Liv heaved a sigh at the melodrama. She usually loved the old-school feel of Essie’s books, but the author seemed to be going through the motions with this one. Readers everywhere, like her mum and herself, deserved more for Georgia’s final adventure and the end of the series.

Essie might claim to base her characters on people in her life, but Liv couldn’t imagine Anthony as inspiration for a dashing hero. He seemed more the steady, studious type. So, who had provided the inspiration for Georgia’s nameless and faceless love?

Liv mused upon the heroes in Essie’s novels and made a list of them in her notebook. There were several contenders for Georgia’s greatest love that appeared throughout the series. So, why didn’t Essie name him in Book Twenty?

The author appeared to have the same quandary. She’d written in a margin.

Who is the love of Georgia’s life?

What does she do next?

How should her story end?

Liv usually turned the last page of Essie’s books feeling full of glee. Today she crashed back in her chair, frustrated and confused. She’d almost filled her notebook with observations and comments, and her mouth twisted. Who was she to question Essie’s work?

Perhaps she’d got it wrong. After all, she’d felt emotionally rocky since Essie’s death. But when Liv read through all her notes, the evidence was clear. As well as the missing ending, the entire manuscript needed reshaping.

As she dolefully stacked the pages back together, she caught sight of a doodle of a small blue heart on the back of a page. Essie had written next to it,

I wish I could be more like Georgia again.

Liv pressed her hand to her chest. The nine words packed more emotion and longing than anything she’d read in the manuscript. They sounded heartfelt and so unlike the thorny version of Essie she knew. Georgia Rory had lost her way, and Liv pictured Essie reading her own manuscript while swigging gin. What, or who, had been on her mind? And how could Liv conjure up a happy ending for Georgia, when Essie appeared to have given up on her heroine, and her own life?

Stretching her legs and taking a break, Liv meandered into the award room and looked to the photographs on the shelves for inspiration for Georgia’s hero. She thought how Essie’s two ex-husbands were like chalk and cheese.

Ted Mason was a behemoth in the publishing world, the CEO of Lioncorp, a top global publishing house. He looked like a distinguished grandfather, with his flock of paper-white hair and a custom-tailored suit. Liv supposed there were many raised eyebrows when the divorced father of three walked down the aisle with Essie, his young protégé.