Cindy Gerard - The Librarian's Passionate Knight

August’s menu

BARONESSA GELATERIA

in Boston’s North End

In addition to our regular flavors of gelato, this month we are featuring:

Vanilla pudding with melted caramel

All it took was one deep look into Phoebe’s warm amber eyes and a brief taste of her vanilla-flavored lips to rock Daniel Barone’s world. Women usually wanted to catch him, snag him, tame him. Not Phoebe. And suddenly Daniel knew he was in trouble. Big trouble…

Handmade pastries

With his poster-perfect face and sculpted body, Daniel Barone was handmade by the gods. From the first moment she saw him, Phoebe couldn’t help but stare. He made her blush, made her nervous—made her feel like a woman….

Boston cream pie with imported Italian chocolate

Phoebe and Daniel were as opposite as two people could be. But they shared a powerful, passionate attraction that wouldn’t be denied, no matter how they tried. Indulging was never an option; they had to have each other—if only for one short, steaming-hot Boston summer. But what a summer!

Buon appetito!

Dear Reader,

When it comes to passion, Silhouette Desire has exactly what you need. This month’s offerings include Cindy Gerard’s The Librarian’s Passionate Knight, the next installment of DYNASTIES: THE BARONES. A naive librarian gets swept off her feet by a dashing Barone sibling—who could ask for anything more? But more we do have, with another story about attractive and wealthy men, from Anne Marie Winston. Billionaire Bachelors: Gray is a deeply compelling story about a man who gets a second chance at life—and maybe the love of a lifetime.

Sheri WhiteFeather is back this month with the final story in our LONE STAR COUNTRY CLUB trilogy. The Heart of a Stranger will leave you breathless when a man with a sordid past gets a chance for ultimate redemption. Launching a new series this month is Kathie DeNosky with Lonetree Ranchers: Brant. When a handsome rancher helps a damsel in distress, all his defenses come crashing down and the fun begins.

Silhouette Desire is pleased to welcome two brand-new authors. Nalini Singh’s Desert Warrior is an intense, emotional read with an alpha hero to die for. And Anna DePalo’s Having the Tycoon’s Baby, part of our ongoing series THE BABY BANK, is a sexy romp about one woman’s need for a child and the sexy man who grants her wish—but at a surprising price.

There’s plenty of passion rising up here in Silhouette Desire this month. So dive right in and enjoy.

Melissa Jeglinski

Senior Editor

Silhouette Desire

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This book is dedicated to romantics everywhere.

Enjoy and believe!

And to potter extraordinaire, Val Neuman, for her patience, her expertise and her brilliant work. From the clay comes the vessel; from the vessel pour my admiration and thanks.

Two RITA ®Award nominations and a National Reader’s Choice Award are among the many highlights of this #1 bestselling writer’s career. As one reviewer put it, “Cindy Gerard provides everything romance readers want in a love story—passion, gut-wrenching emotion, intriguing characters and a captivating plot. This storyteller extraordinaire delivers all of this and more!”

Cindy and her husband, Tom, live in the Midwest on a minifarm with quarter horses, cats and two very spoiled dogs. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading, traveling and spending time at their cabin in northern Minnesota unwinding with family and friends. Cindy loves to hear from her readers and invites you to visit her Web site at www.cindygerard.com.

Meet the Barones of Boston—

an elite clan caught in a web of danger,

deceit…and desire!

Who’s Who in

THE LIBRARIAN’S PASSIONATE KNIGHT

Daniel Barone–All around the world, he dared to do what most mortals feared, and his exploits were the stuff of legends. But what Daniel did best was leave. No matter the place, no matter the thrill, he always left. Why, then, did one irresistible librarian make him want to stay?

Phoebe Richards—Having lived in Boston all her life with her cat, friends and books, she’s a maiden—not old maid—librarian. But she’s happy, comfortable. Why, then, did one footloose jet-setter—albeit a gorgeous, sexy footloose jet-setter—make her want so much more?

Karen Rawlins—She has just discovered that she’s a long-lost cousin to the Barones. But where will this loner fit in to the overwhelming first family of Boston?

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Daniel Barone wasn’t sure why the woman had captured his attention. In the overall scheme of things, she was little more than a small speck of beige, lost in the vibrant colors of Faneuil Hall Marketplace in the center of downtown Boston.

On this steamy August night, the open-air market was alive with colors and scents and sounds. She, quite literally, was not. Still, she’d drawn his undivided attention as he stood directly behind her at a pushcart outside the buildings of Quincy Market.

Like a dozen or so others, they were both waiting in line for ice cream. Unlike the others, who edged forward as placidly as milling cattle, she bounced with impatience. Like a child—which she absolutely wasn’t—she rose to the balls of her feet and…bounced. There wasn’t another word for it. She just sort of danced in place, as if she found irrepressible delight in the simple anticipation of getting her hands on an ice cream cone.

For some reason it made Daniel smile. Her guileless exuberance charmed him, he supposed. And it made him take time for a longer look.

She was average height, maybe a little on the short side. Her hair wasn’t quite blond, wasn’t quite brown, and there was nothing remotely sexy about the short, pixieish cut. Her drab tan shorts and top showed off a modest length of arm and leg and more than adequately covered what could possibly be a nice, tidy little body. Who could tell? Other than the wicked red polish splashed on her toenails, there truly wasn’t a bright spot on the woman—until she turned around with her much-awaited prize.

Behind owlish, black-rimmed glasses, a pair of honey-brown eyes danced with anticipation, intelligence and innate good humor. And when she took that first long, indulgent lick, a smile of pure, decadent delight lit her ordinary face and transitioned un-remarkable to breathtaking in a heartbeat. The wattage of that smile damn near blinded him.