Kate Fortunes Journal Entry Letter to Reader Title Page Acknowledgments About the Author Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Teaser chapter Copyright
Kate Fortunes Journal Entry
I couldnt be happier about Kelly and Macs wedding! Thank goodness Mac knows the meaning of family honor and doing the right thing, especially since Kelly Sinclair had always been more like a daughter to me than an employee. Mac knows how worried Ive been about Kelly once I learned how his brother Chad took advantage of her trusting innocence and ran off, leaving her pregnant and unwed! Im just so proud of the way Macs taken charge of this awful situation, and I know hes going to make Kelly a wonderful husband.
Its been such fun helping these two dears plan their wedding. Oh, I know theyre not in love now! But I think Kellys about to show Mac exactly whats missing in his life.... And I can hardly wait to see what this new year holds for them and the rest of my precious family!
Dear Reader,
Welcome to a new year with Silhouette Desire! We begin the year in celebrationits the 10th Anniversary of MAN OF THE MONTH! And kicking off the festivities is the incomparable Diana Palmer, with Januarys irresistible hero, Simon Hart, in Beloved.
Also launching this month is Desires series FORTUNES CHILDREN: THE BRIDES. So many of you wrote to us that you loved Silhouettes series FORTUNES CHILDRENnow heres a whole new branch of the family! Awardwinning author Jennifer Greene inaugurates this series with The Honor Bound Groom.
Popular Anne Marie Winston begins BUTLER COUNTY BRIDES, a new miniseries about three small-town friends who find true love, with The Baby Consultant. Sara Orwig offers us a marriage of convenience in The Cowboys Seductive Propasal. Next, experience love on a ranch in Harts Baby by Christy Lockhart. And opposites attract in The Scandalous Heiress by Kathryn Taylor.
So, indulge yourself in 1999 with Silhouette Desirepowerful, provocative and passionate love stories that speak to todays multifaceted woman. Each month we offer you six compelling romances to meet your many moods, with heroines youll care about and heroes to die for. Silhouette Desire is everything you desire in a romance novel.
Enjoy!
Joan Marlow Golan
Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire
Please address questions and book requests to:
Silhouette Reader Service
U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269
Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3
The Honor Bound Groom
Jennifer Greene
www.millsandboon.co.uk
Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to
Jennifer Greene for her contribution to the
Fortunes Children miniseries.
JENNIFER GREENE
lives near Lake Michigan with her husband and two children. Before writing full-time, she worked as a teacher and a personnel manager. Michigan State University honored her as an outstanding woman graduate for her work with women on campus.
Ms. Greene has written more than fifty category romances, for which she has won numerous awards, including three RITA Awards from the Romance Writers of America in the Best Short Contemporary Books category, and she entered RWAs Hall of Fame in 1998. She is also the recipient of a Career Achievement award from Romantic Times Magazine.
Meet the Fortunesthree generations of a family with a legacy of wealth, influence and power As they gather for a host of weddings, shocking family secrets are revealed...and passionate new romances are ignited
KELLY SINCLAIR: This sweet, single woman trusted the wrong man, but shes determined to do anything to protect the littlest Fortuneeven if it means marrying the babys uncle!
MAC FORTUNE: The brooding CEO thought he knew all about being responsible and acting honorably when he proposed a marriage-in-name-only to pregnant Kelly Sinclair. Until she and precious Annie moved into his home, and suddenly, keeping them at arms length became physicallyand emotionallyimpossible....
ANNIE FORTUNE: This adorable baby may be the youngest Fortune, but shes a heartbreaker-in-waiting for the next generation.
KATE FORTUNE: Shes just celebrated her eightieth birthday, but the family matriarch is still going strong, rejuvenated by all the lovely newcomers to the Fortune family!
One
The wedding was a mistake. Getting married had seemed an outstanding idea to Kelly Sinclair two weeks ago, last week and even when shed woken up this morning. But that was then and this was now. At this precise moment, Kelly realizedwith a flash of brilliant claritythat shed have to be bonkers to go through with this.
The creamy gardenias clutched in her hands started trembling and wouldnt quit. Anxiety sloshed in her stomach in sick, dread-filled waves. Maybe most brides suffered some nerves on their wedding day, but the average, normal bride wasnt seven months pregnant. She not only felt scared, but she also felt ugly, fat and scareda lethal combination. To add insult to injury, her pregnant condition made a swift escape an especially challenging problem. Her fastest speed was a waddle. A duck could probably beat her in a sprint.
She tested her memory for any time in her life when she might have been this petrifiedbut no. There was nothing to compare to this level of terror. At twenty-seven, Kelly had certainly been hurt before. Shed been frightened before. But shed never been in a situation where she felt this hopelessly, helplessly trapped. Panic was swimming in her pulse.
The door to the bathroom whooshed open. Kate Fortune, the seventy-year-old matriarch of the Fortune Cosmetics empire, poked her head in and then marched straight toward the bride. With slim, competent hands, she gently tugged the pearl-seed veil resting on Kellys blond curls a little down to the left. Everyones seated. I told them to start the wedding march in two minutes. And I thought you might need some last-minute help, but I can see youre all ready. And you look absolutely breathtaking, sweetheart.