Elizabeth Harbison - Wife Without a Past

Cover Page

Excerpt

Dear Reader Dear Reader, This month, Silhouette Romance is celebrating the classic love story. That intensely romantic, emotional and compelling novel you just can’t resist. And leading our month of classic love stories is Wife without a Past by Elizabeth Harbison, a deeply felt tale of an amnesiac wife who doesn’t recognize the FABULOUS FATHER she’d married… Pregnant with His Child… by bestselling author Carla Cassidy will warm your heart as a man is reunited with the child he never knew existed—and the woman he never stopped loving. Next, our MEN! promotion continues, as Silhouette Romance proves a good man isn’t hard to find in The Stranger’s Surprise by Laura Anthony. In Patricia Thayer’s moving love story, The Cowboy’s Convenient Bride, a woman turns up at a Texas ranch with a very poignant secret. And in Plain Jane Gets Her Man by Robin Wells, you’ll be delighted by the moder day Cinderella who wins the man of her dreams. Finally, Lisa Kaye Laurel’s wonderful miniseries, ROYAL WEDDINGS, continues with The Prince’s Baby. As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, I’d like to give a special thanks to all of you, the readers, for making Silhouette Romance such a popular and beloved series of books. Enjoy November’s titles! Regards, Melissa Senate Senior Editor Silhouette Books 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

Title Page Wife Without a Past Elizabeth Harbison www.millsandboon.co.uk

Dedication To the witches: Chris, Elaine, Mary, Mary Kay, Nora and Pat.

About the Author ELIZABETH HARBISON has been writing fiction since elementary school, when she added sixty pages onto her copy of Black Beauty, bringing all the horses back to life. “Happily ever after” is a concept she takes seriously! After publishing three cookbooks, Elizabeth decided to try her hand at writing romance. The rest, as they say… well, you know. Today, in addition to being.a Silhouette author, she is an active member of the Washington chapter of the Romance Writers of America. Elizabeth lives in Germantown, Maryland, with her husband, John, her daughter, Paige, and their dog, Bailey (who is named after George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life). Always one to appreciate comments and feedback on her work, Elizabeth loves to hear from readers. You can write to her c/o Silhouette Books, 300 E. 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017.

Letter Dear Samantha, Today is your mother’s birthday. She’s been gone for a little more than a year, but sometimes it seems like she just stepped out yesterday. And sometimes it feels like it’s been forever. I want to tell you about your mother, while it’s still so fresh in my mind, but you’re too young to understand it all right now. So I thought I’d write it down and give this to you when you’re older. Where do I start? Your mother was the most beautiful and intelligent woman I ever met. The day we got married, I truly felt like the luckiest man on earth. If she were here, she’d probably tell you that she chased me until I caught her—she used to say that all the time—but the truth is that the minute I laid eyes on her, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. You know, I’m finding that even as I write this, I feel strange talking about her in the past tense. In my mind I know she’s gone, but, as crazy as it sounds, sometimes I could swear she’s nearby. There are days when I even catch myself looking out the window at the front walk, as if it were just a matter of time before she came home… Love, Daddy

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Epilogue

Copyright

“I’m really sorry you lost your wife, but I’m not her.”

Andrew made no move to follow her, but his voice rang clearly behind her. “Okay, you’re not her. You just have her face, her eyes, her hair, her voice, and her scar on your chin.”

She stopped. She did have a scar on her chin. She’d wondered a million times where it had come from.

“Laura, why did you leave?”

She couldn’t answer him.

“Okay, forget me,” Andrew said angrily. “Forget me altogether. How could you leave your child?”

Child!

Dear Reader,

This month, Silhouette Romance is celebrating the classic love story. That intensely romantic, emotional and compelling novel you just can’t resist. And leading our month of classic love stories is Wife without a Past by Elizabeth Harbison, a deeply felt tale of an amnesiac wife who doesn’t recognize the FABULOUS FATHER she’d married…

Pregnant with His Child… by bestselling author Carla Cassidy will warm your heart as a man is reunited with the child he never knew existed—and the woman he never stopped loving. Next, our MEN! promotion continues, as Silhouette Romance proves a good man isn’t hard to find in The Stranger’s Surprise by Laura Anthony. In Patricia Thayer’s moving love story, The Cowboy’s Convenient Bride, a woman turns up at a Texas ranch with a very poignant secret. And in Plain Jane Gets Her Man by Robin Wells, you’ll be delighted by the moder day Cinderella who wins the man of her dreams. Finally, Lisa Kaye Laurel’s wonderful miniseries, ROYAL WEDDINGS, continues with The Prince’s Baby.

As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, I’d like to give a special thanks to all of you, the readers, for making Silhouette Romance such a popular and beloved series of books. Enjoy November’s titles!

Regards,

Melissa Senate Senior Editor Silhouette Books

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

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To the witches: Chris, Elaine, Mary,

Mary Kay, Nora and Pat.

has been writing fiction since elementary school, when she added sixty pages onto her copy of Black Beauty, bringing all the horses back to life. “Happily ever after” is a concept she takes seriously!

After publishing three cookbooks, Elizabeth decided to try her hand at writing romance. The rest, as they say… well, you know. Today, in addition to being.a Silhouette author, she is an active member of the Washington chapter of the Romance Writers of America.

Elizabeth lives in Germantown, Maryland, with her husband, John, her daughter, Paige, and their dog, Bailey (who is named after George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life).

Always one to appreciate comments and feedback on her work, Elizabeth loves to hear from readers. You can write to her c/o Silhouette Books, 300 E. 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017.

Dear Samantha,

Today is your mother’s birthday. She’s been gone for a little more than a year, but sometimes it seems like she just stepped out yesterday. And sometimes it feels like it’s been forever.

I want to tell you about your mother, while it’s still so fresh in my mind, but you’re too young to understand it all right now. So I thought I’d write it down and give this to you when you’re older.

Where do I start? Your mother was the most beautiful and intelligent woman I ever met. The day we got married, I truly felt like the luckiest man on earth. If she were here, she’d probably tell you that she chased me until I caught her—she used to say that all the time—but the truth is that the minute I laid eyes on her, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.