Allison Leigh - Her Unforgettable Fiance

If the walls of Stockwell Mansion could talk…

…we’d spill our guts—no matter how ferociously “Big Daddy” Caine Stockwell blustered! You must remember his little conscience-cleanser—where he let slip that his wife may not have drowned all those years ago after all…! Understandably, his children have launched a full-fledged search for their mother. So far, their devoted efforts have unearthed divorce papers dated six months after Madelyn’s supposed death, confirming that Caine’s sickbed ramblings are tinged with truth. Well, we’ve seen a certain out-of-town address where secret bundles of cash are mailed each month—let’s just say the Stockwells are hot on Mumsy’s trail….

Speaking of hot, we’ve fixed our attention on family darling Kate Stockwell and her former flame, Brett Larson. Their engagement crumbled years ago, but the chemistry between them has never stopped simmering. Now he’s a crackerjack investigator determined to find the elusive Madelyn. But his plan requires that Kate act the part of Mrs. Larson. Will the “princess” agree to the scheme? Heck, yes—and in less time than it takes to say “I do!”

Mercenary Jack Stockwell wrangles with a lovely mother of two in The Millionaire and the Mom, SE #1387, by Patricia Kay, available April 2001 only from Silhouette Special Edition.

Dear Reader,

While every romance holds the promise of sweeping readers away with a rugged alpha male or a charismatic cowboy, this month we want to take a closer look at the women who fall in love with our favorite heroes.

“Heroines need to be strong,” says Sherryl Woods, author of more than fifty novels. “Readers look for a woman who can stand up to the hero—and stand up to life.” Sherryl’s book A Love Beyond Words features a special heroine who lost her hearing but became stronger because of it. “A heroine needs to triumph over fear or adversity.”

Kate Stockwell faces the fear of knowing she cannot bear her own child in Allison Leigh’s Her Unforgettable Fiancé, the next installment in the STOCKWELLS OF TEXAS miniseries. And an accident forces Josie Scott, Susan Mallery’s LONE STAR CANYON heroine in Wife in Disguise, to take stock of her life and find a second chance….

In Peggy Webb’s Standing Bear’s Surrender, Sarah Sloan must choose between loyalty and true love! In Separate Bedrooms…? by Carole Halston, Cara LaCroix is faced with fulfilling her grandmother’s final wish—marriage! And Kirsten Laurence needs the help of the man who broke her heart years ago in Laurie Campbell’s Home at Last.

“A heroine is a real role model,” Sherryl says. And in Special Edition, we aim for every heroine to be a woman we can all admire. Here’s to strong women and many more emotionally satisfying reads from Silhouette Special Edition!

Karen Taylor Richman

Senior Editor

www.millsandboon.co.uk

For all who have been blessed with true love,

and for all who are still searching.

started her career early by writing a Halloween play that her grade-school class performed for her school. Since then, though her tastes have changed, her love for reading has not. And her writing appetite simply grows more voracious by the day.

She has been a finalist for the RITA Award and the Holt Medallion. But the true highlights of her day as a writer are when she receives word from readers that they laughed, cried or lost a night of sleep reading one of her books.

Born in Southern California, Allison has lived in several different cities in four different states. She has been, at one time or another, a cosmetologist, a computer programmer and a secretary. She has recently begun writing full-time after spending nearly a decade as an administrative assistant for a busy neighborhood church, and currently makes her home in Arizona with her family. She loves to hear from her readers, who can write to her at P.O. Box 40772, Mesa, AZ 85274-0772.

Silhouette Special Edition is delighted to present

Where family secrets, scandalous pasts and

unexpected love wreak havoc on the lives of the

infamous Stockwells of Texas!

THE TYCOON’S INSTANT DAUGHTER

Christine Rimmer

(SE #1369)

SEVEN MONTHS AND COUNTING…

Myrna Temte

(SE #1375)

HER UNFORGETTABLE FIANCÉ

Allison Leigh

(SE #1381)

THE MILLIONAIRE AND THE MOM

Patricia Kay

(SE #1387)

THE CATTLEMAN AND THE VIRGIN HEIRESS

Jackie Merritt

(SE #1393)

Available at your favorite retail outlet.

Visit Silhouette at www.eHarlequin.com

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

He’s here.

That was Kate Stockwell’s first thought when she heard the faint sound of the door closing to the entry of Stockwell Mansion.

God help me.

That was Kate Stockwell’s second thought.

She drew in a long breath and slowly set the cordless phone that she’d been clutching with a white-knuckled grip on the nightstand. She stared blindly at the full-length mirror lining one wall of her spacious bedroom suite. The fact that her breath was unsteady was something she chose to blame on the phone conversation she’d just had.

It certainly couldn’t be because of him.

“Kate!” The yell drifted up the stairs and along the spacious hallway to her bedroom. That was Cord. Blunt, straightforward Cord. Cord’s twin, Rafe, would never bellow that way. He was too controlled. And Jack, well, her third and oldest brother simply didn’t raise his voice to Kate. Ever.

“Hustle it up!” Cord yelled again.

Kate sighed and looked at her reflection again. Really looked. Her ice-blue silk suit screamed “Woman Power.” Unfortunately, as she smoothed her hand down the perfectly tailored jacket, her hand trembled. Badly.

She touched a finger to the corner of her lips that she’d already glossed carefully with a pinkish hue. Her hair gleamed, grazing just below the shoulders of her suit, adding just the right touch of casual.

She knew she was taking too long. They were waiting for her. But he would be with them.

Kate swallowed, needlessly adjusting the drape of her delicate, silver necklace. She jiggled her knees in the narrow silk slacks, making sure the fabric fell just so.

What was she doing?

Her clothes were fine. Her makeup was fine. Even the matching pale blue lace bra and panties that she wore beneath the jacket and slacks were fine.

Gracious. Was anything more pathetic than a mature, thirty-year-old woman dithering over her appearance just because she had to go down to a room filled with her dominating big brothers…and an old lover?

Not just an old lover, her mind whispered.

Him. Brett Larson.

It wasn’t like it was the first time she’d seen him recently, either. It seemed that every time she turned around, he was at the house for one reason or another. To go over some detail with Cord or Rafe. So it wasn’t as if she was bracing herself for that first shock of seeing him after eight years.