Capturing Her Heart: Royal Betrayal

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Dear Reader,

Royal Betrayal is a bit of a departure from my usual edgy stories, but one that I thoroughly enjoyed writing. I’ll bet you never guessed that I’m a closet historical writer … but it’s true. I’ve always loved reading historical romances, with their lords and ladies and luxurious aristocratic settings. Finally I got to write a book with all that, and a dynamite mystery, too! What more could a lady … er, author, ask for?

It was such fun working with the other talented authors on these contemporary fairy tales! It’s not every day you get to invent a whole new country, complete with princes and dukes, lords and ladies, and a dastardly villain or two thrown in for some spine-tingling action.

So get ready to be swept away once again to the Kingdom of Silvershire as my hero, Dr Walker Shaw, and heroine, Lady Zara Smith, continue the quest to find the true royal prince, and along the way find something even better—true love.

Nina (who dedicates this book to my wonderful editors, Julie Barrett, Melissa Endlich, Patience Smith and Jessica Alvarez. You are a true joy to work with, ladies!)

NINA BRUHNS credits her Gypsy great-grandfather for her great love of adventure. She has lived and traveled all over the world, including a six-year stint in Sweden. She has been on scientific expeditions from California to Spain to Egypt and the Sudan, and has two graduate degrees in archaeology (with a specialty in Egyptology). She speaks four languages and writes a mean hieroglyphic!

But Nina’s first love has always been writing. For her, writing is the ultimate adventure. Drawing on her many experiences gives her stories a colorful dimension and allows her to create settings and characters out of the ordinary. She has won numerous awards for her previous titles, including the prestigious National Readers Choice Award, two Daphne Du Maurier Awards of Excellence for Overall Best Romantic Suspense of the year, five Dorothy Parker Awards and two Golden Heart Awards, among many others.

A native of Canada, Nina grew up in California and currently resides in Charleston, South Carolina, with her husband and three children. She loves to hear from her readers, and can be reached at PO Box 2216, Summerville, SC 29484-2216 or by e-mail via her website at www.ninabruhns.com or via the Harlequin website at www.eharlequin.com.

The Royal Palace, Silverton In the country of Silvershire July

The king was dying.

And there was nothing she could do about it.

Panic crawled deep within Dr. Zara Smith. Gently grasping the old man’s hand, Zara willed King Weston to regain consciousness and once again shine his wise, kind smile upon her. The smile she’d worked so hard over the past month to put back on his face.

All for nothing.

Why wouldn’t he wake up? She’d removed the tumor ravaging his brain days ago. The surgery had gone perfectly. There was no reason the king should still be in a coma.

Not again, she prayed. Please, not again.

“Any change?” asked Emily, the day nurse, sending both of them a worried glance.

Zara shook her head, turning away from the trace of pity she saw in the other woman’s eyes. She knew exactly what the nurse was thinking. If King Weston died, the country would lose a much-beloved monarch … and Zara would lose her future. Between this and the child’s death last year, no amount of medical brilliance or even Lady Zara’s aristocratic title would be able to save her career as a doctor. The tabloids would have a field day—again. She’d be forced to go crawling back to her father’s estate in disgrace, her plans shattered, her goals crushed. Lord Daneby would never forgive her for besmirching the family name by allowing the king to die on his daughter’s watch.

God, Zara would never forgive herself.

Maybe if she—

Suddenly, a deafening roar ripped through the room like the boom of thunder. Glass and wood and metal exploded all around her, sending deadly shards in every direction. Screaming for help, she instinctively launched herself over the old king, shielding his body as a wall of flaming instruments from behind his bed collapsed over them.

Again she screamed, this time from the pain stabbing through her shoulder and side. Something hard and sharp cracked over her skull, and a red-hot shower of pain detonated through her head.

Then all went black.

Late afternoon, one week later

Dr. Walker Shaw tried to look somber and professional while accompanying His Grace, Russell, Duke of Carrington, the acting regent of the tiny country of Silvershire, as they strolled through the imposing halls of the palace toward the medical wing. After all, he was here on official business. Walker’s appearance might be a tad disreputable, and his accent slow and lazy as molasses, but his credentials as a consultant with the elite Lazlo Group were sterling enough to allow him regular admittance to places mere mortals rarely visited. Places such as this.