More Life as a Dog by L.A Davenport

A Winter Wedding at the Little Duck Pond Cafe by Rosie Green- Romcom

A Winter Wedding at the Little Duck Pond Café
With Zak and Ellie’s wedding day approaching, there's high excitement in the pretty village of Sunnybrook, especially among the Little Duck Pond Café crew. Ellie is over the moon with her romantic surprise wedding gift from Zak, and Madison is promising to organise a hen party to remember. Everyone has high hopes for a magical Christmas Eve wedding celebration at gorgeous Brambleberry Manor. (Even Maisie-Moo has a sparkling new outfit.)

But sometimes, even the best-laid plans can go wrong. And with the journey to the altar turning out to be rockier than expected, it’s going to take nothing short of a Christmas miracle to ensure a happy ending . .
Purchase Links
UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Winter-Wedding-Little-Duck-Pond-ebook/dp/B07YQB5HSV/
US - https://www.amazon.com/Winter-Wedding-Little-Duck-Pond-ebook/dp/B07YQB5HSV/
















Author Bio – 
Rosie has been scribbling stories ever since she was little.

Back then, they were rip-roaring adventure tales with a young heroine in perilous danger of falling off a cliff or being tied up by 'the baddies'.

Thankfully, Rosie has moved on somewhat, and now much prefers to write romantic comedies that melt your heart and make you smile, with really not much perilous danger involved at all - unless you count the heroine losing her heart in love.

Rosie's brand new series of novellas is centred around life in a village cafe. The latest, 'Bonfires & Hot Chocolate at the Little Duck Pond Cafe', is out now.

Watch out for 'A Winter Wedding at the Little Duck Pond Cafe', which will be published in December 2019.

Rosie is also writing a full-length, standalone book for Christmas 2019, entitled 'Snowflakes over Moondance Cottage', which will be out in November.

Follow Rosie on Twitter - https://twitter.com/Rosie_Green1988


A Winter Wedding at the Little Duck Pond Café
Extract

‘Here comes the bride, all dressed in white!’
A high-pitched, disembodied voice sings out and a hush settles over The Little Duck Pond Café.
I glance quickly around at the fairy lights sparkling along the counter and around the door, and the little candles on each table, nestled in mini wreaths of holly and winter foliage. And of course, the star of the show - the glorious real Christmas tree in the corner, winking with colourful lights against the winter darkness of the early morning beyond the window. I breathe in the evocative, festive scent of warm mince pies, and think, with a pang of excitement, of our Christmas Eve wedding in five days’ time.
 All eyes are now turning to Primrose, who’s smiling proudly behind the counter, ready to officiate at today’s glamorous wedding ceremony. Straightening up at the sound of a scuffle behind her, she clears her throat.
‘Ladies and gentlemen and other VIP guests…’ She nods at Minnie the poodle, Derek the dachshund and Terence the short-haired terrier. ‘Please welcome . . . the bride!’
The eager bride hares into the room, heads straight for the counter and starts snuffling along the floor beneath it, searching for cake crumbs. There’s a smattering of applause and laughter from the other pooches’ owners, who’ve obligingly made this ‘wedding ceremony’ part of their regular early morning dog walk. 
‘Your dress!’ shouts Maisie, following a few paces behind her puppy. ‘You’re tearing it, Maisie-Moo. You can’t get married in a messy wedding dress!’
Terence, the ‘groom’ – in bow-tie and cardboard top hat set at a jaunty angle - is having a good old sniff at Maisie-Moo’s stylish outfit, which comprises customised white T-shirt with pink tissue paper frills and her best red sparkly reindeer antlers. It quickly becomes apparent, however, that snaffling the remains of the mince pie on his owner’s plate is far more enticing a prospect to Terence than getting hitched this morning.
I smile fondly at Maisie. ‘Don’t worry, love. I think Terence might have gone off the idea anyway.’
‘But they’re supposed to be getting married, Mummy,’ she reminds me, rather sternly, and my heart expands with love.
Maisie, who’s off school for the Christmas holidays, spent most of yesterday getting up to the eyes with glue and tissue paper, making her pup’s outfit. I suppose it’s no wonder she’s miffed that the wedding she dreamed of appears to be over already, before even a single drop of ‘pawsecco’ has been drunk.
She shrugs her shoulders dramatically, as if to say: What can you do?
‘Maybe another time?’ I suggest. ‘I think Maisie-Moo is in the mood to play right now. But how about we have the wedding feast anyway?’ I glance at my watch. ‘I’ll have to open the café up soon.’
Maisie’s eyes light up. ‘Ooh, yes, can we, Mummy? Shall I get the doggy doughnuts?’
She runs off, and I exchange wry smiles with my staff - Katja, Primrose and Jaz - who are all leaning over the counter enjoying the chaos that now reigns in the café. Maisie-Moo and Terence are over in the corner, fighting for ownership of a grubby-looking orange ball, while Derek the dachshund stands staring at them intently, as if he can’t quite believe his eyes. Minnie, who obviously considers all this unruly behaviour beneath her, curls up under her owner’s table with a disdainful sigh and closes her eyes.
I join the girls at the counter, automatically scanning the baskets of scones and the arrangement of cakes to make sure it all looks tempting enough for today’s customers. I’m off duty today, although when it’s your own business, you never really stop working. But I’m determined to relax and enjoy my long-anticipated hen day. Madison is organising it, and we’re going to a rather posh spa in the middle of nowhere.
‘We’ll have to wrap this jolly little interlude up soon,’ I murmur, smiling as Maisie runs back in with the dish of doggy treats she made yesterday with a little help from me. Made of peanut butter and oats, and frosted with yogurt and bacon bits by Maisie, they look surprisingly like real doughnuts. The dogs all cluster round her, tails wagging, and she makes them sit, one by one, before giving them their treat.
She giggles. ‘It was funny yesterday, wasn’t it, Mummy? What Maisie-Moo was doing.’
‘It was hilarious, my darling.’
‘Maisie-Moo was dancing with Hector from the back!’ announces Maisie to the room in general.
Katja and Primrose snort with laughter.
‘Maisie-Moo’s on heat for the first time,’ I murmur, leaning closer. ‘Would you believe we found our little princess humping Hector the springer spaniel yesterday.’
‘I’m presuming Hector’s had the snip?’ says Jaz, grinning.
‘Oh, yes. She wouldn’t be allowed within five miles of him if he hadn’t.’
Fen appears from the kitchen. ‘Is that Maisie-Moo you’re talking about?’
I nod wearily. ‘She’s wearing us out. And she’s doing far more “dancing from behind” than I am at the present time. Do you think all brides suffer from a distinct lack of romance prior to the big day?’
‘Oh, dear. I’m sure that’s normal, though,’ she says with an encouraging smile. ‘Planning a wedding is probably second only to having a baby for leaving no time for any – um - naughties.’

I laugh at Fen’s coy reference. ‘You’re probably right. I suppose I thought that these few months – in the run up to our Big Day – would bring Zak and me even closer. But the truth is, we’ve hardly seen each other. Not properly, anyway.’