âYou Donât Want To Hear It? Tough.
âYou asked the question, Mr. Sheriff Jericho Rivers, so youâre going to know who my lovers were. Youâre going to hear how they looked, and how they made me feel.â
Maria couldâve sworn his handsome, weathered face paled.
As her body responded to his heated, possessive look, she caught back an unsteady sigh and launched into her answer.
âMy legion of lovers are all of a type. All are kind. Gentle. All dark, stronger than the strongest oak and taller than the sky. They all have eyes as silvery gray as a stormy sea. And they come to me in the night, wherever I am. Africa. Egypt. China. Russia. Belle Terre.
âThey come to me only in my wishes and my dreams.â Her free hand trailed over his jaw, her fingertips lingered at his mouth. âBecause all my lovers are you, Jericho. Wherever I am, wherever I go, only you.â
Dear Reader,
The year 2000 has been a special time for Silhouette, as weâve celebrated our 20th anniversary. Readers from all over the world have written to tell us what they love about our books, and weâd like to share with you part of a letter from Carolyn Dann of Grand Bend, Ontario, whoâs a fan of Silhouette Desire. Carolyn wrote, âI like the storylinesâ¦the charactersâ¦the front covers⦠All the characters in the books are the kind of people you like to read about. Theyâre all down-to-earth, everyday people.â And as a grand finale to our anniversary year, Silhouette Desire offers six of your favorite authors for an especially memorable monthâs worth of passionate, powerful, provocative reading!
We begin the lineup with the always wonderful Barbara Boswellâs MAN OF THE MONTH, Irresistible You, in which a single woman nine months pregnant meets her perfect hero while on jury duty. The incomparable Cait London continues her exciting miniseries FREEDOM VALLEY with Slow Fever. Against a beautiful Montana backdrop, the oldest Bennett sister is courted by a man who spurned her in their teenage years. And A Season for Love, in which Sheriff Jericho Rivers regains his lost love, continues the new miniseries MEN OF BELLE TERRE by beloved author BJ James.
Donât miss the thrilling conclusion to the Desire miniseries FORTUNEâS CHILDREN: THE GROOMS in Peggy Morelandâs Groom of Fortune. Elizabeth Bevarly will delight you with Monahanâs Gamble. And Expecting the Bossâs Baby is the launch title of Leanne Banksâs new miniseries, MILLION DOLLAR MEN, which offers wealthy, philanthropic bachelors guaranteed to seduce you.
We hope all readers of Silhouette Desire will treasure the gift of this special month.
Happy holidays!
Joan Marlow Golan
Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire
first book for Silhouette Desire was published in February 1987. Her second Desire garnered for BJ a second Maggie, the coveted award of the Georgia Romance Writers. Through the years there have been other awards and nominations for awards, including, from Romantic Times Magazine, Reviewerâs Choice, Career Achievement, Best Desire and Best Series Romance of the Year. In that time, her books have appeared regularly on a number of bestseller lists, among them Waldenbooks and USA Today.
On a personal note, BJ and her physician husband have three sons and two grandsons. While her address reads Mooreboro, this is only the origin of a mail route passing through the countryside. A small village set in the foothills of western North Carolina is her home.
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Epilogue
He watched her.
From a small alcove above the atrium of the sprawling museum, he could see every patron and every celebrant, read the nuance of each gesture or expression. But it was only she who had the power to captivate. Only this woman who fascinated.
As he watched, music and laughter filled the grand hall from marble floor to gold leaf ceiling. Dancers, resplendent beneath the light of 18th-century chandeliers, reflected in one ornate mirror after another. Antique blue satin draping doors opening onto small galleries shimmered as darkly as the sea beyond.
The atrium was magnificent, an exquisite replica of the past the very cliquish Southern town of Belle Terre revered. In all its rich, Low Country grandeur, this was the heart of the museum, the piéce de résistance. An ironic setting for the beautiful woman.
There was a time she wouldnât have been welcome. Venerable denizens greeting her familiarly tonight wouldnât have spoken to her on the street. Men strutting in dusted-off tuxedos, lusting for a word or a smile, in the past lusted only for her nubile body.
Sheâd been brutalized and reviled by Belle Terre. Yet she moved among its self-appointed aristocracy graciously, as if she were one of them and had always been.
Politely refusing hors dâoeuvres, flutes of champagne, and invitations to dance by the dozens, she accepted the fawning acclaim, yet remained quietly aloof. In a gown that flowed like liquid gold about her, tastefully revealing the qualities that once sparked scorn and lechery, Maria Elena Delacroix, the outcast of Belle Terre, held court with the regal dignity of a queen.