My love and gratitude to my family, for their endless patience and understanding when I’m busy with imaginary people.

And to all the people who buy my books, talk about books and send encouraging messages—thank you.

If you loved The Christmas Escape, Sarah Morgan’s next book, Beach House Summer, will be essential reading!
Keep reading for a sneak peek...

Beach House Summer

by Sarah Morgan

1

Ashley

She slid into his car, hoping this wasn’t a mistake. It hadn’t been her first choice of plan, but the others had failed and she was desperate.

He smiled at her, and there was so much charm in that smile that she forgot everything around her. The way he looked at her made her feel as if she was the only woman in the world.

In case charm wasn’t enough he had the car, a high-performance convertible, low, sleek and expensive. It shrieked Look at me!, in case the other trappings of wealth and power hadn’t already drawn her attention.

Her mother would have warned her not to get in the car with him, but her mother was gone now, and Ashley was making the best decisions she could with no one close to offer her advice or caution. She remembered the first time she’d ridden a bike on her own, unsteady, unbalanced, hands sweating on the handlebars, her mother shouting “Keep pedaling!” She remembered her first swimming lesson, when she’d slid under the surface and gulped down so much water she’d thought she was going to empty the pool. She’d been sure she was going to drown. But then she’d felt her mother’s hands lifting her to the surface and heard her voice through water-clogged ears, “Keep kicking!”

She was on her own now. There was no one to tug her to the surface if she was drowning. No one to steady the wheels of her bike when she wobbled. Her mother had been the safety net in her life, and if she fell now she’d hit the ground with nothing and no one to cushion her fall.

He turned onto Mulholland Drive and picked up speed. The engine gave a throaty roar. The wind tugged at her hair as they sped upwards through the Hollywood Hills. She’d never been in a car like this before. Never met a man like him.

They climbed higher and higher, passing luxury mansions and seeing flashes of a lifestyle beyond the reach of even her imagination. She felt a stab of envy. Did problems go away when you had so much? Did the people living there experience the same anxieties as normal people or did those high walls and security cameras insulate them from life? Could you buy happiness?

No, but money could make life easier—which was why she was here.

Spread beneath them were views of Downtown Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley.

Stay focused.

“I know the best place to see the sunset.” His warm, deep voice had helped propel him from being yet another TV personality to a megastar. “You’re never going to forget it.”