Illusion

Illusion
Emily French

Sophy van Houton. Impetuous. Headstrong. Rich.The beautiful heiress needed to marry to access her fortune. But deep in her heart was a stubborn dream - to find a man who loved her for herself, not for her beauty or her money. In Seth Weston she realized the extent of her own desires and the depth of his need for her. But need was not the same as love… . Seth Weston. Proud. Honorable. Haunted.Seth Weston was determined to save his crumbling textile empire, even if it meant marrying for money. A marriage of convenience, indeed, for any love in him had died at Gettysburg. Until Sophy swept into his life, challenging his preconceptions, unleashing his hidden passion… .

Praise (#ucfcad9ee-d0bf-531c-a4b9-75189a2e2564)“You’re freezing. Come upstairs. I have a fire going in the drawing room.” (#u95a30706-87e9-5ef4-bc47-3a2246f285bd)Letter to Reader (#ud18aaa8f-2f91-57aa-83fb-af81b6345560)Title Page (#u7617385b-04d7-56b3-b0f1-e58dc147cf8a)About the Author (#u937bc096-0986-5b0d-9156-f9d23bd85841)Dedication (#u2179b2e4-be57-5be5-b123-a57071672621)Chapter One (#u7923a186-5b89-5aa4-a1b9-341daac17952)Chapter Two (#u3a3b77dd-343c-50db-b475-2516ae703537)Chapter Three (#ue38617ee-db64-5596-bf9b-10d6b480797e)Chapter Four (#ub64deb5f-c282-5980-88f6-afdbb4161440)Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)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)Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

What the critics had to say about Emily French’s first book

—CAPTURE

“...fast-paced, action-filled, and beautifully romantic...”

—Affaire de Coeur

“Emily French writes of tribal living in primitive North America with starling intensity...The sexual tension never ebbs...”

—Romantic Times

“...a touch of mysticism and spiritualism adds to the eerie feeling that her audience is living this novel.”

—The Talisman

“5

s.”

—Heartland Critiques

“Put Capture on your must read list; it is a gripping tale of survival and love.”

—Rendezvous

“You’re freezing. Come upstairs. I have a fire going in the drawing room.”

Seth Weston just stood there for a moment Doubt crossed his face. In a strange kind of elfin way, Sophy van Houten seemed timid and embarrassed, yet he knew she was playing a game. A dangerous game.

Not only was she flirting with her looks, she was dangling her money as bait. She was even breaking conventions and inviting him into her private drawing room. It was incredible what a wealthy woman would do for amusement.

He quickly weighed his chances of backing out and laughing the whole mess off as a joke, yet something stopped him. Looking down at her, he realized that Sophy interested him. Her eyes were huge with some carefully concealed emotion. As if it had taken an astonishing amount of nerve to confront him. For the first time in months, genuine delight flared in his blue eyes....

Dear Reader,

Emily French’s first book, Capture, was released in 1994 during our popular March Madness promotion and earned the author some wonderful reviews.

Ms. French’s second book, Illusion, is the emotional story of the growing love between a couple drawn into a marriage of convenience that is threatened by embezzlement and extortion. We hope you will enjoy this intriguing story.

In Lion’s Legacy, the third book of Suzanne Barclay’s Lion Trilogy, a Scottish warrior is hired to protect a tower from English raiders, only to discover that his benefactor has nothing to give him in return for his services but the hand of his unwilling granddaughter.

Diamond is the first in award-winning author Ruth Langan’s new Western series, The Jewels of Texas, which features four sisters who think they are only children until the death of their father brings them all together at his ranch in Texas. And in our fourth book for the month, Twice Upon Time, Nina Beaumont’s second Harlequin Historical time-travel novel, the author weaves an exciting tale of an ancient curse and a passion too strong to be denied.

Whatever your taste in reading, we hope to keep you coming back for more. Please look for Harlequin Historical novels wherever books 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

Illusion

Emily French

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

EMILY FRENCH

A living passion for the past, combined with the sheer joy of writing, has lured Emily French away from the cold ivory tower of factual academia to warm, heartfelt historical romance. She likes her novels to be full of adventure and humor, her heroes to be intelligent and kind, and her heroines to be witty and spirited.

Emily lives on the East Coast of Australia with her husband, John. Her interests are listed as everything that doesn’t have to do with a needle and thread.

To Wayne Pierre Beattie and

Thomas Carroll Geoghegan

soldiers both

who saw service in Vietnam and World War II

and to whom freedom owes a debt

What if we fly

on ethereal highs

through cloud-soft illusions!

Our dreams are welded

to burning desires

flares in the mind’s sky