The long-awaited prequel to a love story for the ages.
She was the only woman he wanted…but the only one he couldn’t have
Ian Gregson had been born into wealth and power – one of the privileged heirs of the top luxury hotel chain in the world. To the outside world, he was seemingly the man who had everything – money, prestige, good looks, charisma – a man who could have any woman he desired. But the only woman he’d ever truly coveted was forbidden to him for far too many reasons to count – her youth, her employment within his company, and especially her commitment to another man.
Tessa Lockwood’s young life has been one of deprivation, misfortune, and heartbreaking loss. Working for the Gregson Hotel Group offers up a glimpse into a world she had never before imagined – one of affluence, sophistication, and splendor. And meeting the suave, elegant Ian Gregson for the very first time awakens feelings in her that she struggles to repress, never imagining that a man like him could find a nobody like her attractive.
Ian and Tessa fight their feelings for the other, knowing that a relationship between them can never exist. But when matters of the heart are involved, things are never quite that simple. How long will both of them be able to hold on before betraying their forbidden attraction to each other? Or will they be destined to remain forever apart?
The next chapter in one of the most romantic love stories ever told
Luxury hotel heir Ian Gregson longed for his beloved Tessa from afar for more than two years, forced to keep his attraction towards her well hidden. But now that his feelings no longer have to remain a secret, he is free to indulge his constant craving for the woman of his dreams.
Shy, innocent Tessa Lockwood is dazzled by her handsome, sophisticated lover, and falls deeper and deeper under his spell with each passing day. But their newfound relationship will be tested by Tessa’s lifelong insecurities, and her fears of succumbing to the throes of depression that have always tormented her.
It will fall to Ian to convince her that their love is strong enough to overcome any obstacles that life might place in their way. And that now that he’s finally been able to make her his own, nothing and no one will ever keep them apart again.
The final book of the Splendor trilogy – the conclusion, but never the ending, to a love story for the ages
All of luxury hotel heir Ian Gregson’s dreams are finally coming true. Soon he will be able to claim the beautiful woman he longed for from afar for more than two years, and she will belong to him for all time.
But as their wedding day approaches, long hidden secrets from Tessa’s past will surface and stir up all of her old fears and doubts. And Ian will once again need to convince her that their love is more than strong enough to conquer all – a love that’s destined to last for all time.
Ian sure does love Tessa…
Keep reading to see the full Love Note!
Still sniffling a bit at the thought of being separated from Ian for the next two weeks, Tessa rummaged through her purse for a tissue. But instead of a tissue her hand closed over a sealed envelope, one on which her name had been written in Ian’s bold, distinctive hand. Puzzled, she opened the envelope of elegant cream colored parchment and drew out a folded sheet of coordinating paper. At the top of the sheet was Ian’s monogram – IAG – and Tessa couldn’t resist running her finger over the raised letters, before reading the note he had penned to her at some point during the last few days.
My darling Tessa,
If you only knew how many times over the past two and a half years that I’ve longed to write those exact words to you, and now I finally have the right to do so. After having to keep my feelings for you a well guarded secret for so long, I fear that mere words won’t be able to express how much this past weekend has meant to me, along with the knowledge that you feel the exact same way about me..
What I told you on Saturday morning was the absolute truth. I have never come close to loving a woman the way I love you. Frankly, I never believed it was possible to feel this way about someone, to be so completely and utterly obsessed with them that the mere thought of being separated from you for more than an hour or two at a time is terrifying. I didn’t know I could feel this way, that I was capable of experiencing these types of emotions. And in the few short weeks we’ve been together I feel like a whole different person, as though I’d only been half-alive until now. That is what having you in my life and finally being able to call you my own has done to me, my darling.
You are my one and only, Tessa, the love of my life. I always knew somehow that it would be that way between us, that if I was ever lucky enough to claim you for myself that ours would be a once in a lifetime sort of love, the sort that poems and songs are written about. The sort of grand, epic love that only a very few, very lucky people are fortunate enough to experience.
During these two long weeks we’ll be apart, I hope you’ll read this note from time to time, and know that you are never far from my thoughts. And that I’ll be counting not just the days but the minutes until we’re together again.
With all my love,
Ian
Janet is a lifelong resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, and currently resides on the northern California coast with her husband Steve and Golden Retriever Max. She worked for more than two decades in the financial services industry before turning her focus to producing running events. She is a former long-distance runner, current avid yoga practitioner, is addicted to Pinterest, likes to travel and read. She has been writing for more than three decades but Serendipity is her first official published work. There will be a total of six full-length books in the Inevitable series, plus one novella. Up next is the release of book one in the new Splendor trilogy!
