Cinderella's Millionaire. Katherine Garbera

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      July’s menu

       BARONESSA GELATERIA

       in Boston’s North End

      In addition to our regular flavors of gelato, this month we are featuring:

       A pool of sinful melted chocolate

      Dark-haired, dark-eyed Joe Barone was always the gentleman, always in control. But Holly went to his head faster than 90-proof whiskey. When the heat of his desire finally melted away the family breeding, in its place he was all primal male….

       Handmade miniature pastries

      In the bakery Holly made masterpieces out of the tiniest desserts. But her safe little life was turned upside down by one meeting with the worldly, wealthy Joe Barone.

       Red-hots

      As if drawn by fate, Joe and Holly were powerless to resist their attraction. Neither one could cool down the fire burning deep inside, not when the flames had been dormant so long. Now they could be satisfied by nothing less than absolute, total possession.

      Buon appetito!

      Dear Reader,

      Experience passion and power in six brand-new, provocative titles from Silhouette Desire this July!

      Begin with Scenes of Passion (#1519) by New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Brockmann. In this scintillating love story, a pretend marriage turned all too real reveals the torrid emotions and secrets of a former bad-boy millionaire and his prim heiress.

      DYNASTIES: THE BARONES continues in July with Cinderella’s Millionaire (#1520) by Katherine Garbera, in which a pretty pastry cook’s red-hot passion melts the defenses of a brooding Barone hero. In Bed with the Enemy, (#1521) by rising star Kathie DeNosky, is the second LONE STAR COUNTRY CLUB title in Desire. In this installment, a lady agent and her lone-wolf counterpart bump more than heads during an investigation into a gun-smuggling ring.

      What would you do if you were Expecting the Cowboy’s Baby (#1522)? Discover how a plain-Jane bookkeeper deals with this dilemma in this steamy love story, the second Silhouette Desire title by popular Harlequin Historicals author Charlene Sands. Then see how a brokenhearted rancher struggles to forgive the woman who betrayed him, in Cherokee Dad (#1523) by Sheri WhiteFeather. And in The Gentrys: Cal (#1524) by Linda Conrad, a wounded stock-car driver finds healing love in the arms of a sexy, mysterious nurse, and the Gentry siblings at last learn the truth about their parents’ disappearance.

      Beat the summer heat with these six new love stories from Silhouette Desire.

      Enjoy!

      Melissa Jeglinski

      Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire

      Cinderella’s Millionaire

      Katherine Garbera

      To my Italian family, for making me proud of where we came from and challenging me to go in new directions. Especially my uncle, Pat Nappi, for showing me the beauty inside, and my mom, Charlotte Smith, for showing me how to carry on our traditions.

      Acknowledgments:

      Thanks to Eve Gaddy for taking time from her busy schedule to help critique. I’m so glad fate put us in each other’s paths and made us friends!

      KATHERINE GARBERA

      comes from a large Italian family. Being part of the Barones gave her a chance to once again visit with characters who share her background. She lives in the suburbs of Chicago with her husband and their two children. Writing romance is a dream come true for the author who says that happy endings should be a part of everyone’s life.

      

      Meet the Barones of Boston—

       An elite clan caught in a web of danger,

       deceit…and desire!

      Who’s Who in

       CINDERELLA’S MILLIONAIRE

      Joe Barone—He’s the practical, aloof one of the multimillion-dollar Barone clan. A widower for five years, he’s had his heart on ice for so long, he fears it’s forever frozen. Until he meets a woman who dares to melt it…

      Holly Fitzgerald—For this hardworking pastry chef, life is all about responsibilities—to her job, to her father and brothers who need her. Until she meets Joe and finds need replaced by desire…

      Gina Barone Kingman—A PR maven, she knows what people want even before they do. And she can see it clearly in her brother’s eyes….

      Contents

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

      Chapter Nine

      Chapter Ten

      Chapter Eleven

      Chapter Twelve

      Epilogue

      One

      There were times when it didn’t pay to be a part of a big Italian family, Joseph Barone thought as he listened to his sister Gina give him last-minute instructions on how to handle the press today. She was the VP of PR, and in his opinion the one who should be escorting the contest winner—Holly Fitzgerald—around. But Gina and her husband, Flint, a noted spin doctor, thought it would be better if a top executive did the honors. And somehow he—the CFO—was the only one who could get up at five in the morning to handle this latest volley in Baronessa’s PR plan.

      “If anyone brings up the passion fruit gelato debacle, acknowledge that it was a mistake and one that Baronessa won’t make again. Then use the fact sheet I gave you on the new flavor.”

      “Got it,” he said.

      Gina smiled at him. “Thanks for doing this.”

      “As if I had any choice.” Joe had tried arguing but it was hard to win with his mother or sisters. Italian women never fought fair, and in the end, guilt and familial duty had won out.

      “Mom thought you’d be the best one.”

      “Yeah, once you convinced her of it. You owe me, Gina.”

      She ignored his remark and consulted the schedule in her hand. “I’m going to check and see if the contest winner is here yet.”

      Joe watched his sister walk away. Gina was tall compared to other women, but she’d always be his little sister. She had changed in the last few months since her marriage to Flint Kingman. She now wore her curly light brown hair down instead of pinning it up. But then, finding the love of your life could do that to a person. She radiated a glow that only a woman in love had, and he was a little scared to see her so much in love with her new husband.

      He’d changed after he’d met Mary. And then changed again after she’d died. But some things were better left in the past—and Mary was one of them.

      Though it was only a little after seven, he knew his entire day was shot. He resigned himself to working half the night to make sure the forecasts they’d done for this new gelato flavor were correct. Baronessa needed a shot in the arm, and this contest, as harebrained as he’d