‘Yes please, I’d love to have you,’ she gasped, letting him go momentarily so she could look at his gorgeous face again. He smiled, resting his forehead gently on hers, his fingers caressing the tops of her arms.

‘Grace Quinn, I love you.’

And as she moved her lips onto his, Grace knew that she absolutely loved him too …

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Love and thanks to my kind friend and brilliant editor, Kate Bradley, for always knowing what I mean to write and for showing me the light at the end of a sometimes very long tunnel. Thanks too to Kimberley Young, Emilie Chambeyron, Katy Blott and the rest of the hardworking team at HarperCollins. Special thanks to my amazingly patient agent, Tim Bates, for continuing to help me keep calm and carry on. A special mention to my copy editor, Penny Isaac, for tweaking all my mistakes right from the start. Emily Deane for sharing her legal expertise regarding inheritance laws in the UK, any errors within the novel are totally down to me. Claire, Lucie and Charlotte for sharing a picture of their gorgeous cat, Gypsy, who became the inspiration for the cat called Gypsy in this novel. Thanks to my girls, Tara, Sarah and Ingela for changing my life with their friendship, warmth and unwavering love and support, plus prosecco and passing on a passion for slow cooking. My dear best friend, Caroline Smailes, for always being there and for always getting it. Thanks always to my husband, Paul Brown, aka Cheeks, for knowing exactly when to bring tea and treats to my writing room, and an extra special thank you to my darling girl, QT, the bravest, kindest young girl – you continue to amaze me with your perseverance every single day, my love. As always, I couldn’t write at all without my beloved Northern Soul music to evoke the right emotions, so thank you for helping me to keep the faith and keep on keeping on.

Lastly, and by no means least, a huge thank you to all of you, my wonderful readers. You’re all magnificent and your kindness and continued cheerleading spurs me on every day – writing books can get lonely sometimes, but having you all there is like a family — our special community — and that is very precious to me indeed. I couldn’t do any of this without you. You mean the world to me and make it all worthwhile. Thank you so very much for loving my books as much as I love writing them for you.

Luck and love

Alex xxx

BETTY’S TRULY SCRUMPTIOUS BABKA CAKE

Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients

For the dough

100mls milk

350g strong white bread flour

50g caster sugar

7g sachet fast-action dried yeast

1 large egg, lightly beaten

100g butter, softened and chopped into small pieces,

plus extra to grease

For the filling

75g unsalted butter

75g dark chocolate

150g caster sugar

25g cocoa powder

1tsp ground cinnamon

For the syrup

75g caster sugar

Method