The Bartered Bride

The Bartered Bride
Cheryl Reavis

Do We Marry Or Not, Caroline Holt? It occurred to Caroline that everyone in her small North Carolina community accepted the obvious reason for her agreeing to marry Frederich Graeber. She was pregnant, and the real father of her baby was unwilling. She was due in a few short months. Her unborn child would have everything to gain by Caroline making the strong, silent farmer her husband… .The Marriage Pledge "If you marry me, then the child will be mine… ." With Frederich's words ringing in her ears, Caroline made her decision. She'd become his bartered bride… and risk giving this enigmatic stranger her heart free.

Table of Contents

Cover Page (#u3ebb2da5-1feb-5311-9b1e-61ae79c64f13)

Excerpt (#ud17cfabb-c42c-5437-8fd5-1fcfe121a66a)

Dear Reader (#ufabad00c-2d4b-5b65-8ae4-b05827779929)

Title Page (#u3ed89f06-30b1-51cf-a8a7-002c5fe3d18a)

About the Author (#uf935848c-db68-5785-b698-ec0ed4fec81d)

Dedication (#ufa6ec948-92cc-5aba-b5cb-e2022937c348)

Prologue (#u6b3258ac-744d-5ba7-970d-5efff00578d2)

Chapter One (#u6f27cdc9-589e-5a75-9f72-92edf9e4fd09)

Chapter Two (#ud1775c66-0588-5248-a032-c51ddb79ead3)

Chapter Three (#u13343765-9fc1-5997-b6aa-f92c4359624c)

Chapter Four (#ubceaa687-3f70-5883-8b10-bffc34d70b69)

Chapter Five (#udc46ca4e-b971-57f7-bb29-63845d9e53df)

Chapter Six (#ud97298e9-afa7-510d-801c-b3bb75f85e78)

Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eighteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nineteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-One (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Two (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Three (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Four (#litres_trial_promo)

Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

Frederich held her tightly, awash in emotion,

afraid that Caroline would suddenly remember who he was and pull away. He grazed her cheek with his rough hand, stroked the dark hair he’d been so longing to touch.

“I would do anything for you,” he whispered to himself—in German.

He held her, feeling her sorrow and his own, determined to keep her close like this for as long as she would allow it. But the horse pranced nervously, and she abruptly let go of him and slid from his grasp to the ground, hurrying into the house without once looking back.

He sat there completely overwhelmed. He couldn’t deny the truth any longer. He cared far more for this exasperating woman than he ever intended, and he wanted her—as a friend, a lover, as a wife…!

Dear Reader,

We are delighted this month at the return of three-time RITA Award winner Cheryl Reavis to Harlequin Historicals. Her heart-wrenching tale, The Bartered Bride, is set in Civil War North Carolina. It’s the story of a pregnant woman who has little choice but to marry her sister’s widower, a man whom she considers heartless, but who, over time, teaches her the healing powers of forgiveness and love.

Abigail Cooprel suddenly comes face-to-face with a man who is the very image of her adopted son in Abbie’s Child, the second book from talented newcomer Linda Castle, whose first book, Fearless Hearts, was released during our annual March Madness promotion in 1995, to loud acclaim.

Multigenre author Merline Lovelace makes history come alive in her new release, Lady of the Upper Kingdom, the dramatic story of forbidden love between two strong-willed people separated by the treachery and distrust that exists between their two cultures, the Egyptian and the Greek. And from Catherine Archer comes Velvet Touch, the sequel to her previous Medieval, Velvet Bond, the bittersweet story of a young nobleman who is sent by his king to arrange a marriage and settle a feud, only to fall in love with the intended bride.

Whatever your taste in reading, we hope you will enjoy all four Harlequin Historicals, available wherever books are sold.

Sincerely,

Tracy Farrell,

Senior Editor

Please address questions and book requests to: Harlequin Reader Service