âTake off your dress and leave it on the floor on the way out.â
âMy dress?â Juliana inquired. Her voice was hesitant. Alarmed.
Hunter smiled despite his fatigue. âThe servants will expect some evidence of a romantic evening. Iâll close my eyes, I promise.â He obediently closed his eyes. Never had he imagined that the whisper of fabric against skin could be so tantalizing.
âMy father warned me about rich boys like you.â
âYour father is a smart man,â Hunter retorted, âbut youâre safe with me.â A vision of her naked before him turned his body to pulsating awareness. He counted her footsteps across the room, his breath exploded in his chest, and he reminded himself that asking her to remove her clothes was his idea.
âHunter?â
He hoped she wasnât going to ask him whether she could expect to find him in her bed when she woke up. He couldnât trust himself with the answer to that question.
Dear Harlequin Intrigue Reader,
This month Harlequin Intrigue has an enthralling array of breathtaking romantic suspense to make the most of those last lingering days of summer.
The wait is finally over! The next crop of undercover agents who belong to the newest branch of the top secret Confidential organization are about to embark on an unbelievable adventure. Award-winning reader favorite Gayle Wilson will rivet you with the launch book of this brand-new ten-story continuity series. COLORADO CONFIDENTIAL will begin in Harlequin Intrigue, break out into a special release anthology and finish in Harlequin Historicals. In Rocky Mountain Maverick, an undeniably sexy undercover agent infiltrates a powerful senatorâs ranch and falls under the influence of an intoxicating impostor. Be there from the very beginning!
The adrenaline rush continues in The Butlerâs Daughter by Joyce Sullivan, with the first book in her new miniseries, THE COLLINGWOOD HEIRS. A beautiful guardian has been entrusted with the care of a toddler-sized heir, but now they are running for their lives and she must place their safety in an enigmatic protectorâs tantalizing hands! Ann Voss Peterson heats things up with Incriminating Passion when a targeted âwitnessâ to a murder manages to inflame the heart of a by-the-book assistant D.A.
Finally rounding out the month is Semiautomatic Marriage by veteran author Leona Karr. Will the race to track down a killer culminate in a real trip down the aisle for an undercover husband and wife?
So pick up all four of these pulse-pounding stories and end the summer with a bang!
Sincerely,
Denise OâSullivan
Harlequin Intrigue, Senior Editor
Joyce credits her lawyer mother with instilling in her a love of reading and writingâa fascination for solving mysteries. She has a bachelorâs degree in criminal justice and worked several years as a private investigator before turning her hand to writing romantic suspense. A transplanted American, Joyce makes her home in Aylmer, Quebec, with her handsome French-Canadian husband and two children. A visit to the Thousand Islands, where this story is set, gave her the inspiration to write about a hero and his castle.
Ross and Lexi CollingwoodâHe was the Baron of Wall Street. After their baby daughter was kidnapped and never returned, they went to extreme measures to hide the birth of their son and new heir from the world.
GoodhewâWhat did the butler know about the explosion that killed Ross and Lexi Collingwood?
Juliana GoodhewâShe was the butlerâs daughter, whoâd agreed to raise the Collingwood heir as her own son.
Hunter SinclairâThis reclusive multimillionaire lived a double life as The Guardian. Heâd do anythingâeven marry a woman heâd never metâto save his godson from a killer.
Annette YorkâLexiâs sister. The baby was her only family left.
Kendrick DwyerâThe president and chief financial officer of the Collingwood Corporation. Was he too eager to fill Rossâs shoes as CEO?
David YoungeâThe controller. Had he been on his way out of the corporation? Or on his way up?
Sable Holden and Phillip BallardâRoss Collingwood had ruthlessly bought out their companies in hostile takeovers. Did they want revenge?
Nonnie WilsonâWas the Collingwoodsâ missing cook somehow involved in the bombing?
Stacey KerrâLexiâs personal secretary. Who was she sleeping with?
Gord NevinsâCould the household manager of the Collingwood estate be trusted?
To my daughter Elise
for the joy she brings me.
My sincere thanks to Denise OâSullivan,
who recognized The Butlerâs Daughter before I did. And to the generous people listed below who answered my tedious questions about their lives and their jobs or provided valuable input to my plot.
From the Ottawa-Carleton Regional Police services:
Jackie Oakley; Constable Bob Arbour, Bomb Tech; and Sergeant Dave Lockhart, Intelligence Section.
Also, Mr. Victor Robles, The City Clerk, The City of
New York; Tom McCormick, W. J. Van Dusen Professor of Management, UBC Commerce; New York State Police Trooper Lieutenant Jamie Mills; Dr. Steven W. Maclean; Pilot Pierre Duchaine; Ellen Hall; Judy McAnerin; T. Lorraine Vassalo; and Rickey R. Mallory.