Caroline Cross - The Sheikh Takes A Bride

AROUND CHI-TOWN

March: We Chicagoans all live vicariously through our own “royalty,” the Connelly family. And here comes a story to warm you up on a damp, blustery Chicago day….

Matriarch Emma Connelly has been keeping close tabs on what’s going on in her island homeland of Altaria. The former princess has been in touch with her son, King Daniel, who tells her that a certain sheikh has been spending all his time in Altaria searching for a bride. And, says Daniel, he seems to have set his sights on the Connelly cousin Princess Catherine.

Having just lost her father and grandfather, and having been bypassed for the throne, the princess could use some good fortune. But sources close to her say not even the swarthy, sexy, studly sheikh is a match for the royal known around the globe as the Ice Princess.

Since the American king has taken the throne, Altaria has been making news with its peaceful transfer of power. But with the sparks flying between the sheikh and the princess, we’re looking forward to fireworks….

Dear Reader,

Celebrate the rites of spring with six new passionate, powerful and provocative love stories from Silhouette Desire!

Reader favorite Anne Marie Winston’s Billionaire Bachelors: Stone, our March MAN OF THE MONTH, is a classic marriage-of-convenience story, in which an overpowering attraction threatens a platonic arrangement. And don’t miss the third title in Desire’s glamorous in-line continuity DYNASTIES: THE CONNELLYS, The Sheikh Takes a Bride by Caroline Cross, as sparks fly between a sexy-as-sin sheikh and a feisty princess.

In Wild About a Texan by Jan Hudson, the heroine falls for a playboy millionaire with a dark secret. Her Lone Star Protector by Peggy Moreland continues the TEXAS CATTLEMAN’S CLUB: THE LAST BACHELOR series, as an unlikely love blossoms between a florist and a jaded private eye.

A night of passion produces major complications for a doctor and the social worker now carrying his child in Dr. Destiny, the final title in Kristi Gold’s miniseries MARRYING AN M.D. And an ex-marine who discovers he’s heir to a royal throne must choose between his kingdom and the woman he loves in Kathryn Jensen’s The Secret Prince.

Kick back, relax and treat yourself to all six of these sexy new Desire romances!

Enjoy!

Joan Marlow Golan

Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire

Special thanks to Ann Leslie Tuttle for suggesting me for this story, Shannon Degen for patience above and beyond the call of duty and Joan Marlow Golan for believing in me.

Silhouette Books is lucky to have you, and so am I.

always loved to read, but it wasn’t until she discovered romance that she felt compelled to write, fascinated by the chance to explore the positive power of love in people’s lives. She grew up in Yakima, Washington, the “Apple Capital of the World,” attended the University of Puget Sound and now lives outside Seattle, where she (tries to) work at home despite the chaos created by two telephone-addicted teenage daughters and a husband with a fondness for home-improvement projects. Pleased to have recently been #1 on a national bestseller list, she was thrilled to win the 1999 Romance Writers of America RITA Award for Best Short Contemporary Novel and to have been called “one of the best” writers of romance today by Romantic Times. Caroline believes in writing from the heart—and having a good brainstorming partner. She loves hearing from readers, and can be reached at P.O. Box 47375, Seattle, Washington 98146. Please include a SASE for reply.

MEET THE CONNELLYS

Meet the Connellys of Chicago—wealthy, powerful and rocked by scandal, betrayal…and passion!

Who’s Who in The Sheikh Takes a Bride

Princess Catherine Rosemere—This Connelly cousin doesn’t believe in happily-ever-after—not even in her storybook kingdom of Altaria. In this chapter of her life, the last thing she needs is a sexy sheikh storming her castle….

Sheikh Kaj al bin Russard—Nothing can keep him from taking what he wants—and he wants Catherine. In his life, in his kingdom, in his bed…but what about in his heart?

King Daniel—The eldest Connelly heir now rules the picturesque country of Altaria…. But does he control it?

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Epilogue

“You’re absolutely right, Kaj,” Joffrey Dunstan, Earl of Alston, said in his usual thoughtful way. “She’s even lovelier than I remembered.”

Glancing away from the slim, auburn-haired young woman who was the subject of his observation, the earl retreated a step from the balcony railing overlooking the grand ballroom of Altaria Palace. Though more than two hundred members of Europe’s elite milled down below in their most elegant evening wear, they might not have existed for all the attention he gave them.

Instead, with a bemused expression on his face, he turned to stare at his companion, who stood in a pocket of shadow, hidden from casual observance. “But marriage? You can’t be serious.”

Sheikh Kaj al bin Russard raised an ink-black eyebrow in question. “And why is that?”

“Because… That is…” Always the diplomat, Joffrey cleared his throat and tried again. “Surely you’re aware that Princess Catherine has a certain…reputation. And Sheikh Tarik’s will was quite specific—”

“That I marry a virgin of royal blood.” Kaj grimaced. “Have a little faith, cousin. I haven’t forgotten my father’s unfortunate directive. I’d simply remind you that for all Catherine’s reputedly wild ways, there’s a reason she’s known as the ice princess.”

“I suppose you have a point. Still…”

Kaj took one last look at the woman he intended to marry, his hooded gray gaze admiring her auburn hair and slim white shoulders before he turned his full attention to his favorite relative.

He was quite aware that, despite the fact their mothers were sisters, there was no physical resemblance between himself and Joffrey. His cousin was five-ten, with a slim build, blue eyes, cropped blond hair and a fair, exceedingly English face. In contrast, he was a trio of inches over six feet, with a distinct copper cast to his skin and ink-black hair long enough to necessitate pulling it back for formal affairs like tonight’s.

Yet for all their outward differences, he valued Joffrey’s opinion above all others.

It had, after all, been his cousin’s matter-of-fact friendship that had eased Kaj’s crushing homesickness for his homeland of Walburaq when he’d been sent away at age eight to attend English boarding school. Just as it had been Joffrey’s steadying presence and astute counsel that had allowed Kaj to get successfully through Ludgrove and Eton, where he’d stood out like a hawk among pigeons. In all the ways that mattered, Joffrey was the brother Kaj had never had.

The reminder softened the chiseled angles of his face. “If it will ease your mind, Joff, I’ve made certain inquiries. The princess may be a tease, but she’s no trollop. On the contrary. I have it on excellent authority that her virtue is very much intact. Her pleasure seems to come from keeping her admirers at arm’s length.”