Dear Reader,
I am very pleased and honored to be part of Harlequin American Romanceâs 20th anniversary. I was privileged to have one of my love stories, Touch of Fire, selected for publication that first year. To date, I have published seventy-one novels. Fifty-nine of them have been Harlequin American Romance titles.
And the reason for that is simple. Harlequin American Romance novels embody everything I hold dear about family and friends, love and commitment. The stories can by funny, serious, sad and happy. They are a slice of real life with a dollop of romance and fantasy thrown in. And they end happilyâevery time.
My heartfelt thanks to the wonderful editors I have worked with over the years, including and especially my editor for the past eight years, the supremely talented Denise OâSullivan.
To the readers who have read and loved my books and shared them with family and friendsâyou make it all worthwhile.
My very best to you all.
Dear Reader,
What a spectacular lineup of love stories Harlequin American Romance has for you this month as we continue to celebrate our 20th anniversary. Start off with another wonderful title in Cathy Gillen Thackerâs DEVERAUX LEGACY series, Taking Over the Tycoon. Sexy millionaire Connor Templeton is used to getting whateverâwhomeverâhe wants! But has he finally met his match in one beguiling single mother?
Next, Fortuneâs Twins by Kara Lennox is the latest installment in the MILLIONAIRE, MONTANA continuity series. In this book, a night of passion leaves a âMain Street Millionaireâ expecting twinsâand has the whole town wondering âWhoâs the daddy?â After catching a bridal bouquet and opening an heirloom hope chest, a shy virgin dreams about asking her secret crush to father the baby she yearns for, in Have Bouquet, Need Boyfriend, part of Rita Herronâs HARTWELL HOPE CHESTS series. And donât miss Inherited: One Baby! by Laura Marie Altom, in which a handsome bachelor must convince his ex-wife to remarry him in order to keep custody of the adorable orphaned baby left in his care.
Enjoy this monthâs offerings, and be sure to return each and every month to Harlequin American Romance!
Melissa Jeglinski
Associate Senior Editor
Harlequin American Romance
Cathy Gillen Thacker
Taking Over the Tycoon
Cathy Gillen Thacker married her high school sweetheart and hasnât had a dull moment since. Why, you ask? Well, there were three kids, various pets, any number of automobiles, several moves across the country, his and her careers and sundry other experiences (some of which were exciting and some of which werenât). But mostly, there was love and friendship and laughter, and lots of experiences she wouldnât trade for the world.
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Epilogue
Kristy Neumeyer waited until the tall, sexy man in front of her finished his silky-smooth spiel before she put her paintbrush down and wiped her hands on the rag looped into the belt of her jeans. Turning back to him, she decided not to mince words this time, and she gave him her most stubborn smile. âIâve got just three words for your proposition.â
He waited, hope shining in his gorgeous gray eyes, as Kristy tightened her lips and continued. âNot. Gonna. Happen.â Not ever, no matter what he did. No matter how attractive Connor Templeton looked standing there with his neatly cut, dark blond hair, the hint of autumn tan on his handsome face. No matter how easily his confident and commanding presence could take her breath away. And it was high time the ultrasuccessful real estate tycoon realized that, Kristy determined. His development projects might attract gold, not just in Charleston, South Carolina, but all up and down the East Coast of the United States, but they did not interest her. Not for a red-hot second.
For the briefest moment, Connor Templetonâs chiseled jaw dropped, and he regarded her in stunned amazement, as if unable to believe she was going to pass on the oh-so-lucrative proposition he had just politely and painstakingly laid out for her. His own smile fading, he watched as she finished painting one of the shutters beside the double lobby doors a deep pine-green. âYou obviously havenât fully calculated my offer,â he stated finally.
As the warm October breeze ruffled her hair, Kristy picked up her bucket and brush and moved a little farther down the covered porch that faced the Atlantic Ocean, to the next double hung window. Ignoring his frank perusal of her, she took a tranquilizing breath and continued painting. Sheâd had the outside of the 1950s lodge painted a snowy white by a professional crew, but to save money, had left the trim work around the first floor doors and windows for herself. âAnd I donât intend to, either, Mr. Big Business,â she said. If he had his way, heâd swiftly have her leading the life of the rich and idle, instead of bringing life back to the resort she had inherited from her beloved aunt Ida.