Are Men From Mars?: Are Men From Mars? / Venus, How Could You?. Candy Halliday

      “Hey, Captain, looks like our spy is a she!”

      Angrier than she’d ever been in her life, Maddie pulled herself up when the force holding her down suddenly set her free. She picked up her pith helmet, which had been knocked off in the struggle, and brushed her long, tangled blond hair out of her face. It took only a split second to confirm that she really had been captured by mysterious green men, after all.

      U.S. military camouflage green, to be exact. In tight T-shirts.

      She hesitated a moment, staring up at the imposing figure towering above her, silently cursing herself for noticing how cute he was. “My name is Dr. Madeline Morgan,” she began haughtily, “and for your information, I’m an entomologist, not a spy.”

      “Whatever you are, you were trespassing on restricted government property,” her G.I. Joe informed her as his penetrating gaze slid over her. “I’m going to have to detain you in my quarters until I can verify your identity.”

      His quarters? she wondered. Detained with Captain Hunk? How on earth was she going to get out of this one?

      Dear Reader,

      The question I’m asked most frequently is where do I get my story ideas. I wish I could tell you my mind is so boggled with fresh new story ideas, sometimes I can’t even sleep at night. If only that were true.

      Sometimes a story idea can be a gift, as was the case with the first book in this volume, Are Men from Mars? At coffee after a meeting of my local chapter of Romance Writers of America, my dear friend Elizabeth made a mild complaint that she was bored with the same old, same old heroines—the hip executives, the models and actresses, the interior designers, etc. The type of heroine she would love to see, she told me, was a serious academic research/scientist type of heroine. And presto! Dr. Madeline Morgan, devoted entomologist, began whispering in my ear before I even finished my coffee.

      To offset brainy Dr. Morgan, however, I decided it would be fun to give her a zany identical twin sister. In Venus, How Could You? soap opera star Mary Beth Morgan is as outrageous as her professor twin is serious. Yet both sisters soon find themselves dealing with the same problem: what to do about the irresistible in-your-face heroes who turn their lives upside down and teach both sisters a valuable lesson in the subject of love.

      I hope you’ll enjoy getting to know Maddie and Mary Beth as much as I enjoyed letting them tell you their stories.

      Best wishes,

      Candy Halliday

      Books by Candy Halliday

      HARLEQUIN DUETS

      58—LADY AND THE SCAMP

      82—WINGING IT

      Special thanks always to my wonderful agent, Jenny Bent, and to my amazing editor, Susan Pezzack, to whom I wish only the best with her move to MIRA. And a very special thank-you to Elizabeth Fensin, for giving me the gift of Maddie.

      This book is dedicated in loving memory of Robert H. McNeill. Uncle Bob, I know you are kicking back in one of Heaven’s easy chairs now, reading this with a smile on your face and still cheering me on.