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The Soldier and the Stripper

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Summary

"This is a story of love, loss and the power of God to restore all that is broken. Florence Kelley and Clayton Pryor have known each other for years. Clayton is from the American South and is a 22nd generation soldier. His family thinks that he's a decorated war veteran like all the men before him. He has a devastating secret , at night he struggles with post traumatic stress disorder which gives him terrifying dreams about the loss of his fiancée Sarah and best friend Paul in Afghanistan. Florence is a talented fashion designer who is the best at a Toronto fashion magazine she's young and beautiful and up for a promotion. Instead of a promotion she loses her job and now works as an exotic dancer at a Toronto nightclub. She doesn't have the heart to tell her parents the truth about her circumstances so they think that she got the promotion and is now editor at this fashion magazine. Every summer since Clayton and Florence were kids, their families have met together in North Carolina for two weeks, but the summer that they turn 30 changes their lives forever.

Genre:
Romance / Other
Author:
Rachel Esdaille
Status:
Complete
Chapters:
21
Rating:
4.8 12 reviews
Age Rating:
18+

Chapter 1


May 29, 1984

Toronto, Ontario

Ingrid

“Ingrid, honey, push. Come on, Mrs. Kelly, one more I can see the head and shoulders, just one more big push and she’ll be out.” Ingrid Kelly pushed as hard as she dared. This was not going to look good on camera. It was a pity really, just last week I was mentioning to my best friend Marguerite who was also pregnant and scheduled to give birth any time how we were both going to have to do a large amount of horrible abdominal exercises to get our fingers back after this horrible ordeal called childbirth. I mean, really, couldn’t mother nature or God or whoever have come up with a more dignified way of having children? This panting and pushing, not to mention the unsightly stretch marks and the extremely awkward growing stomach that women have to put up with for nine months. The one silver lining is that I’m not going to do this alone. My best friend by marriage, Marguerite, is going to be going through the same thing a few days from now.

Marguerite lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. Our husbands, Archibald and Samuel, were in the same platoon in the Second World War, but then after the war Archibald moved to Charlotte and Samuel decided to settle back home here in Toronto where his parents are from and where he grew up. Archibald stayed in the army and made that his career for 25 years. Whereas after the war, my Samuel went to business school and is now a Canadian chartered accountant with some very high-profile clients. Although separated by a border and the fact that they married myself and Marguerite, this in no way stopped the two men from growing their friendship. In fact, every summer we go to Charlotte to visit Archibald and Marguerite.

We bought a large summer property with a large home with many square feet attached to it. A few years ago Marguerite and Archibald thought it would be a good idea to open up their home to all of their friends for the summer and have games and activities for the kids and a little social time for the adults. The first year was a huge success and they have been doing it ever since. I can’t say I’m looking forward to going this summer, however, with two new screaming newborns on our heels, thank goodness for nannies.

It’s a girl!

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Further Recommendations

tbedford1971: Very good read

georgia: Ah! i read this in a couple of hours i couldn’t put it down!! i loved it as much as i loved the other stories. took me a second to remember all the names again and their back stories but when i did, the story became that much more whole. i would say there are a few sentences here and there that d...

remydoyle6: I loved how they got married in the end I wish it was longer. I didn’t like how stupid and blind he was. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves Romance. I wish it was longer. Overall it was a great read. Keep up the great stories.

Fiona Walker: Absolutely bloody loved it. A very well written slow burn romance that will I think, be continued in subsequent books. It leads nicely into the next one

Kayleigh: Where to start with this, what a talented writer you are!! I have been sucked in right from the start and could not put this down! Keep it up, I'm looking forward to reading the rest of your work.

nanacinda58: It was very well written. Story kept your interest up. Strong woman character.

Crazy_reader: It's a really nice read! !

honeygirlphx: I was hoping Tate would have a fated mate! Love this book

More Recommendations

Natalee Lindo: I love these books. Just going from one book to another.

Tenley: I've read both of the books in the series and I love the story lines in both.Thank you for writing an amazing series.I'm still gonna need the rest of the next book tho.

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