The last person Maddy Kelly expects to show up at her mountain cabin for the holidays is her soon-to-be ex-husband, who was always too busy to enjoy their hideaway. Following doctor’s orders to reduce stress, Michael arrives at their remote cabin, unannounced and unexpected, in the dead of night, during a snow storm. Which is why Maddy greets him with a fire poker to the head, rendering him unconscious, and with a case of temporary amnesia. As his memory returns, Michael realizes how much he loves his wife, and is willing to do anything to get her back, even if it means pretending to still have amnesia.
Add to the mix Michael’s mischievous 13-year-old nephew, who has stowed away in Michael’s car, and Maddy’s two dachshunds who take an instant disliking to Michael, and you have a laugh-out-loud recipe for a romantic romp.
An excerpt from
Just Married Again
Checking the cooler, Maddy found the meat and refrigerated items icy cold to the touch, but not frozen. She pulled the turkey out and slit open the plastic covering so she could wash the bird. It wasn’t huge, but it was a respectable size and would provide leftovers for a couple of days. Since it was close to lunchtime, she decided she would serve Thanksgiving dinner that evening. The bags she used to bake her turkeys in usually cut the cooking time in half.
Michael gazed at his wife from over the rim of his coffee cup as she prepared the turkey. Had he known he would be spending the holiday with her, he wouldn’t have dreaded it so much. She was the picture of domesticity, her shoulder-length hair pulled back, a clean apron tied around her waist. She had a tempting backside, made even more so by the tight jeans she wore, and the cropped, dusky pink sweatshirt that rose beguilingly when she moved, offering him a glimpse of honey- colored flesh that made him forget about everything else. She reached into an overhead cabinet, and the hem of her shirt inched up her spine. He would have given his entire retirement account to have her turn around slightly and flash that delectable navel. He sighed heavily.
“Are you hot yet?” Danny said.
“Huh?” Michael glanced at him quickly. Was he that obvious? He could almost imagine his eyes rolling in his head and steam spewing out each ear.
“Have you warmed up enough to go back out?”
“Oh.” Michael took a shaky breath. Warm didn’t come close to describing how he was feeling, and if he stood up, it was likely his nephew would figure out his problem in one glance. “Let me finish my coffee,” he said, although he was in no hurry to leave the warm kitchen and the woman who made it seem even cozier.
“I’m going to visit the dogs for a minute,” the boy said.
“They’re in the bedroom,” Maddy told him. “Be sure to keep the door closed.”
Michael was only vaguely aware of Danny leaving the room; his eyes were trained on his wife. He didn’t know what she was looking for, but as she searched through one cabinet after another, she left the doors standing open. How many times had he warned her against that very thing? And how many times had she knocked herself silly as a result?
“Uh, Maddy—” he began, then winced when her noggin collided with the comer of one cabinet door.
“Ouch!” Maddy cried.
Michael jumped up and hurried toward her, closing cabinet doors in his path. “I knew that was going to happen. Here, let me see how bad it is.” He tilted her face back slightly. A red welt lay in her hairline. “It didn’t break the skin, but there’ll probably be a bruise.” He held up three fingers. “How many do you see?”
“Eight. But I was never good at math. Do you think I’ll need plastic surgery?”
“I’m afraid plastic surgery won’t work in your case. You’ll just have to be scarred for life. Probably, no man will ever look at you, so you might want to reconsider divorcing me.”
“Oh, my. I think I may have amnesia.”
It took only a second to realize she was kidding. “Oh, boy,” he said, affecting a serious tone. “Do you know your name?”
She looked thoughtful. “No, but I think I come from royalty. I seem to recall being addressed as Queen something-or-other.”
Grinning, Michael took one of her hands in his. “You’re Queen Mary, named after a prestigious ship. And I’m your most trusted servant, here to please you in every way, if you get my drift.” He gave her a hearty wink.
The touch of his hands on hers sent Maddy’s stomach aflutter. She tried to hide her discomfort. “Does the king know about this?”
“The king is old and blind and deaf.”
“The poor thing. I must go to him.”
“He still manages to drink and gamble and run with tainted, women, though, which is why you have no qualms about taking lovers.”
“Oh, is that all.” She tried to pull away.
“I’ve also seen him kick your dogs from time to time.”
Her eyes narrowed dangerously. “I’ll kill him.”
The bedroom door opened, and her dachshunds darted out before Danny could grab them. “Who’s that?” Maddy whispered, nodding toward the boy.
“He empties the palace chamber pots,” Michael replied, a split second before Rambo sank his teeth into the hem of his jeans and tugged with all his might. Michael sighed and shook his head sadly.
“What’s going on?” Danny asked, his eyes widening at the sight before him.
“Your Aunt Maddy hit her head on a cabinet door.” He glanced once more at her wound. “You should be okay as long as you remember rule number one.”
“Which is?”
“Don’t leave dangerous, life-threatening cabinet doors open.” He examined one carefully as if inspecting it for further hazards. “These things should come with warning labels.” He turned to Danny. “Guess we’d better go get that wood.” He crossed the room, dragging the dog along with him. “We’ll have to hurry. Your aunt’s not safe here, and I don’t know how long this dog’s going to last with me dragging him through the snow.”
Maddy hurried over to Michael and pried the dog loose while Muffin sat up and begged for attention as well. Holding Rambo by the collar, she watched the two men bundle up and pull on the wading boots. She couldn’t help thinking how much Michael resembled the man she’d fallen in love with more than six years earlier. Of course, that was before he’d become consumed with his job, before he’d forgotten how to laugh and have fun.
She prayed the roads would be cleared soon.
Before she fell in love with Michael all over again.
Here's what
Fans are saying
I loved this book! It was funny. It was sweet. It was somewhat sad. Absolutely adored the addition of the nephew to the mix. He was ADORABLE!
Can't say enough about this book except to suggest that you read it yourself!
Charlotte Hughes published her first category romance in 1987, a Bantam Books' Loveswept, titled Too Many Husbands, which immediately shot to #1 on the Waldenbooks Bestseller list. She went on to write almost thirty books before the line closed in 1998.
Although Charlotte is widely known for her laugh-out-loud romantic comedies, she went on to pen three Maggie-Award winning thrillers for Avon Books in the late nineties, before resuming her first love, funny stories about people falling in love. She thrilled readers with her hilarious books, A New Attitude and Hot Shot, the latter of which won the Waldenbooks Greatest Sales Growth Achievement in 2003.
Her books received so many accolades that she was invited to co-author the very popular Full House series with mega-star author Janet Evanovich.
With that series behind her, Charlotte began her own, starring psychologist Kate Holly; What Looks Like Crazy, Nutcase, and High Anxiety, creating a list of somewhat kooky but always loveable and funny ensemble characters.
