Jackie Braun - Exclusive! - Hollywood Life or Royal Wife? / Marriage Scandal, Showbiz Baby! / Sex, Lies and a Security Tape

FIONA HOOD-STEWART

“This huge, action-packed saga is a feast for anyone who yearns for a long, rich read.”

—Romantic Times on The Stolen Years

“A gripping, sensual tale. The characters are very rich, and they draw you into their story. The story is a page-turner, and you can’t help but get sucked into this romance.”

—Romantic Times on At the Spanish Duke’s Command

SHARON KENDRICK

“Sharon Kendrick pens a dynamite tale of love, passion, betrayal and revenge. Her hero is to die for, and the passion…scorches the pages.”

—Romantic Times on The Desert Prince’s Mistress

“This book is sizzling hot, with a saucy heroine and a dynamite hero. The scenes are full of passion and emotion.”

—Romantic Times on The Future King’s Bride

JACKIE BRAUN

“Intense emotion, a heartbreakingly vulnerable heroine, a wonderful hero, a beautiful setting and truly compelling story make Jackie Braun’s novel a poignant delight.”

—Romantic Times on True Love, Inc.

“Jackie Braun’s latest story is truly remarkable, mainly because of its humor, its edge and its cast of realistic, vulnerable characters.”

—Romantic Times on In the Shelter of His Arms

The editors at Mills & Boon and Silhouette are thrilled to be able to bring you a brand-new featured author program for 2005! Signature Select aims to single out outstanding stories, contemporary themes and oft-requested classics by some of your favorite series authors and present them to you in a variety of formats bound by truly striking covers.

We want to provide several different types of reading experiences in the new Signature Select program. The Spotlight books offer a single “big read” by a talented series author, the Collections present three novellas on a selected theme in one volume, the Sagas contain sprawling, sometimes multi-generational family tales (often related to a favorite family first introduced in series), and the Miniseries feature requested previously published books, with two or, occasionally, three complete stories in one volume. The Signature Select program offers one book in each of these categories per month, and fans of limited continuity series will also find these continuing stories under the Signature Select umbrella.

In addition, these volumes bring you bonus features…different in every single book! You may learn more about the author in an extended interview, more about the setting or inspiration for the book, more about subjects related to the theme and, often, a bonus short read will be included. Authors and editors have been outdoing themselves in originating creative material for our bonus features—we’re sure you’ll be surprised and pleased with the results!

The Signature Select program strives to bring you a variety of reading experiences by authors you’ve come to love, as well as by rising stars you’ll be glad you’ve discovered. Watch for new stories from Janelle Denison, Donna Kauffman, Leslie Kelly, Marie Ferrarella, Suzanne Forster, Stephanie Bond, Christine Rimmer and scores more of the brightest talents in romance fiction!

The excitement continues!

Warm wishes for happy reading,

Marsha Zinberg

Executive Editor

The Signature Select Program

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Cover

Praise for these bestselling authors

Dear Reader

Title Page

Hollywood Life or Royal Wife?

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

DEDICATION

Marriage Scandal, Showbiz Baby!

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

DEDICATION

Sex, Lies and a Security Tape

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

EPILOGUE

Bonus Articles

Copyright

Film star Victoria Woodward has been spotted with Prince Rodolfo of Maldavina on several occasions this week at the Cannes Film Festival, fueling rumors that the pair are in the throes of a passionate affair. Victoria, who starred in the hit Hollywood movie

SHE HATED EVERY MINUTE of it: the hype, the flashbulbs everywhere she went, the ever-present expectations…

And now they wanted her to be on show yet again.

Victoria Woodward sighed. How she wished that the wretched movie, of which she’d unwittingly become the star, had not ended up as a contender to win the Cannes Film Festival.

But it was too late for regrets. Too late to wish herself back in the security and anonymity of Hetherington, the English village where she’d resided all her life, where everything was predictable and simple. To think she’d used to consider it boring, had longed for change and excitement. As though granting her wish, fate had changed her life overnight, swooping her into a Hollywood whirlwind of parties, private jets, paparazzi, and the not-so-easy-position of being dogged at every step by the press and the curious.

Now, as she exited the airport at Nice, another batch of eager reporters lay in wait.

‘For goodness’ sake, smile,’ Anne Murphy, her agent, hissed. ‘Ed’ll have a fit if he sees more pictures of you sulking.’ She pulled Victoria forward and hurried her out of the terminal. Immediately the press rushed upon them.

‘Is it true you may win the Palme d’ Or, Miss Woodward?’ A reporter poked a microphone aggressively under her nose.

‘Do you have a boyfriend, Miss Woodward? Is it true that you and Peter Simmons are dating?’

Victoria experienced that familiar and frightening tightening of her throat, followed by a paralysing rigidity that made it almost impossible to speak or move. Fear gripped her gut. She turned in panic to Anne.

‘Get me out of here,’ she muttered, her long blonde hair swinging wildly, her grey eyes glazed.

‘The car’s right there.’ Anne held her elbow and manoeuvred her expertly through the crowd.

Two burly young men in grey suits and designer sunglasses kept the spectators at bay as they forged a path to the limo that represented her safe haven. Forcing one foot in front of the other, Victoria managed a brief smile, then plunged inside the vehicle, curling up in the corner, ignoring the eager faces pressed against the windows, the camera lenses seeking one last shot of her before the car glided off into traffic.

‘Victoria, you’re just going to have to get used to this,’ Anne said sternly. Anne was short and sandy-haired, and the thirty-five-year-old New Yorker’s tone spelled efficiency.

‘I simply hate it,’ Victoria whispered, stretching her long slim legs out before her. ‘I think I must be claustrophobic or something.’