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Informationen zum Autor The daughter of a town marshal, Linda Lael Miller is a #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of more than one hundred historical and contemporary novels, most of which reflect her love of the West. Raised in Northport, Washington, Linda pursued her wanderlust, living in London and Arizona and traveling the world before returning to the state of her birth to settle down on a horse property outside Spokane. Published since 1983, Linda was awarded the prestigious Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007 by the Romance Writers of America. She was recently inducted into the Wild West Heritage Foundation's Walk of Fame for her dedication to preserving the heritage of the Wild West. When not writing, Linda loves to focus her creativity on a wide variety of art projects. Visit her online at LindaLaelMiller.com and Facebook.com/OfficialLindaLaelMiller. Klappentext A visit with Bavia's royal family was supposed to be the stuff dreams were made of for Annie Trevarren, an American girl abroad. Instead it was turning into a disaster. First Annie impetuously crawled onto a castle roof and had to be rescued by Crown Prince Rafael St. James himself. Then her dearest friend, the prince's sister, Phaedra, balks at an arranged wedding. The peasants rebel. The throne totters. Worst of all, Annie is losing her heart.Alas, Prince Rafael is no knight in shining armor. His former mistress has moved into the castle, and his notorious temper is flaring. But when fate brings Annie and her prince together in a secluded cottage, she can see his stern gaze soften. And his fleeting caresses...is Rafael seducing her? A future with him is highly improbable -- but a life without him is unthinkable. Rafael may intend to offer her a lesson in passion, but she'll teach the arrogant prince a better one: nothing is a greater ruler than love! Leseprobe Chapter One St. James Keep, Bavia, 1895 "What the deuce is she doing up there?" Rafael St. James, prince of Bavia, demanded, bending as far out his chamber window as he could without plunging headfirst into the empty moat. A light and drizzling rain was falling, that gloomy evening in late May, but he could see all too clearly. Annie Trevarren, a lithe, barefooted figure clad in a pair of kidskin breeches and a flowing shirt that might have been pinched from his own wardrobe, was embracing the face of a gargoyle on the crumbling parapet of the south tower. Rafael felt an inward wrench at the sight of her, a tug born of something other than fear for her safety. Beside him, his eighteen-year-old sister, Phaedra, fidgeted and wrung her hands. "Annie wanted a clear view of the lake," she said, as if that were reason enough to risk life and limb. "You mustn't be angry, Rafael, she can't help her adventurous nature -- boldness runs in the Trevarren family, you know.... He cursed Miss Annie Trevarren and her alleged "adventurous nature" as he whirled away from the window and sprinted across the room toward the yawning doors, which stood a little ajar because of Phaedra's abrupt entrance. The princess scurried along behind him, moving as rapidly as her cumbersome skirts would allow and prattling the whole way. Rafael ran down the hall toward the enclosed staircase in the southern-most corner of the keep. "Annie occasionally does impulsive things -- but she invariably regrets them later and makes up for her errors quite nicely, and she is extremely practical in most instances..." Rafael ignored his sister's breathless blatherings in defense of her friend and schoolmate and ran as fast as he could, directing his thoughts to Annie. Hold on, you little fool. Just hold on! His bodyguard and childhood friend, Edmund Barrett, reached the stairs at the same moment as Rafael. It was plain from the consternation in the other man's normally taciturn f...
