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Reading Topic #56
Amy 
Member since Jun-17-04
13987 postsOct-21-07, 09:56 AM (EST) 
"More HQN and MIRA complete info ready to print"
LAST EDITED ON Nov-11-07 AT 02:50 PM (EST)
Garden Cop: With A Southern Touch Anthology
Copyright: 2002 Mira Books
Location: Small north Georgia town
Backcover:CURT RUSSELL RIDES AGAIN...
Remember Curt Russell, the Secret Service agent from LORD OF THE DESERT and THE TEXAS RANGER, who was dying to get into the FBI?
Well, he has, sadly for them, and he's stationed in a small northeast Georgia community where he meets the Gardener from Hell, who lives across the street from his mother's house and she's growing illegal agriculture, right in front of Curt Russell, FBI agent! (Or so it seems)
Characters:
Curtis Russell: FBI agent; visiting his mother on his vacation; has dark eyes; suspects Mary of having marijuana plants (pg. 279); Curtis, no gardener himself, but has seen marijuana in pictures; he has a 6 ft. frame; taught muscles rippling down his broad chest; dark unruly hair; brown eyes; it had been just him and his mom since he was 6 years old when his dad died of an untimely heart attack; his mom was a newspaper reporter (280); At 16 he went to work after school to help take some financial burden off of his mom, only thing he didn’t like about his Secret Service job or his FBI job is being so far away from his mom (281); Curtis realized the marijuana plant was actually prized tomato plants (289); He is 34 years old (306); He considered he wouldn’t mind getting involved with Mary (307); Curtis has Cherokee blood - his grandfather is on the Dawes Roll - one of the numbered records of all the Cherokee people on the reservation in NC. (317); Mary made him feel capable of doing anything (339).
Mary Ryan: blonde; browned skin; prettily rounded arms; lives alone in a small rental house; drives a new VW Beetle, pea-green with a sunroof; moved in 3 months ago (279); originally from Ashton, GA (284); she had the most beautiful skin & her mouth was perfect (288); She’s a deputy district attorney for the next county (290); she was very pretty & had a temper to equal Curtis’ own (307); Danish & Scotch ancestry (317) 27 years old (321) Married at 18 years old for 6 months (321); Her dad is a cop (338).
Matilda Russel: Cutis’ mom; an elfish silvered hair woman with wicked dark eyes (281); a retired reporter that has contacts on both sides of the law (281).
Hardy Vicks: Special FBI agent in charge (279).
Jack Mallory: police chief & was in Curtis’ graduating class in High School (284).
Greg Henry: owner of Mary Ryan’s rental house (280); Owns a local realty company (283).
Janette: neighbor 2 doors down (285).
Marc Brannon: from book Texas Ranger is mentioned (337).
Abe Hunt: Government witness on the run (355).
Erskine Daniels: sniper assassin out to kill Abe Hunt before he can talk to the feds (358).
Pets: Big Red ~ big raw-boned dog, red-coated hound dog (299).
Children: 2 sons & 1 daughter
~ Sweetracy aka Tracy Jackson ~ WVAlert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
- RE: HQN , Novella's and Mira book complete Info page 2, Amy
- RE: HQN , Novella's and Mira book complete Info page 2, Amy
- RE: HQN , Novella's and Mira book complete Info page 2, Amy
- RE: HQN , Novella's and Mira book complete Info page 2, Amy
- RE: HQN , Novella's and Mira book complete Info page 2, Amy
- RE: HQN , Novella's and Mira book complete Info page 2, Amy
- RE: HQN , Novella's and Mira book complete Info page 2, Amy
- RE: HQN , Novella's and Mira book complete Info page 2, Amy
- RE: HQN , Novella's and Mira book complete Info page 2, Amy
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Amy
Member since Jun-17-04
13987 postsOct-21-07, 10:00 AM (EST) 1. "RE: HQN , Novella's and Mira book complete Info page 2"
In response to message #0
The Humbug Man 1) Publication Date-1986
*There is no ISBN as it was Harlequin’s Christmas gift to us2) Characters-
Tate Hollister lived alone, had a black temper and seemed to hate all people. He is tall, has “black eyes in a thin-lipped, deeply tanned face, which was all hard lines and sharp angles. He looked to be in his late thirties...” (pages 5, 11). Tate is a widower (page 25), but it wasn’t a love match. Joyce had been his brother’s fiancé, but his brother died and she was pregnant, so he married her. Both his wife and the child Kip died when the coupling came lose in the trailer they were towing (page 49). He isn’t very experienced with women which embarrassed him at first when he told Maggie, but she was happy with that knowledge (page 51). Tate is a rancher, taking care of cows. Tate is all alone, both of his parents are dead and obviously his brother is also (page 75).Maggie Jeffries is twenty-eight, “and there were faint threads of silver in her wavy, dark brown hair. She was tall and slender as a willow, but her eyes had a haunted look these days” (page 7). She is a widow, her late husband Bob dying when Maggie was 3 months pregnant (page5). Maggie is an executive secretary in Arizona, but Maggie and her son Blake went to Montana to the ranch house her Grandfather Jeffries left Maggie when he died (page 6). Blake misses his father, so he absolutely loves the attention Tate starts giving him (page 61). Maggie has 3 brothers, scattered across the country, her younger brother is Michael, he’s 22 and looks like Maggie “except in places” (page 75).
Blake Jeffries is Maggie’s son, who has never known is father. He goes to a military school and wants Tate and Maggie to get together and he ends up breaking his leg because of wolves (page 36). He had just wanted to “run away” for a little while so they’d get together to look for him, but fell when he saw timber wolves. He loves computers and spending time with Tate.
3) Secondary Characters-
There really are no secondary characters, unless you want to count Maggie’s late husband, Tate’s late wife and son4) Pets-
Tate has Shetland Sheepdogs to help with the cattle (page 81)*Info in Timber Wolves-
They are near extinct, and they are big and silver (page 36)Blurb from back of the book:
Montana rancher Tate Hollister had to be the grouchiest, grumpiest humbug man widow Maggie Jeffries had ever met. But, as the holiday season progressed, Maggie discovered that Tate wasn’t completely immune to the Christmas spirit-his loving embrace on a cold winter’s night could prove to be the gift of a lifetime...Sarah Lehman
Berkley, Michigan
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Amy
Member since Jun-17-04
13987 postsOct-21-07, 04:13 PM (EST) 2. "RE: HQN , Novella's and Mira book complete Info page 2"
In response to message #1
Outsider review Title: Outsider (Harlequin)
Date: 2006
Main Characters:
A.) Colby Lane (?): He is the new assistant chief of security for the Ritter Oil Corporation’s Houston branch. Colby is a native American with Apache Blood, he has worked as mercenary before going into the security field. It was in Africa when he was on a mission that he lost his left arm making him wear a prosthesis. He was once married to Sarina Carrington but later divorced her to remarry Maureen. Colby and his dad have an argument on the fact of him getting marry to the other womanHe doesn’t know he has a little girl with his first wife.
He is lactose intolerant. He is Jeremiah Cortez’s cousin, who works for the FBI
Physical description: He is tall, handsome, lean, and physically formidable with thick, shinning black hair with a slight wave. He has deep-set black eyes and an olive complexion and wears his hair conventionally cut.
B.) Sarina Carrington (24): An undercover DEA agent that works on Ritter’s Oil company to discover a drug smuggling operation. She was once married to Colby after her father made her to marry him. Colby leaves her for Maureen and her father throws her out on the street. She is pregnant with no money, but all of suddenly, Colby’s father appears to help her and tells her he will be with her before and after that baby borns.
Physical description: A creamy complexion with sleek pale blond hair.
Secondary characters:
A.) Phillip Hunter: He hires Lane to take care of the security on Ritter’s company (Hunter SD #606).
B.) Maureen: Colby’s “second wife”, but he doesn’t know that she plotted the whole ceremony and made him believe they were married. She never got marry to him cause that would of meant she couldn’t get her hands on her first husband’s money.
C.) Jennifer Hunter: Hunter’s wife and Nikki’s mom. She is a geologist and cousin to Ritter’s son wife. She has dark eyes, soft sensual lips, beautiful complexion and thick blond hair, flaring nice hips and pretty long legs.
D.) Eugene Ritter: Owner of Ritter’s Oil Corporation.
E.) Jodie Clayburn: An administrative assistant that a gifted talent for computers. She is going out with Alexander Cobb, a senior DEA agent ( Man in Control SD# 1537).
F.) Rodrigo Ramirez: An undercover DEA agent working with Sarina on the same case. He is a known mercenary on the underground world that Colby Lane lives. He has work with Archer, Laremos and Van Deer back in the eighties. He is tall, dark and handsome Latin guy.
G.) Señora Martinez: Next door neighbor to Sarina. Her grandson Eduardo belongs to a gang that sells drugs.
H.) Tate Winthrop: Lane’s friend that lives in D. C. and works for the government. He is Lakota Sioux (Paper Rose Harlequin Mira 1999).
I.) Cecily Winthrop: Tate’s wife (Paper Rose Harlequin Mira 1999).
J.) Cara Dominguez: She is Brody Vance’s girlfriend in charge of the drug smuggling operation.
K.) Kennedy: An agent passing information to the smugglers.
L.) Cy Parks: A rich rancher that lives in Jacobsville (Winter Soldier SD# 1351).
M.) Micah Steele: A doctor and ex-merc that helped Colby back in Africa to amputate his arm (The last Mercenary SSE# 1417).
N.) Harley Fowler: Cy’s foreman.
O.) Eb Scott: An ex-merc that married and settled down in Jacobsville (Mercenary’s woman SR# 1444).
P.) Lisa Parks: Cy’s wife that has lost their first baby.
Q.) Cord Romero: Another ex-merc married to Maggie and with a son on the way ( Desperado Harlequin Mira 2002).
R.) Cash Grier: Jacobsville’s police chief married to Tippy Moore.
S.) Hayes Carson: Jacobsville sheriff.
Blurb of the cover:
Former black ops CIA operative Colby Lane, now retired from his wild years as a mercenary, has found his new calling as assistant chief of security for the mammoth Ritter Oil Corporation. All he wants is a new start. What he discovers, though, is that the past is never far behind, Colby is soon enmeshed in plans to trap a notorious drug trafficker, and it seems that his ex-wife, Sarina Carrington – whom he so cruelly left after one day of marriage – may be more involved than she’s letting on. Not only that, but Sarina has a six-year-old dark eyed daughter whose father is mysteriously absent – or is he?
Children in the story:
Bernadette: Colby’s and Sarina’s seven year old daughter. She has a special precognition gift and a very unique connection with her father that makes it possible to communicate with him without words. Bernadette can speak Spanish and Apache. She suffers from asthma and lactose intolerant.
Nikki: Hunter’s and Jennifer’s seven year old daughter.
Jennifer is pregnant with their second child.
Tate and Cecily has a one year old son.
Eb Scott has a son
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Amy
Member since Jun-17-04
13987 postsNov-04-07, 11:06 AM (EST) 3. "RE: HQN , Novella's and Mira book complete Info page 2"
In response to message #2
Lord of the Desert 1) Publication date: 2000 by Harlequin Mills & Boon. ISBN# 1551 66617 0. Dedicated to Jim, Rhonda, Nancy, Amanda, Christian, and Hugo, with thanks.
2) Characters
Gretchen Brannon
Aged 23, slender build, medium height, fair with long platinum blond hair and green eyes. She has nice features with warm eyes and a perfect mouth in an oval face, attractive but not beautiful. Works as a para-legal in a law office in Jacobsville, Texas. Her brother Marc is 8 years older and her father died when she was 10. Her mother was very possessive, so Gretchen got no opportunity to date and was naïve as a teenager, attending a convent school. She nursed her mother through cancer twice in 6 years, before she passed away 4 months before the story starts. She is related to the State Attorney General, 2 US Senators and the Vice President. She has an open personality and sense of humor that makes you laugh at yourself, as well as the courage of a hunting falcon but lacks confidence. She loves Godiva soft centers; grows prize tea roses, and has a knack for restoring sick ones.
Gretchen strongly reminds Philippe of Brianne, especially her hair and sunny, empathic personality.
Philippe Sabon
Elegant, sophisticated, charming, French-looking and handsome, except for scars down one lean cheek and on his left hand. He has black straight hair with black eyes and tall, graceful carriage. He was educated in Europe, and Gretchen’s impression of him is that he is citified and fastidious. No age given but he is the 6th generation of his family to rule Qawi, a country that won it’s independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1930, with equal mix of religions and rich in oil. He has great plans for modern hospitals, education and non-polluting industry. Qawi was invaded 2 years previously, in scandalous circumstances but is now prospering with powerful allies in the USA and UK. His paternal grandmother was Turkish and her husband was French, but he also has Arab blood. When Gretchen first meets him, she thinks he looks like a pirate, probably from his Riffian Berber ancestors. His mother slept with 2 palace guards with the penalty being death, so she ran away. His nurse took him with her, afraid that he would be made to pay for his mother’s sins. He grew up as a beggar on the streets of Baghdad, Iraq – used by his nurse to beg for food. They were both starving when his father found him. He has 2 older half-brothers, both being victims of political assassination, 15 years before. Philippe has scars from a landmine – acquired during a business trip in Palestine 9 years before. There are white lines on his lower abdomen and medical experts have told him he will never function as a man again. There are rumors about his perverse sexual appetite but they were started by him to help Brianne escape from her stepfather’s reach. They say he has never got over her.
3) Storyline
Story starts in Brussels airport, a stopover en route to Morocco, where Gretchen is holidaying with Maggie before she starts her Qawi job. Maggie receives news of Cord’s injury and rushes back home leaving Gretchen behind, trying to convince her to take her job as a change of scene. Gretchen is befriended by Monsieur Souverain (French for sovereign) who is actually Philippe. They go sight-seeing and get to know each other. She explains how the deception is killing her conscience, and he advises her to take the job, as he has interests in Qawi and they may meet up. He is pursued by ‘kidnappers’ but later admits that they are connected to his enemy, Brauer, who is planning retribution. He spends more time with Gretchen as a way to protect her, and at the end of their four days together; she is starting to fall in love with him. He tells her of his injuries, and her positive attitude and virtue become deeply attractive and essential to him. He starts to react physically to her and reveals his true identity, asking her to be his PA and pretend lover. She is intrigued and excited by him, and agrees to the proposal. They take his Lear-jet back to Qawi, and start practicing being lovers. Their strong attraction and his awakening physical response make him offer marriage, so as to protect her from gossip. He plans for a marriage that is only binding in Qawi, so that she has an escape clause if he cannot consummate the marriage. Gretchen meets Philippe’s father and the Palace Tatluk’s household staff, charming them all except Philippe’s uncle. They travel to Wadi Agadir, in the desert, but they learn of spies and Brauer assembling weapons and cut-throats in Salid, on Qawi’s northern border. Civil war is threatened if Philippe marries Gretchen, but he ‘could love’ her and can’t help himself, and his response to her gets stronger every time. His father gives her a colt .45 revolver to protect him At the same time, ther is an attempt on Brianne’s life in Paris and she is coming to Qawi for protection. They make camp and in the morning they marry in a traditional ceremony. Straight after a messenger brings word of the enemy, and the men leave. It is a trick to draw them out leaving Gretchen unguarded. She steals a horse but is captured by Brauer’s men, who think she is Brianne. A ransom note is sent, but Gretchen manages to call Philippe and he tracks her down with GPS. She escapes imminent rape by Eric, to be saved by a tall man expertly riding a magnificent creamy Arabian stallion. She is mesmerized by him, reminded of movie hero Valentino, but it is Philippe. They ride away as he has called an air strike on their camp, but Brauer escapes to Salid. Philippe is shivering with rage and unexpected fierce desire, more than capable of making love to Gretchen. The bed sheets are presented by the servants as evidence of consummation. He worries that he may not be able to replicate the circumstances again, which allowed him to function after 9 years of celibacy, but with Gretchen he can let go and is more potent each time. They keep separate beds as he has distressing nightmares. Meanwhile, Brianne arrives and he spends a lot of time with her. For weeks, Gretchen jealously watches him lavish attention on her but she has an unexpected ally in Philippe’s father. He teaches fer about orchids and urges her to fight for his son. Philippe calls her his social secretary in front of a new guard, who is unaware of her status. She kicks the guard in the shins and storms off to pack. They make love, but she is still furious and she accuses him of using her as a substitute for Brianne. She leaves with Hassan and returns to her old job. In one month, she has Judd Dunn check up on her 3 times while Marc is away, and has her pregnancy diagnosed – a fact which is overheard by Hassan who passes the information on to Philippe. Two days later, a furious Philippe arrives, accusing her of sleeping with Judd but shocked to discover the baby is his. He was told he could never father children and Gretchen starts throwing books at him for his obtuseness. They end up making love on the desk. Marc returns and almost gets handcuffed and tackled by the secret service agents. A state wedding is arranged, with a large number of retired mercs as wedding guests. Before returning to Qawi, the cowboys set up Philippe with an unbroken bucking horse, which he rides effortlessly.
The wedding goes well until a C4 bomb concealed in the baptismal font goes off, the only place not checked. The men are given false information about Brauer and take off in helicopters, leaving Philippe’s father and Gretchen behind. Leila, Hassan, Gretchen and the shamed guard set a trap that catches Brauer plus 2 of his men; and parade them in front of the world’s media present for the wedding. When Gretchen faints, they give the news of her pregnancy, dispelling all previous rumors about Philippe. He calls her his ‘pearl of great price’, that he would give up his kingdom for her. Seven months later, their son is born, with 2 prominent specialist invited to his christening. They are discussing a conjoint paper on anomalies of fertilization and sexual function in long-standing injuries.
4) Back-cover blurb
Sheltered small town girl Gretchen Brannon was out of her element when she aligned herself with Sheikh Philippe Sabon, the formidable ruler of Qawi. They came from different worlds, yet she found a soul mate in the powerful, sensual man who’d suppressed his passions for far too long – and harbored a secret anguish. Nevertheless, he made the virtuous young woman aware of her own courage… and, in turn, she aroused his sleeping senses as no other woman could.
However, now that Gretchen’s heart belonged to the Lord of the Desert, danger loomed when she became the target for vengeance by the sheikh’s most diabolical enemy. In a final showdown that would pit good against evil, could love and destiny triumph…?
5) Children – Ahmed Rashid Philippe Mustafa Sabon.
6) Pets - none
7) Other Characters
NOT MENTIONED IN OTHER BOOKS
*Daryl – Gretchen’s boyfriend who abandoned her after her mother died. She fell for his faked attention and attraction, but he only wanted the life insurance money. He left when there wasn’t any funds.
* Philippe’s father – Formidable, heavyset and big man with thick white hair, moustache and beard. Loves orchids, calls them his grandchildren, and showed his vindictive streak by firing a servant who forgot to water a sick one. He wrested power from his uncle and kept it for 40 years despite his Christian faith making his reign a difficult one until Qawi became more culturally diverse. He doesn’t like Americans because of imperialism, but Gretchen enchants him. He calls her lady FIL-fil, which means pepper – and not a mild one. He gets in trouble from the priest, Father Felipe, for swearing until he learns “horsefeathers” as a safe word.
*Mustapha – smiling guide from hotel in Tangiers.
*Ahmed & Bruno – bodyguards.
*Conner – 57 year old ranch foreman, married to 55 year old Katie. Great horseman, but nicknamed ‘Conner the Barbarian’ due to his ability to run over everything with the tractor. Gretchen had a crush on him at age 6.
*Hassan – Arab bodyguard christened ‘Elvis’ by Gretchen due to his likeness. He’s 6’4” with jet black hair worn in a ponytail. He is Gretchen’s dowry, but she doesn’t realize he speaks English and was born in Tupelo, Mississippi.
*Ahmed – Philippe’s father’s brother. A slight man but yearns to rule Qawi himself and puts spies in the palace.
*Leila – Pretty young woman who is Gretchen’s personal servant and chaperone before the wedding. Her husband is part of Philippe’s sha-KOOSH or hammer (elite army guard).
*Achmed – Tribal leader and blood relative to Philippe. He rides a magnificent Arabian horse.
*Dr Genoa – female obstetrician
*Tilly – secretary for the Coltrains.
MENTIONED IN OTHER BOOKS
*Maggie Barton – Gretchen’s best friend since childhood, she was a junior partner for a Houston investment firm. She is a tall brunette with a voluptuous figure who feels she is in a rut, after loving her foster brother, Cord Romero, for years. When her adoptive mother died suddenly, she married an elderly invalid who died 6 months later. Maggie and Cord had avoided each other since, and she wanted a clean break from him. In a leap of faith, she accepts a job in Qawi, to be personal assistant to the ruling sheikh.
*Cord Romero – Maggie’s foster brother, after they were both adopted by a Houston society matron. He was married to Patricia, but she committed suicide after he was almost fatally wounded, and wouldn’t give up his dangerous career. After her death, he left law enforcement and became a mercenary, specializing in bomb disposal. He is injured while working in Florida, losing his vision. He was calling for Maggie when they took him to hospital. Marc Brannon takes him home to Texas where he asks for Maggie to look after him.
*Callie Kirby – Works in Blake Kemp’s law office with Gretchen and is great company. Micah’s step-sister, she mysteriously disappears towards the end of this book, and he is involved.
*Eb Scott – Friend of Maggie and Cord’s. Tells Maggie the news of Cord’s injury.
*Marc Brannon – Gretchen’s big brother by 8 years. Known for his scary temper and expressing his opinion uninhibitedly. He is a Texas Ranger who joined the FBI. His best friend, Judd Dunn, is trying to get him back to Austin as a Ranger. He is a hard worker, paying off the family ranch, which was mortgaged to hilt when his mother died. He has grey eyes, wavy blond-streaked brown hair in a lean tanned face.
*Brianne Hutton – Attractive but not really pretty with a beautiful smile and long blond hair, who wears her clothes with flair. She is the one woman that Philippe couldn’t have, and Gretchen notices that she has a certain likeness to her. Her husband Pierce is violently jealous and possessive of her and their 2 year old son. Brauer sends an assassin to Paris who fails. She comes to Qawi after an altercation with Pierce and for safety.
*Pierce Hutton – Tall, dark-eyed man married to Brianne. His relationship with Philippe is like an uneasy truce.
*Canton Rourke – ‘Mr. Software’ who went bankrupt then rebuilt his empire. He met Philippe through mutual friend, Diego Laremos, an ex-merc who lives near Canton Rourke in Cancun, Mexico. Has franchises for hardware and software throughout Qawi.
*Tate Winthrop – No longer Pierce’s security chief, leaving just before his son was born. He and his wife Cecily have a son and expecting their second. His parents baby-sit while they attend the wedding.
*Bojo – Poses as a guide in Tangiers but is really a bodyguard. Tall, intelligent Berber, born in Tangiers, but trained as a mercenary. He belongs to a group headed by former physician Micah Steele; the other members being Eb Scott, Cy Parks and Cord Romero, all of whom reside in Jacobsville, Texas. They don’t attend the wedding as they are busy fighting a Mexican drug lord.
*Kurt Brauer – Brianne’s stepfather who just spent 2 years in a Russian prison. Arms dealer and all-round bad guy who hates Philippe. Hires red-haired German henchman, Eric.
*Russell – Secret Service agent from Georgia who guards Philippe while in Jacobsville. He is assisted by 2 other agents, no names given, from LA and the Bronx.
*Judd Dunn – Texas Ranger and good friend to Marc Brannon. He is on holiday from Austin headquarters and keeps Gretchen company on her return from Qawi.
*Dr Lou Coltrain – Has long blond hair and is married to Dr ‘Copper’ Coltrain. Confirms Gretchen’s pregnancy.
*JD Brettman – A sitting judge in Chicago, he comes out of retirement with his buddies to perform merc duties in Qawi. He has a daughter.
*Dutch van Meer – Handsome, blond rancher and ex-merc from Montana. Has 2 sons and 1 daughter.
*Diego Laremos – Latin man with moustache and charming manner. Also an ex-merc, he has a son and daughter. Brings news of his former boss, Apollo and wife Joyce, expecting their second child in spring.
from
Efy
Sydney, Australia
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Amy
Member since Jun-17-04
13987 postsNov-04-07, 11:07 AM (EST) 4. "RE: HQN , Novella's and Mira book complete Info page 2"
In response to message #3
Paper Rose 1) Publication date: 1999 by Mira Books. ISBN# 1 555166 539 5. Dedicated to Glenda and Doris.
2) Characters
Cecily Peterson
Aged 25; slender, a little over medium height with short blond hair and green eyes. Not beautiful but gentle and kind with an inner light and wonderful sense of humor. Her father died when she was 11, and her invalid mother remarried Arnold Blake when she was 16. Her mother died when she was 17, and she is left alone with her step-father. Tate and his mother rescue her. She has a degree in anthropology from George Washington University and two years of study for her masters in forensic archeology – which she believes is from an education grant but is secretly paid for by Tate. He arranges her apartment in DC in a ‘nest of spies’, so that she is always protected. She’s interested in culture and history of the Oglala Lakota Native Americans, lobbies for sovereignty at senate hearings on Lakota peoples’ behalf. She is the assistant curator in Paleo-Indian archeology in the Anthropological and Archeological Museum of the Native American in DC.
Tate René Winthrop
Aged 35 lean, tall, fit, with elegant hands and big feet. He has straight black hair to his waist that he wears braided and tied at nape with a black band. He has steady, intent black eyes – like a cobra – under a jutting brow, with a wide, sexy mouth, high cheekbones and chiseled faintly-cleft chin. He used to work for the CIA, has a law degree, and is the security chief for the Hutton Corporation. He drives a jaguar sports car and wears Armani suits on his muscular and striking frame. He lives in DC, but owns a ranch a few miles from Pine Ridge Sioux Reservation, just outside the southern boundary of the Wapiti reservation. He can trace his ancestors’ pure Lakota bloodline back to before the Mexican War in the early 1800’s. Due to the scarcity of pure blood, he is fanatical about mixed blood, and wants to marry pure Sioux. He leads a nomadic, solitary and dangerous life, and is described as hot-tempered, arrogant and stubborn. He later discovers his great-grandfather was Raven Following (Matt Davis) who fought with Bigfoot’s band in the 1890 decimation at Wounded Knee, and went on to marry a white woman in Chicago. He also discovers Matt Holden is his real father and even more mixed blood. His grandfather was a minor royal in Morocco, his grandmother was a French aristocrat, and his great-grandfather was a Berber who rode with the revolutionary Rizouli.
3) Storyline
Starts with Cecily holding a delicate crimson paper rose given to her by Tate, symbolizing her futile, unrequited love for him. It flashes back to her hometown of Corryville, South Dakota, where Tate rescues her from imminent rape by her stepfather and arranges for an education grant for her. Back in the present Cecily discovers, via Tate’s girlfriend Audrey, that the grant is actually from Tate, and she pours crab bisque on him at Senator Holden’s fund-raising dinner. She is humiliated and vows to be independent, moving out with the help of Colby. Secondary storyline involves the Wapiti casino proposal, which Tate approves of but Senator Holden is outspoken in his disapproval. When someone tries to blackmail the senator over his fathering of Tate, he enlists Cecily’s help, and cancels Tate’s security contracts with him. She takes Colby to Wapiti, and Leta gives her Tate’s belated 25th birthday gift (a white-gold crab brooch with ruby eyes and pearl claws). Colby pretends he is a croupier looking for work, and they uncover missing funds, evidence of organized crime, more blackmail and a gambling syndicate. Tate is feeling betrayed, antagonistic and jealous of Cecily, accusing her of sleeping with the senator for her job, and punching Colby in his rage. He arrives in Wapiti with his hair down, a sign that he is going in for battle, warning Colby off. Tate and Cecily make love, forgetting about the consequences. Tate admits Cecily gives him peace and she tells him she loves him. He offers her a commitment of sorts, wanting her to move in with him, that they will love, protect and comfort each other but never have children. Cecily refuses to be his mistress and offers to take the morning-after pill, even though Tate tells her not to. He leaves for a meeting with his boss in DC, but he is upset about being outside the loop and feels there are secrets being withheld from him as well as his conscience killing him over seducing Cecily. Audrey starts letting herself into Tate’s apartment, answering his phone, wearing a copy of his turquoise ring and dropping hints of a Christmas wedding. Tate is only using her as a smokescreen to hide his real feelings and vulnerability to Cecily. The tension builds and further pressure is put on Senator Holden, that he tells Tate that he is father. He is hurt and upset especially at his mother & Cecily, and feels that he has lost his identity. He gets drunk and passes out. In a rage of betrayal, he confronts Cecily and when she tries to comfort him by defending their protective actions, a frustrated Tate takes her on the Persian carpet of her office floor. Cecily resigns herself to the fact that Tate will use the situation to push her away. He leaves, unknowing of her pregnancy. Cecily invites Leta to her apartment until Tate’s fury passes, and surprises her by inviting Senator Matt Holden. Their old love is quickly rekindled and Leta moves into Matt’s mansion after she accepts his wedding proposal. Cecily tells Colby that she is pregnant and refuses his noble offer of marriage, deciding to move away from DC and the situation. Tate confronts the senator and Cecily over publicity that has been leaked – about his background and his ‘teenage love slave’, planted by Audrey. Tate and Matt end up in a punch-up, but he still attends Leta and Matt’s Catholic Church wedding near the Whitehouse. Tate has cut his hair – a sign of grief – he feels betrayed by Cecily, thinking she has left him for Colby and leaked his illegitimacy to the media. Three weeks after the wedding (November), while Colby and Tate are out of town, someone tries to run down Cecily while she leaves work. She is seen as an easy target by the gambling syndicate. Tate finds out weeks later and is upset that he failed to protect her and wasn’t notified as her ‘family’. She refuses again to move in with him, hiding her pregnancy. Without telling anyone, she moves to Cullenville, Tennessee, accepting a small community museum position. Tate can’t trace her, his man Wallace, having had a heart attack and dying on the job while watching her. Tate discovers Audrey’s lies and realizes he treated Cecily shabbily. When Colby tells him that she is pregnant, he starts throwing things. Micah Steele calls Tate, telling him of Gabrini, the hit man hired to kill Cecily. By Christmas, Tate finds a bus driver who recalls Cecily and he finds her pretending to be widowed and living in a rented house with the hit man close by. He saves her, but she refuses to return to DC with him – not wanting him to feel obliged but to love her. He leaves in despair. A week later, Colby and Pierce find him passed out drunk at home, and set him to rights. They take 2 bodyguards to collect Cecily in the Hutton Learjet. Tate apologizes for his behavior, saying his childhood warped him, but that he has loved her since she was 17 and knew of her love but felt it was a burden, so he used mixed bloodlines as an excuse. After he beat up her stepfather, he has considered her his own and has loved and protected her ever since. He agrees to give up dangerous missions and buy a house in Maryland, near Matt and Leta. They marry a week later in Matt’s home with all their friends present. Their happiness is complete when their son is born on the hottest day in summer.
4) Back-cover blurb
Her love for him was like a paper rose, which longed for the magic to make it real…
Compellingly handsome Tate Winthrop once boldly came to Cecily Blake’s rescue. Her devotion to him knew no bounds, but since the fiercely proud Native American refused to consider a mixed marriage, their passion remained unfulfilled. Shattered by Tate’s rejection, Cecily had been forced to leave the man of her dreams.
Now she was back and destined to win
But when Tate becomes caught in the middle of a shocking political scandal, she realizes they need each other now, more than ever. And this time it is Cecily, a woman embarking on a brilliant career, who comes to his rescue and attempts to shield the man she loves from a devastating secret that could destroy his life…
5) Children – Joseph Matthew Winthrop, born on the hottest day in summer.
6) Pets - none
7) Other Characters
NOT MENTIONED IN OTHER BOOKS
*Arnold Blake – Cecily’s stepfather and inherited the ownership of Blake’s feedlot. A lay about and drunkard, he paid a lot of attention to a lonely widow, marrying Mrs. Peterson when Cecily was 16. Tate beats him up after a near-miss sexual assault on Cecily.
*Jack Yellowbird Winthrop – Tate’s father who hated and tormented him. Big and tough, Tate wiped the floor with him, after he had beat Leta. He had loved Leta and married her while she was pregnant to Matt, but he turned into a mean and bitter drunk when he realized she would always love Tate and his father more. He dies 1 year before the story starts.
*Audrey Gannon – Thirty year old beautiful blond, rich socialite with a psychology degree from Vassar. She’s divorced and her parents died in a plane crash – both events leaving her rich with a huge house, Swiss bank accounts and a Mercedes. She likes unusual men, especially Tate. Later we find out she has a drug problem.
*Tom Black Knife – Leta’s cousin and tribal chief of Wapiti Sioux Reservation, outside of Rapid City, South Dakota. A very honest and good man with a kind heart and a soft touch. Elderly with twinkling dark eyes and kind disposition. Tom had been involved in a drunken fight during the 1970’s militant uprisings on the reservations. Someone died and there was enough circumstantial evidence to implicate Tom. His gambling grandson told of the evidence to save his own life when debt-collectors came looking for him. Tom is black-mailed by a gambling syndicate stealing reservation funds and trying to get a shady casino on the reservation.
*Red Elk – elderly and weathered Sioux who runs trading post on the reservation. Donates a parfleche bag to Cecily, owned by his grandfather, Crow Shield. A stone pipe inside it saved his life at Greasy Grass.
*Dr Jock Phillips – Curator in the Native American museum in DC. He is a tall, balding, old bachelor with Cherokee blood, a gentle personality and plenty of friends. He has a genuine reverence for Native American culture and Cecily adores him.
*The Martins – Cecily’s elderly, kind neighbors in Cullenville, Tennessee.
*Mr. Johnson – widowed curator at small community museum in Tennessee.
MENTIONED IN OTHER BOOKS
*Pierce Hutton – Tate’s boss. Broad-shouldered and dark-haired, he is very settled and happy with his young wife, Brianne. His son is called Laurence, and is several months old by the end of this book.
*Colby Lane – ex-CIA operative and professional soldier. Works for various government agencies as well as a free-lancing mercenary. Lost his arm in Africa, and wears a prosthesis. Described as being stuck in the past, unable to get past his unrequited passion for his ex-wife Maureen. They married 5yrs earlier, and she left him 2 years ago for someone more dependable with readymade children. Known for his benders, he is borderline alcoholic but starts seeing a therapist (who keeps snakes) in Baltimore, whom Cecily recommended. He is Apache, with the addition of a little Scotch and German blood a generation back, which means he is lighter-skinned but almost full-blooded. He could have lived on White Mountain reservation, but he is ashamed of his background and hates to see the poverty. He has cousins in Arizona. He is half a head shorter than Tate, with short black, faintly wavy hair, a scarred lean face and a nose that has been broken 3 times. Not handsome, he has style and guts, and a dangerous magnetism. He is punched and cut down one cheek from Tate’s ring, after Cecily misled him about her relationship with Colby. Colby offers to marry her and help raise Cecily’s child. By the end of the book, he is getting his life together and Tate recommends Colby to take over his job, and Cecily asking him to be godfather to their child.
*Maureen – Colby’s ex-wife. She left him because she didn’t want half-breed children. Now married to a bank vice president who has 2 children from a previous marriage.
*Micah Steele – Battle-scarred, blond man the size of a house. Speaks 4 languages and is a gourmet cook, and has known Tate and Colby for 10 years. He works for the Justice Dept and gives Tate information about Gabrini, the hit man after Cecily. He attends their wedding with his step-sister but appears ill at ease with her.
*Leta Warwoman Winthrop – Tate’s mother. A young-looking 54, she’s a little plump with a pretty face, dark brown eyes and braided silver-flecked dark hair. She lives on Wapiti reservation but is politically active for sovereignty issues, an advocate for literacy programs. She is widowed for many years after her brutal marriage to Jack. Her Warwoman title comes from her grandmother – Tess Meredith, a white woman who could speak Lakota like a native, and ride and shot like a warrior, marrying Raven Following. She wears a turquoise ring given to her by Matt.
*Senator Matt Holden – Senior Republican senator from South Dakota who lives in Maryland. Husky, broad-shouldered, elegant physique with black eyes and silver hair. Described as ‘wickedly handsome, arrogant, stubborn and hot-tempered’, Tate thinks he is too secretive and doesn’t trust him. He is known as a fiery and difficult man who makes easy enemies and is involved in several political and private issues, such as Cecily’s museum, and chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee, and he has an affinity for the Lakota nation. His mother was French, his father, René, was Moroccan; they moved to the USA when he was aged 13, becoming naturalized citizens. His mother taught on the reservation after she was widowed. He had served in the army with Tom, and was a Special Forces battalion commander in Vietnam. He had an unforgettable affair with Leta, and chose position and power over passion, marrying Mavis 36 years ago. She was rich and his chief backer in his first senate race. She drank like a fish, cursed like a sailor and ended up hating him because he didn’t love her enough. He has 2 brothers, Philippe and Michel, both dead. He lives alone except for his 2 Siamese cats, until Leta and his son Tate come back into his life. He marries Leta in late October/early November in DC.
from
Efy
Sydney, Australia.
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Amy
Member since Jun-17-04
13987 postsNov-04-07, 11:07 AM (EST) 5. "RE: HQN , Novella's and Mira book complete Info page 2"
In response to message #4
Once in Paris 1) Publication date: 1998 by Mira Books. ISBN # 1 551 66470 4. Dedicated to the wonderful people at Mira Books, with love.
2) Characters
Brianne Martin
Green, sparkling eyes with long blond hair (best asset). Looks fragile and vulnerable, with long, thin, gangly legs, but is strong, stubborn with a formidable temper and gamine smile. Lacks sophistication but has spirit and class, and a heart as big as the whole world. She’s optimistic and upbeat, making her a ‘continual delight’ but it is her special gift for empathy and compassion that make her a rare and unusual woman.
She’s aged almost 19 at the start of the book, attending an exclusive Left Bank girl’s boarding school, named La Belle Ecole. She’s great at math and wants to do accounting. She loves opera, especially Puccini’s Turandot and Madame Butterfly. Her background is middle class, her father worked in a bank, dying suddenly of a heart attack. Her mother remarried and was pregnant within 5 months of his death, to Brianne’s sorrow.
L. Pierce Hutton
Broad, darkly tanned face with a firm mouth, faintly cleft chin, nose with a crook, and heavy dark eyebrows over large black eyes. He’s a big man with broad shoulders and narrow hips, with thick, dark, wavy hair with threads of silver. He’s aged 36 at the start of the book, but 38 by the time he marries Brianne. Pierce is an architect known for quality construction and ecological practices. Hutton Construction Corporation specializes in building trans-Atlantic oil drilling platforms and high-rise, high-tech buildings. Pierce’s father was a Greek shipping magnate, his mother was French and he had an Argentinean grandmother from whom he gets his Latin temperament. His parents died in a plane crash when he was in grammar school, leaving him to be raised by his old-world paternal grandfather, who changed the family name of Pevros to Hutton, wanting to be American all the way. Pierce sold the oil tankers to form his empire and merged it with Margo’s father who had a chain of building supply companies in Europe. The merger led to 10 happy years of marriage. Margo was French with a soft accent and blue eyes. She tragically was unable to conceive after her miscarriage, then died from cancer two years later (aged 35), three months before the start of the book. She would have liked Brianne.
Pierce has French citizenship but lives in a Nassau mansion. He owns two islands, one off the South Carolina coast and the other in the Bahamas. Both are uninhabited and not developed, left as natural habitats for wildlife. He likes Debussy, Respighi, Puccini, John Williams, James Horner, Jerry Goldsmith, David Arnold and Eric Serra as composers, and reads biographies as well as Ancient Greek and Roman history. Brianne thinks his body is lithe and beautiful, like a work of art, and that he is dynamite and no one can hold a candle to him.
3) Storyline
Starts in Paris, when schoolgirl Brianne cheers up despairing widower Pierce, by joking about her ‘two walnuts’ while they are looking at voluptuous nudes in the Louvre. Later, at Chez Georges bistro, she saves a drunken Pierce and his wallet, from a lady of the night and taking him to his hotel. After undressing him with the help of Henri, the desk clerk, she remarks that his body is worth waiting for. The story skips to Nassau and a year later where Kurt is negotiating with Sabon. Kurt is putting all his money into the oil exploration of Qawi, but the elderly sheikh has refused so far, and Kurt is using virginal Brianne as bait, to keep Sabon interested. Qawi’s neighbor is stock-piling weapons, and it would be politically helpful for him to have an American wife so that he can ask USA for assistance if attacked. Sabon’s unwavering scrutiny makes her nervous and she appeals to Pierce for help. He rebuffs her, stating that he has been trying to forget Paris. She asks him to take her virginity so that Sabon won’t, and is scared for her family’s safety if she doesn’t concede to Kurt’s plans. Eventually, Pierce gives in and he seduces her by his pool and then flies to Las Vegas for a quick marriage that will protect her further. Her ring is a Victorian replica – yellow gold embossed with ivy leaves outlined in white gold – while he wears his old wedding ring. Afterwards they hear her brother has had an accident falling down the stairs, and they fly back to Freeport. Pierce refuses to make love to her as she is too intense and halfway in love with him, but he could walk away from her and is already planning an annulment when the danger subsides. They are kidnapped in Freeport and flown to Jameel in the Persian Gulf, where Pierce pretends he is her bodyguard. Neither can stand the thought of Sabon being her first lover so they make love while being held captive. He accidentally calls her Margo. Brianne also finds out about the plan and Sabon’s injury, and is no longer afraid of him. Kurt was meant to stage a fake attack on Qawi before his neighboring enemy actually does. The expected American intervention will help Qawi in its vulnerable position, and Kurt’s senate friend could even help launch an attack on Salid. Kurt double-crosses Sabon with the fake attack using real bullets. Luckily, Tate assembles a successful rescue via helicopter, then hidden by Mufti’s relatives in a remote village, before escaping on a freighter, along with Sabon. Pierce is jealous of Sabon coveting his wife and her empathy for him. Despite a memorable night in a barn with Pierce, she wishes they were back in Paris where he was vulnerable and needed her, rather than feeling like a responsibility and a nuisance. She demands one uninterrupted night with him before he divorces her, and negotiates returning to Paris to study at the Sorbonne. They arrive in St Martin, where Pierce grudgingly lends $50,000 to Sabon to help him reclaim his country, and Sabon gives him a letter of introduction to his Spanish friend (Senor Alfredo Cantada c/o Gardell Bank) which aids in a ship change. Sabon can connect Kurt to an attack on Pierce’s Caspian sea oil platform, as well as his plans to set fire to oil fields, thereby starting a war where he profits as an arms dealer. Sabon departs with the following Arabic words to Brianne – I will mourn you for the rest of my life – is only understood by Tate. They get on a Spanish freighter which takes them to Savannah. Tate uses his contacts to involve federal agents and mercs help them escape while Brauer’s goons are pursuing them. They fly to Charleston, enlisting more help via Mike Smith, and escaping on a shrimp boat while limousines act as decoys. Brianne learns her family is safe and some of Tate’s background, namely Cecily. There is a skirmish and gun battle at the Maryland border, but the group make it to Senator Matt Holden’s home where their incredible story is exposed to the international media. Sabon and the exiled sheikh are reinstated, the oil fields are secured and Kurt and his cohorts are arrested. Brianne gets her one night with Pierce – it is poignant and profound – but he feels the years between them are all wrong. He is confused, feeling like a traitor to Margo, but also sensing a shadowed future without Brianne. He goes to the Caspian Sea while she goes to Paris with an older, married bodyguard (after becoming homicidal when Tate suggested young and handsome Marlowe for the job). Six weeks after leaving the Middle East, Brianne confirms her pregnancy and is visited by Sabon. He returns the borrowed cash, gives her white roses, offers to make her child his heir and invites the Huttons to attend his coronation in six months time. When the bodyguard reports the visitor, Pierce explodes with rage, flying out in a gale to confront the situation. Pierce is jealous because he knows the depth of Sabon’s feelings and he is upset that she isn’t wearing her wedding ring. He refuses to divorce her, kisses her and is shocked to see her with morning sickness. Memories of Margo and her miscarriage have faded, and he states that the baby is his guarantee that Brianne won’t disappear with a younger man. Their son was born on the day Sabon became regent of Qawi, but he still managed to send her white roses. Brianne is too busy with the two men in her life.
4) Back-cover blurb
It was in Paris she first saw him.
He was tall, handsome – utterly dangerous. Inexplicably drawn to him, Brianne Martin pulled a grief-stricken Pierce Hutton back from the depths of despair. He was forever grateful, but he drew the line at seducing a woman half his age.
It was in Paris that she fell in love.
Although Pierce was strictly off-limits, Brianne couldn’t imagine surrendering her innocence to anyone but him. Certainly not to her stepfather’s corrupt business associate. Obsessed with Brianne since their first meeting, this man would stop at nothing in his relentless pursuit of her, including masterminding a marriage to merge two powerful families. All seemed lost, until Pierce passionately saved Brianne’s life…as she’d once saved his.
5) Children
A son, Edward Laurence, born on the day Philippe became regent of Qawi.
6) Pets
Pierce has two German shepherd guard dogs called King and Tartar.
7) Other Characters
NOT MENTIONED IN OTHER BOOKS:
*Eve Brauer – Brianne’s mother, petite, blond, sweet but selfish with an eye to the main chance. Met her second husband while working in an exclusive jewelry store. It was love at first sight, despite her being suddenly widowed only 3 months before. Her first husband was a loan officer in the local bank, a kind man who failed to give her the lifestyle she deserved. She has a one year old son, Nicholas, from her second marriage. She becomes scared of Kurt, who threatens he & Nicky, she is rescued by Tate’s associate, hiding in Jamaica and then Pierce buys her a house in Jacksonville.
*Nicky – Brianne’s adorable one year old half-brother.
*Emily Jarvis – Brianne’s enemy at school, who hails from a titled British family dating back to the Tudor court. Blond, beautiful, expensively-clothed, but cold with a mouth like a gutter. Expelled for trysting with Dr Mordeau, the art professor, behind the screens in art class.
*Madame Dubonne – Brianne’s encouraging math teacher.
*Cara Harvey – Brianne’s copper-haired eighteen year old friend from Texas. They hung out at museums and art galleries together. A year after school, she is in Portugal, and in trouble with a nobleman who thinks her sister is trying to seduce his younger brother. (p.61)
*Arthur – Pierce’s middle-aged Mediterranean chauffeur in Nassau.
*Mary – Pierce’s pretty, black, middle-aged housekeeper. Makes the best cakes in Nassau.
*Terese – Brianne’s maid in Paris
*Rashid – Brianne & Pierce’s kidnapper. Short man who speaks broken English. Has 4 children, one with cancer, getting treatment in France (paid for by Sabon).
*Mufti – Brianne & Pierce’s kidnapper. A tall, grey-haired, yellow-toothed man whose wife and 2 children died in a bomb blast. Sabon offered him work when he heard of his loss, but he is actually a spy for neighboring Salid. Great poker player. He is the star witness against Brauer.
*Hamid – Chopper pilot who helps Tate rescue the Huttons. 2 other unnamed men help their escape.
*Miriam – Sabon’s house servant for 10 years. Brutally killed by Kurt’s mercs.
*Marlboro – Tallest MIB (Men in black). Hits on Brianne after group picked up in Savannah. (p.296)
*Mills – the other MIB.
MENTIONED IN OTHER BOOKS:
*Tate Winthrop – Security chief for Hutton Corporation for the last 3 years. He is a full-blooded Sioux who grew up in Pine Ridge Sioux Reservation, South Dakota. He was a government operative with a mysterious background and friends in some of the highest offices in Washington DC. He speaks 5 languages fluently, including Arabic, and has a law degree. He can track a butterfly over concrete and is known to ‘eat scorpions and rattlesnakes’. He is dark and rough-looking with high cheekbones, a square jaw and deep-set almond-shaped black eyes. He is tall, lean and powerful with thick, long black hair in a braid reaching his shoulder blades. He describes a lapse of his concentration as having a ‘personal problem’ in Washington. Her name is Cecily, and their relationship is described on p.199, although she does not make an appearance in this book.
*Colby Lane – Lean and dark man who hires out as a mercenary and works for Uncle Sam. Punched out by Pierce for getting drunk on a drilling platform. Goes to Africa during this book. Has a disagreement with Tate (no details given) and then carries a scar on his jaw from Tate’s ring.
* Philippe Sabon – Middle Eastern national representing Qawi’s government, he owns a yacht off the coast of Nassau and an island in the Persian Gulf called Jameel (meaning beautiful). He is courteous and distinguished, but is reputed to have a perverted obsession for young, innocent girls. Tall, slender and dark, with scars on one cheek that look dangerous. His mother is of Arab descent, and his father allegedly has French and Turkish ancestry. Perceived as pursuing wealth and power, he has witnessed poverty in his home and is troubled by it. He has an unsavory reputation for perverse sexual habits but there are no discarded lovers found. He has deliberately cultivated his reputation for debauchery and is later described as an iceberg – most of him hidden. Pierce hates him for supporting a neighboring nation constantly under sanctions for its aggressive political stance, as well as his interest in Brianne (‘the only thing on earth worth losing a kingdom for’). Later, discover that he is the son of the ruling sheik of Qawi. He offers to make Brianne’s child his heir.
*Kurt Brauer – An international magnate used to luxury, with chauffeur-driven limousines and meals costing 3 figures. Owns a villa in Nassau, beach houses in Barcelona and the Riviera, with a yacht to sail between them. Involved in oil exploration but most money made from arms and weapons dealing. No conscience or limit to time spent looking for material wealth. Devious and under-handed, he is involved with several strange and dangerous-looking men in his business. Tried to ruin Pierce’s reputation via a terrorist attack on his oil platform. He had Brianne examined medically to prove her virginity. Arrested in the end for multiple crimes, including against the Russian government who extradite him to Moscow for trial.
*Senator Holden – Big, burly man built like a wrestler who looks Native American, with black eyes and straight black hair threaded with silver. He lives on a large estate in Maryland and has a commandingly gruff, husky voice like a soldier. Exposes Brauer’s plotting on the International News Network.
*Mike Smith – Professional mercenary and seafood restaurant owner in Charleston. Native American, sparkling black eyes and ponytail. He is almost Tate’s height and has known him several years. Mike is not his real name. His wife and daughter (who are not related to him and are actually his cover) help run the restaurant, which he won in a poker game. Tate owes him 3 favors. (p.303)
*Maggie – Mike Smith’s ‘wife’ and cover. Tall with short black hair, blue eyes, real muscles and a military bearing.
from
Efy
Sydney, Australia.
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Amy
Member since Jun-17-04
13987 postsNov-04-07, 11:09 AM (EST) 6. "RE: HQN , Novella's and Mira book complete Info page 2"
In response to message #5
Miss Greenhorn
Published 1990 in the summer
Silhouette Summer Sizzlers
ISBN 0-373-58129-7When Christy Haley went to Arizona on holiday she didn't expect to find herself fascinated by a rugged yet irresistible ranch own. Similarly, the last thing Nate Lang thought he needed was an Eastern school teacher who attracted trouble like a magnet. So why couldn't he keep himself away from this woman who suspected was not quite what she seemed?
Christiana "Christy" Haley -
Age: 25 Years Old
Has Nice figure, pale green eyes,, long silvery blond hair, soft mouth delicate oval face.
This is her 1st time out of Jacksonville, has gotten herself a new image. Has two left feet because she won't wear her glasses.
Occupation: Teachers 2nd gradeNathanial "Nate" Lang-
Age: 37 years old
Has slate gray eyes, tall, lean, very intimidating. Has lean face with a jutting chin, thin lips and high cheek bones, hair color is very dark. Is very smart, likes geology. He thinks Christy is a gold digger.
Occupation: Owns a ranch, and is a Vice President of the mining company his uncle owns.Secondary Characters
George-
Tall, thin, blond, and glasses. Likes Christy.
Occupation: Senior in collegeJoyce Ann-
Age: 30 years old
Always pushing men at Christy, Calls Nate and ask him why in the hell he was killing her baby sister.Harvey "Harry" White -
Age: 40 years old
Graying hair, beer belly, and red faced. Wants to marry Christy so his 3 boys will have a mother.
Occupation: teaches 6th gradeMrs. Lang-
Nate's Mother, small and dark eyedHistory on the Hohokam on pg 16
Paula Odom Alabama
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Amy
Member since Jun-17-04
13987 postsNov-18-07, 04:37 PM (EST) 7. "RE: HQN , Novella's and Mira book complete Info page 2"
In response to message #6
Lawless 1) Publication Date: Mira Books (Jul 2003) ISBN-10: 1551667088
2) Characters:
JUDD DUNN aged 34. A tall darkly handsome man, long lean body
He has been in law enforcement most of his life, was a Texas Ranger for five years.
Has been responsible for Christabel since she was 16 years old when they both took over the running of the D bar G ranch. Judd had saved Crissy for a near death beating at the hands of her father. Judd had him arrested and went on to care for Crissy. Around the same time Judd married Christabel but the marriage was kept secret only a few close friends know about it.
Judd’s father was a Minster and at one time Judd thought about following in his father’s footsteps but followed the path of law enforcement instead. Judd’s mother had an affair when he was 12 years old with a local man while she was still married to his dad. Gossip all over town shamed Judd and his dad. When the man tossed Judd’s mother over for a younger woman his dad asked her to leave town which she did. She never kept in touch with Judd and went on to marry again and have another child. The child a girl died when she was six from spinal meningitis. Judd’s mother died months later in a car crash.
CHRISTABEL GAINES aged 20. She has long blonde hair; pretty bow shaped mouth, wide forehead with high cheekbones and big warm brown eyes.
Christabel has a great knowledge of computers; she is working on her Diploma in computer programming at the moment. Crissy does all the ranch computer work to save on money overheads.
Crissy has treble scars on her back from a beating she took from her father when he was drunk. She had been trying to save her horse from the beating when her dad turned on her she was only 16 years old at the time. Judd turned up in time to save her from death. After she recovered the only way they could save the ranch was for Crissy and Judd to marry but not to say anything to anyone about it.
Crissy has a big heart and is always helping other people out by baking for them, taking flowers, offering them meals etc.3) Storyline:
Five years ago, Judd Dunn, a hard-edged Texas Ranger, put Christabel Gaines's father behind bars - where he belonged. But Judd's involvement in Crissy's life was far from over. With their jointly owned ranch on the verge of bankruptcy, Judd wed her in name only, vowing to save their land, and vowing to ignore the sexual tension between them.
Now, Judd decides is ready to release Crissy from their sham of a marriage on her twenty-first birthday. With the ranch in need of money Judd and Crissy agree to let a film company shoot there latest film there. Enter one Tippy Moore an ex-model turned movie star who Judd is smitten with from the start. Tippy hates Crissy on sight and does everything in her power to get Judd to ignore and disregard anything Crissy says. Crissy turns to the local assistant police chief Cash Grier for friendship and help with the odd things going on around the ranch. The relationship between Judd and Crissy takes a turn in a whole new way one night when he is recovering from killing a man in the line of his job. Judd and Crissy become lovers. Then Tippy heats things up when she shows Crissy a ring she is wearing and says she and Judd are engaged.
Things come to a head when an enemy of Judd’s shows up and tries to kill him but Crissy steps in the way of the bullet meant for Judd.
Judd comes to his senses over his feeling for Crissy as she lay fighting for her life and Tippy finds out that Judd and Crissy are married.
Crissy makes a slow recovery and life on the ranch takes a new turn. Crissy feels on a high one moment then a low the next with Judd, she is so unsure what why their relationship is going. Things come to a head for her when she discovers she is pregnant only to find Judd in a romantic clinch with Tippy when she goes to tell him about the baby. Crissy runs and nearly kills herself only to be found by Judd and Cash soon after. Cash has worked out Crissy is pregnant but wont tell Judd so they end up beating on each other until Cash tells him. From then on Judd takes a hard look at himself and sets out to save his marriage. Months later Crissy gives birth to twins a boy and girl much to the delight of Judd. Their future looks more rosy than their past.4) Back-cover blurb:
Judd Dunn is tough, fearless and risks his life for a living. But he’s honourable at heart and married Christabel Gains for her own protection, rescuing her from an abusive farther. For five years she’s been Judd’s wife in name only, both of them ignoring their growing sexual tensions. An innocent like Crissy is off-limits for a man with Judd’s blemished past.
Now, just as they should be breaking free of their sham marriage, Judd’s past catches up with him. A vindictive enemy decides he needs teaching a lesson – preying on Judd’s greatest weakness: his young wife. Only Crissy is no longer a hero worshipping teenager. She’s a smart, determined woman with unfulfilled desires – and she’ll do anything in the name of love. Whatever the consequences.5) Children: By the end of the book Crissy has given birth to twins a boy-Jared and girl-Jassamina.
6) Pets: none
7) Other Characters:
CRISSY’S DAD: - died of a heart attack soon after his arrest for beating her when she was 16 years old.
CRISSY’S MUM: - died the year she graduated from high school.
MAUDE: - The ranches housekeeper and second mum to Crissy, a heavy set buxom women.
NICK: - foreman of the ranch and good friend to Crissy and Judd.
CASH GRIER: - a tall well built man, thick black hair in a ponytail, all business and stone faced. He is also the Assistant police chief and secretly in love with Crissy. (From the books ‘The Last Mercenary’ (2001), The Winter Soldier (2001), ‘Lionhearted’ (2002), ‘Renegade’ (this book is his own story)(2004), ‘Carrera's Bride’ (2004), ‘Cattleman's Pride’ (2004), ‘One Night in New York’ (UK version of Renegade) (2006), ‘Outsider’ (2006), ‘Heartbreaker’ (2006), ‘Lawman’ (2006), ‘Winter Rose’ (2007)
JACK and JOHN CLARK: - unsavoury characters, fired from loads of jobs due to stealing, both have vindictive streaks and love vengeance. They have been suspected of poisoning cattle on a ranch they have been fired from. (Have no book of there own but also talked about in ‘Lionhearted’ (1999).
HOB DOWNEY: - older man in his late seventies, been a cowboy all his life, he is now retired but hates it.
TIPPY MOORE: - She has a perfect smile, white teeth, red bow mouth, perfect figure, green eyes and red hair, a model turned actress. She hates Crissy on sight and falls all over Judd. (From the books ‘Renegade’ (Tipp’s and Cash’s story)(2004), ‘One Night in New York’ (UK version of Renegade) (2006) ‘Lawman’ (2006), ‘Winter Rose’ (2007).
GARY MAYS: - assistant director who is making Tippy’s life hell with his sexual advances.
RANCE WAYNE: - film actor staring with Tippy Moore.
RORY MOORE: - Tippy’s younger brother who she has full custody of after her mothers live in lover beat him up really badly. (From the books ‘Renegade’ (Tipp’s and Cash’s story) (2004), ‘One Night in New York’ (UK version of Renegade) (2006)
COOPER and LOU COLTRAIN: - local doctors who happen to be married to each other. From the books Coltrain's Proposal (this is their story)(1995), ‘The Last Mercenary’ (2001), The Winter Soldier (2001), ‘Lionhearted’ (2002), ‘Renegade’ (2004), ‘Carrera's Bride’ (2004), ‘Cattleman's Pride’ (2004), ‘One Night in New York’ (UK version of Renegade) (2006), ‘Outsider’ (2006), ‘Heartbreaker’ (2006), ‘Lawman’ (2006), ‘Winter Rose’ (2007)
MR. KOSUGI: - a Japanese business man who is wanting to buy Texas beef.
LEO and RAY HART: - local ranchers famous for their love of biscuits. (From the book ‘Lionhearted’ (Leo’s story) 1999, ‘A Man of Means’ (Ray’s story) 1999, also in, ‘Christmas Cowboy’1997 ‘Beloved’ 1999, ‘Callaghan’s Bride’1999, ‘The Last Mercenary’ 2002)
By Jade Stone Cheshire England
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Amy
Member since Jun-17-04
13987 postsNov-18-07, 04:54 PM (EST) 8. "RE: HQN , Novella's and Mira book complete Info page 2"
In response to message #7
RENEGADE 2004(I HAVE THE PB SO IF THERE WAS A HARDCOVER IT
MAY HAVE BEEN THE PRIOR YEAR) HQN is the lineHERO - CASH GRIER
- CHIEF OF POLICE OF JACOBSVILLE - EX-MERCENARY.
-THIRTY-EIGHT YRS OLD
-TALL DARK AND HANDSOME - HAS LONG BLACK PONYTAIL - DARK EYES- USED TO WEAR AN EARRING
-WAS PREVIOUSLY MARRIED- EX WIFE ABORTED CHILD
-FAVORITE FOOD IS BEEF STROGANOFF
-PARENTS MARRIAGE WAS SPLIT APART BECAUSE OF A MODEL
-ESTRANGED FROM HIS THREE BROTHERS AND FATHER, MOTHER IS DEAD.
-DOES NOT DRINK ALCOHOL
-MARTIAL ARTS EXPERT
-CAPTURED IN WAR AND TORTURED
- REUNITES WITH BROTHERS AND FATHER
- FATHERS PEOPLE WERE CHEROKEE AND SWISS
- LIKES TO GARDEN
-SECOND COUSINS TO THE HART BROTHERS
-LOVES LATIN DANCINGHEROINE - TIPPY MOORE AKA TIPPY DANBURY AKA GEORGIA FIREFLY
- TWENTY-SIX YRS OLD, HAS LONG RED HAIR WITH GREEN EYES
-ACTRESS/MODEL
-ALSO APPEARS IN LAWLESS
-LIVES IN NEW YORK
-WAS RAPED WHEN SHE WAS TWELVE - BY HER MOTHERS BOYFRIEND-
RAN AWAY FROM HOME
-LIVED WITH CULLEN CANNON
-MOTHER IS A DRUG ADDICT AND DIED AFTER A HEART ATTACK
- LOVES STUFFED CATS
-CASH GAVE HER AN EMERALD SOLITAIRE ENGAEMENT RING
- COULD READ CASH AND RORYS THOUGHTSPETS
CASH HAD A BABY-PYTHON NAMED MIKEY- GIVES IT BACK WHEN TIPPY MOVES INCHILDREN
-HAS A 9 YR OLD BROTHER RORY - SHE IS RAISING HIM
-LOSES CASH'S FIRST BABY
-HAVE A BABY GIRL, AFTER MARRIED- TRISTINA CHRISTABEL-WAS BORN ON TIPPYS BIRTHDAYSECONDARY CHARACTERS
JUDD DUNN
-DESCRIBED AS HAVING BLACK EYES
- FORMER TEXAS RANGER, NOW ASSISTANT CHIEF OF
POLICE
- MARRIED TO CHRISTABEL-
- HAS TWINS, ONE BOY JARED AND ONE GIRL JESSAMINA, CASH FAVORITE IS THE LITTLE GIRL AND HES GODFATHER TO BOTH-BABIES ARE SIX MONTHS OLD IN THIS BOOK
- JESSAMINA IS DESCRIBED AS HAVIN BLACK HAIR AND BLUE EYES
- TIPPY CHASED JUDD IN LAWLESS
-JUDD AND CRISTABEL WERE WITNESSES TO TIPPY AND CASHS WEDDINGCRISTABEL DUNN- ALSO CRISTABEL GAINES,
- MARRIED TO JUDD SINCE HER TEENS.
- WENT OUT A FEW TIMES WITH CASH
- WAS SHOT IN LAWLESSRORY DANBURY- TIPPYS BROTHER,
-NINE YEARS OLD
- ATTENDS MILITARY SCHOOL IN MARYLAND
- WAS SOLD TO TIPPY AND CULLEN BY HIS MOTHER
-FAVORITE SPORT IS FISHING
MARCUS CARRERA
-BAD GUY TURNED GOOD.
-CARRERAS BRIDE IS HIS BOOK
-QUILTER
-THICK WAVY BLACK HAIR AND LARGE BROWN EYES, OLIVE COMPLEXION
- HAS TWO SCARS ON HIS CHEEK
- LIVES ON PARADISE ISLAND
- OWNS HOTELS AND CASINOS
-LIKES EXOTIC FABRIC AND ANTIQUE CLOTH
MR. SMITH
-CARRERAS RIGHT HAND MAN
-BUILT LIKE A WRESTLER
-USED TO WORK FOR KIP TENNISON BEFORE WORKING FOR CARRERA - KIP MARRIED CY HARDEN
- HAS A PET IGUANA
MISS SANDIE JEWEL
-IN HER FIFTIES
-PRACTICAL NURSE HIRED TO WATCH OVER TIPPY
-FORMER SPECIAL DEPUTY
- DARK EYED, WAVY LIGHT BROWN HAIR, TALL AND SLENDER
CASH'S FATHER- VIC GRIER
-SILVE HAIR CARBON COPY OF CASH
-LEFT HIS WIFE FOR ANOTHER WOMAN
-IN REAL ESTATE
CORT GRIER
SECOND ELDEST BROTHER
-RUNS CATTLE RANCH IN WEST TEXAS
-TALL AND MUSCULAR
-THINKING ABOUT GETTING MARRIED
GARON GRIER
-ELDEST BROTHER
-FBI AGENT
-TALL, DARK EYES, BLOND STREAKED WAVY LIGHT BROWN HAIR
PARKER GRIER
YOUNGEST BROTHER
-ENFORCEMENT OFFICER WITH THE STATE GAME AND FISH PEOPLE
-TALL, DARK WAVY HAIR AND GREEN EYES
-CASHS FAMILY BOUGHT THE OLD JACOBS PLACE TO RUN OUREBRED BLACK ANGUD
- CALHOUN BALLENGER BECAME SATE SENATOR
BLURB
NEWLY APPOINTED POLICE CHIEF CASH GRIER MAKES IT HIS
PERSONAL MISSION TO KEEP LAW AND ORDER IN THE STREETS OF JACOBSVILLE.
AS A TRUE RENEGADE, CASH HAD LEARNED NEVER TO TAKE ANYTHING AT
FACE VALUE-ESPECIALLY NOT HIS GORGEOUS SWORN ENEMY, "GEORGIA
FIREFLY" TIPPY MOORE. BUT TIPPY IS NO LONGER A SPOILED HOLLYWOOD
STARLET, JUST AN UNASSUMING BEAUTY WHO HAS ALMOST AS MANY SKELETONS
IN HER CLOSET AS CASH. NOW THE HARD-EDGED TEXAN FINDS HIMSELF
POWERLESS TO RESIST THEIR EXPLOSIVE CHEMISTRY.
JUST AS CASH IS ABOUT TO BELIEVE THAT TIPPY MIGHT BE THE ONE
FOR HIM, AN UNFORGIVABLE BETRAYAL LEADS TO DESPAIR, DECEIT AND
UNEXPECTED DANGER. NOW ALL ROADS LEAD TO THIS ONE PIVOTAL
MOMENT THAT WOULD TEST THE VERY FABRIC OF A LOVE THAT HAD ONCE
KNOWN NO BOUNDS....By: Sinfullatina
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Amy
Member since Jun-17-04
13987 postsNov-18-07, 04:59 PM (EST) 9. "RE: HQN , Novella's and Mira book complete Info page 2"
In response to message #8
The Greatest Gift
1) Publication date: 2004 by Harlequin books.
Part of the Anthology More Than Words, stories inspired by real women who’ve made a difference, with proceeds of the sale reinvested to support causes that are of concern to women.
2) Characters
Mary Crandall
Thick, dark hair with light blue eyes and a slender build bordering on thin. Her parents are dead and she has no siblings, growing up on a farm. Married for love more than 14 years ago, but now divorced after her husband Jack turned into merciless, raging animal, affected by drugs and alcohol. She is stubborn with a good sense of humor and never complains, no matter what. Loves her 3 kids more than anything in the world.
Matt Clark
Tall, but a little bit heavy, good-looking and compassionate uniformed police officer. He’s several years older than Mary, with old world manners and courtesy. He served in the army, losing 2 friends in Lebanon when the barracks were bombed. He divorced his child-hating party-girl wife 10 years ago. Plays the trombone.
3) Storyline
Based on the true story of Sue Cobley, who started the ‘Chefs to the Rescue’ program in Boise, Idaho. In 1996, after divorcing her abusive husband and being evicted from her home and living with her 5 children in a borrowed car; she collected surplus food from grocery stores and restaurants, and donated it to shelters and needy families.
Mary’s story is set in Phoenix, the day she is evicted from her rental home, after her husband refused to pay support. She and her children are about to spend a night in the car when policeman Matt directs them to a homeless shelter. She then finds a cheap hotel to rent. The restaurant next door gives her a special price, and then offers to give her leftovers for free after closing time. Mary can’t shake the idea of hungry, homeless people and so many restaurants throwing out good food at the end of the day. Her idea grows to include favors for transport, free gas and volunteers for transport and distribution. She recruits more restaurants and delivers to the men’s mission, the women’s shelter, homeless camps and the food bank. Overwhelmingly, Mary feels better about her own situation while helping others. Matt volunteers to help, and is drawn to Mary and her children. A reporter publishes her story and the City Food Bank offer to help run her project; offering to pay her for the job she loves. Mary collapses from exhaustion, ending up in hospital where Matt confesses how important she is to him. The publicity allows her to cut back on cleaning work, afford to rent a house and buy a car. Matt hints at marriage as their friendship grows. Mary realizes that her journey has taught her a lot, that giving is a gift.
4) Children
Bob – almost 14; in junior high; wears glasses; good football player; a livewire but responsible.
Ann - Very intelligent and a good clarinet player. In last year of grammar school.
John – 18 month old toddler and a really well-behaved baby.
5) Pets - none
6) Back cover blurb
Ordinary women… extraordinary compassion.
Somewhere at this very moment, a woman’s caring and commitment is changing a life in her community… and changing the world. Five of these compassionate, dedicated women have been chosen from nominees across North America to become Harlequin’s More Than Words award recipients.
Now five bestselling romance authors celebrate these recipients in the More Than Words short story collection – fiction inspired by the lives and efforts of these real-life heroines…
7) Other characters
*Bev Tanner – Manages the homeless shelter; tall, honest, kind and dignified; in her 40’s; dark hair spinkled with grey.
*Sam Harlowe – Decorated Vietnam War veteran and a building inspector who retired with a back injury. His wife and daughter left him when he was overseas – they died in a wreck. His nephew disappeared after selling his house, using power of attorney unlawfully. He lost his retirement fund in a corporate collapse. Now lives in the homeless shelter but helps Mary.
*Meg – Lives in the shelter with her baby, after her boyfriend Bob threatened her with a knife. From Atlanta, she cries when no one is looking.
*Tammy – Mary’s neighbor from previous address. Baby-sits baby John often.
*Debbie & Mark Shultz – Mary’s clients for over 10 years. Have 8 cars and loan Mary a Ford. Good people.
*Al Smith – Hotel manager. Kind, elderly man with a ponytail and young smile. Ex-military, served with Matt, he now runs a cheap hotel to ‘do good’ as the rent is whatever they can pay. Ran away from home when aged 12, after drunken father beat him.
*Cecil Baker – Assistant manager in restaurant next to hotel.
*Larry Blake – Runs the men’s mission.
*Billie West – Mary’s client. Middle-aged society hostess married to old money and dripping diamonds. Comes from a poor background, her father was alcoholic and her mother died young from exhaustion, she modeled to put her brothers through school. Helped Mary by offering her SUV for transport and deliveries; she approaches several more restaurants for the project.
*Chad – Police Officer. Tall, young and a friend of Matt’s; volunteers himself and his SUV.
*Tom Harvey – Manager of the City Food Bank. Tall and elegant, soft-spoken gentleman with a warm smile and dark eyes. He gives Mary a job, paying her to run the food rescue program.
*Dr. Mack Barker – Mary’s family doctor.
Efy
Sydney, Australia
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