Victoria Chancellor

The Prince's Texas Bride


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      “Why didn’t you tell me?”

      The man standing before Kerry looked intense and extremely sexy as he glared at her.

      “Hello, Alexi,” she said hoarsely, past a lump that she couldn’t attribute to morning sickness.

      “It’s been three months! Dammit, Kerry, you should have phoned me immediately.”

      “And what could you have done? I’m having this baby whether you like it or not.”

      “You think I don’t want you to have my baby? Don’t be absurd. I would never—”

      “I don’t know that. We didn’t have much time to discuss the subject.”

      “We managed to talk about almost everything else.”

      “Including your upcoming nuptials to the contessa.”

      Alexi’s expression grew fierce. “First of all, I’m not marrying Contessa Di Giovanni.”

      “But—”

      “Second, you and I are getting married. Our child will be the legitimate heir to the throne of Belegovia.”

      Dear Reader,

      It’s that time of the year again. Pink candy hearts and red roses abound as we celebrate that most amorous of holidays, St. Valentine’s Day. Revel in this month’s offerings as we continue to celebrate Mills & Boon American Romance’s yearlong 20th Anniversary.

      Last month we launched our six-book MILLIONAIRE, MONTANA continuity series with the first delightful story about a small Montana town whose residents win a forty-million-dollar lottery jackpot. Now we bring you the second title in the series, Big-Bucks Bachelor, by Leah Vale, in which a handsome veterinarian gets more than he bargained for when he asks his plain-Jane partner to become his fake fiancée.

      Also in February, Bonnie Gardner brings you The Sergeant’s Secret Son. In this emotional story, passions flare all over again between former lovers as they work to rebuild their tornado-ravaged hometown, but the heroine is hiding a small secret—their child! Next, Victoria Chancellor delivers a great read with The Prince’s Texas Bride, the second book in her duo A ROYAL TWIST, where a bachelor prince’s night of passion with a beautiful waitress results in a royal heir on the way and a marriage proposal. And a trip to Las Vegas leads to a pretend engagement in Leandra Logan’s Wedding Roulette.

      Enjoy this month’s offerings, and be sure to return each and every month to Mills & Boon American Romance!

      Melissa Jeglinski

      Associate Senior Editor

      Mills & Boon American Romance

      The Prince’s Texas Bride

      Victoria Chancellor

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      To our Thursday Lunch Group, for your continued encouragement. Thank you Judy Christenberry, Jane Graves (w/a Jane Sullivan), Barbara Harrison (w/a Leann Harris), Tammy Hilz, Karen Leabo (w/a Kara Lennox) and Rebecca Russell.

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      After twenty-eight years in Texas, VICTORIA CHANCELLOR has almost qualified for “naturalized Texan” status. She lives in a suburb of Dallas with her husband of thirty-one years, next door to her daughter, who is an English teacher. When not writing, she tends her “zoo” of four cats, a ferret, five tortoises, a wide assortment of wild birds, three visiting chickens and several families of raccoons and opossums. For more information on past and future releases, please visit her Web site at www.victoriachancellor.com.

      Books by Victoria Chancellor

      MILLS & BOON AMERICAN ROMANCE

      844—THE BACHELOR PROJECT

      884—THE BEST BLIND DATE IN TEXAS

      955—THE PRINCE’S COWBOY DOUBLE *

      959—THE PRINCE’S TEXAS BRIDE *

      Contents

       Prologue

       Chapter One

       Chapter Two

       Chapter Three

       Chapter Four

       Chapter Five

       Chapter Six

       Chapter Seven

       Chapter Eight

       Chapter Nine

       Chapter Ten

       Chapter Eleven

       Chapter Twelve

       Chapter Thirteen

       Chapter Fourteen

       Epilogue

      Prologue

      Kerry Lynn Jacks pulled her blue chenille robe tight around her, fought back another urge to run into the bathroom and headed instead for the insistent pounding on her door. This had better be important. Mornings were not her best time of day. Hadn’t been ever since that little test strip had turned blue—and she’d started turning green.

      She wove her way around her coffee table and chair. The tile in the entryway to her apartment was cool on her bare feet even though August in Texas was anything but temperate. “This had better not be someone selling magazine subscriptions,” she murmured to herself as she stood on tiptoe and peered through the peephole.

      Her heart began to pound and she sucked in a much-needed breath. Either her friend Hank McCauley had started wearing designer clothing or there was a prince on her doorstep. Either way, she had to let him in.

      She turned the deadbolt and doorknob, then took a shaky step back as the door swung open.

      The man standing before her looked intense and extremely sexy as he glared at her from beneath furrowed brows.

      Definitely the prince.

      “Hello, Alexi,” she said hoarsely past the lump in her throat that she couldn’t attribute to morning sickness.

      “Why didn’t you tell me?”

      She couldn’t pretend not to know