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One hundred. Doesn’t matter how many times I say it, I still can’t believe that’s how many books I’ve written. It’s a fabulous feeling but more fabulous still is the news that Mills & Boon are issuing every single one of my backlist as digital titles. Wow. I can’t wait to share all my stories with you - which are as vivid to me now as when I wrote them.
There’s BOUGHT FOR HER HUSBAND, with its outrageously macho Greek hero and A SCANDAL, A SECRET AND A BABY featuring a very sexy Tuscan. THE SHEIKH’S HEIR proved so popular with readers that it spent two weeks on the USA Today charts and…well, I could go on, but I’ll leave you to discover them for yourselves.
I remember the first line of my very first book: “So you’ve come to Australia looking for a husband?” Actually, the heroine had gone to Australia to escape men, but guess what? She found a husband all the same! The man who inspired that book rang me up recently and when I told him I was beginning my 100th story and couldn’t decide what to write, he said, “Why don’t you go back to where it all started?”
So I did. And that’s how A ROYAL VOW OF CONVENIENCE was born. It opens in beautiful Queensland and moves to England and New York. It’s about a runaway princess and the enigmatic billionaire who is infuriated by her, yet who winds up rescuing her. But then, she goes and rescues him… Wouldn’t you know it?
I’ll end by saying how very grateful I am to have a career I love, and to thank each and every one of you who has supported me along the way. You really are very dear readers.
Love,
Sharon xxx
Mills & Boon are proud to present a thrilling digital collection of all Sharon Kendrick’s novels and novellas for us to celebrate the publication of her amazing and awesome 100th book! Sharon is known worldwide for her likeable, spirited heroines and her gorgeous, utterly masculine heroes.
SHARON KENDRICK once won a national writing competition, describing her ideal date: being flown to an exotic island by a gorgeous and powerful man. Little did she realise that she’d just wandered into her dream job! Today she writes for Mills & Boon, featuring her often stubborn but always to-die-for heroes and the women who bring them to their knees. She believes that the best books are those you never want to end. Just like life…
Long-Distance Marriage
Sharon Kendrick
To Auntie Dodie (Mrs. Josephine Webb),
who gave me such fantastic holidays when I was a child.
Contents
THE phone on Alessandra’s desk shrilled and she picked it up on the first ring with her usual brisk efficiency.
‘Yes?’ Always straight and to the point, Alessandra had acquired something of a reputation at Holloway Advertising for wasting neither words nor time. Once she had overheard two of the secretaries saying that she was as efficient as a robot, and had found it hard to believe that they were actually talking about her!
‘Alessandra—where the hell have you been all morning?’ came the voice of her boss, Andrew Holloway.
Long ago, Alessandra had recognised that Andrew had flair and imagination—it was just unfortunate that he was thoroughly convinced he was God’s gift to the opposite sex!
‘I wanted to deliver some artwork personally,’ explained Alessandra. ‘And I’ve only just got in.’
‘Well, I need to talk to you,’ said Andrew.
‘I’m afraid I’m busy right now,’ said Alessandra firmly as she surveyed her crowded desk and pulled a face at it. ‘Can’t it wait?’
‘It most certainly can,’ Andrew replied with satisfaction, and Alessandra got the distinct feeling that she’d been manipulated into something! ‘How about a drink after work?’
She sighed. ‘Andrew, I can’t. I have a heap of work to do before I leave, and—’ her voice instinctively softened into a soft purr as she glanced at the wedding photograph on her desk ‘—I have a husband at home waiting for me, remember?’
Well, that was a small white lie, she thought ruefully—Cameron wouldn’t be waiting at all. If there was one thing which was predictable about that gorgeous yet enigmatic husband of hers, it was that Cameron Calder waited for no one.
‘Alessandra—honey, please!’
Alessandra held back a smile. It amused her to hear her boss of three years still trying to turn the charm on like a tap! He never gave up! Never could understand why she hadn’t fallen into his arms like a ripe plum!
Yes, he was tall. Yes, he was hunky. Blond, blue-eyed and not short of a penny or two. The toast of London’s women and able to date just about anyone of his choice. Except for Alessandra. Oh, he’d asked her out often enough in the past, but she’d never accepted for the simple reason that she hadn’t been remotely interested in him. Alessandra had only ever gone out with one man.
And