The Brain and The Beauty. Betsy Eliot
“I can’t know what you and my son know. I can’t see what you both see. I will never be able to fit into your world.”
Jeremy absorbed the pain that came from Abby’s admission, even as he felt the shock that he could still be hurt.
“But in some ways your life isn’t so different from what I faced,” she continued. “I was the prettiest girl in school, the one everyone wanted to date, the one everyone wanted to be seen with.”
“Is that your argument for identifying with my life?”
“Maybe not, but my point is that nobody ever really took the time to get to know me. They never bothered to look deeper, to find out if there was something more than a pretty shell. So I can understand how it might have felt for you when they didn’t bother to look deeper than how you think. I think there’s more to you than a brilliant reclusive outcast.”
“You’re wrong,” he said. “That’s exactly what I am.”
Dear Reader,
We have some incredibly fun and romantic Silhouette Romance titles for you this July. But as excited as we are about them, we also want to hear from you! Drop us a note—or visit www.eHarlequin.com—and tell us which stories you enjoyed the most, and what you’d like to see from us in the future.
We know you love emotion-packed romances, so don’t miss Cara Colter’s CROWN AND GLORY cross-line series installment, Her Royal Husband. Jordan Ashbury had no idea the man who’d fathered her child was a prince—until she reported for duty at his palace! Carla Cassidy spins an enchanting yarn in More Than Meets the Eye, the first of our A TALE OF THE SEA, the must-read Silhouette Romance miniseries about four very special siblings.
The temperature’s rising not just outdoors, but also in Susan Meier’s Married in the Morning. If the ring on her finger and the Vegas hotel room were any clue, Gina Martin was now the wife of Gerrick Green! Then jump into Lilian Darcy’s tender Pregnant and Protected, about a fiery heiress who falls for her bodyguard.…
Rounding out the month, Gail Martin crafts a fun, lighthearted tale about two former high school enemies in Let’s Pretend…. And we’re especially delighted to welcome new author Betsy Eliot’s The Brain & the Beauty, about a young mother who braves a grumpy recluse in his dark tower.
Happy reading—and please keep in touch!
Mary-Theresa Hussey
Senior Editor
The Brain & the Beauty
Betsy Eliot
MILLS & BOON
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To Diane Eliot.
You told me you wanted to be the best mother-in-law in the world and you succeeded. I thank you for that and for so much more, but mostly, I thank you for Peter.
BETSY ELIOT
As a teenager, Betsy Eliot’s theme song was “I Am Woman (Hear Me Roar).” She’s roaring still, now as the author of romance novels. Married to her childhood sweetheart, Peter, she has two wonderful children, Peter and Marie, who have believed in her since they were too young to know better.
Betsy has won several writing awards, including Romance Writers of America’s prestigious Golden Heart Award. She served as the president of the New England Chapter of RWA and received the Goldrick Service Award for service to the chapter. She has published two books under the name Elizabeth Eliot. She hopes Helen Reddy would be proud.
You may write to Betsy at P.O. Box 1237, Dedham, MA 02027 or visit her Web site at www.betsyeliot.com.
Dear Reader,
Like all romance readers and writers, I believe in happy endings. For me, this book is proof that they really can come true.
The path to get here wasn’t without a few challenges— what would a romance novel be without them? But along the way, I have also had some thrilling moments that I will always remember: winning RWA’s Golden Heart Contest, finding an amazing agent willing to take a chance on an unpublished writer, sharing each victory and defeat with a sisterhood of fellow writers and knowing I had the support of my family through it all. Finally, getting the news that Silhouette wanted to publish my book. This is something I’ve dreamed about for a long time.
So, thank you for sharing this moment with me. I hope you enjoy my first Silhouette Romance and that there will be many more to come. You see, I also believe in happy beginnings.
Best wishes,
Contents
Chapter One
It sounded as if there was something being buried out behind the house.
Abby Melrose ignored the sound and pushed the doorbell, hearing the low-toned gong echo through the house. She waited for a servant or perhaps a butler named Igor to answer, but when there was no answer, she rang again. Then a third time, even knowing it was rude. Surely in a house this size there must