DESTINATION: FRANCE ATTRACTIONS: GREAT FOOD, WINE, ROMANCE...AND ROHAN SAINT YVES Here, in the fragrant province of Perigord, lay the mystery of Sabine's past -- the scandal and secrecy of her mother's banishment, and of her father's true identity. And in the vineyards of her ancestors, also lay ...
Morgana couldn't wish him away Lyall Pentreath van Guisen was a new and unwanted factor in her life. As the only male heir in the ancient but divided Pentreath family, he had inherited their Cornish home. Not only was he from the other branch of the family - he was also ruthless, cunning and us...
He hadn't planned to fall in love... Declan Malone was convinced Olivia was a threat to his cousin's marriage. True, she didn't seem the type to steal another woman's husband, but there was only one way to make absolutely sure: Declan must seduce Olivia himself! With his looks, sex appeal and fab...
Running away had accomplished nothing! Briony Adair fled to her aunt's Yorkshire cottage as a refuge. Away from the pressures of her father's plans and the unexpected return of her estranged husband, Logan -- missing for a year, presumed dead, on a foreign assignment -- she hoped to sort out the...
Dare she dream of the devil?The dreaded day of reckoning had come. It was time for Joanna to stop running and face Callum Blackstone.If she had only herself to consider...But refusing to submit to Cals' impossible demands meant financial disaster for her father and brother.Fate has dealt Cal all ...
Despite all it's flaws - and this book has several, it's a decent enough read. For some reason it's hard to put down and the main character is basically likeable. The hero is not. He's boring, there's little appeal, and he's plain infuriating. The heroine is sweet so I like that about her but her...
Career-driven heroine is shaken upon receiving anonymous message informing her that her writer husband is seeing another woman. It makes her reassess their recently distant relationship, especially in light of Hero excluding her from his business trip. Will inviting herself to join him save their...
Pretty, but penniless, Helen Frayne vows to do anything to keep her ancestral home, but she doesn't realize just how far she'll have to go....Arrogant Frenchman and millionaire property magnate Marc Delaroche wants Helen as he's never wanted a woman before. He's certain she will sell herself to k...
When Emily Blake innocently kissed formidable Italian count Rafael Di Salis, she didn't know that she was bound by her late father's wishes to marry him. Emily agreed to be the count's wife until she reached twenty-one...Count Rafael has bided his time. He's kept his passions under iron control f...
The blackmail affair As a teenager, Adrien was infatuated with Chay Haddon, and she was devastated when her family banished him, claiming he'd betrayed their trust. Chay disappeared vowing revenge . . . Adrien is shocked when years later, the tables are turned and she finds herself at Chay's merc...
Gabriel's father's will stipulated that he and Joanna should live together as man and wife for a year, and after living separate lives for a year, he was back to claim his inheritance. But Joanna would rather forgo the money than live with a man who didn't love her.
Laine waited for her handsome new husband, Daniel Flynn, to come to her on their wedding night...knowing that their marriage was a sham. Daniel didn't love her--he was just fulfilling a promise he'd made to take care of her...So Laine fled--a married woman, but still an innocent!Two years later, ...
Not much to say about this one. While not the worst HQN I've read, it doesn't stand out as anything awesome.The heroine, Christine, is an extremely broke orphan. She's got nothing to hold her in England, so she accepts a rich old bat's invitation to become her secretary on a lush Caribbean planta...
Nicola found he was a law unto himself.She had agreed to masquerade as his prospective bride to help her young friend escape. She was appalled that arranged marriages still existed.But Luis Alvarado de Montalba was not a man to be crossed. "You forced your way into my life, " he informed her when...
He went on rather anxiously, ' I hope you didn't mind my inviting your cousin and her friend to this opening with us. It was just—well, he seems pretty much of a man of the world, and if the restaurant is any good, he could spread the word among his company executives. After all, Tristan Constr...
Phoebe's praise was warm when Carrie came to clear the table, and she saw the rather austere face soften. 'Just nursery food, miss, but nice to have it appreciated. That Cindy never wanted anything but steak,' she added with a snort. 'May I help carry things down to the kitche...
She should have fought him off, she told herself angrily. She’d been mad to expose herself to such danger. Even crazier to try and pretend the danger did not exist. It had been a shock to discover that Andrew had planned to live at the château. And ...
By dint of standing on her bed, she had managed to open her window to its fullest extent, but the little room was still close and airless. She crept into Nicky's darkened—and blessedly cool—room and checked that he was deeply and peacefully asleep before using his bathroom to take a shower, and c...
Because he’d promised as much. And he wasn’t anywhere near her. He was—dear God—on the other side of the room. But she didn’t speak—or move. Just watched, in total sensual thrill, as he stripped off his shirt and let it fall. She let her eyes roam, hungrily absorbing the width of his shoulders, t...
He knocked lightly, and waited, but there was no reply, and after a moment he opened the door and went quietly in.He trod silently over to the bed and stood looking down at its occupant, his brows drawn together in a frown. The bedside lamp was still on, so she must have fallen asleep as soon as ...
The sky had been overcast and threatening all day, and now that threat was being fulfilled in long silver spears of rain, dashing themselves against the ancient panes. She leaned her forehead thankfully against the cool glass. The pins which Madame Bresson had lent her to secure her coiffure seem...
The noble Conte Alessio Ramontella lifted his aching head from the pillow, and, groaning faintly from the effort, attempted to focus his eyes. True, the bed looked like a disaster area, but the room was not moving, and the severe pounding, which he’d assumed was the noise of buildings collapsing ...
'No,' was all he said.At that moment Julie herself came in, eyes bright and cheeks glowing.'Hello, everyone.' She almost danced round the table to kiss Chas and bestow a swift hug upon Lisa. 'Isn't it a beautiful day?''Wintry showers forecast for later on,' Miss Henderson said.'Oh, I don't care w...
She didn’t want to remember. But the images were there, burning in her brain. Everything Jack had said. Everything he’d done.For three years she’d fought to keep them at bay. Now the cupboard was open, and the skeletons were crowding upon her.Nothing had ever been the same again after Jack failed...
She could even be almost glad she hadn’t slammed the sitting room door behind her as she’d been sorely tempted to do. But there wasn’t any other cause for rejoicing. She’d carefully collected all her clothes and personal possessions and transferred them to the spare room, before returning to the ...
She hoped drowsily that it had nothing to do with the wildly erotic dreams which had assailed her during the night. God knows what part of my subconscious they were dredged up from, she thought, half amused, half guilty, as she stretched languidly, and opened her eyes—to find it wasn't the autumn...
You had left it here beside the bed. It made interesting reading, and the photograph almost does you justice.' He smiled lazily. 'But I looked in vain, querida, under "Distinguishing marks" for that enchanting heart-shaped mole you have on your left hip. Were you afraid some inquisitive Customs o...
Vast and high- ceilinged, it contained a cavernous wardrobe in walnut with elegant brass handles, and a matching dressing-table, tallboy and old- fashioned bedstead of equally generous proportions. Sandie felt almost dwarfed as she unpacked and put her things away. Tea had been an awkward meal. H...
Clutching a handful of damp tissues, she’d stared into the darkness trying to make sense of Patrick’s extraordinary behaviour, and failing miserably. But the chief barrier between herself and sleep was her body’s unexpected and unwelcome response to Jago Marsh’s mouth movi...
CHAPTER ELEVEN ALLIE poured shower gel into her cupped hand and began to work it into her skin, wondering as she did so if she would ever feel loved again. She’d been used, but not abused, and whatever violation there’d been was of her heart, not her body. He’d taken her quickly and casually, as ...
Blacklands.Tuesday, September 23 Sweat dampened Sarah’s torso as she edged away from the protective cover of the jungle and out into the clearing, toward their clothes drying over a bush. The heat of the sun was violent on her head; her palms were moist. She kept her back to the clothes and faced...
My God, they even called me Katharine, and people said how sweet that was.’‘Imagine if you’d been a boy,’ Liam said. ‘It could have been a damned sight worse. Do you think you’d have been Pet for short?’‘Oh, God,’ she said, with a ghost of a laugh. ‘I never thought of that. Anyway, after Belinda ...
And if a warning voice in her mind murmured that this was a situation fraught with potential pitfalls, she chose to ignore it. And if Alain disapproved of her new acquaintance, what did it matter? she asked herself defiantly. He was hardly in any position to criticise, after what she had seen on ...
Joanna lost count of the rooms and corridors she saw, all of which seemed to twist and turn eventually back on to that central gallery. The place was an art thieves' paradise, she thought dazedly as names like Canaletto and Tintoretto came almost monotonously off Nick's tongue as he led her round...
‘The rest I am sure you can manage for yourself.’ ‘Thank you,’ she said with icy politeness. ‘But I think I’ve had enough sun for one day.’ ‘Perhaps you are wise,’ he said, faint amusement in his voice. ‘Why take more risks with such a charming body?’ Her throat tightened. ‘Thank you for your ...
'I just-walked in from the street.' 'A lucky chance,' he agreed. 'But it doesn't alter the fact that I've been searching for you. Or did you think I'd just let you vanish like that?' She was very still suddenly. She said, 'I hoped you'd understand my wishes-and respect them.' He shook his head...
'You can't be serious!' 'I'm perfectly serious. It's a very charming house—or did you think only members of your own family had the taste to appreciate it?' 'Of course not.' She shook her head in bewilderment. 'But this isn't a very fashionable area—and a fair distance from London, and the kind o...
'I've never seen you in any- thing but black, white and grey. Now suddenly you're in Technicolor.' He surveyed her moodily. 'You look—amazing. But I feel as if I've never known you at all.' Cally stifled a sigh. 'I didn't intend that you should,' she said quietly. 'Because I wasn't planning to st...
And that was what she had to think. Because anything else was impossible. Having lunch with Andreas Stephanos had been one of the biggest mistakes of her life, and she was ashamed to think how spinelessly she'd succumbed to his invitation. And also, she realised, wincing, how much she'd enjoyed h...
Cassie felt the first icy drops, as she waited on the edge of the pavement, and grimaced inwardly with irritation. She'd left the flat so hurriedly that morning that she'd failed to bring either an umbrella or even a scarf, and a heavy shower oh her newly washed, carefully blow-dried and discipli...
'Fool!' she castigated herself sharply, reaching for a handkerchief and scrubbing at her eyes. It was madness, all this raking up of the past. What had happened between Gethyn and herself was past, done and quite irrevocable. She knew that. Why else was she here? By letting memory have its way wi...
But there was an additional certainty—that as soon as you got into a hot and longed-for bath the phone would ring. Just as it was doing at this very moment. Yet for once she would not be scrambling out, cursing and reaching for a towel in order to o...
'You!' She was almost choking. 'But why—how...?' 'It is quite simple-' He moved forward, shutting the saloon door behind him—shutting the world out,, she found herself thinking wildly, shutting them in alone together. 'I took my own car and a different route. Did you real y think I would al ow yo...
She had overslept after a strangely disturbed night and so missed the tube train she had wanted to catch and was forced to wait several minutes for the next. Jason was waiting in the hall, his leather coat over his shoulders, smoking impatiently. 'So you've come,' he said rather coldly, his eyes ...
So the purpose of his visit was clearly no secret, he thought grimly, as he followed in Massimo’s stately wake, aware that his elegant silk tie seemed to be on the point of strangling him, and realising that, probably for the first time in his adult life, he was nervous about a meeting with a gir...
‘It’s not too…’‘Far from it,’ Jane assured her. ‘It’s obvious you’re not wearing a bra, of course, because the thing has hardly any back, but that’s the only way you can tell. That high halter front is very discreet. And I love all those masses of tiny pleats in the skirt.’‘Culottes, actually.’ A...
She was surrounded by walls of greenery, shaded by an unbroken canopy of leaves. It was very still. Abby paused a moment to catch her breath. She had the unnerving impression that the forest was holding its breath too, and that unseen eyes were waiting for her to make some kind of move. And she w...
Jerome, lost in thought, made no attempt to initiate any immediate conversation, and Meg was thankful for it. It gave her time to pull herself together, recover at least the appearance of composure. How quickly things could change, she thought shakily. Only an hour or so before they'd been compan...
"I'm sorry," she said at last. "I don't think I quite understand." "It's perfectly simple. I've just proposed to you—asked you to become my wife." Miles sounded totally cool about it. "Look on it, if you want, as a new kind of contract." Her lips moved. "Marriage is—hardly a business arrangement....
Janna moistened her lips desperately, aware of the curious glances from the older women, but her throat muscles seemed paralysed and would not obey her. And then, as if in answer to an unspoken prayer, the sound of men's voices was heard and the drawing-room door opened to admit the remainder of ...
Did Carlota forget to mention it?''I must have misunderstood.' She handed the baby back to his mother, and stood up, brushing down her skirt, hoping that the dim light from the verandah's smoky lamps would disguise the rising colour in her face. 'I'm starving as well.' She was aware she was babbl...
‘Are you absolutely certain you want to get married?’Flora Graham, whose thoughts had drifted to the ongoing knotty problem of informing those concerned that she didn’t want her spoiled and brattish nephew as a pageboy, hurriedly snapped back to the immediate present, the crowded and cheerful res...
And before dinner she'd found all her new clothes unpacked and neatly put away in the closets. Elvire might only be playing at being Roche's housekeeper, as she herself was pretending to be his wife, but it was impossible to fault the way the other girl carried out her duties, Samma thought grudg...
She wanted to ask where they were going, but felt it was better to pretend that she knew, and she tried not to look too eagerly around her as they drove through part of the city she had never seen before. Jan, she was sure, would take her surroundings very much for granted. Her companion seemed s...
She chose a dress to wear to dinner, then put it back and picked another one at random, tossing it on to the bed. It wasn't as in any way becoming as her first choice, but that was all to the good. She was here to work, which was something she had lost sight of for a while.She had come disastrous...
She could offer neither explanation nor excuse for herself. This was a man she had cause only to hate. A man whose name she did not even know. A man who was using her as the instrument of a vengeance she did not even comprehend. Why then, in spite of everything, had she fa...
his brows snapping together as he saw her. 'Buongiorno,' he murmured after a pause. 'You will forgive me if I do not get up,' he added, indicating the sheet draped over his hips which was quite clearly his only covering. 'Would you like coffee?' 'No, thank you.' Polly shifted uneasily from one fo...
She cannot remain here.' The new Lady Kerslake's voice, almost strident in its vehemence; resounded plainly through the closed drawing room door, freezing Morwenna where she stood, her hand already raised to knock. A number of thoughts chased wildly through her head as she assimilated Cousin Patr...
he said, very quietly. ?It is not.? ?Then let?s forget all about this marriage nonsense, shall we?? she said tautly. ?And get back to what I?m really here for. Or perhaps I should jog your memory, Kyrios Mandrakis.? Her hands went to the little buttons on her bodice, tugging them loose. She pushe...
'But Murray couldn't—he wouldn't.''Wrong on both counts, I'm afraid.' The grey eyes flickered over her, then still holding her arm Jake began to propel her towards some of the tan leather benches, placed back to back in the main reception area. He said abruptly, 'Sit down. I'm going to phone up t...
The dark face was set and almost cruel. That's the way it is, darling, I am off to the Caribbean on the fifth of next month, and I haven't the slightest intention of travelling alone. If you want Alison to stay at home and go on practising the role of the virtuous wife, then you'll go with me. If...
As if it was only the driving rhythm of his possession that could appease the throbbing ache now building slowly and insidiously far within her.Tempting her to put her arms round him and offer her parted lips to the kisses she’d once denied him. To arch her body towards him, taking him ever more ...