Valerie Parv - The Marquis And The Mother-To-Be

Carissa looked around for a weapon.

The gleam of metal on the windowsill caught her eye. She picked up the old cigar tube she’d found when she arrived at the lodge, an idea growing.

Careful to avoid creaking floorboards, she reached her bedroom and felt her heartbeat quicken. The intruder was in there.

Through a small gap in the doorway she saw a man a head taller than she. She swallowed. Lord, he was big—wide at the shoulders and narrow everywhere else. His aristocratic profile tugged at her memory, but before she could pinpoint the reason, she decided it was now or never.

She pushed open the door, moved up behind the man and pressed the cigar tube into his back with all the force she could muster. “Don’t move. I have a gun, and I know how to use it.”

Dear Reader,

Ring in the holidays with Silhouette Romance! Did you know our books make terrific stocking stuffers? What a wonderful way to remind your friends and family of the power of love!

This month, everyone is in store for some extraspecial goodies. Diana Palmer treats us to her LONG, TALL TEXANS title, Lionhearted (#1631), in which the last Hart bachelor ties the knot in time for the holidays. And Sandra Steffen wraps up THE COLTONS series about the secret Comanche branch, with The Wolf’s Surrender (#1630). Don’t miss the grand family reunion to find out how your favorite Coltons are doing!

Then, discover if an orphan’s wish for a family—and snow on Christmas—comes true in Cara Colter’s heartfelt Guess Who’s Coming for Christmas? (#1632). Meanwhile, wedding bells are the last thing on school nurse Kate Ryerson’s mind—or so she thinks—in Myrna Mackenzie’s lively romp, The Billionaire Borrows a Bride (#1634).

And don’t miss the latest from popular Romance authors Valerie Parv and Donna Clayton. Valerie Parv brings us her mesmerizing tale, The Marquis and the Mother-To-Be (#1633), part of THE CARRAMER LEGACY in which Prince Henry’s heirs discover the perils of love! And Donna Clayton is full of shocking surprises with The Doctor’s Pregnant Proposal (#1635), the second in THE THUNDER CLAN series about a family of proud, passionate people.

We promise more exciting new titles in the coming year. Make it your New Year’s resolution to read them all!

Happy reading!

Mary-Theresa Hussey

Senior Editor

The Marquis and the Mother-to-be

Valerie Parv

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Silhouette Romance

The Leopard Tree #507

The Billionaire’s Baby Chase #1270

Baby Wishes and Bachelor Kisses #1313

* The Monarch’s Son #1459

* The Prince’s Bride-To-Be #1465

* The Princess’s Proposal #1471

Booties and the Beast #1501

Code Name: Prince #1516

† Crowns and a Cradle #1621

† The Baron & the Bodyguard #1627

† The Marquis and the Mother-To-Be #1633

Silhouette Intimate Moments

Interrupted Lullaby #1095

Royal Spy #1154

VALERIE PARV

lives and breathes romance and has even written a guide to being romantic, crediting her cartoonist husband of nearly thirty years as her inspiration. As a former buffalo and crocodile hunter in Australia’s Northern Territory, he’s ready-made hero material, she says.

When not writing her novels and nonfiction books, or speaking about romance on Australian radio and television, Valerie enjoys dollhouses, being a Star Trek fan and playing with food (in cooking, that is). Valerie agrees with actor Nichelle Nichols, who said, “The difference between fantasy and fact is that fantasy simply hasn’t happened yet.”

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Epilogue

Excitement gripped Carissa Day as she followed the real estate agent through an overgrown garden toward a rambling house. The pleasantly weathered timber walls, bay windows and shingle roof made the building look at ease in the rain-forest setting. The prospect of living twenty minutes’ drive from the nearest town only added to its charm, she decided.

“Are you sure about the price, Mr. Hass?” she asked, concerned at how close she was to losing her heart. The lodge so exactly fitted her dream of the bed-and-breakfast place she wanted to establish that she had to remind herself it wouldn’t be a picnic. Taming the garden alone would keep her busy for some time.

“I’m quite sure,” the agent said in his elusive accent. “This used to be a country retreat for a wealthy family, but it hasn’t been used for two years. The owner died nine months ago after a long illness, and the new owner instructed me to sell it off. He’s in the Carramer Royal Navy and away a lot, so doesn’t want to be encumbered by a country house.”

“Who was the owner?”

Hass hesitated before saying, “It was someone called de Valmont. He willed the property to his nephew, my client.”

She had met the agent by chance at the Monarch Hotel in Tricot, where she had based herself so she could look at a property in the area. She had told the agent that she was Australian and had lived in Carramer when she was fifteen with her brother and diplomat father. She had never visited this area, but the name of the former owner was familiar. “Aren’t the de Valmonts part of the royal family?”

The agent looked away. “A lot of Carramer families claim royal connections.”

She thought of the de Marigny brothers she had known when she was a teenager. They hadn’t claimed to be royal. They were the real thing. Mathiaz was a baron and Eduard was a marquis. For a time, she had believed she was in love with Eduard. Even now, a flutter in her stomach accompanied the thought of the handsome young royal.

He wasn’t the reason she had chosen to return to Carramer after her father died, she assured herself. Long over that teenage crush, she was only interested in the house’s royal connections as a potential attraction for visitors.

Hass led her along a gravel path to a back door. “The house comes with many of the original furnishings and fittings.”

“That will help. Most of my possessions are in storage.”

His eyes gleamed, and she regretted letting him see how interested she was in the house before she had set foot in it. “Of course it needs a lot of work,” she added, trying to sound like less of a pushover.

“The condition of the house is reflected in the price, which is negotiable.”

She was pleased to hear it. Even at a bargain price, she would be straining her budget to buy the lodge. Hass had confided that the new owner was willing to provide a mortgage with generous terms. But after paying the substantial down payment Hass had named, she wouldn’t have much of her inheritance left for redecorating.