The Promise
DEA agent Rodrigo Ramirez is sent undercover to Gloryanne Barnes's stepbrother's farm in Jacobsville, Texas, where he's looking to bust a new and vicious drug cartel.Gloryanne is smart, savvy and fiercely independent, but her job has put her in danger from the same criminal Rodrigo is investigating. She's drawn to the enigmatic new farmhand, Rodrigo, a man who is much more than he seems.Confused and bitter about love, driven by his dangerous job, Rodrigo's not sure if his reckless offer of marriage to the oh-so-tempting Gloryanne is just a means to completing his mission–or something more.But as Gloryanne's bittersweet miracle and Rodrigo's double life collide, they must face the truth about each other, and decide if there's a chance for the future they both secretly desire.
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Praise for
BRENDA JOYCEâS
bestselling de Warenne dynasty
An Impossible Attraction
âBest-selling Joyce matches up a strong-willed, proudâ¦heroine and a testosterone-rich, arrogantâ¦heroâ¦[A] long, lushly sensual historical.â
âBooklist
A Dangerous Love
âThe latest de Warenne novel is pure Joyce with its trademark blend of searing sensuality, wild escapades and unforgettable characters. Youâll find warmth and romance alongside intense emotions and powerful relationships. Itâs a story you wonât easily forget.â
âRT Book Reviews
The Perfect Bride
âAnother first-rate Regency, featuring multidimensional protagonists and sweeping drama⦠Entirely fluff-free, Joyceâs tight plot and vivid cast combine for a romance thatâs just about perfect.â
âPublishers Weekly (starred review)
âTruly a stirring story with wonderfully etched characters, Joyceâs latest is Regency romance at its best.â
âBooklist
âJoyceâs latest is a piece of perfection as she meticulously crafts a tender and emotionally powerful love story. Passion and pain erupt from the pages and flow straight into your heart. You wonât forget this beautifully rendered love story of lost souls and redemption.â
âRT Book Reviews
A Lady at Last
âRomance veteran Joyce brings her keen sense of humor and storytelling prowess to bear on her witty, fully formed characters.â
âPublishers Weekly
âA classic Pygmalion tale with an extra soupçon of eroticism.â
âBooklist
âA warm, wonderfully sensual feast about the joys and pains of falling in love. Joyce breathes life into extraordinary charactersâfrom her sprightly Cinderella heroine and roguish hero to everyone in betweenâthen sets them in the glittering Regency, where anything can happen.â
âRT Book Reviews
The Stolen Bride
âJoyceâs characters carry considerable emotional weight, which keeps this hefty entry absorbing, and her fast-paced story keeps the pages turning.â
âPublishers Weekly
âA powerfully executed romance overflowing with the strength of prose, high degree of sensuality and emotional intensity we expect from Joyce. A âkeeperâ for sure.â
âRT Book Reviews
The Masquerade
âJane Austen aficionados will delve happily into heroine Elizabeth âLizzieâ Fitzgeraldâs familyâ¦Joyceâs tale of the dangers and delights of passion fulfilled will enchant those who like their reads long and rich.â
âPublishers Weekly
âA passionate tale of two lovers caught up in a web of secrets, deceptions and lies. Readers who love the bold historicals by Rosemary Rogers and Kathleen Woodiwiss will find much to savor here.â
âBooklist
âAn intensely emotional and engrossing romance where love overcomes deceit, scandal and prideâ¦an intelligent love story with smart, appealing and strong characters. Readers will savor this latest from a grand mistress of the genre.â
âRT Book Reviews
The Prize
âA powerhouse of emotion and sensuality, The Prize weaves a tapestry vibrantly colored with detail and balanced with strands of consuming passion.â
âRT Book Reviews
BRENDA JOYCE
The Promise
For Kathy Pichnarcik
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
PART ONE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
PART TWO
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
PART THREE
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
PROLOGUE
Adare, Ireland
Summer 1824
THE ANIMATED SOUND OF adult conversation drifted from the mansionâs formal dining room, where the Earl of Adare was having a supper party in celebration of his wifeâs birthday. The children had gathered in an intimate salon across the great, vaulted entry hall from the dining room, and Elysse OâNeill, who was eleven years old, sat on the gold brocade sofa in her most formal supper dress, wishing she had been allowed to join the adults. Her best friend, Ariella de Warenne, also dressed up for the party, was beside her, engrossed in a book. Elysse could not understand her friendâshe hated reading. She would have been bored, if not for the boys.
They stood in a huddle on the other side of the salon, excitedly whispering to one another. Elysse stared at them, trying to eavesdrop, knowing they meant to cause trouble. Her eyes were riveted on Alexi de Warenne, Ariellaâs brother, as he was always the leader of the pack.
She had met him four years ago, when he had first arrived in London with his father and Ariella, from Jamaica Island where he had been raised. Upon being introduced, she had snubbed him instantly, although his dark, bronzed looks and swaggering air of confidence had instantly fascinated her. After all, he was a bastard, even if his mother was a Russian noblewoman, and she was a lady, so she meant to put him down. But he hadnât been affected by the rejection; instead, he had proceeded to regale her with his stories of his life. Elysse had expected him to be backward and gauche, but he was neither of those things. She quickly realized that she had never met any boy before who had lived through as much as he had. He had sailed across the world with his father, weathering hurricanes and monsoons, avoiding naval blockades and pirates, while carrying the worldâs most precious cargoes! He had swum with dolphins, climbed the Himalayan Mountains, trekked jungles in Brazil. He had even sailed a raft up a river in China without his father! In fact, he had bragged that he could sail anything, anywhereâand she had believed him. Within an hour, she had decided that he was the most interesting boy she had ever metânot that she would ever let him know!
