by Paula Quinn
Having to end the Children of the Mist series was bittersweet, but I’m thrilled to say there will be more MacGregors of Skye visiting the pages of future books. Camlochlin will live on for another generation at least. And not just in words but in art. Master painter James Lyman has immortalized the home of our beloved Mac-Gregors in beautiful color and with an innate understanding of how the fortress should be represented. Visit PaulaQuinn.com to order a print of your own, signed and numbered by the artist.
Until we meet again, to you mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, sons and daughters, sisters and brothers, and friends, who put yourselves aside for someone you love, I shout Huzzah! Camlochlin was built for people like you.
Find her at Facebook
Twitter @Paula_Quinn
From the desk of Jill Shalvis
Dear Reader,
From the very first moment I put Mysterious Cute Guy on the page, I fell in love. There’s just something about a big, bad, sexy guy whom you know nothing about that fires the imagination. But I have to be honest: When he made a cameo in Head Over Heels (literally a walk-on role only; in fact I believe he only gets a mention or two), I knew nothing about him. Nothing. I never intended to, either. He was just one of life’s little (okay, big, bad, and sexy) mysteries.
Then my editor called me. Said the first three Lucky Harbor books had done so well that they’d like three more, please. And maybe one of the heroes could be Mysterious Cute Guy.
It was fun coming up with a story to go with this enigmatic figure, not to mention a name: Ty Garrison. More fun still to give this ex-Navy SEAL a rough, tortured, bad-boy past and a sweet, giving, good-girl heroine (Mallory Quinn, ER nurse). Oh, the fun I had with these two: a bad boy trying to go good, and a good girl looking for a walk on the wild side. Hope you have as much fun reading their story, LUCKY IN LOVE.
And then, stick around. Because Mallory’s two
Chocoholics-in-crime partners, Amy and Grace, get their own love stories in July and August with At Last and then Forever and a Day.
Happy Reading!
http://www.jillshalvis.com
http://www.facebook.com/jillshalvis
From the desk of Lori Wilde
Dear Reader,
Ah, June! Love is in the air, and it’s the time for weddings and romance. With KISS THE BRIDE, you get two romantic books in one, There Goes the Bride and Once Smitten, Twice Shy. Both stories are filled with brides, bouquets, and those devastatingly handsome grooms. But best friends Delaney and Tish go through a lot of ups and downs on their path to happily ever after.
For those of you hoping for a June wedding of your own, how do you tell if your guy is ready for commitment? He might be ready to pop the question if…
Instead of saying “I” when making future plans, he starts saying “we.”
He gives you his ATM pass code.
He takes you on vacation with his family.
Out of the blue, your best friend asks your ring size.
He sells his sports car/motorcycle and says he’s outgrown that juvenile phase of his life.
He opens a gold card to get a higher spending limit—say, to pay for a honeymoon.
When you get a wedding invitation in the mail, he doesn’t groan but instead asks where the bride and groom got the invitations printed.
He starts remembering to leave the toilet seat down.
When poker night with the guys rolls around, he says he’d rather stay home and watch The Wedding Planner with you.
He becomes your dad’s best golfing buddy
I hope you enjoy KISS THE BRIDE.
Happy reading,
loriwilde.com
Facebook http://facebook.com/lori.wilde
Twitter @LoriWilde
From the desk of Laurel McKee
Dear Reader,
When I was about eight years old, someone gave me a picture book called Life in Victorian England. I lost the book in a move years ago, but I still remember the gorgeous watercolor illustrations. Ladies in brightly colored hoopskirts and men in frock coats and top hats doing things like walking in the park, ice-skating at Christmas, and dancing in ballrooms. I was completely hooked on this magical world called “the Victorian Age” and couldn’t get enough of it! I read stuff like Jane Eyre, Little Women, and Bleak House, watched every movie where there was the potential for bonnets, and drove my parents crazy by saying all the time, “Well, in the Victorian age it was like this…”
As I got older and started to study history in a more serious way, I found that beneath this pretty and proper facade was something far darker. Darker—and a lot more interesting. There was a flourishing underworld in Victorian England, all the more intense for being well hidden and suppressed. Prostitution, theft, and the drug trade expanded, and London was bursting at the seams thanks to changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution. The theater and the visual arts were taking on a new life. Even Queen Victoria was not exactly the prissy sourpuss everyone thinks she was. (She and Albert had nine children, after all—and enjoyed making them!)
I’ve always wanted to set a story in these Victorian years, with the juxtaposition of what’s seen on the surface and what is really going on underneath. But I never came up with just the right characters for this complex setting. The inspiration came (as it so often does for me, don’t laugh) from clothes. I was watching my DVD of Young Victoria for about the fifth time, and when the coronation ball scene came on, I thought, “I really want a heroine who could wear a gown just like that…”
And Lily St. Claire popped into my head and brought along her whole family of Victorian underworld rakes. I had to run and get out my notebook to write down everything Lily had to tell me. I loved her from that first minute—a woman who created a glamorous life for herself from a childhood on the streets of the London slums. A tough, independent woman (with gorgeous clothes, of course) who thinks she doesn’t need anyone—until she meets this absolutely yummy son a duke. Too bad his family is the St. Claire family’s old enemy…
I hope you enjoy the adventures of Lily and Aidan as much as I have. It was so much fun to spend some time in Victorian London. Look for more St. Claire trouble to come.
In the meantime, visit my website at http://laurelmckee.net for more info on the characters and the history behind the book.
Contents
Welcome
Dedication
Battle Born
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
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-three
Chapter Thirty-four
Chapter Thirty-five
Chapter Thirty-six
Chapter Thirty-seven
Author’s Note
A Preview of Ravished by a Highlander
Also by Paula Quinn
Acclaim for Paula Quinn’s Novels
Dear Reader
The Dish
Copyright
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are u
sed fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2012 by Paula Quinn
Excerpt from Ravished by a Highlander copyright © 2010 by Paula Quinn
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
Forever
Hachette Book Group
237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017
www.hachettebookgroup.com
www.twitter.com/foreverromance
First e-book edition: June 2012
Forever is an imprint of Grand Central Publishing.
The Forever name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
The Hachette Speakers Bureau provides a wide range of authors for speaking events. To find out more, go to www.hachettespeakersbureau.com or call (866) 376-6591.
ISBN 978-1-4555-1068-9