Colleen Thompson - Deadlier Than the Male - The Fiercest Heart / Lethal Lessons

PRAISE FOR SHARON SALA

“Perfect entertainment for those looking for a

suspense novel with emotional intensity.”

—Publishers Weekly on Out of the Dark

“Sharon Sala is not only a top romance novelist,

she is an inspiration for people everywhere who wish

to live their dreams. Her work has a higher purpose

and she takes readers with her on an incredible

journey of overcoming adversity and increased

self-awareness in every book.”

—John St. Augustine, Host, Power! Talk Radio

“Chilling and relentless …”

—Romantic Times BOOKreviews on The Chosen

PRAISE FOR COLLEEN THOMPSON

“Thompson takes the reader on a roller-coaster ride

full of surprising twists and turns … She more than

holds her own in territory blazed by Tami Hoag

and Tess Gerritsen.”

—Publishers Weekly

“Fast-paced, chilling, and sexy …”

—Library Journal on Fatal Error

New York Times and USA Today best-selling author SHARON SALA has written more than eighty books that regularly hit the best-seller lists. She’s a seven-time Romance Writers of America RITA ®finalist, five-time winner of the National Reader’s Choice Award, five-time winner of the Colorado Romance Writer’s Award of Excellence, and has also won many other industry awards too numerous to mention. During that time, she has captured the hearts of countless readers.

She was born and raised in rural Oklahoma and still calls the state her home. Being with her family is her ultimate joy, and she finds great satisfaction in creating her stories, then sharing them with people worldwide who love to read.

COLLEEN THOMPSON lives in the Houston area with her husband, son, and the latest representatives in a string of rescue dogs that keep life interesting. Her books have been honoured with nominations for the RITA ®, Daphne du Maurier, Romantic Times Reviewers Choice, and Dorothy Parker Award of Excellence, along with the Texas Gold Award and Romantic Times Top Picks.

A former teacher, Colleen enjoys hiking and observing wildlife, along with researching, writing, reading, and discussing her favorite obsession—books!—at every opportunity. She’ll happily discuss them with you, too, if you’ll contact her through her website at www.colleenthompson.com, where you can also learn about her past, present, and future releases.

SHARON SALA

&

COLLEEN THOMPSON

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Sharon Sala

I am dedicating this story to all the lucky ones

who never had to kiss a frog to find their prince.

There’s an old song that begins with the words,

“You were my first love … and you’ll be my last love.”

Every time I hear that song, I can’t help but have a

moment of regret for what passed me by.

First love is the sweetest, and the most intense.

When someone is fortunate enough to have it also

be their last love, they are truly blessed.

“When the early Jesuit fathers preached to Hurons and Choctaws,

They prayed to be delivered from the vengeance of the squaws.

‘Twas the women, not the warriors, turned those stark enthusiasts pale,

For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.”

—Rudyard Kipling, The Female of the Species

Stars Crossing, Kentucky Ten years ago

Eighteen-year-old Haley Shore was teetering on a maturity milestone. Tonight she was graduating high school. Excitement abounded as her father drove into the high school parking lot. She kept moving from one side of the backseat to the other, scanning the scene to see what her classmates were wearing and how they’d done their hair.

Haley had left her dark hair loose, letting the length brush the shoulders of her sleeveless jade-green dress, and chosen instead to focus on her makeup. A little eye shadow to highlight her green, almond-shaped eyes, a cherry-red gloss on her lips and she was good to go.

Her mother had spent the better part of Haley’s life criticizing everything about her, especially her height and her mouth. She was five-ten in her bare feet, with sensuously full lips that had been the bane of Haley’s existence until Angelina Jolie had burst onto the fame scene. At that point, Haley’s attitude had shifted. Suddenly the face God gave her had become an asset, not a hindrance. While her mother continued to point out her flaws, Haley had grown old enough to realize Lena Shore was never going to approve of anything about her.

As her dad pulled in to a parking space, she leaned forward from the backseat of the car and tapped her mother on the shoulder.

“Mom. You brought the camera, right? Daddy … you have to get a picture of me with Retta after graduation.”

Lena Shore frowned at the question as she stared around the high school parking lot, checking to see if Mack Brolin’s red sports car was anywhere in sight. Even though she didn’t see it, she knew it didn’t mean he wasn’t there. She wasn’t stupid. The fact that she had refused to let her daughter date a Brolin didn’t mean it wasn’t happening.

“No. I didn’t bring the camera,” Lena said.

Haley’s heart dropped. “Mom! It’s my graduation! How could you forget something that important!”

“I just did,” Lena snapped. “Get over it. There will be plenty of people taking pictures. Ask for a copy.”

“You shot four rolls of film the night Stewart graduated,” Haley muttered.

Lena’s face flushed. There was no arguing with the truth, but she wasn’t going to discuss the fact that her older child—and only son—was her favorite. Getting pregnant with Haley had been an accident, and she never let Haley forget it.

Ever the referee within his family, Judd Shore pulled into a parking space. “I’ll go down to Kennedy’s and get one of those disposable ones,” he said.

But Haley’s joy was gone. “Don’t bother,” she said. “Mom’s right. There will be plenty of people taking pictures because they’re excited, and proud of their kids who are graduating, even if you guys aren’t.”

Haley flew out of the backseat before her father could respond and stomped off toward the gym with her red mortarboard in her hand and the red gown over her arm.

Judd looked at his wife. In all their years of marriage, he’d never understood her. She made no attempt to hide her favoritism.

“You could at least have pretended you were sorry you forgot the damn camera,” he said.

But Lena was too locked into her own thoughts to care what Judd Shore thought. She’d just seen Tom and Chloe Brolin pulling up a few cars over. The rage that she’d lived with for the past twenty years surged upward, flushing her face to a dark, angry red.

“What the hell are they doing here?” she muttered.

“Chloe’s niece, Betty, is in Haley’s class, remember?”

Lena’s frown turned into an ugly grimace, but she didn’t comment. Instead, she got out of the car, grabbed Judd’s arm and walked into the gym with her head high and her eyes straight ahead.