The Captive Bride. Susan Paul Spencer

      Table of Contents

       Cover Page

       Excerpt

       Dear Reader

       Title Page

       About the Author

       Dedication

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

       Chapter Fifteen

       Chapter Sixteen

       Chapter Seventeen

       Chapter Eighteen

       Chapter Nineteen

       Chapter Twenty

       Chapter Twenty-One

       Chapter Twenty-Two

       Copyright

      “Such a sharp tongue you possess, Katharine. No soft and gentle wife will you be, I vow.”

      “No wife will I be. I will not wed you!”

      “I will give you a choice. You may don the wedding gown I have brought—”Senet nodded at the heap she had thrown to the floor “—or you may be married as you are, in your chemise.”

      

      “You are deaf, dumb, blind and senseless!”she shouted furiously, her hands balling into fists at her sides. “I will not wed you!”

      

      “I give you the span of a minute to make your decision.”

      

      “You, a knight of the realm? You would not parade any woman before her own people so nearly undressed. And certainly not the woman you mean to have as a wife,”she said with disdain.

      

      “Nay, I would not subject you to such a humiliation, but you are the one who will conclude the outcome.”

      Dear Reader,

      

      As the weather heats up this month, so do the passion and adventure in our romances!

      

      Susan Spencer Paul brings us another tale in her fabulous medieval BRIDE SERIES, all loosely related—and very hotl—stories of stolen brides. You may know Susan from her mainstream historical novels written as Mary Spencer. The Captive Bride is the story of Senet Gaillard—Isabelle’s tortured brother from The Bride Thief—who meets the one woman who can mend his broken heart, Lady Katharine Mathus. But first he must storm her castle and “force”her to marry him!

      Lord of Lyonsbridge marks the twelfth book for the talented Ana Seymour. In this unusual medieval novel, a sinfully handsome horse master teaches a spoiled Norman beauty important lessons in compassion and love. And don’t miss Linda Castle’s new Western, Heart of the Lawman, about the power of forgiveness. Here, a single mother, upon release from prison, is drawn to her child’s guardian—the same man who mistakenly imprisoned her…

      Finally, we have a wonderful marriage—of—convenience story set in Oregon, Plum Creek Bride by Lynna Banning. When a German nanny travels to the West to care for a baby girl, she arrives to find a grieving widower—the town doctor—and teaches him how to love again.

      Whatever your tastes in reading, you’ll be sure to find a romantic journey back to the past between the covers of a Harlequin Historicals® novel.

      

      Sincerely,

      

      Tracy Farrell

      Senior Editor

      Please address questions and book requests to:

      Harlequin Reader Service

      U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269

      Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3

      The Captive Bride

      Susan Spencer Paul

      

      

www.millsandboon.co.uk

       SUSAN SPENCER PAUL

      who also writes as Mary Spencer, lives in Monrovia, California, with her husband, Paul, an R.N., and their three daughters, Carolyn, Kelly and Katharine. She is the author of twelve historical novels set in a variety of time periods, and especially loves writing about the medieval and Regency eras.

      Dedicated to my wonderful Liming sisters-in-law, Jeanie, Lori, Nancy and Barbara, with all my