Catherine Archer - Lady Thorn

Cover Page

Excerpt God, Jed thought, but she was so beautiful, with her dark hair tumbling wildly down her back and curling about her face. He reached up to gently wipe the tear away with the back of his forefinger. “It’s all right to cry,” he told her softly. Victoria shook her head stubbornly. “No, it isn’t. I haven’t cried since the day my parents were buried. Tears are not to be shed for little things.” He could only stare down at her, his heart slamming against his chest in reaction to the pain revealed by her statement. “You are so brave. So beautiful,” he whispered. She caught her breath, those gray eyes growing dark with an emotion he did not want to acknowledge, even as he felt an answering reaction stir in himself. He could no longer pretend to deny the desire she felt for him. That he felt for her…

Dear Reader Dear Reader, The heroine in Catherine Archer’s Lady Thorn, Victoria Thorn, is a descendant of the characters from Catherine’s first book for Harlequin, Rose Among Thorns. It’s the story of a Victorian heiress who is being pressured to find a suitable husband. Instead, she falls in love with a sea captain who promises her protection in exchange for her help in locating his son. Don’t miss this touching story from this gifted author whose tale we hope you’ll find, as Affaire de Coeur did, “impossible to put down.” Josh Colter and Alexandria Gibson discover they are both looking for the same man in Susan Amarillas’s new Western, Wyoming Renegade. Susan’s last two books have won her 5 ratings from Affaire de Coeur, and fans have been eagerly awaiting this tale of two people who must choose between family, and love and honor. USA Today bestselling and multiaward-winning author Ruth Langan’s new series, THE JEWELS OF TEXAS, moves into full swing with this month’s Jade, the story of a smalltown preacher who surrenders his soul to the town madam. And in Kate Kingsley’s new Western, The Scout’s Bride, a determined young widow decides to accept the help of a rugged army scout who has made himself her unwanted protector. Whatever your taste in reading, we hope you’ll keep an eye out for all four titles wherever Harlequin Historicals are sold. Sincerely, Tracy Farrell Senior Editor Please address questions and book requests to: Harlequin Reader Service U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269 Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3

Title Page Lady Thorn Catherine Archer www.millsandboon.co.uk

About the Author CATHERINE ARCHER has been hooked on historical romance since reading Jane Eyre at the age of twelve. She has an avid interest in history, particularly the medieval period. A homemaker and mother, Catherine lives with her husband, three children and dog in Alberta, Canada, where the long winters give this American transplant plenty of time to write.

Dedication This book is dedicated to my brothers, Russell, Michael and David, who are heroes in the rough, as most interesting heroes are. I must thank my daughter Katie for her inspiration for Jedidiah McBride. She loved him before I did. Lastly I wish to thank Dave at the Soft Shoppe, for the help he has given me with my PC, and all things related.

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

Copyright

with her dark hair tumbling wildly down her back and curling about her face. He reached up to gently wipe the tear away with the back of his forefinger. “It’s all right to cry,” he told her softly.

Victoria shook her head stubbornly. “No, it isn’t. I haven’t cried since the day my parents were buried. Tears are not to be shed for little things.”

He could only stare down at her, his heart slamming against his chest in reaction to the pain revealed by her statement. “You are so brave. So beautiful,” he whispered.

She caught her breath, those gray eyes growing dark with an emotion he did not want to acknowledge, even as he felt an answering reaction stir in himself.

He could no longer pretend to deny the desire she felt for him. That he felt for her…

Dear Reader,

The heroine in Catherine Archer’s Lady Thorn, Victoria Thorn, is a descendant of the characters from Catherine’s first book for Harlequin, Rose Among Thorns. It’s the story of a Victorian heiress who is being pressured to find a suitable husband. Instead, she falls in love with a sea captain who promises her protection in exchange for her help in locating his son. Don’t miss this touching story from this gifted author whose tale we hope you’ll find, as Affaire de Coeur did, “impossible to put down.”

Josh Colter and Alexandria Gibson discover they are both looking for the same man in Susan Amarillas’s new Western, Wyoming Renegade. Susan’s last two books have won her 5 ratings from Affaire de Coeur, and fans have been eagerly awaiting this tale of two people who must choose between family, and love and honor.

USA Today bestselling and multiaward-winning author Ruth Langan’s new series, THE JEWELS OF TEXAS, moves into full swing with this month’s Jade, the story of a smalltown preacher who surrenders his soul to the town madam. And in Kate Kingsley’s new Western, The Scout’s Bride, a determined young widow decides to accept the help of a rugged army scout who has made himself her unwanted protector.

Whatever your taste in reading, we hope you’ll keep an eye out for all four titles wherever Harlequin Historicals are sold.

Sincerely,

Tracy Farrell

Senior Editor

Please address questions and book requests to: Harlequin Reader Service

U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269 Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3

www.millsandboon.co.uk

has been hooked on historical romance since reading Jane Eyre at the age of twelve. She has an avid interest in history, particularly the medieval period. A homemaker and mother, Catherine lives with her husband, three children and dog in Alberta, Canada, where the long winters give this American transplant plenty of time to write.

This book is dedicated to my brothers, Russell, Michael and David, who are heroes in the rough, as most interesting heroes are.

I must thank my daughter Katie for her inspiration for Jedidiah McBride. She loved him before I did.

Lastly I wish to thank Dave at the Soft Shoppe, for the help he has given me with my PC, and all things related.

England, 1855

Jedidiah McBride traveled slowly over the road from Westacre. He held the reins firmly, feeling their smooth leather against his palm, as he tried not to acknowledge the unaccustomed feelings of despondency that were prodding at the back of his mind, ready to overtake him.

Not since he was a boy had Jed allowed anything to affect him this much. Not since his mother’s death, some few months after Nina’s desertion. It had been an untimely death that he knew had been hastened by Nina and her high-and-mighty family’s cruel treatment of him.