Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Marry in Haste: 15 Short Stories of Dating, Love & Marriage: Short Story Collections, #2
    Marry in Haste: 15 Short Stories of Dating, Love & Marriage: Short Story Collections, #2
    Marry in Haste: 15 Short Stories of Dating, Love & Marriage: Short Story Collections, #2
    Ebook83 pages1 hour

    Marry in Haste: 15 Short Stories of Dating, Love & Marriage: Short Story Collections, #2

    By Debbie Young

    5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    These 15 warm, witty short stories take an affectionate look at love and romance. There are five wry tales about each of the following stages: seeking a partner, committing to marriage, and surviving the long haul. Each story has a cast of different characters, from single girls seeking Mr Right, to couples struggling with the technicalities of getting hitched, to long-wedded couples who have plenty of time to repent at leisure. 

    Although most of the stories are told from a female perspective, this is far from being a feminist rant, but is rather a gentle celebration of matrimony - provided you find the right partner, plan the wedding your way, and find ways to live together long-term, despite each other's foibles. 

    Debbie Young is renowned for her sharp observational British humour, which is underpinned by a cheery optimism and a heart of gold. This little book is ideal for anyone who believes in love and longs to live happily ever after, even if they haven't yet found their perfect partner. Although not a classically romantic book, it could be a fun and quirky gift for an engagement, wedding, anniversary or Valentine's Day.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHawkesbury Press
    Release dateJan 1, 2015
    ISBN9781911223009
    Marry in Haste: 15 Short Stories of Dating, Love & Marriage: Short Story Collections, #2
    Author

    Debbie Young

    Debbie Young is the much-loved author of the Sophie Sayers and St Brides cosy crime mysteries. She lives in a Cotswold village, where she runs the local literary festival, and has worked at Westonbirt School, both of which provide inspiration for her writing.

    Read more from Debbie Young

    Related to Marry in Haste

    Titles in the series (13)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Short Stories For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Summer Reading Guide

      Jan 2, 2022

      Summer Reading Guide
      6 min read

    • Article

      July’s BOOK CLUB

      May 31, 2023

      Four Seasons in Japan by Nick Bradley (£16.99, HB, Transworld) Flo is a shy English translator in Tokyo, stuck in a work rut, and feeling like a failure in love and life. Tokyoite Kyo has flunked his university entrance exams and been sent to live wi

      4 min read

    • Article

      Cupboard LOVE

      Jul 26, 2023

      Cupboard LOVE
      6 min read

    • Article

      Cooking with Shirley Jackson

      Oct 31, 2019

      Cooking with Shirley Jackson
      10 min read

    • Article

      Mayo, Sir?

      Nov 12, 2021

      I took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. I was 17 and meeting Caroline’s parents for the first time. Caroline was a friend I was hoping would become a girlfriend. I think the feeling was mutual because she’d invited me to a family meal. As I heard

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Last Friend on Earth

      May 4, 2023

      It was as if Doreen Saunders had been waiting for me, passing the time until my arrival. She might as well have been sitting in a rocking chair, knitting needles clicking, jam tarts cooling on the side, the door wide open, waiting for the next visito

      6 min read

    • Article

      Dirty John: The Real Thing

      Oct 2, 2017

      LOS ANGELES - Their first date was at Houston's, a restaurant in Irvine where he opened the door for her and put her napkin on her lap. Candles flickered along the polished-mahogany bar; jazz drifted from speakers; conversation purred. Debra Newell h

      10 min read

    • Article

      TV & REVIEWS

      Jul 25, 2023

      Reality TV star Dani Dyer, the daughter of ex-EastEnders actor Danny Dyer, is a busy mum of three so has plenty on her plate and lots of juggling of her time. But how are her kitchen skills when it comes to rustling up sumptuous dishes? As Celebrity

      4 min read

    • Article

      Best Of The Best

      Oct 29, 2022

      Best Of The Best
      8 min read

    • Article

      TV & REVIEWS

      Apr 23, 2024

      TV & REVIEWS
      4 min read

    • Article

      Mammy Dearest

      Mar 20, 2022

      Noelle McCarthy, the broadcaster, podcaster and journalist, has two obsessions: her mother and Dracula. She has written a memoir, Grand: Becoming my mother’s daughter, in which both characters flounce across the pages, one with fangs wearing a cape,

      8 min read

    • Article

      November’s BOOK CLUB

      Sep 29, 2022

      The Ghost Woods by CJ Cooke (£14.99, HB, Harper Collins) Celebrate spooky season with this gothic thriller. When Pearl Gorham arrives at Lichen Hall in 1965 to have her baby, she knows immediately something is amiss. The Whitlocks are a troubled fam

      4 min read

    • Article

      I Met Fear on the Hill

      Dec 15, 2018

      It’s the summer of 1966, and Sheila and Peter are a young married couple living in Berkeley. They are very much in love, and also very high—tripping on acid for the first time in their lives, in Tilden Park—walking in a shallow stream full of primord

      32 min read

    • Article

      Book Club

      Nov 9, 2022

      Book Club
      5 min read

    • Article

      Christmas Jumpers

      Nov 4, 2021

      Christmas Jumpers
      6 min read

    • Article

      TV & REVIEWS

      Jul 12, 2022

      Julius Roberts, 25, is a former chef who left London for a life of self-sufficiency in the Dorset countryside. Channel 5’s A Taste of the Country follows him on his smallholding as he cooks up a storm in the kitchen, cares for his animals, learns new

      3 min read

    • Article

      An unexpected GIFT

      Apr 12, 2023

      An unexpected GIFT
      6 min read

    • Article

      A Year in Reading: Tim Lane

      Dec 8, 2021

      We stopped at the Topaz Internment Camp, where my wife’s family was held during World War II, near the tiny town of Delta, Utah. We found the apocalyptic remnants of one of our country’s great shames. The post A Year in Reading: Tim Lane appeared fi

      7 min read

    • Article

      The Last Touch

      Aug 26, 2022

      The Last Touch
      2 min read

    • Article

      2020’s Proven That Life Is Too Short To Trifle With

      Dec 19, 2020

      “THEY” say there are two types of people: those who live to eat, and those who eat to live. “They” say an awful lot of things but “they” are correct with this observation. With thanks to my friend Peta, who first made me laugh with this expression, I

      2 min read

    • Article

      Emancipation

      Apr 10, 2024

      A plate of meat loaf and mashed potatoes balanced on her knees, Lorene watched a National Geographic documentary about a fifty-something woman living utterly alone on the tundra north of the Arctic circle, her home a compound of metal storage contain

      20 min read

    • Article

      September’s BOOK CLUB

      Aug 4, 2022

      It’s been a decade since Hannah was at Oxford, yet she’ll never forget it. Her room-mate, April, was killed by one of the university porters. Now he’s dead and Hannah wonders if she helped send an innocent man to prison. But if Hannah digs too deep,

      4 min read

    • Article

      Winter Warmers

      Jun 23, 2023

      BY BETH O’LEARY QUERCUS Reading a Beth O’Leary book is like connecting with an old friend. One of those friends with whom you sit on your couch in your comfiest clothes and get a story worth listening to that will make you laugh and feel sad and eve

      3 min read

    • Article

      2020’s Proof That Life Is Too Short To Trifle With

      Dec 19, 2020

      “THEY” say there are two types of people: those who live to eat, and those who eat to live. “They” say an awful lot of things but “they” are correct with this observation. With thanks to my friend Peta, who first made me laugh with this expression, I

      2 min read

    • Article

      Book Club

      Jul 21, 2021

      by Jenny O’Brien (£8.99, PB, HarperCollins) It’s book four in the DI Gaby Darin series. When local girl Elodie Fry vanishes, her mother is distraught. Did she run or was she kidnapped? At the same time, the remains of an extra unidentified body has t

      1 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Marry in Haste

    5/5

    1 rating0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Marry in Haste - Debbie Young

      Table of Contents

      PART 1 – SEEKING

      1 The Real Thing

      2 Housetraining Thomas

      3 Old Flames, New Sparks

      4 The Matchmaker

      5 The Homecoming

      PART 2 – COMMITTING

      1 The Way to His Heart

      2 Presents Tense

      3 Having Your Cake

      4 Snoring

      5 An Appetite for Marriage

      PART 3 – ENDURING

      1 Granted

      2 Cook’s Perks

      3 The New Coat

      5 The Butterfly Clip

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      A NOTE TO YOU, THE READER

      MARRY IN HASTE

      15 Engaging Short Stories about Dating, Love and Marriage

      Debbie Young

      MARRY IN HASTE

      by Debbie Young

      First Kindle edition © Debbie Young 2016

      Published by Hawkesbury Press 2016

      Hawkesbury Upton, Gloucestershire, England

      All rights reserved. No part of this ebook may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

      This is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and situations within its pages and places or persons, living or dead, is unintentional and coincidental.

      ISBN 978-1-911223-00-9

      Dedication

      What do you mean, your parents never argue? My high school English teacher was sceptical that two people could form a lifelong bond without falling out along the way. They must wait until you’re out of the room and do it then.

      This book is dedicated to my parents, former childhood sweethearts. After celebrating more than sixty wedding anniversaries together, they are still the best advertisement for marriage that I know.

      Contents

      PART 1 – SEEKING

      1 The Real Thing

      2 Housetraining Thomas

      3 Old Flames, New Sparks

      4 The Matchmaker

      5 The Homecoming

      PART 2 – COMMITTING

      1 The Way to His Heart

      2 Presents Tense

      3 Having Your Cake

      4 Snoring

      5 An Appetite for Marriage

      PART 3 – ENDURING

      1 Granted

      2 Cook’s Perks

      3 The New Coat

      4 False Economies

      5 The Butterfly Clip

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      A NOTE TO YOU, THE READER

      PART 1 – SEEKING

      1 The Real Thing

      The black plastic cafeteria tray was still damp as Jackie set it down on the servery rail. As she dried her hands on her skirt, she glanced up at the day’s Specials board.

      Special was a generous adjective to apply to the mass-produced dishes reheated in the cafeteria kitchen. But there was one item on the menu that had recently become truly special to Jackie, and that was Chicken Korma.

      Until a month ago, Jackie had never tried Indian food. Then came that memorable lunchtime when she realised that Mitesh Prawani, who usually dined in the later lunch break, was standing immediately in front of her in the queue. She’d admired Mitesh from afar since she’d spotted him entering the executive lift on his first day at Blofeld Insurance. Until that fateful lunch hour, though, it wasn’t just the company lifts policy that had kept them apart, nor their different lunch shifts, but four thick concrete floors.

      Mitesh worked on Level Six in Financial Management, while Jackie was rooted in Level Two’s Call Centre. The internal mailman had helped Jackie deduce that Mitesh’s desk lay immediately over hers. In the Call Centre’s rare quiet moments, she’d gaze up at the ceiling, imagining Mitesh poised above her.

      What do you fancy? he turned to ask her with a smile, nudging her tray with his. She blushed, thinking for a moment that he’d said not what but who.

      I’d skip the Chicken Korma, if I were you, he continued across her silence. It’s nothing like the real thing.

      Isn’t it? she answered faintly. I wouldn’t know. I’ve never had it.

      His mouth fell open. Never had proper Chicken Korma? Sweetheart, you don’t know what you’re missing! Rich, smooth, luscious, subtly spiced.

      She managed not to voice what popped up in her head: Just like you.

      As soon as Jackie had collected her shepherd’s pie, Mitesh beckoned her to share his table. When he invited her to join him for dinner that night at an authentic Indian restaurant, she nearly choked on the gristle she’d been valiantly chewing. She was too shy to do anything as intimate as spit it out and put it on the side of her plate in front of him.

      So began Jackie’s month of discovering the joys of traditional Indian food, but more than any spice, Mitesh’s presence made her tingle from her taste buds to her toes.

      When Mitesh eventually dumped her in favour of Accounts Receivable’s Stacey (as he advised her in a note in the internal mail), Jackie swore she’d never eat Indian food again. Cloves, cumin, coriander – these once-loved spices would forever be bitter as bile.

      But now, as she dithered once more before the Specials board, Jackie felt a hand placed gently on her shoulder. Turning round, she saw it belonged to Hu Chang, manager of Blofeld’s corporate fleet.

      I wouldn’t risk the sweet and sour chicken, love, he said. It’s nothing like the real thing – not like The Golden Sun’s in town.

      Really? replied Jackie, whose personal sun had just emerged from behind a dark cloud. I’ve never had proper Chinese food before...

      2 Housetraining Thomas

      As Clare checked her watch in the dim light of the Belle Epoque bistro, she wondered not for the first time how she and Joanna had managed to remain firm friends since they’d left school. On paper, they were completely incompatible; different people in just about every respect.

      Whenever

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1