About the Author
KATIE GINGER lives by the sea in the south-east of England, and apart from holidays to very hot places where you can sit by a pool and drink cocktails as big as your head, she wouldn’t really want to be anywhere else. Winter Wishes at Swallowtail Bay is her sixth novel. She is also the author of Spring Tides at Swallowtail Bay, Summer Strawberries at Swallowtail Bay, Snowflakes at Mistletoe Cottage and the Seafront series – The Little Theatre on the Seafront, shortlisted for the Katie Fforde Debut Novel of the Year award, and Summer Season on the Seafront.
When she’s not writing, Katie spends her time with her husband and two kids, and their dogs: Wotsit, the King Charles spaniel, and Skips, the three-legged Romanian rescue dog. (And yes, they are both named after crisps!)
For more about Katie, you can visit her website: www.keginger.com, find her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/KatieGAuthor, follow her on Twitter: @KatieGAuthor or sign up to her newsletter here: http://bit.ly/3gbqMS0
Everyone LOVES Katie Ginger
‘So beautifully written. It made me want to move house right now and set up by the sea!’
Tilly Tennant
‘A delightful and delicious read for hopeful romantics everywhere’
Sandy Barker
‘Seaside, strawberries and a sexy hero – what’s not to love?’
Mandy Baggot
‘Simply delicious – summer escapes don’t come any more tasty!’
Jane Linfoot
‘A hilarious romantic comedy that left me with a big smile on my face’
Holly Martin
‘This book is every sort of wonderful, with gorgeous characters, a stunning town and a friendship that turns in to a romance you’re not going to want to miss out on’ *****
‘Does jumping up and down, cuddling my Kindle and grinning from ear to ear count as a review?! … Katie writes with such warmth and humour and I could feel every word’ *****
‘Loved it!’ *****
‘Sweet, heart-warming, and very enjoyable. This book is like a warm chocolate chip cookie, you feel better for eating it, get a bite of exciting chocolate now and again all while just enjoying the experience. Love the book!’ *****
‘The perfect book to enjoy in a few days of quiet downtime’ *****
‘Absolutely loved this book. Couldn’t put it down. Wonderful uplifting storyline. Can’t wait to see what’s next from this author!’ *****
Also by Katie Ginger
The Little Theatre on the Seafront
Summer Season on the Seafront
Snowflakes at Mistletoe Cottage
Spring Tides at Swallowtail Bay
Summer Strawberries at Swallowtail Bay
Winter Wishes at Swallowtail Bay
Winter Wishes at Swallowtail Bay
KATIE GINGER
HQ
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2020
Copyright © Katie Ginger 2020
Katie Ginger asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for 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, downloaded, 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.
E-book Edition © October 2020 ISBN: 9780008380571
Version: 2020-09-10
Table of Contents
Cover
About the Author
Everyone LOVES Katie Ginger
Also by Katie Ginger
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter 1: October
Chapter 2
Chapter 3: November
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17: December
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Epilogue: Christmas Eve, One year later
Acknowledgements
Extract
Dear Reader …
Keep Reading …
About the Publisher
For Matt and Magda,
Welcome home!
Chapter 1
October
The assistant yanked the changing-room curtain back with such vigour, the shiny metal pole it hung from nearly flew off the wall. Out strode Cat, Nell’s best friend, in an exquisite off-the-shoulder fairy-tale princess wedding dress. The ivory bodice clung tightly to Cat’s petite frame and the enormous skirt puffed out in a series of cascading ruffles. In the warm orange lighting of the boutique Cat’s skin took on a dewy glow.
Nell’s hand flew to her chest, pressing on a heart that was over-flowing with love. ‘Oh my gosh, Cat, you look incredible. Like an actual movie star at the Oscars. It’s just beautiful. Isn’t it beautiful, Brenda?’
‘It’s lovely, darling,’ Cat’s mum replied, ignoring Nell’s over-enthusiasm and speaking directly to Cat. ‘But please tell me you’re going to dye your hair back to blonde before the wedding? It’ll look much better in the photographs.’
Cat hitched the dress to walk to the pedestal, then stepped onto it, allowing the dress to fall from her fingers so she could see herself in the 360-degree, floor-to-ceiling mirrors. Within seconds, the assistant placed a pair of high-heeled shoes in front of her. Cat stepped into them and, brushing her fingers down the skirt, turned left and right, watching the fabric float around her. ‘I hadn’t really thought about my hair. I was going to keep it pink.’
With her mouth pursed in disapproval, Brenda’s face contorted even further, and Nell stifled a giggle. The phrase ‘a bulldog sucking a wasp’ came to mind. Nell waited for her to ask about the eyebrow and nose piercing too. There was no way Cat was going to remove those for her wedding day. She’d worn them every day since they were done one drunken evening at university, and Nell was glad. Cat was pretty amazing as she was, there was no way she should be any different on her wedding day.
Brenda picked lint from her expensive tailored skirt. She wasn’t the type of woman to dress in jeans and oversized thick woolly jumpers. She wore a matching lilac tweed skirt and jacket with a cream blouse underneath. Her blonde hair, heavily streaked with
