Mills & Boon is proud to present a fabulous collection of fantastic novels by bestselling, much loved author
ANNE MATHER
Anne has a stellar record of achievement within the publishing industry, having written over one hundred and sixty books, with worldwide sales of more than forty-eight MILLION copies in multiple languages.
This amazing collection of classic stories offers a chance for readers to recapture the pleasure Anneâs powerful, passionate writing has given.
We are sure you will love them all!
Iâve always wanted to writeâwhich is not to say Iâve always wanted to be a professional writer. On the contrary, for years I only wrote for my own pleasure and it wasnât until my husband suggested sending one of my stories to a publisher that we put several publishersâ names into a hat and pulled one out. The rest, as they say, is history. And now, one hundred and sixty-two books later, Iâm literallyâexcuse the punâstaggered by whatâs happened.
I had written all through my infant and junior years and on into my teens, the stories changing from childrenâs adventures to torrid gypsy passions. My mother used to gather these manuscripts up from time to time, when my bedroom became too untidy, and dispose of them! In those days, I used not to finish any of the stories and Caroline, my first published novel, was the first Iâd ever completed. I was newly married then and my daughter was just a baby, and it was quite a job juggling my household chores and scribbling away in exercise books every chance I got. Not very professional, as you can imagine, but thatâs the way it was.
These days, I have a bit more time to devote to my work, but that first love of writing has never changed. I canât imagine not having a current book on the typewriterâyes, itâs my husband who transcribes everything on to the computer. Heâs my partner in both life and work and I depend on his good sense more than I care to admit.
We have two grown-up children, a son and a daughter, and two almost grown-up grandchildren, Abi and Ben. My e-mail address is [email protected] and Iâd be happy to hear from any of my wonderful readers.
âH E WAS everything a woman might ever want in a man: tall, dark, ruthless good looks masking a dangerous will that had made him a millionaire before his twenty-fifth birthday. He sat beside her on the sofa, too close for comfort, and oozing the kind of blatant sexuality that weakened her defences. Power and determination had made him successful in business, but Lavender had no intentionâ¦â
âI donât have to go if you donât want me to, Mum.â
Rachel had been lost in the intriguing love life of her latest heroine when Daisy appeared in her office doorway, but her daughterâs words brought a crushing end to that imaginary world.
âOh, Daisy!â Rachel exclaimed, getting up from her desk to give the girl a swift hug. âWhen did I say I didnât want you to go?â
âYou didnât,â said Daisy, recoiling from her motherâs embrace with all the youthful independence of a thirteen-year-old. âBut I know what you think of Lauren. I donât like her much either. And the last time I visited them they were still living in England.â
Rachel sighed. She was always amazed at Daisyâs capacity to understand her feelings. She wasnât always amenable. Like any teenager her age, she and her mother didnât always see eye to eye. But where her father was concerned, there was no contest.
Daisy had known that his invitation to spend at least two weeks of her summer holidays with him and his second wife at their home in Florida could prove controversial. For the first three years of his marriage to Lauren, Steve had only seen his daughter a handful of times, even though Rachel had agreed to share custody. But suddenly, since Steveâs move to the companyâs headquarters in Miami last year, heâd been eager to have her spend every holiday with him.
Rachel hadnât voiced any objections. She wanted Daisy to know her father. But there was still a twinge of apprehension at the thought that Daisy might find life in the United States far more exciting than living here in Westlea, a quiet English country town.
âLook, I donât mind,â she assured Daisy now, refusing to consider how she would feel if Daisy did decide to live with her father. Rachelâs unexpected success in recent years as a romantic novelist had proved satisfying, but it certainly wouldnât compensate for the loss of her daughter as well as her husband.
âWellâ¦â Daisy still looked doubtful, and Rachel wanted to hug her again. âIf youâre sure?â