The Groom's Revenge

The Groom's Revenge
Susan Crosby

Fortune's Children: The Brides: Meet the Fortune brides - six special women who perpetuate a family legacy that is more than mere riches! THE BEST REVENGE IS… FALLING IN LOVE Sweet Mollie Shaw's life began when Gray McGuire swept her off to his mansion as his bride. This powerful tycoon seemed to fulfill her every wish - but all was not as it seemed… . Gray had one objective: to destroy Stuart Fortune.A man Mollie had equal reason to hate - if her Minnesota-sized heart was capable of hate. But when she learned of her groom's motive and means of revenge, would she remain his bride?

Kate Fortune’s Journal Entry (#uc7e8cbce-624e-5989-8d43-1c7175b47e59)Letter to Reader (#ufb988205-8587-5446-91b5-75bed59a4dfa)Title Page (#u4247fb43-da5e-5103-a697-b90cbfb8d220)Dedication (#u1404926c-9aba-5c9e-8169-9eef35a0860d)Acknowledgments (#uf955afb7-a030-5c3d-98b6-d598231d77d3)About the Author (#ua9942a68-c292-538a-b3da-866c9489dcba)FORTUNE’S (#u1c62678d-2dfe-5ef9-b195-4b13bcd48101)Chapter One (#u869a6832-d9db-5edc-a9e6-97e1b859960b)Chapter Two (#u5c720703-0354-5d32-91a1-b256f7a1136c)Chapter Three (#ub6b1e68b-6dad-5156-9e38-3851f703fd2f)Chapter Four (#u9df38ada-c32e-52ac-9a36-53e3f5ac2045)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)Teaser chapter (#litres_trial_promo)Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

Kate Fortune’s Journal Entry

There certainly have been a lot of weddings in the Fortune family lately. It’s a good thing we’ve hired such a capable wedding planner! That Mollie Shaw is just delightful. I do worry about her, though. She’s so trusting and innocent.-I’m sure Gray McGuire must ahve done something underhanded to convince her to marry him so quickly.

I know what you’re thinking—Kate Fortune, this is none of your business! After all, it’s not as if Mollie is family. And yet, since the day I met Mollie Shaw, I’ve felt some sort of...connection. You can dismiss it as the ramblings of an old woman, but take my word—Mollie is special. So you’d better watch your step, Gray McGuire. Harm that child and you’ll have me to deal with!

Dear Reader,

This May we invite you to delve into six delicious new titles from Silhouette Desire!

We begin with the brand-new title you’ve been eagerly awaiting from the incomparable Ann Major Love Me True, our May MAN OF THE MONTH, is a riveting reunion romance offering the high drama and glamour that are Ann’s hallmarks.

The enjoyment continues in FORTUNE’S CHILDREN: THE BRIDES with The Groom’s Revenge by Susan Crosby. A young working woman is swept off her feet by a wealthy CEO who’s mamed her with more than love on his mind—he wants revenge on the father who never claimed her, Stuart Fortune. A “must read” for all you fans of Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca!

Barbara McMahon’s moving story The Cowboy and the Virgin portrays the awakening—both sensual and emotional—of an innocent young woman who falls for a ranching Romeo But can she turn the tables and corral him? Beverly Barton’s emotional miniseries 3 BABIES FOR 3 BROTHERS concludes with Having His Baby. Experience the birth of a father as well as a child when a rugged rancher is transformed by the discovery of his secret baby—and the influence of her pretty mom. Then, in her exotic SONS OF THE DESERT title, The Solitary Sheikh, Alexandra Sellers depicts a hard-hearted sheikh who finds happiness with his daughters’ aristocratic tutor And The Billionaire’s Secret Baby by Carol Devme is a compelling mariage-of-convenience story.

Now more than ever, Silhouette Desire offers you the most passionate, powerful and provocative of sensual romances. Make yourself merry this May with all six Desire novels—and buy another set for your mom or a close friend for Mother’s Day!

Enjoy!

Joan Marlow Golan

Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire

Please address questions and book requests to

Silhouette Reader Service

US. 3010 Walden Ave., P.O Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269

Canadian: PO. Box 609, Fort Ene, Ont L2A 5X3

The Groom’s Revenge

Susan Crosby

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

For Leslie, daughter of my heart, for the joy, love and

friendship you give so passionately. Kevin must have

caught the leprechaun.

Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to

Susan Crosby for her contribution to the

Fortune’s Children miniseries.

SUSAN CROSBY

believes in the value of setting goals, but also in the magic of making wishes. Ascribing to the theory that the “harder you work, the luckier you get,” she has been fortunate enough to receive Romantic Times Magazine’s Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best Silhouette Desire of the Year, as well as being a finalist for the Romance Writers of America RITA Award. Her books appear regularly on the bestseller lists.

Susan earned a B.A. in English while raising her sons, now grown. She and her husband live in the central valley of California, the land of winegrapes, asparagus and almonds. Her checkered past includes jobs as a synchronized swimming instructor, personnel interviewer at a toy factory and trucking company manager, but her current occupation as writer is her all-time favorite.

Readers are welcome to write to her at P.O. Box 1836, Lodi, CA 95241.

FORTUNE’S

Children

Meet the Fortunes—three generations of a family with a legacy of wealth, influence and power. As they gather for a host of weddings, shocking family secrets are revealed...and passionate new romances are ignited.

GRAY McGUIRE: This powerful tycoon is waging his biggest—and most scandalous—battle yet to avenge his father’s death. But will his victory cost him the only woman he’s ever loved?

MOLLIE SHAW: Mollie Shaw Fortune? Almost overnight, this sweet wedding planner is swept up into a glamorous world. But Mollie already has all she could want. Doesn’t she?

CHLOE FORTUNE: Her wedding’s just around the corner, but this debutante sure doesn’t look or act like a happy bride-to-be. Still, if there’s any man who can win the heart of even the most reluctant bride, it’s her handsome groom—Mason Chandler.

One

A leprechaun winked at Gray McGuire as he entered the quaint little Minneapolis flower shop—his second clue that this day would be different from any other.

Stopping mid-stride, he crouched in front of the foot-tall, molded-plastic creature that propped open the door of Every Bloomin’ Thing. Battery operated? he wondered.

“Top o’ the mornin’ to ye,” the creature shrieked.

Gray examined it more closely. Motion sensor?

“Top o’ the afternoon to you, Yarg!” a woman called from somewhere in the shop.

Scrutinizing the creature again, Gray waited for the elf to answer her. The whimsical notion caught him off guard, yet there was something about this place that lent itself to whimsy.

He looked around as he stood. Even with the door open, the shop smelled fragrant and exotic, a mix of oxygen-heavy scents. Moisture-laden air cooled his skin, warm from his having stood a long while in the late-July sun as he’d watched the shop.

No one had come or gone in the time he’d observed the tiny storefront tucked into the well-tended, older neighborhood. Hoping that meant Mollie Shaw, the shop owner, was alone, he’d finally crossed the street, anticipation churning inside him—his first clue that the day would be different.

Anxiety was foreign to him. He studied. He analyzed. He planned.

And he didn’t like the unfamiliar edginess now, so he took another minute to relax before he made his presence known, even though a sign on the counter invited him to ring the bell for service. A brass bell with a fairy creature perched on the tip of the handle.

“So, what do you think?”