Praise for USA TODAY bestselling author Julie Beard
âWildly inventive, fun and fast moving. I absolutely loved it!â
âUSA TODAY bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe on Kiss of the Blue Dragon
âBeard knows how to make the pages fly through your fingers, not only with suspense, but also with sizzling passion and exhilarating adventure. A master of the craft, she creates memorable characters and magical stories.â
âKathe Robin, Romantic Times
âJulie Beard is one of the few writers who takes the concept of love and passion right to the brink! Keep up the wonderful writing, Julie. Iâm a fan for life!â
âA Romance Review
âJulie Beard writes intelligent romances brimming with emotion and sensuality.â
âNew York Times bestselling author Joan Johnston
âThere is a magical quality to Julie Beardâs writing.â
âHeart to Heart
Dear Reader,
Enter the high-stakes world of Silhouette Bombshell, where the heroine takes charge and never gives upâwhether sheâs standing up for herself, saving her friends from grave danger or daring to go where no woman has gone before. A Silhouette Bombshell heroine has smarts, persistence and an indomitable spirit, qualities that will get her in and out of trouble in an exciting adventure that will also bring her a man worth havingâ¦if she wants him!
Meet Angel Baker, public avenger, twenty-second-century woman and the heroine of USA TODAY bestselling author Julie Beardâs story, Kiss of the Blue Dragon. Angelâs job gets personal when her mother is kidnapped, and the search leads Angel into Chicagoâs criminal underworld, where she crosses paths with one very stubborn detective!
Join the highly trained women of ATHENA FORCE on the hunt for a killer, with Alias, by Amy J. Fetzer, the latest in this exhilarating twelve-book continuity series. Sheâs lived a lie for four years to protect her sonâbut her friendâs death brings Darcy Steele out of hiding to find out whom she can trustâ¦.
Explore a richly fantastic world in Evelyn Vaughnâs A.K.A. Goddess, the story of a woman whose special calling pits her against a powerful group of men and their leader, her former lover.
And finally, nights are hot in Urban Legend by Erica Orloff. A mysterious nightclub owner stalks her loverâs killers while avoiding the sharp eyes of a rugged cop, lest he learn her own dark secretâsheâs a vampireâ¦.
Itâs a month to sink your teeth into! Please send your comments and suggestions to me c/o Silhouette Books, 233 Broadway, Suite 1001, New York, NY 10279.
Sincerely,
Natashya Wilson
Associate Senior Editor, Silhouette Bombshell
is the USA TODAY bestselling author of nearly a dozen historical novels who, with this action-adventure novel, makes a no-holds-barred debut in contemporary fiction worthy of a Bombshell heroine. She loves kickboxing, debating politics and being walked by her Basenji dogs. She lives in the Midwest with her husband and two children, one of whom was adopted from China. Julie is a former television reporter and college journalism instructor who has penned a critically acclaimed âhow toâ book for romance writers.
To my son, Connor, for having the spiritual insight
and fortitude to make his parents go halfway around the world to China to adopt his sister, Madeline Jing. I adore you both.
I would like to thank the following people for the support and help they gave me when I wrote this book:
Master David Blevins at Blue Wave Martial Arts Center, Shirl and Jim Henke, Amy Berkower and Jodi Reamer at Writers House, and especially Julie Barrett at Harlequin Silhouette. Without Julieâs vision and enthusiasm, this book would never have been conceived, much less written. Thank you all!
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
The Day From Hell
I like to make men sweat.
I like to tie a man in a chair and watch the beads of perspiration bubble on his upper lip one at a time, the air growing steamy from his nervous heat as I press the cold shaft of my Glock against his pulsating temple.
âYouâre gonna die, sucker,â I whisper. âToo bad you had to be such an asshole.â
That line works almost every time. Thatâs because the world is full of Grade-A A-holes. Make that triple A. And Iâm not just talking about men. Iâve seen women commit crimes so harrowing it would turn your blood into shaved ice. I blame part of that on the meltdown in the American justice system.
The Scientific Justice Act of 2032 ensured that no criminal could spend more than two years in jail without DNA evidence. God forbid they should suffer cruel and unusual punishments like their victims did. Naturally, what followed on the Internet were virtual manuals teaching criminals how not to leave DNA evidence at the scene of a crime. So nowâmore than seventy years laterâexecutions, even for heinous serial murders, are so rare they make top ratings on pay-per-view. And punishment for run-of-the-mill murders? Forgetaboutit. Two years and youâre out without that sacred DNA proof of a crime.