Read more
Zusatztext "Delectable humor and sexuality." - PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “A good storyteller…Coulter always keeps the pace brisk.”— Fort Worth Star-Telegram “Ms. Coulter is a one-of-a-kind author who knows how to hook her readers and keep them coming back for more.”— The Best Reviews “Coulter is excellent at portraying the romantic tension between her heroes and heroines, and she manages to write explicitly but beautifully about sex as well as love.”— Milwaukee Journal “Coulter instinctively feeds our desire to believe in knights in shining armor and everlasting love—historical romance at its finest.”—BookReporter.com “One of the genre’s great storytellers.”— Kansas City Star “One of the masters of the genre.”— The Newark Star-Ledger “Catherine Coulter is one of the best authors of exciting thrillers writing today.”— Midwest Book Review Informationen zum Autor Catherine Coulter Klappentext The stunning Regency-era romance from #1 New York Times bestselling author Catherine Coulter. Characters from two of Coulter's most beloved novels in the Sherbrooke Bride series find each other in The Courtship . Helen Mayberry of Mad Jack has one passion: to track down a mystical treasure. That is, until she meets the thoroughly wicked Spenser Heatherington in a clash of the titans. Leseprobe London 1811 May 14 Just before midnight LORD BEECHAM STOPPED dead in his tracks. He turned around so quickly that he nearly tripped over a huge potted palm. He couldn’t believe it. He had to be wrong. She couldn’t have said that, could she? He looked for the woman he had just heard speaking. He parted two huge palm fronds and peered into the Sanderling’s library, a long, narrow, shelf-lined room just off the ballroom. Where the library was filled with darkbound tomes, cobwebs in gloomy corners, and just one small branch of candles casting shadows, the ballroom was overflowing with lit candles, plants, and at least two hundred guests, all of them laughing, dancing, and drinking too much of the potent champagne punch. The woman he had heard before spoke again. He took 2 Catherine Coulter a step closer to the dimly lit library. Her voice was rich, tantalizing, filled with laughter. “Really, Alexandra,” she said, “doesn’t just the simple thought of discipline, just hearing the word, saying it slowly to yourself and letting it caress your tongue as you say it, doesn’t it conjure up all sorts of delicious scenes of dominance? Can’t you just see yourself? You are completely at the mercy of another, that person is in total control, and there is nothing you can do about anything. You know something is going to happen, you’re dreading it, your heart is pounding, you’re afraid, so very afraid, yet it’s a delicious sort of fear you feel. You know, deep down, that you are anticipating what is to come. You can’t wait for it to come, but there is nothing you can do except imagine what will be done to you. Ah, yes, your skin is rippling with the excitement of it.” There was dead silence. Wait, was that heavy breathing he heard? Lord Beecham, whose very active imagination had conjured up a vision of himself standing over a beautiful woman, smiling down at her as he tied her hands over her head and her legs, spread, to the posts of his bed, knowing that in just a few minutes, he would remove her clothing, one lovely garment at a time, slowly, ever so slowly, and? “Oh, goodness, Helen. I have to fan myself. I believe my bosom is palpitating. You are far too good at painting word pictures. What you describe?it sounds terrifying and wonderful. It rather makes my mouth water. It also sounds like a grand production that requires a lot of planning.” “Oh, yes, but that is part of the ritual. It is very important
