“Today was perfect,” I breathed. “Thank you for letting us get married here.”

  “You know I fell in love with the place as soon as I saw it.” Derek traced his fingertips up and down my bare arm as his mouth lowered to my ear. “Just like I did with you.”

  Pleasant shivers encapsulated me at his quietly uttered words. He’d told me a few times about how it was love at first sight, that he fell for me that day in the schoolyard when I’d whipped out my medical kit to tend his brother’s cut knee.

  “You were too young to know what love was,” I told him indulgently.

  “Infatuation, then?” Derek suggested as his arm tightened around me. “Whatever it was, I knew for certain that you were the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen, and to this day, you still are.”

  “Hey, we just tied the knot. You don’t need to sweet talk me. I’m pretty much a sure thing,” I said on a laugh, and he chuckled deeply, the vibration seeping through me where I rested my head on his shoulder.

  “Is that so?” he replied huskily. “In that case, might I suggest we retire to our suite? Because I have some very detailed wedding night plans, and it’s always a good idea to make an early start.”

  I smacked his chest lightly, looking out at the waves once again. “One more dance and then we can make that early start,” I told him, and Derek’s handsome features broke into a smile as he stood from the sand, dusted himself off then helped me to my feet.

  And when he stretched his hand out to mine to start the walk back, I slid my fingers through his, our palms connecting in a feeling of wholeness. The sun on the horizon began to set, it’s golden glow on our backs as we walked away, ending the first day of the rest of our lives.

  END.

  Persistence: Balfe Family Book Two

  Need more of the Balfe brothers? Tristan’s story, Persistence: Balfe Family #2, is coming in 2026. Check out the blurb and add it to your reading list!

  BLURB:

  Erin Hart never thought she’d see Tristan Balfe again, so it’s no surprise that he doesn’t remember her. After their brief friendship when she was a struggling, homeless teenager, she left town with no plans to return.

  Fast forward nineteen years and she’s the manager of her uncle’s hotel, the Astor Cove. It’s an old but much beloved establishment in dire need of some TLC. Tristan, now one of the most successful hoteliers in the country, has set his sights on the historic building and is keen to turn it into an exclusive location for his wealthy clientele.

  Erin doesn’t want things at the Astor Cove to change and she tries to convince her uncle not to sell, but he’s seduced by the idea of a luxury retirement and Tristan’s persistence wins out. The only silver lining? Uncle Fred has it written into the contract that Erin and the other legacy staff will keep their jobs under the new ownership.

  So now she must work alongside Tristan while they transform her beloved hotel into something shiny and new, and Erin learns that Tristan can be just as persistent a flirt as he is a businessman. He’s determined that they’ve met before even though he can’t remember when or how, but Erin has no interest in revisiting her painful past and insists they’re strangers. The problem? Tristan’s irresistible charm and playful personality awakens something in Erin, something she’d promised herself long ago was dead.

  Erin is powerless to prevent being swept into Tristan’s orbit, but she fears that when he finally remembers who she is he’ll no longer want her at all.

  Add to Goodreads

  The Quiet Love Series

  Want to read the series where Derek & Milly’s story first began? Check out the Quiet Love Series on Kindle Unlimited today!

  Quiet Types (Quiet Love #1)

  Maggie Lydon rides the bus to her cleaning job every day. It’s an ordinary existence until she notices him sitting just two rows behind her. She doesn’t know his name, nor anything about him. All she knows is that he watches her and it’s the most exciting part of her week.

  Shay Riordan notices her the very first time he takes the bus. She’s captivating, a beauty who moves through the world like no one else can see her, but she’s far from invisible to him. He wants to sit next to her, introduce himself, but it’s hard to do when you can’t speak.

  Quiet Longing (Quiet Love #2)

  When she agreed to spend her last summer before college at her cousins’ house in Ireland, Charli Moretti never expected to meet anyone like Rhys Doyle. He was the first boy to ever make her heart flutter, and though their lives followed different paths after that fateful summer, she always remembered him as her first everything.

  Sixteen years later, after a tumultuous divorce from her abusive husband, Charli is returning to Ireland a shell of the woman she once was. Life has tried to break her many times over, and now all she wants is a fresh start and an even keel. She’ll be working as an accountant at her uncle’s hotel, but what she doesn’t know is that Rhys Doyle works there, too. He’s the head of security, in fact, and he’s no longer the teenage boy she once knew.

  Quietly Yours (Quiet Love #3)

  Ada Rose never expected to find herself homeless in her thirties. Then again, she also never thought she’d encounter a man as heartless as Jonathan Oaks. Her job managing a care home for the elderly is a struggle and the sudden death of her father and stepmother—who she had been living with— has thrown her world into disarray. The house is left to Jonathan, her stepmother’s estranged son, and he wants Ada gone ASAP.

  In fact, he’s given her a week to pack her things and move out.

  Start reading the Quiet Love Series

  Meet the Author

  Greetings! ‘Tis a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is L.H. Cosway and I wrote the book you just read. I hail from Dublin, Ireland, and my favourite things in life include daydreaming about fictional characters, looking at dresses online that I’ll never buy, having entire conversations with my dogs, listening to podcasts and of course, reading books. I happen to believe that imperfect people are the most interesting kind. They tell the best stories.

  Here’s my website where you can sign-up for my monthly newsletter and find various and sundry information about me and my books: www.lhcoswayauthor.com

  Want to chat about my stories with like-minded readers or pick my brain? You can join my reader group HERE.

  You can also follow me on Facebook or Instagram.

  Books by L.H. Cosway

  Contemporary Romance Standalones

  Painted Faces

  Killer Queen

  The Nature of Cruelty

  Still Life with Strings

  Showmance

  Fauxmance

  Happy-Go-Lucky

  Beyond the Sea

  Sidequest for Love

  The Cracks Duet

  A Crack in Everything (#1)

  How the Light Gets In (#2)

  It Had To Be You: A Cracks Novella (#3)

  The Hearts Series

  Six of Hearts (#1)

  Hearts of Fire (#2)

  King of Hearts (#3)

  Hearts of Blue (#4)

  Thief of Hearts (#5)

  Cross My Heart (#5.75)

  Hearts on Air (#6)

  The Running on Air Series

  Air Kiss (#0.5)

  Off the Air (#1)

  Something in the Air (#2)

  The Quiet Love Series

  Quiet Types (#1)

  Quiet Longing (#2)

  Quietly Yours (#3)

  The Rugby Series with Penny Reid

  The Hooker & the Hermit (#1)

  The Player & the Pixie (#2)

  The Cad & the Co-ed (#3)

  The Varlet & the Voyeur (#4)

  The Blood Magic Series

  Nightfall (#1)

  Moonglow (#2)

  Witching Hour (#3)

  Sunlight (#4)

  The Blood Prophecy Series

  Foretold: A St. Bastian Institute Novel (#1)

  Thorns: A Prison of Thorns Novel (#2)

  Blaze: An Oreylia Novel (#3)

 

 

  L.H. Cosway, Prudence

 

 

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