âThat was incredible,â Faith murmured
With Faith nestled against his chest, sated after hours of delicious lovemaking, Lex knew what he had to do. This was the moment. He lifted her head, making her look into his eyes. âI need you to remember something. Itâs very important, okay?â
âSure,â she said, obviously perplexed.
âI am in love with you.â
A smile curved her mouth. âIââ
âIâve been in love with you since the first moment I saw you,â he continued, his voice intense. It was vitally important that she understand him. âI think you are the most remarkable woman Iâve ever met. I look at you and Iââ He looked away, trying to find the right words. âI look at you and I melt. Something happens to me in here.â He thumped his chest. âI need you to know it. I need you to remember it.â
Her eyes seemed to mist over and she kissed his cheek. And then she said the words heâd been dreading. âOh, Nash. I love you, too.â
Dear Reader,
My writing career has finally come full circle. Many, many years ago I submitted my first ever romance novel to Harlequin Temptationâit was called The Loverâs Candle and Iâm eternally thankful that it never saw publication. Like me, many authors have books in their past that hold the Worst Book In The History of the World award and we happily use those manuscript pages for rough drafts and doodle paper for the kids. Unforgettable, though, is a book that Iâm very proud of.
What happens when an author gets amnesia, then wakes up as the heroine in her wildly popular romantic-suspense books? Chaos of the first order. Especially when she first sets eyes on hunky lodge owner Lex Ellenberg and decides heâs her hero. Only, little does she realize that Lex is about to show her what being a real hero is all aboutâ¦.
I hope you will enjoy Faith and Lexâs story. I had a blast writing it. For more information on past and upcoming books, be sure to check out my Web site, www.booksbyrhondanelson.com.
Happy reading,
Rhonda Nelson
HARLEQUIN BLAZE
75âJUST TOYING AROUNDâ¦
81âSHOW & TELL
115âPICTURE ME SEXY
You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never beâ
I had a mother who read to me.
âStrickland Gillilan
This book is dedicated to my mother, Hope Whitley.
Thanks, Mom, for sharing your love of the written word, for telling me stories and fueling my imagination.
For being a champion, a friend and confidante.
Bun love Mom.
âWHOSE IDEA WAS THIS again?â
âYours,â Trudy said drolly.
Faith Bonner bit her bottom lip, glanced at the passing scenery as they wound their way higher and higher up into the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. Despite the glorious display of fall color, a tremor of trepidation shook her tummy. âWell, it was a bad one,â she said grimly.
Her assistant expelled a small breath. âNo, it wasnâtâit was brilliant.â Smiling, she nudged Faithâs shoulder. âYou just need to relax. That was the purpose of coming up early, remember? Iâm going to finalize all the arrangements for the To Catch a Thief eventâwhich is going to be spectacular, by the way,â Trudy said excitedly. âAnd youâre going to rest.â
That would be a neat trick, Faith thought, since her muscles were practically atrophied with stress. What the hell had she been thinking? Honestly, they could have hosted this publicity event in any number of fine hotels in Nashville, or any other large city, for that matter. Not in the wilds of east Tennessee, where signs like Do Not Feed Bears Under Penalty of Law were posted every several hundred feet.
While Faith appreciated nature, she nonetheless preferred her creature comforts. By all accounts, Oak Crest Lodgeâtheir ultimate destinationâhad every necessary amenity, but Faith couldnât help but be a little nervous this far removed from true civilization. While she wasnât precisely a dyed-in-the-wool city girl, she still hadnât had a single camping/hiking/kayaking outdoor adventure that hadnât ended in disaster. Broken bones, snake bites, poison oakâ¦You name it, it had most likely happened to her. She was a graceless klutz and had long ago accepted that unflattering truth about herself.
To make matters worse, sheâd been attacked by a small dog as a childâa Chihuahua, for pityâs sakeâbut the experience had been nothing short of traumatic and had left her ridiculously terrified of most animalsâparticularly ones with teeth. Faithâs worried gaze scoured the tree line and she fidgeted in her seat. The idea that wild creatures with huge, glistening incisors roamed in these beautiful woods scared the living daylights out of her, made her stomach twist with an oh-hell kind of dread.
Trudy negotiated a hairpin turn. âI donât know why youâre so worried about this, Faith,â she chided gently. âItâs not like you donât know what youâre doing. Hell, you know the characterâyouâve been writing the Zoe Wilder books for yearsâand you wrote the mini-mystery for this weekend. Why are you so freaked?â