âYour train derailed. You were airlifted here to the hospital.â
So far, Wade had given her only fragments of her life, certainly not enough for her to piece together her identity, but too much for a total stranger to know. She studied his face with more care than before, seeing past the composed veneer to a restless energy beneath. âDo I know you?â
âWeâve never met.â
Confusion made her head ache. âThen why are you here with me?â
âMaybe the rest can wait.â He avoided her eyes.
âTell me now. Why are you being so attentive to someone youâve never met?â
He raised his head and caught her in the powerful gaze of eyes so deep and murky she could have drowned in them.
âBecause you were going to marry me.â
Dear Reader,
Welcome to Harlequin American Romanceâ¦where each month we offer four wonderful new books bursting with love!
Linda Randall Wisdom kicks off the month with Bride of Dreams, the latest installment in the RETURN TO TYLER series, in which a handsome Native American lawman is undeniably drawn to the pretty and mysterious new waitress in town. Watch for the Tyler series to continue next month in Harlequin Historicals. Next, a lovely schoolteacher is in for a big surprise when she wakes up in a hospital with no memory of her pastâor how sheâd gotten pregnant. Meet the last of the three identical sisters in Muriel Jensenâs WHOâS THE DADDY? series in Father Found.
Bestselling author Judy Christenberryâs Rent a Millionaire Groom launches Harlequin American Romanceâs new series, 2001 WAYS TO WED, about three best friends searching for Mr. Right who turn to a book guaranteed to help them make it to the altar. IDENTITY SWAP, Charlotte Douglasâs new cross-line series, debuts with Montana Mail-Order Wife. In this exciting story, two women involved in a train accident switch identities and find much more than they bargained for. Follow the series next month in Harlequin Intrigue.
Enjoy this monthâs offerings, and make sure to return each and every month to Harlequin American Romance!
Wishing you happy reading,
Melissa Jeglinski
Associate Senior Editor
Harlequin American Romance
For the brave men and women who fought the Montana wildfires of the summer of 2000.
Charlotte Douglas has loved a good story since she learned to read at the age of three. After years of teaching that love of books to her students, she now enjoys creating stories of her own. Often her books are set in one of her three favorite places: Montana, where she and her husband spent their honeymoon, the mountains of North Carolina where theyâre building a summer home, and Florida, near the Gulf of Mexico on Floridaâs west coast, where sheâs lived most of her life.
Books by Charlotte Douglas
HARLEQUIN AMERICAN ROMANCE
591âITâS ABOUT TIME
623âBRINGING UP BABY
868âMONTANA MAIL-ORDER WIFE*
HARLEQUIN INTRIGUE
380âDREAM MAKER
434âBENâS WIFE
482âFIRST-CLASS FATHER
515âA WOMAN OF MYSTERY
536âUNDERCOVER DAD
NEWS FLASH SPECIAL REPORT!
We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to bring you this breaking news.
A Westward Railways train has derailed just outside Kalispell. Police have reported several injuries, mostly minor. Several passengers have been taken to local area hospitals.
One young woman, traveling alone, identified as Rachel OâRiley, is suffering from a concussion and what appears to be amnesia. Her fiancé has been contacted by local authorities and is at her bedside.
Only one passenger is unaccounted forâanother young woman identified from her ticket receipt as Jennifer Reid. Police have called off the search, as they believe she was unharmed in the accident and left the scene. Her whereabouts and her destination are unknownâ¦.
Wade Garrett awoke with a start, jerked upright in his chair and slammed his boots from the windowsill to the floor. Perspiration speckled his forehead, and his heart raced from the still-vivid nightmare. His son had been lost and calling to him, but he couldnât find the boy anywhere.
He rubbed his eyes and shoved his fingers through his hair. Only a dream. Jordan was fine, at home with Ursula.
Rolling his shoulders to stretch his stiff muscles, he hoisted himself from the depths of the chair heâd slept in for the past two nights. A quick glance assured him he hadnât disturbed the still figure in the hospital bed beside him. Rachel OâRiley lay bruised, battered and comatose, and in her vulnerable state, she tugged at his heartstrings, reminding him of his son, an angel when asleep.
Jordan, an angel?
Wade grimaced with bitter humor. Jordan awake was a holy terror. And Jordan was the reason Wade kept vigil in Rachel OâRileyâs hospital room.
He stumbled through the predawn twilight into the tiny bathroom. At the lavatory he sluiced cold water over his face to drive away the dregs of sleep, raised his head and confronted a memory in the mirror.