Say You’re MineAll I Ask of YouMake Me YoursHold Me CloseOopsie DaisyHe Loves Me, He Loves Me NotPetal PluckerWar of the RosesincludingThen Came YouTaking a Chance on LoveAll I Want Is YouMy One and OnlyThe Nearness of YouThe Very Thought of YouIf I Can’t Have YouDream a Little Dream of MeSomeone to Watch Over MeTill There Was YouI’ll Be Home for Christmas
A coffee addict and cat lover, Iris Morland writes sexy and funny contemporary romances. If she's not reading or writing, she enjoys binging on Netflix shows and cooking something delicious.Stay in touch!irismorland.comIris Morland’s MermaidsNewsletter Facebook Twitter BookBub Goodreads Instagram
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be constructed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.Hold Me Close (A Heron’s Landing Novella)Published by Blue Violet Press LLCSeattle, WashingtonCopyright © 2016, 2017, 2020 by Iris MorlandCover design by Qamber DesignsAll rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.Published 2020.First edition published 2016 under the title Let It Snow. Second edition published 2017 as Adore Me Ardently (A Heron’s Landing Christmas Novella). Third edition 2020.
Dear Readers,Before you begin Matt and Holly’s story, please know that Hold Me Close was previously published under the title Adore Me Ardently. This second edition has been lightly edited and changed to better fit the overall feel of the rest of my catalogue.All my best,Iris
When Officer Matthew Haldon saw the flash of orange-red in his rearview mirror, he first thought it was a fox running about in this blizzard. When he peered more closely, he realized it wasn’t a fox: it was a person. A person most decidedly stranded in a ditch on the side of the road.Matt had been on the police force for five years now, four of those here in the tiny Missouri town of Heron’s Landing. At the moment, he wanted to get home safely, put his feet up, and maybe drink some spiked cider. Sighing, he knew that wasn’t going to be happening any time soon. He slowly did a U-turn, the snow falling so hard that you couldn’t see more than foot in front of you. Living in a place like Heron’s Landing made driving in the snow both a blessing and a curse: a blessing, because you were often alone on the road; a curse, because you were often alone on the road.After what seemed like an hour, he finally got to the car and the person trying to dig themselves out. He turned on his lights so
Holly Cook stared into the darkness of Matt’s house and reflected—rather wryly—that her thought that the night couldn’t get any worse was being proven wrong with gusto.She heard Matt curse, a dog woof, and then the sound of him hitting the corner of the coffee table.“Dammit, Arya, Sansa, whoever you are, stay!” Matt practically growled. “I’m going to get a flashlight.” He tromped off, the click of the dogs’ nails following him.When she’d left Louisiana two days ago, she hadn’t had any destination in mind beyond getting away. She’d packed up her car and driven off, no course set, no idea of where she’d end up. She’d just gone north. Driving through Arkansas and then Missouri, she’d arbitrarily decided to stop in Kansas City when she’d gotten a flat…and then the blizzard hit.What rotten luck, she thought with a sigh. Could she ever do anything without screwing it up? The answer was definitely no, she couldn’t. Holly had dropped out of college her junior year, never finishing her
As the night waned on, Matt was aware of two pressing things: one, they were going to be out of firewood soon and the power hadn’t come back on yet; and two, he was becoming more and more unwilling to part with Holly in the morning.He watched as the fire slowly waned down to a mere spark, and he cursed himself for not getting more firewood before tonight. But who would have thought that the power would go out—and be out—this long? It had been close to three hours now, and the house was beginning to get colder, but nothing dire yet. He glanced at Holly, wrapped up in her blankets, and his very stupid mind told him he wouldn’t mind sharing body warmth with her if necessary.Leave her alone, he told himself. She’s been through hell and back again. She doesn’t need you getting handsy.This was what Matt told himself, but it didn’t stop the thoughts from pouring into his mind. He couldn’t sleep now. How could he sleep with her sitting next to him, smelling of flowers, her bright red hai
Holly shut the door to the guest bedroom and promptly collapsed in front of said door, her heart pounding so hard she felt dizzy. She still had one of the blankets wrapped around her shoulders, and she shrugged it off and tossed it into a corner somewhere. The heat blazed through the house now that the power had come back on; it was so loud that Holly could almost imagine she was alone.Of course, she wasn’t alone—not even slightly. She thought about Matt: about his kisses, and touches, and how he smelled so good. Why did he have to smell so good? It wasn’t fair. She wished an old man with two teeth and who smelled like fish had picked her up out of that stupid ditch. Then she wouldn’t be sitting here, her hand over her heart, wanting to return to Matt’s room and kiss him again.I can’t let this happen, she told herself. Matt didn’t need to get caught up in her drama, and besides, she had terrible judgment in men. When she’d first met Sam, she’d thought he was the sun, the moon, and