Another
Glass of Champagne
By Jenny Kane
Genre: Contemporary Raomance
Following on
from the bestselling novel, Another Cup of Coffee, and the seasonal Christmas
novellas Another Cup of Christmas, Christmas in the Cotswolds, and Christmas at
the Castle, Jenny Kane brings you the final instalment in the Pickwicks Coffee
House adventures.
Synopsis
A
warm-hearted, contemporary tale about a group of friends living in a small
corner of busy London, by bestselling author Jenny Kane.
Fortysomething
Amy is shocked and delighted to discover she s expecting a baby not to mention
terrified! Amy wants best friend Jack to be godfather, but he hasn’t been heard
from in months. When Jack finally reappears, he s full of good intentions but
his new business plan could spell disaster for the beloved Pickwicks Coffee
Shop, and ruin a number of old friendships...
Meanwhile
his love life is as complicated as ever and yet when he swears off men for
good, Jack meets someone who makes him rethink his priorities...but is it too
late for a fresh start?
Author Kit has problems of her own: just when
her career has started to take off, she finds herself unable to write and there
s a deadline looming, plus two headstrong kids to see through their difficult
teenage years...will she be able to cope?
A follow-up
to the runaway success Another Cup of Coffee.
Buy Today
Extract
‘My
goodness, woman, you look like the proverbial beached whale!’ Amy grinned at
the teasing smile on her former boss’s face.
‘Thanks,
Peggy. I know I can rely on you to be ready with a huge compliment!’
‘Huge is the
word, and you are more than welcome!’ Taking advantage of a lull in custom,
Peggy followed Amy to where Kit was working, and pulled out a chair for her
friend before sitting down herself. ‘So how long have you got to go now?’
‘Only two
months, which is nothing like as long as I need to get ready, or even get my
head around what's happening to me! I have far too much to do before the baby
comes, although we’ve almost finished decorating the nursery at last. I haven’t
even managed to find anyone to cover my job at Home Hunters yet.’
Amy thanked
Megan, Pickwicks’ chief waitress, as she delivered a tray of drinks and half a
huge carrot cake for the three friends, before asking Kit, ‘I don’t suppose
that lovely husband of yours fancies coming back to the business while I’m on
maternity leave?’
Kit shook
her head. ‘Not a hope. It did cross my mind after Phil gave up running Home
Hunters that he might have withdrawal symptoms and want to go back, but he took
to running the bookshop like a duck to water. I can’t see him ever going back.
And he wouldn’t have the time, to be honest. Did I tell you that they’re so
busy now, he and Rob have employed a guy to help them with their new
educational courses at Kew?’
Amy beamed.
‘No, you didn’t. That’s fantastic! I bet Jack would be thrilled for them if he
was here.’ Suddenly pensive, she picked up her cup, ‘I don’t suppose either of
you have heard from Jack?’
Peggy shook
her head as Kit said, ‘Not a word. I thought he’d keep in touch with you
though, Amy, even if he went quiet on the rest of us.’
‘Paul says
he’ll turn up eventually, but I’d rather like to be able to tell Jack about
this bundle,’ Amy patted her stomach, ‘before he or she stops being just a bump
in my jumper. I might ask him if he wants to be godfather.’
Kit nodded.
‘Jack is godfather to the twins, and although he’s a dreadful role model on the
morals front, both Thomas and Helena have always found him great fun, and say
that having a gay godfather is, and I quote, “Well cool”.’
Peggy had
never understood the loyalty Jack’s two ex-girlfriends felt for him considering
how appallingly he’d treated them both. She certainly wouldn’t want anyone
who’d stood her up on her wedding day – albeit only in the role of usher – to
be a godparent to her child, but she simply asked, ‘How long has he been AWOL
for?’
Amy frowned.
‘It must be more or less four years since I last saw him, and about twelve
months since I last spoke to him. It’s not so much being AWOL as missing in
action. How about you, Kit?’
Peggy and
Amy exchanged glances as they saw Kit staring blankly into her soup bowl-sized
cup of black coffee. ‘Kit? You with us?’
‘What? Oh,
sorry, guys. I didn’t get much sleep last night, I phased out for a minute.
What was the question?’
Peggy had
noticed how distracted Kit had been lately, although instinct told her that she
shouldn’t ask her friend about it yet. ‘When did you last hear from Jack,
honey?’
‘I’m not
sure, must be at least a year. That is very Jack though, isn’t it. I bet he’d
get a kick out of the fact that we’re all back here wondering where he is and
if he’s OK.’
Amy, who’d
had similar thoughts herself, grimaced. ‘I wouldn’t be surprised – although I’d
like to think that at his age he’s finally grown out of playing those games.’
Kit and
Peggy laughed in unison. ‘No chance!’ ‘I assume he’s either still travelling
around the world – or working in someone’s garden, using that horticultural
qualification he got after Paul and I got married.’
‘Sounds
possible, and of course,’ Kit let her inner storyteller go in a way she wished
she could on paper, ‘if Jack has spent all the inheritance his grandfather left
him, he could have got a job in the grounds of some posh house, had a torrid
affair with the heir to the manor, and be in the middle of a society scandal.’
Amy smiled
as Peggy divided the carrot cake into mountainous slices. ‘That sounds entirely
possible, and I sort of hope it’s true! The boyfriend bit, I mean, rather than
the scandal bit.’
Pulling her
cake plate closer, Kit shrugged. ‘I’m not sure he’d risk another relationship,
not after Toby hurt him like that. I suspect he’s reverted to full-on sleeping
around mode.’ Realising she had sounded rather curt, she added, ‘I’d like to be
wrong though. If he settled down a bit, he might come home...’
Meet
the Author
Jenny spends
a large part of her time in the cafe’s of Mid Devon, where she creates her
stories, including the novels Another Glass of Champagne, (Accent Press, 2016),
Abi’s House (Accent Press, June 2015), Romancing Robin Hood (Accent Press,
2014), the best selling contemporary romance Another Cup of Coffee (Accent
Press, 2013), and the novella length sequels Another Cup of Christmas (Accent
Press, 2013), Christmas in the Cotswolds, (Accent Press, 2014), and Christmas
at the Castle, (Accent Press, 2015).
Her next
full length novel, Abi’s Neighbour, will be published by Accent Press in Summer
2017. She is also working on a short historical novel, which will be published
in November 2016.
Jenny Kane
is also the author of quirky children’s picture books There’s a Cow in the Flat
(Hushpuppy, 2014) and Ben’s Biscuit Tin (Hushpuppy, 2015).
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