The Marquis And The Mother-To-Be. Valerie Parv
Carissa looked around for a weapon.
The gleam of metal on the windowsill caught her eye. She picked up the old cigar tube she’d found when she arrived at the lodge, an idea growing.
Careful to avoid creaking floorboards, she reached her bedroom and felt her heartbeat quicken. The intruder was in there.
Through a small gap in the doorway she saw a man a head taller than she. She swallowed. Lord, he was big—wide at the shoulders and narrow everywhere else. His aristocratic profile tugged at her memory, but before she could pinpoint the reason, she decided it was now or never.
She pushed open the door, moved up behind the man and pressed the cigar tube into his back with all the force she could muster. “Don’t move. I have a gun, and I know how to use it.”
Dear Reader,
Ring in the holidays with Silhouette Romance! Did you know our books make terrific stocking stuffers? What a wonderful way to remind your friends and family of the power of love!
This month, everyone is in store for some extraspecial goodies. Diana Palmer treats us to her LONG, TALL TEXANS title, Lionhearted (#1631), in which the last Hart bachelor ties the knot in time for the holidays. And Sandra Steffen wraps up THE COLTONS series about the secret Comanche branch, with The Wolf’s Surrender (#1630). Don’t miss the grand family reunion to find out how your favorite Coltons are doing!
Then, discover if an orphan’s wish for a family—and snow on Christmas—comes true in Cara Colter’s heartfelt Guess Who’s Coming for Christmas? (#1632). Meanwhile, wedding bells are the last thing on school nurse Kate Ryerson’s mind—or so she thinks—in Myrna Mackenzie’s lively romp, The Billionaire Borrows a Bride (#1634).
And don’t miss the latest from popular Romance authors Valerie Parv and Donna Clayton. Valerie Parv brings us her mesmerizing tale, The Marquis and the Mother-To-Be (#1633), part of THE CARRAMER LEGACY in which Prince Henry’s heirs discover the perils of love! And Donna Clayton is full of shocking surprises with The Doctor’s Pregnant Proposal (#1635), the second in THE THUNDER CLAN series about a family of proud, passionate people.
We promise more exciting new titles in the coming year. Make it your New Year’s resolution to read them all!
Happy reading!
Mary-Theresa Hussey
Senior Editor
The Marquis and the Mother-to-be
Valerie Parv
Books by Valerie Parv
Silhouette Romance
The Leopard Tree #507
The Billionaire’s Baby Chase #1270
Baby Wishes and Bachelor Kisses #1313
* The Monarch’s Son #1459
* The Prince’s Bride-To-Be #1465
* The Princess’s Proposal #1471
Booties and the Beast #1501
Code Name: Prince #1516
† Crowns and a Cradle #1621
† The Baron & the Bodyguard #1627
† The Marquis and the Mother-To-Be #1633
Silhouette Intimate Moments
Interrupted Lullaby #1095
Royal Spy #1154
VALERIE PARV
lives and breathes romance and has even written a guide to being romantic, crediting her cartoonist husband of nearly thirty years as her inspiration. As a former buffalo and crocodile hunter in Australia’s Northern Territory, he’s ready-made hero material, she says.
When not writing her novels and nonfiction books, or speaking about romance on Australian radio and television, Valerie enjoys dollhouses, being a Star Trek fan and playing with food (in cooking, that is). Valerie agrees with actor Nichelle Nichols, who said, “The difference between fantasy and fact is that fantasy simply hasn’t happened yet.”
Contents
Prologue
Excitement gripped Carissa Day as she followed the real estate agent through an overgrown garden toward a rambling house. The pleasantly weathered timber walls, bay windows and shingle roof made the building look at ease in the rain-forest setting. The prospect of living twenty minutes’ drive from the nearest town only added to its charm, she decided.
“Are you sure about the price, Mr. Hass?” she asked, concerned at how close she was to losing her heart. The lodge so exactly fitted her dream of the bed-and-breakfast place she wanted to establish that she had to remind herself it wouldn’t be a picnic. Taming the garden alone would keep her busy for some time.
“I’m quite sure,” the agent said in his elusive accent. “This used to be a country retreat for a wealthy family, but it hasn’t been used for two years. The owner died nine months ago after a long illness, and the new owner instructed me to sell it off. He’s in the Carramer Royal Navy and away a lot, so doesn’t want to be encumbered by a country house.”
“Who was the owner?”
Hass hesitated before saying, “It was someone called de Valmont. He willed the property to his nephew, my client.”
She had met the