Second Chance Island (Love Coast to Coast, #1)

By Jenny Schwartz

She's escaped to a tropical paradise, but her past is going to find her.

Laura Robertson is working at a tropical resort on the Great Barrier Reef, biding her time and nursing her wounds when her ex–lover Phil Cooper arrives on Topaz Island. She's betrayed him, broken his trust, and shamed herself. And yet it seems that he's the one man she can't let go.

She's spent her whole life fighting to save the reef, and her time on Topaz Island fighting for her self–respect. Does she have enough fight left to fight for a second chance?

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Australia
• Release date: Feb 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9780857992239

Jenny Schwartz

Jenny Schwartz is an Australian author of Coastal Romance. Her books celebrate the joy of falling in love and the freedom of choosing to follow your heart. She has a degree in Sociology and History, and a passion for reading, especially books with a guaranteed happy ever after. You can chat with Jenny and learn more about her books at her website: http://authorjennyschwartz.com 

Book preview

Chapter 1

‘It’s a slice of bread, Laura.’

Phil Cooper’s too-patient tone grated across Laura’s nerves even as his well-remembered voice sent a sensual shiver down her spine. Not that she had time for shivers. She was too furious. ‘Would you shut up?’ Not polite, no. Not respectful of a Topaz Island guest. But Phil wasn’t just a guest.

‘Make me,’ he said.

For an instant she was tempted to do exactly that. She pictured herself lunging across the flat deck of the tourist boat and pushing him overboard to splash in the shallow waters of the Great Barrier Reef.

‘It really doesn’t matter. See, I’m putting the bread away.’ Sweet Mrs Janet Glendinning, eighty-seven years old and proud of it, tucked the slice of bread she’d brought with her from the lunch buffet back into her patchwork bag. ‘All gone. I’ll just look at the pretty fishes.’

She and the other members of her senior citizens’ group stared determinedly at the coral wonderland visible through the glass-bottomed boat, although they gave plenty of interested peeks at Laura and Phil’s confrontation.

He stood with his back against the railing, ignoring the view of the reef to focus on Laura. A faded cap shaded his eyes. He wore the casual T-shirt and shorts of an Aussie guy on holiday, but he wore them with his characteristic air of controlled recklessness. He was a pirate masquerading as an ordinary man; tall, dark haired with dark eyes, and a sensuous mouth that could both command and seduce.

Laura forced her gaze away from him and addressed the group. ‘A number of tourism operators do allow visitors to feed the fish. It encourages the fish to congregate in the area. However, at Topaz Island, we take the view that the least disruption to the natural rhythms of the ecosystem, the better.’

‘Still putting animals ahead of people,’ Phil said.

She flinched. ‘Not at all.’ Echoes of their last desperate argument rose up to condemn her. Four years and she hadn’t forgotten, hadn’t forgiven herself.

Apparently, nor had Phil.

She hoped she was wiser now, more disciplined. For instance, instead of continuing this argument, she let it go. ‘Everyone hold on. I’m going to motor the boat over to where the octopi hang out. They’re fairly shy, but sometimes we have a lucky sighting.’

Everyone took his or her seat, except Phil, but since he was perhaps fifty years younger than everyone else on the tour, she didn’t object.

The Gemstone II slid quietly over the water. The solar panels on its roof charged the battery and the electric motor had no emissions. It was perfect for the quiet waters around Topaz Island.

As always, she loved the feel of skippering a boat, the gentle rocking of the waves and the openness of the sea. Her dad was a fisherman down in Sydney and she’d grown up with a love and respect for the ocean. Going to university to study marine biology had been a no-brainer. Unfortunately, the coral reef protection project she’d been working on had lost its government funding. Hence this casual job at a friend’s private resort. She’d had to re-start her life.

But by what hellish chance had Phil also washed up here in tropical north Queensland at a time when her confidence had taken such a direct hit? If they’d ever had to meet again, she’d have liked to have been established in a successful career, in a loving relationship — visibly different from the naïve, undisciplined girl he’d known. Instead, that girl was screaming and bashing at the veneer of mature indifference that Laura held onto so desperately. That girl remembered being passionately in love. Laura remembered viciously, recklessly hurting the man in front of her.

Never again.

She recalled his look of stunned pain, and her stomach twisted.

Even then, four years ago, he’d swiftly hidden his devastation, replacing it with anger. Now he was older, tougher and his expression showed only sardonic detachment. He stood apart from the group, his body moving easily with the slight rocking of the waves, all lean muscle and effortless control.

A school of bright blue surgeonfish flashed past and she hastily pointed them out, slowing the boat. There were no octopi today, but in amongst the waving anemones were the instantly recognisable clownfish, with their cheerful orange and white stripes. Angelfish in an array of colours kept the tourists oohing and ahing. Some of