MARION LENNOX is a country girl, born on an Australian dairy farm. She moved onâmostly because the cows just werenât interested in her stories! Married to a âvery special doctor,â Marion wrote for Mills & Boon under a different name for a while, so if youâre looking for her past novels, search for author Trisha David as well. Sheâs now had more than seventy-five romance novels accepted for publication.
In her non-writing life, Marion cares for kids, cats, dogs, chickens and goldfish. She travels, and she fights her rampant garden (sheâs losing) and her house dust (sheâs lost). Having spun in circles for the first part of her life, sheâs now stepped back from her âotherâ career, which was teaching statistics at her local university. Sheâs reprioritized her life, figured out whatâs important, and discovered the joys of deep baths, romance and chocolate. Preferably all at the same time!
âWAKE up, Lily.â
There were two doctors and four nurses gathered by the bed. This had been groundbreaking surgery. Heroic stuff. If Lily hadnât been close to death already, theyâd never have tried it.
After the operation sheâd been kept in an induced coma to give her damaged brain time to recover. Theyâd saved her life, but would she wake up⦠whole?
The junior nurseâthe gofer in this small, exclusive French hospitalâhad nothing to do right now and she was free to think about the patient. Sheâd seen this girl come in a month ago, deeply unconscious, drifting towards death. Rumour said she was related to royalty, but no one came near her.
A nurse was supposed to be objective. She wasnât supposed to care.
There wasnât one person around this bed who didnât care.
âWake up, Lily,â the surgeon said again, pressing his patientâs hand. âThe operationâs over. It was a huge success. Youâre going to be okay.â
And finally Lilyâs eyelids fluttered open.
She had dark eyes. Brown. Too big for her face.
Confused.
âHey,â the surgeon said and smiled. âHello, Lily.â
âH⦠Hello.â It was a faint whisper, as if sheâd forgotten how to speak.
âHow many fingers am I holding up?â
âThree,â she said, not interested.
âThatâs great,â the surgeon said, jubilant. âYouâve been illâreally illâbut weâve operated and the tumourâs been completely removed. Youâre going to live.â
Lilyâs gaze was moving around the room, taking in each person. The medical uniforms. The eager, interested faces.
And then, as if sheâd remembered something really important, her eyes widened. Fearful.
âAre you in pain?â the surgeon asked. âWhat hurts, Lily?â
âNothing hurts. But⦠â Her hand shifted, slow from disuse, and her fingers spread over her abdomen.
âWhereâs my baby?â
âI, ALEXANDROS KOSTANTINOS MYKONIS, do swear to govern the peoples of the United Isles of Diamasâthe Diamond Islesâon behalf of my infant cousin Michales, until such time as he reaches twenty-five years of age.â
Alexâs black uniform was slashed with inserts of crimson and richly adorned with braid, tassels and medals. A lethal-looking sword hung by his side, its golden grip emblazoned with the royal coat of arms. His snug black-as-night trousers looked sexy-as-hell, and his leather boots were so shiny a girl could see her face in them.
If she got close enough. As once sheâd been close.
Lily could barely see Alexâs face from where she watched in the further-most corner of the cathedral, but she knew every inch of his hawk-like features. His brown-black eyes were sometimes creased with laughter, yet sometimes seemed so severe sheâd think he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.