Шэрон Кендрик - The Boss's Bought Mistress

DEAR READER LETTER

By Sharon Kendrick

Dear Reader Contents Cover Dear Reader About the Author Title Page Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Copyright ,

One hundred. Doesn’t matter how many times I say it, I still can’t believe that’s how many books I’ve written. It’s a fabulous feeling but more fabulous still is the news that Mills & Boon are issuing every single one of my backlist as digital titles. Wow. I can’t wait to share all my stories with you - which are as vivid to me now as when I wrote them.

There’s BOUGHT FOR HER HUSBAND, with its outrageously macho Greek hero and A SCANDAL, A SECRET AND A BABY featuring a very sexy Tuscan. THE SHEIKH’S HEIR proved so popular with readers that it spent two weeks on the USA Today charts and…well, I could go on, but I’ll leave you to discover them for yourselves.

I remember the first line of my very first book: “So you’ve come to Australia looking for a husband?” Actually, the heroine had gone to Australia escape men, but guess what? She found a husband all the same! The man who inspired that book rang me up recently and when I told him I was beginning my 100th story and couldn’t decide what to write, he said, “Why don’t you go back to where it all started?”

So I did. And that’s how A ROYAL VOW OF CONVENIENCE was born. It opens in beautiful Queensland and moves to England and New York. It’s about a runaway princess and the enigmatic billionaire who is infuriated by her, yet who winds up rescuing her. But then, she goes and rescues him… Wouldn’t you know it?

I’ll end by saying how very grateful I am to have a career I love, and to thank each and every one of you who has supported me along the way. You really are very dear readers.

Love,

Sharon xxx

Mills & Boon are proud to present a thrilling digital collection of all Sharon Kendrick’s novels and novellas for us to celebrate the publication of her amazing and awesome 100th book! Sharon is known worldwide for her likeable, spirited heroines and her gorgeous, utterly masculine heroes.

SHARON KENDRICKonce won a national writing competition, describing her ideal date: being flown to an exotic island by a gorgeous and powerful man. Little did she realise that she’d just wandered into her dream job! Today she writes for Mills & Boon, featuring her often stubborn but always to-die-for heroes and the women who bring them to their knees. She believes that the best books are those you never want to end. Just like life…

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Cover

Dear Reader DEAR READER LETTER By Sharon Kendrick Dear Reader Contents Cover Dear Reader About the Author Title Page Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Copyright , One hundred. Doesn’t matter how many times I say it, I still can’t believe that’s how many books I’ve written. It’s a fabulous feeling but more fabulous still is the news that Mills & Boon are issuing every single one of my backlist as digital titles. Wow. I can’t wait to share all my stories with you - which are as vivid to me now as when I wrote them. There’s BOUGHT FOR HER HUSBAND, with its outrageously macho Greek hero and A SCANDAL, A SECRET AND A BABY featuring a very sexy Tuscan. THE SHEIKH’S HEIR proved so popular with readers that it spent two weeks on the USA Today charts and…well, I could go on, but I’ll leave you to discover them for yourselves. I remember the first line of my very first book: “So you’ve come to Australia looking for a husband?” Actually, the heroine had gone to Australia escape men, but guess what? She found a husband all the same! The man who inspired that book rang me up recently and when I told him I was beginning my 100th story and couldn’t decide what to write, he said, “Why don’t you go back to where it all started?” So I did. And that’s how A ROYAL VOW OF CONVENIENCE was born. It opens in beautiful Queensland and moves to England and New York. It’s about a runaway princess and the enigmatic billionaire who is infuriated by her, yet who winds up rescuing her. But then, she goes and rescues him… Wouldn’t you know it? I’ll end by saying how very grateful I am to have a career I love, and to thank each and every one of you who has supported me along the way. You really are very dear readers. Love, Sharon xxx

About the Author SHARON KENDRICK once won a national writing competition, describing her ideal date: being flown to an exotic island by a gorgeous and powerful man. Little did she realise that she’d just wandered into her dream job! Today she writes for Mills & Boon, featuring her often stubborn but always to-die-for heroes and the women who bring them to their knees. She believes that the best books are those you never want to end. Just like life…

Title Page The Boss’s Bought Mistress Sharon Kendrick www.millsandboon.co.uk

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Copyright

“Wrecked!” screamed the caption beneath the photo of a woman being bundled, glassy eyed into the back of a police car.

“Che cosa cha facenda?” His black eyes glittering, Giovanni threw down the newspaper and turned to his spin doctor. “Let’s hope this is the last of it.”

“You’ve spoken to the police?” asked Lucas.

“Si. The lawyers say charges will be dropped if she goes into rehab,” Giovanni said grimly. “She’s finally accepted that she has a problem. But Madre di Dio — it has taken long enough!”

After years of denial, his fragile step-sister had taken the first, tentative step on the road to recovery. But despite the sunshine that streamed through the windows of his beautiful London house, Giovanni couldn’t shake off his disquiet.

“But what the hell do I do now?” he questioned, his dark features hardening as he anticipated the troubles ahead. “How do I stop the snappers from camping outside the clinic and bribing patients to sell gossip? My sister needs protecting from the sharks who inhabit her world, and God knows there’s nobody else looking out for her.”

“We need to kill the story,” said Lucas, quietly.

“How?”

“We give the press an even bigger one. A diversionary tactic.”

Giovanni narrowed his eyes. “And what could be bigger than this?”

“You are.”

“Explain,” Giovanni said tersely.

“They want a story about your fabulously glamorous family.”

“And fabulously cursed,” echoed Giovanni sardonically. “Don’t forget that.”

Lucas shrugged. “Drugs are big, but you’re one of the world’s most eligible bachelors. Your engagement story would wipe everything else off the front page.”

“Engagement story?” Giovanni sat down and stretched out his long legs as he studied his spin doctor thoughtfully. “What black arts are you concocting now, Lucas?” he murmured.

“An engagement of convenience,” replied the other man smoothly.

In spite of everything, Giovanni gave a short laugh. “Aren’t you forgetting something? There’s no one who fits the bill. In fact, there’s no particular woman in my life.” Relationships bored him — and scared the life out of him. He’d spent his early years avoiding the fallout of partnerships, which always seemed flawed and ultimately doomed….