Bachelor By Design: Bachelor By Design / Too Hot For Comfort
BACHELOR BY DESIGNWhether you're looking for lattes or love, you'll find both at Cafe Romeo…Building contractor Trace Callahan is determined to stay single–even if his aunt reads romance in his coffee grounds–until he finds the perfect woman. And that woman is definitely unlike Chloe D'Onofrio, the hot-tempered interior designer who bumps heads with him at every turn. She's too opinionated, too unpredictable, much too pretty–and keeps a cache of stolen diamonds under her staircase. So naturally, Trace can't help falling in love….TOO HOT FOR COMFORTSomething was sizzling…and it wasn't steak…Sally Beaumont thought a call-in cooking show was a brilliant idea…at the time. Unfortunately, listeners thought Too Hot for Comfort referred to the bedroom, not the kitchen! Suddenly Sally was the local expert on S.E.X.–a topic that simply wasn't discussed in Comfort, Texas. Someone was even making threats, but more disturbing was that Jake Nolte–retired cop, sexy next-door neighbor–was watching over her…driving her crazy with thoughts of S.E.X.
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Dear Reader,
Welcome to another fun-filled month of Duets.
Duets #27
Award-winning author Kristin Gabriel is back with Bachelor By Design, book 2 in the delightful CAFÉ ROMEO trilogy, about a coffee shop that doubles as a dating service. What better place to find both lattes and love! And popular Superromance author Kay David joins the Duets lineup with the sizzling Too Hot for Comfort. Something is definitely cookin’ in Comfort, Texas, between Sally and Jake—and it isn’t steak!
Duets #28
Talented Jill Shalvis delivers her version of MAKEOVER MADNESS. New and…Improved? questions whether life is any better for the heroine when she goes from geek to goddess—and has to fight off men day and night! New author Jennifer LaBrecque serves up a delicious hero in Andrew in Excess. Andrew Winthrop is gorgeous, filthy rich—and in need of a temporary wife. Kat Devereaux knows just the woman—herself! But can these two make it down the aisle?
Be sure to pick up both Duets volumes this month!
Birgit Davis-Todd
Senior Editor, Harlequin Duets
Harlequin Books
225 Duncan Mill Rd.
Don Mills, Ontario
M3B 3K9 Canada
“Come on, let’s make a run for it.”
They raced the short distance from the picnic table to the red Ford Taurus, Trace keeping his body between Chloe and the direction the shots had come from. She opened the driver’s door and dived inside the car, lying flat across the seat. Trace followed right behind her, closing the car door, then landing on top of her.
“I can’t breathe,” Chloe gurgled, her face pressed against the seat cushion.
Trace levered himself up on his elbows, giving her enough room to turn onto her back. He lifted his head far enough to peer out the windshield, searching the dark shadows for some sign of the shooter.
“Get down,” she whispered harshly, grabbing his shoulders and pulling him toward her.
He sank onto her soft, voluptuous body and his breathing hitched. They fit together perfectly. The adrenaline fueling his blood turned into something more. His heart raced and his body reacted with a will of its own.
She stared up into his face. “I guess you’d better kiss me, Trace.”
Dear Reader,
Welcome back to CAFÉ ROMEO. Before I go any further, I have to let you in on a secret. Out of all the Callahan brothers, Trace is my favorite. I can’t explain it, and I’m not even sure I’d know how to handle a man like Trace in real life. I know I’d sure have fun trying. But let’s face it—that’s the beauty of fiction. You can be anyone you want—and you can be with anyone you want. So, sit back and enjoy the fantasy. And if you figure out a way to deal with a hunk like Trace, let me know.
Happy reading,
Kristin Gabriel
P.S. Be sure to watch for Beauty and the Bachelor, the final book in the CAFÉ ROMEO miniseries, available next month. Now that his two brothers have bitten the matrimonial dust, so to speak, poor Noah Callahan is panicking. And he’s got good reason….
Books by Kristin Gabriel
HARLEQUIN DUETS
7—ANNIE, GET YOUR GROOM
25—THE BACHELOR TRAP
HARLEQUIN LOVE & LAUGHTER
40—BULLETS OVER BOISE
56—MONDAY MAN
62—SEND ME NO FLOWERS
For my daughter Jenny, Who makes me smile at least once a day.
1
CHLOE D’ONOFRIO just didn’t feel at home in prison, despite the fact that several members of her extended family resided there. Still, she faithfully made the rounds each visiting day, bearing gifts and D’Onofrio family gossip.
First she saw Aunt Wanda, serving two to five years for petty larceny. Then Cousin Kit, serving ten months for floating bad checks. Her other cousin, Nora, was in again for violating her probation.
And then there was her mother.
“Did you know I’m up for parole soon?” Eileen D’Onofrio asked, flicking a piece of lint off the sleeve of her bright orange jumpsuit.
“In twenty-one days. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” Chloe cleared her throat, then looked at her mother through the Plexiglas partition. She’d rehearsed this speech on the two-hour trip from St. Louis, determined to convince Eileen to go straight once and for all. “You’ll have a much better chance of making parole if you’ve got both a job and a place to stay when you get out.”
“I’m really overqualified for most jobs,” Eileen mused. “And I refuse to work in another laundry.” She frowned down at her chapped hands. “Just look at what that harsh detergent has done to my nails.”
Chloe leaned forward in her chair. “Mother, you can’t be picky this time. And you absolutely cannot work for Uncle Leo again.”
“But he let me set my own hours.”
“You were a courier for his money-laundering operation!”
“He had a wonderful dental plan.”
“You’re going legit this time, Mom.” Chloe set her jaw. “I mean it. Ramon needs you on the outside, and so do I.”
Eileen frowned. “What’s the matter with Ramon?”
Chloe didn’t know where to begin. It seemed her younger brother was always suffering some sort of crisis. “Well, he’s still upset about his broken engagement. I knew it was a mistake for you to fix him up with your cellmate.”
