Best Friends (Contemporary)
Word count 56,400.
Trudi Jenkins is tired of being the other woman in a love triangle with her ex fiance Phillip Angus who is married to her one time best friend Belinda. When Belinda declares she is pregnant again Trudi confronts Phillip who declares the child cannot be his because he has had a vasectomy, with his sperm frozen. Devastated by both announcements, Trudi decides to move on and marry Jean-Pierre Auriel a wealthy banker from Guernsey.
Belinda knows of her husband’s affair with Trudi but is unconcerned because she herself is having an affair with portrait artist Maximillion Bennetto. The bombshell explodes when Max sponsored by Film Producer Gregory Chesterfield the third dumps Belinda and sets off to America to further his career; Chesterfield meets Belinda and falls for her beauty. Belinda, carrying Max’s child, leaves Phillip and her elder son Jonathan for Chesterfield to live the jetset life in the U.S.
Phillip’s mother confesses to a teenage love affair in Italy of which he is the result. His biological father has died and Phillip the only heir to the aristocrat’s villa and fortune. Armed with his new persona Phillip chases Trudi to Guernsey to win her back. On arrival in Guernsey Trudi discovers Jean-Pierre has an ex-wife, twin daughters, hidden treasure and is conducting an affair with the housekeeper who is pregnant to him. Confrontation ensues and she returns to London refusing to see either Jean-Pierre or Phillip.
Belinda learning of the inheritance decides to use it as a bargaining tool to gain custody of her first son, Jonathan. With the birth of her second son, Leonardo, she swears never to reveal that Max is the father.
The turning point comes for Phillip when he realises his mistakes he talks Trudi into going to Italy with him where they finally reconcile and marry. While on honeymoon they hear the news of the murder/suicide deaths of Belinda and Gregory Chesterfield. Phillip and Trudi concerned for baby Leonardo, brings the child back to Italy and adopts him.
Complications set in when years later, Tamara, daughter of Phillip and Trudi wants to marry Leonardo, whose paternity it is now essential to clarify. At a chance meeting at The Royal Academy in London they discover Max Brunnetto, now a famous artist, and the issue is resolved.
This fast-paced contemporary romance romps along as the author explores today’s way of life and the part modern technology plays in people’s lives.
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