Crystal Green - Her Gypsy Prince

“Looking for someone?”

Carlo was resting against the metal gates. He had one leg kicked over the other, casual as can be, as he rested his hands on his lean hips. The grin on his face told her he knew she’d been following him.

She decided not to admit she’d been dying to see him. “It’s dark here.”

“Very.”

The tone of his voice made her aware of every breath he took, every unsaid thing that vibrated between them. He slipped off her sunglasses, ever so slowly, and Elizabeth just about fell to pieces. His feral expression sent a zing through her, heating places that had never been tantalized before. Was she doing the same thing to him? Unthinkable.

But then for a split second she saw what she’d been wishing for in his silver-blue eyes.

Longing.

Dear Reader,

Four special women shatter the barricades they’ve built around their dreams, in Silhouette Romance this month. Be it openly defying the life role set out for them or realizing their life’s ambition, these independent ladies represent the type of aspirational heroines we’re looking for in Silhouette Romance.

Myrna Mackenzie launches our newest trilogy, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, with Much Ado About Matchmaking (SR #1786) in which a woman who doesn’t think she’s special or beautiful enough for the worldly hero finally gets the courage to listen to her heart. The Texan’s Suite Romance (SR #1787) rounds out Judy Christenberry’s LONE STAR BRIDES continuity and features a woman who knows Mr. Right when she meets him but now must help him heal enough to let love back into his lonely life. When her screenplay is made into a movie set on her family’s ranch, one woman thinks she’s fulfilled all her dreams…until she meets one very handsome stuntman. Watch this drama unfold in Lights, Action…Family! (SR #1788)—the concluding romance in Patricia Thayer’s LOVE AT THE GOODTIME CAFÉ miniseries. Finally, Crystal Green wraps up the BLOSSOM COUNTY FAIR series with Her Gypsy Prince (SR #1789) in which a sheltered woman bucks her family’s wishes to pursue a forbidden love.

And be sure to come back next month when Elizabeth Harbison puts a modern spin on Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew.

Happy reading,

Ann Leslie Tuttle

Associate Senior Editor

Blossom Country Fair

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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To the RWA San Diego chapter, a group of incredibly talented and supportive writers. If it hadn’t been for you, I wouldn’t have met Teresa, who conceived of this premise; Jill, who helped flesh it out; and Judy, who is an awesome critique partner and continuity leader. Thank you, all!

Silhouette Romance

Her Gypsy Prince #1789

Silhouette Special Edition

Beloved Bachelor Dad #1374

*The Pregnant Bride #1440

*His Arch Enemy’s Daughter #1455

*The Stranger She Married #1498

*There Goes the Bride #1522

Her Montana Millionaire #1574

*The Black Sheep Heir #1587

The Millionaire’s Secret Baby #1668

A Tycoon in Texas #1670

Silhouette Bombshell

The Huntress #28

Silhouette Books

Double Destiny

CRYSTAL GREEN

lives near Las Vegas, Nevada, where she writes for Silhouette Special Edition and Silhouette Bombshell, as well as Harlequin Blaze. She loves to read, overanalyze movies, do yoga and write about her travels and obsessions on her Web site, www.crystal-green.com. There, you can read about her trips on Route 66 as well as visits to Japan and Italy.

She’d love to hear from her readers by e-mail at cgreenwrite@aol.com. And don’t forget that Web site!

THE BLOSSOM BEE

The Buzz About Town

By Harriet Hearsay

Wondering what the best show in town is? But don’t you know?

Try the carnival at this year’s fair, though I’m not talking about thrill rides or hoochie-cooch dancer revues. All you have to do is camp yourself right outside the carnival’s gates, where the Committee for Moral Behavior, led by our own Bitsy Dupres, is picketing its little heart out. With the way the temperature has been headed here in Blossom (up, up, up!), you’re sure to see some fireworks between those carnival people and those good citizens….

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Epilogue

Careful, folks, ’cause trouble’s near—

Get the carnies out of here!

Elizabeth Dupres mumbled the Committee for Moral Behavior’s mantra, her mouth dry from Texas dust, her attention a million miles away from the Blossom County Fair’s carnival entrance as she followed the never-ending circle of the picket line. Adjusting her straw hat’s wide brim with one hand, she managed to shade herself from the overzealous burst of late-June morning sunshine. With her other hand, she clutched the yardstick she’d used to make her sign: “We love our children,” it said.

Her simple declaration clashed with the other mottos: “No more swindles!” “Carnies are slime-licking fleas on the hide of humanity!” “Bad elements make for bad times ahead!”

All the exclamation points and obnoxious neon-colored words swirled together in Elizabeth’s mind.

What was she doing here with these people?

As she rounded a bend near the carnival’s gates—which were flanked by two deputies and would be closed for another hour until opening time—Elizabeth stepped out of line, heading for a cooler that the committee kept stocked with iced beverages.

She needed something to wash away the taste of this demonstration. Ever since the fair had opened, tempers had gone up degree by degree, day by day. The chants were getting uglier, more degrading.

Sighing, she glanced toward the carnival itself. Beyond the gates, a different world bloomed. A waiting garden of color consisting of steel-fortified rides, the striped tents of the midway, the looming specter of the Funhouse in the distance. Above it all reigned the Ferris wheel, silent in its majesty. A man wearing faded jeans, work boots and no shirt started to climb it, most likely doing a safety check. With his back to her, his browned skin shone in the sun, emphasizing every line of sinew and muscle. His collar-length black hair, held back in a low ponytail that kept losing strands with every aggressive movement, hid his face from Elizabeth.

She’d seen him around before, but hadn’t gotten a good look at his features. Intrigued, she watched the carny while absently reaching into the cooler and plucking out an icy bottle of grape soda. Knowing it was too early for sugary drinks, she opened it anyway, sipped, then held the chilly glass against her face, half hoping the gesture would hide her from the picketing.

Mmmm, what a fine specimen of man, she thought, her heart skipping every time the carny moved to a higher position on the wheel, powerful arms bunching and straining.

If only…

Feeling watched, Elizabeth bristled, glancing away from him and toward her mother.