Julie Kistler - It's In His Kiss

There are lots of rumors, but no one is exactly sure why even the crankiest twosomes get so very coosome when they spend time at the historic Inn at Maiden Falls, nestled in the Colorado Rockies. Maybe it’s the beautiful vista of all that rushing water (the falls) outside the windows. Maybe it’s the clean, invigorating mountain air stirring up their blood. Or maybe (as the whispers say) there really are lusty ghosts of shady ladies past floating around the rafters. Old-timers say the inn was a famous brothel more than a hundred years ago; all the “soiled doves” may have mysteriously passed away, but their spirits remain to help young lovers discover the joy of sensual pleasure. Or so the story goes…

Dear Reader,

I really enjoy working with other writers. And I couldn’t ask for more creative people to work with than Colleen Collins and Heather MacAllister. When we brainstormed ideas for a miniseries, it’s my recollection that Colleen came up with the concept of an old bordello now turned into a hotel, I added the ghosts of good-time girls from the past hanging around the rafters, and Heather upped the comedy and the spice when she suggested we make it a honeymoon hotel, with sassy, saucy ghosts assigned to help the new brides and grooms rev up their sex lives. And so THE SPIRITS ARE WILLING trilogy was born.

I piped up right away and claimed dibs on a ghost as my heroine rather than just a secondary character, and bless their hearts, they let me get away with it! I’ve written books with a leprechaun, a hero with superpowers, Santa Claus, and a couple of sweet old ladies who thought they were witches, but this is my first ghost heroine. I hope you enjoy meeting Rose, a smart, impetuous woman who just happens to be stuck in the wrong place at the very worst time and is the least experienced fallen woman. When she sees Ned, he’s a big temptation for a woman who hasn’t been kissed in 109 years.

If you find the idea of a willing spirit a whole lot of fun, you’re in the right place!

Julie Kistler

HARLEQUIN TEMPTATION

957—HOT PROSPECT*

961—CUT TO THE CHASE*

965—PACKING HEAT*

It’s in His Kiss

Julie Kistler

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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To Colleen and Heather, the most fun writing partners ever!

We know rules are not your favorite things, but some things need to be written down. So here’s your Golden Rules, girls. Abide by ’em and we’ll all do just fine. We weren’t exactly angels when we were here the first time around, but we’ve got another chance. So we want to do what we can to keep the idea of holy matrimony satisfying so’s nobody’s man will be tempted to go lookin’ elsewhere for a good time. It may not seem fair, but them’s the rules. We helped ’em stray. Now we’re helping ’em stay.

Rule #1: You will never, ever do anything that might come between the bride and groom.

Rule #2: No visibility. You can’t be scarin’ the livin’ daylights out of folks by fading in and out or showing up in bits and pieces at the wrong time.

Rule #3: Never, ever make love with a guest yourself. No exceptions.

Rule #4: No emotional attachments to anyone. You can’t follow them when they leave, so you might as well not get attached.

Rule #5: When you have successfully put a troubled couple on the road to bedroom bliss, you earn a Notch in Miss Arlotta’s Bedpost Book.

Rule #6: Especially good or bad activities may earn you Gold Stars or Black Marks.

Rule #7: It’s gonna take ten Notches before you can advance. All Advancements shall be determined by Miss Arlotta and the Council, who will consider how difficult your couples were, how much work you had to do, your level of creativity, whether your heart was in the right place and those Gold Stars or Black Marks.

Rule #8: Any girl who disobeys these rules shall be punished.

Rule #9: Any and all rules may be changed by Miss Arlotta as she sees fit.

That’s it. Push those couples into as much wedded bliss as they can handle, and we’ll all do fine. You’re all creative ladies when it comes to what happens between the sheets. So let’s get to work and show ’em what kinds of sparks can fly when the spirits are willing!

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Epilogue

A Sunday in June

Maiden Falls, Colorado, 1895

ROSE ELIZABETH TATE was furious. It had been hours since she’d had that terrible argument with her father, slammed a few articles of clothing and some of her favorite books into a suitcase, spirited herself out through the servants’ quarters of the Tate mansion and boarded the train. Now here she was in Maiden Falls, still shaking with anger. But it was too late to turn back now. All she could do was put one foot in front of the other.

Dragging her heavy suitcase along the wooden sidewalk, Rose stopped for a moment to get her bearings. Maiden Falls didn’t look like much, did it?

“Who cares?” she asked no one in particular. “So the town looks a little seedy. Who cares?”

After all, she was a girl of the nineties and she could chart her own course, without her father’s help or interference. Or anyone else’s! And that included that cad, Edmund Mulgrew. Edmund might’ve stolen her virtue, but he could never kill her spirit.

“Stolen my virtue,” she said self-righteously, poking into her pocket for her wire-rimmed spectacles so that at least she could see where she was going. “Poppycock! I’m still plenty virtuous.”

As Rose began her search for a carriage to take her away from the dilapidated shack Maiden Falls called a train station, one of the ostrich plumes on her darling new hat drooped right in front of her eyeglasses. She suddenly realized that this might be the last new hat she’d have for some time.

“I’ll be fine,” she said bravely, ripping the feather off completely. “Fine! Once I’m working for Miss Arlotta, grateful men will be vying for my favors, competing against each other to give me every little thing my heart desires. Why, I’ll have a thousand beautiful hats.”

Mentioning the notorious Miss Arlotta earned her a strange look from a nasty man with a large mustache, but Rose ignored him. If she was really going to be a soiled dove, then she’d have to get used to disapproval, wouldn’t she?

She peered at the man with the mustache. He certainly wasn’t anyone important. Who cared what he thought, anyway?

After all, Father had already told her in no uncertain terms that she was ruined. So she would embrace that ruination, marching into her future as a fallen maiden with her head held high. “After Edmund, what other choice do I have?”

Edmund. It was galling to admit that her father had been right all along about him. But it wasn’t her fault. How was she supposed to know she couldn’t trust his sweet words and even sweeter kisses? How was she supposed to know that enjoying those kisses was wrong when it felt so right?