headed for
the center drive Lily indicated. The man was tall; she guessed at least
four inches over six feet. Riding passenger gave her an excuse to stare
at him and wonder how she’d gotten so lucky. To actually be dressed up
on the day a gorgeous hunk came in to inspect trees? What were the odds?
A successful hunk, too, since he owned his own corporation, and Tammy
said the BDC order was a big one.
fit her impression of a corporate CEO, powerfully built and handsome
enough she had gone completely tongue-tied back in the office. She could
get lost in those amazing green eyes. And that slow, sexy smile he’d
given her had made her toes curl.
would do much better out here in the nursery with plant material to
talk about rather than forcing conversation in the office. For the first
time in her life, she wished she had spent more time flirting with boys
in high school like all the other girls. Instead, she had studied her
heart out to get good grades and make Hank proud since she was all he
had.
was no sign of Tammy’s fiery-red curls among the rows of trees. An
errant customer had probably waylaid her somewhere in the nursery.
and Buchanan got out and ambled over to the first row of trees, a dozen
dwarf magnolias. The containers were well-chosen, some of their best
product. Hands on his hips, he gazed at the trees and back at her, then
raised his brows in question.
felt her neck flush, and her gaze strayed to the dusting of dark hair
on his tanned forearms. “Where are you going to use all this stock?”
the vice-president of real estate development for our company, BDC.
He’s also a frustrated landscape architect—that was his bachelor’s
degree—but his subsequent MBA pushed him up the corporate ladder.”
a whole lot. Rhett Buchanan seemed so confident, so sure of himself.
She was out of her league, and she knew it, but she still wanted to play
for just a little while longer.
Garrett, but I do appreciate their value. He’s convinced me that
installing—and more importantly, maintaining—specialty landscapes can
double the exterior value of architectural designs.”
that had nothing to do with inspecting trees. Was Mr. Buchanan flirting
with her? He’d complimented her twice in five minutes. She jerked her
gaze away. She was heating up—all over.
stepped closer, and she feared her cheeks and neck would turn bright
pink. She quickly moved toward the next row of trees. The first six
containers were perfectly manicured
the time they made it through the third row of containers populated
with an assortment of Helliconia and Callistemon, she grew more
comfortable and even tried flirting back. They laughed and joked about
the perfect places to plant the gnarly and exceedingly crooked Corylus,
and Lily had the time of her life. Until the bottom dropped out about
halfway down the fourth row at the gray Bismarchia palms.
must be one of the nursery’s best customers as well as you know the
stock and know your way around here.” He gave her that slow, sexy smile
again. “Are you buying landscaping for business or pleasure?”
be taken at face value. 3 Cinderella Stars.
opinion when reading the blurb then starting and finishing the book it was not
what I expected but I still did enjoy it though. It is a very sweet romance
where a misunderstanding leads to further misunderstandings but has some funny
moments in the book.
is a gardener but gets to live like Cinderella or to at least pretend to be
Cinderella. She owns Bloom and Grow and wants to branch out into interior
designing of flowers and plants. She is having problems with the zoning
committee but beforehand she was asked to sell her land but declined.
Buchanan is a millionaire and builds resort complexes and golf communities. He
wants to build a new golf course, one issue he doesn’t know about? Lily isn’t
prepared to sell.
are lies and deceit an ex – girlfriend who throws a strop to get what she
wants. But in the end with all Cinderella stories they get their happily ever
after. And maybe my cynic self-did actually smile at the end and drop a tear or
two.
Walt Disney World — “The Most Magical Place on Earth” — where she
enjoyed working in the land of fairy tales by day and creating her own romantic
fairy tales by night. She eventually said good-bye to her “day” job
to write her stories full-time.
her horticulturist husband, a spoiled-rotten English Springer spaniel addicted
to pimento-stuffed green olives, and a noisy Nanday conure named Sassy who made
a cameo appearance in Angel to the Rescue.