Elizabeth August - A Royal Mission

HEAR YE! HEAR YE! THE GRAND DUKE OF THORTONBURG ANNOUNCES THE JOYFUL DISCOVERY OF A DAUGHTER, VICTORIA, AND GIVES HIS BLESSING TO HER BETROTHAL TO SIR LANCE GRAYSON

LET IT BE KNOWN that a “king’s ransom” led to the Grand Duke’s discovery of his daughter, VICTORIA, a courageous woman who stood her regal ground against her captors…and fell in love with Captain Lance Grayson…

LET IT BE KNOWN that LANCE GRAYSON, newly knighted “Sir,” completed his royal mission with honor—and even took a bullet for his royal bride-to-be! (Note to Sir Lance: Next time…shining armor…)

LET IT BE KNOWN that the long-standing plague—ahem, feud—between the houses of Thorton and Montague is over. (And at last check, no more surprise heirs were on the royal radar screen. But one never knows….)

Dear Reader,

“Happy Birthday to us….” Exactly twenty years ago this May, Silhouette Romance was born. Since then, we’ve grown as a company, and as a series that continues to offer the very best in contemporary category romance fiction. The icing on the cake is this month’s amazing lineup:

International bestselling author Diana Palmer reprises her SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE miniseries with Mercenary’s Woman. Sorely missed, Rita Rainville returns to Romance with the delightful story of a Too Hard To Handle rancher who turns out to be anything but…. Elizabeth August delivers the dramatic finale to ROYALLY WED. In A Royal Mission, rescuing kidnapped missing princess Victoria Rockford was easy for Lance Grayson. But falling in love wasn’t part of the plan.

Marie Ferrarella charms us with a Tall, Strong & Cool Under Fire hero whose world turns topsy-turvy when an adorable moppet and her enticing mom venture into his fire station…. Julianna Morris’s BRIDAL FEVER! rages on when Hannah Gets a Husband—her childhood friend who is a new dad. And in Her Sister’s Child, a woman allies with her enemy. Don’t miss this pulse-pounding romance by Lilian Darcy!

In June, we’re featuring Dixie Browning and Phyllis Halldorson, and in coming months look for new miniseries from many of your favorite authors. It’s an exciting year for Silhouette Books, and we invite you to join the celebration!

Happy reading!

Mary-Theresa Hussey

Senior Editor

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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To romance writers everywhere

Happy Millennium!

Books by Elizabeth August

Silhouette Romance

Author’s Choice #554

Truck Driving Woman #590

Wild Horse Canyon #626

Something So Right #668

The Nesting Instinct #719

Joey’s Father #749

Ready-Made Family #771

The Man from Natchez #790

A Small Favor #809

The Cowboy and the Chauffeur #833

Like Father, Like Son #857

The Wife He Wanted #881

*The Virgin Wife #921

*Haunted Husband #922

*Lucky Penny #945

*A Wedding for Emily #953

*The Seeker #989

†The Forgotten Husband #1019

†Ideal Dad #1054

†A Husband for Sarah #1067

The Bridal Shower #1091

*A Father’s Vow #1126

*A Handy Man To Have Around #1157

The Rancher and the Baby #1187

*The Determined Virgin #1229

Paternal Instincts #1265

The Bride’s Second Thought #1288

Marrying O’Malley #1386

Truly, Madly, Deeply #1404

A Royal Mission #1446

Silhouette Books

Jingle Bells, Wedding Bells 1994

“The Forever Gift”

36 Hours

Cinderella Story

Silhouette Special Edition

One Last Fling! #871

*The Husband #1059

Silhouette Intimate Moments

Girls’ Night Out #880

Logan’s Bride #950

ELIZABETH AUGUST

lives in the mountains of North Carolina with her husband, Doug, a chemist. They have three grown sons. Their oldest is pursuing a career in medicine, their middle son is a chemical engineer and their youngest is now in college.

Having survived a bout with cancer, Elizabeth has now joined the ranks of cancer survivors. Writing remains at the top of her list of loves just below her husband, sons and daughter-in-law. Elizabeth has also written under the pseudonym of Betsy Page for Harlequin.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Using only the full moon to light his way, Lance Grayson moved stealthily through the woods. His destination was the one-room cabin ahead. Its porch roof sagged in one corner and its windows were boarded up. Weeds, underbrush and small trees were reclaiming the clearing in which it sat. Pausing, he used night-vision binoculars to survey the scene in front of him. The place looked totally abandoned. Silently, he cursed. Time was running short for finding Victoria Rockford, and it looked as if this lead was a dud. Even worse, it was his only lead.

He adjusted the binoculars to survey the woods surrounding the cabin. Four of his best men were forming a perimeter circle. In a lowered voice, he spoke into the headset he was wearing, calling each man by name.

Each responded with, “In position, sir.”

So we all get some practice doing night reconnaissance, he told himself, trying to look on the bright side. It didn’t help. The photo he had of Victoria Rockford haunted him. She looked so alive, so vital, her face a strikingly beautiful version of the Thorton features. That she could die because he did not find her soon enough, tore at his very soul. It bothered him that this assignment seemed more personal, more urgent. He was normally much cooler, much more detached.

Aloud he said, “Hold your positions. Looks like a wild-goose chase, but I’m going to see it through as if our quarry is here.”

Making his way to a side window of the cabin, he looked through one of the spaces between the boards. With only slender rays of moonlight illuminating the interior, he could see very little. He was lifting the night-vision binoculars to his eyes when he heard it…a soft moan. Peering through the binoculars, he allowed triumph to flow through him. On a bed in a far corner lay a woman, handcuffed to the brass headrail, her feet bound with rope to the footrail.

“Looks like this might not have been a wild-goose chase after all,” he told the others. “The princess appears to be alone. I’m going in.”

Victoria Rockford fought the drugs she’d been given to sedate her and tried to focus her thoughts. Her struggle proved futile. Her mind remained foggy and the temptation to give in to sleep grew stronger. Her movements slow and weak, she closed her hands around the brass poles of the headboard and gave a jerk on the rope that bound her feet to the brass footrail of the bed. She’d done this a hundred times before. Each time she’d hoped that the bed would finally give way, crumble to pieces and allow her to escape. It hadn’t. She wanted to scream in frustration, but the gag in her mouth prevented that. Mentally, she cursed “The Whisperer,” the name she’d dubbed her kidnapper, and vowed vengeance should she ever get free. When she got free, she corrected herself, refusing to consider the alternative.