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Back Written From the Heart Save as PDF
Chapters (50)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Author
  3. By Trisha Ashley
  4. Dedication
  5. Praise for Trisha Ashley:
  6. Acknowledgements
  7. Foreword
  8. One
  9. Two
  10. Three
  11. Four
  12. Five
  13. Six
  14. Seven
  15. Eight
  16. Nine
  17. Ten
  18. Eleven
  19. Twelve
  20. Thirteen
  21. Fourteen
  22. Fifteen
  23. Sixteen
  24. Seventeen
  25. Eighteen
  26. Nineteen
  27. Twenty
  28. Twenty-One
  29. Twenty-Two
  30. Twenty-Three
  31. Twenty-Four
  32. Twenty-Five
  33. Twenty-Six
  34. Twenty-Seven
  35. Twenty-Eight
  36. Twenty-Nine
  37. Thirty
  38. Thirty-One
  39. Thirty-Two
  40. Tina’s Top Tips for New Writers
  41. Tina’s Espresso Ice Cream
  42. Sergei Popov’s Russian Blinis
  43. Linny’s Lebanese Baba Ganoush
  44. Read More
  45. 1
  46. 2
  47. The Little Teashop of Lost and Found
  48. A Leap of Faith
  49. A Good Heart is Hard to Find
  50. Did you love this book?

‘Yes, but Sergei,’ I persevered, ‘I’m much, much older than that, and I’m afraid children are quite out of the question!’

‘Ah, do not give up hope, my darling!’ he said, embracing me warmly. ‘For you are the same age as Linny, I know, you were at school together: that is clearly not too old!’

‘But you can’t possibly want children, Sergei! You’ve never shown the least interest in them,’ I protested. I didn’t mention Grigor.

‘I have seen the way you look at Linny, my Tina, and know what is in your heart. And children? Why not? Am I not still virile?’

‘Let’s not go there,’ I said tartly, and he looked slightly puzzled, but while I may have forgiven, forgetting is another matter.

‘I need the sea – I need to be alone in my cottage sometimes,’ I tried to explain, sounding a bit Greta Garbo.

‘And I too sometimes wish to be alone, to play the sad Russian songs of my youth. That is good, and when we are together, that is also good. So we are alike, and it will work, you will see.’

I’d temporarily run out of stalling manoeuvres, and the invidious suggestion regarding procreation – which is something I’d never seriously even thought of in connection with myself until Linny suddenly set off on her journey into brink-of-menopause motherhood, leaving me behind – was beginning to have a certain appalling fascination, like an offer to try bungee jumping over the Grand Canyon.

I was simply too punch drunk to react when Sergei sprang up and started phoning my brother, Tony, and then all his friends to announce our imminent nuptials, and I should think the bread makers and toasters will soon be arriving by every post …

But if anyone can think of a way of freeing me from this strangely fascinating nightmare scenario, please, please do write urgently to me: Tina Devino at Noveltina Literary and Critical Agency, Mudlark Cottage, The Harbour, Shrimphaven.

And I’ll send you a personally signed copy of The Orchid Huntress upon publication, I promise, together with my undying gratitude.

The diamonds are negotiable.

Tina’s Top Tips for New Writers