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       THE COLTONS: COMANCHE BLOOD

      Discover a proud, passionate clan of men and women who will risk everything for love, family and honor.

      Jesse Colton:

      As a special government agent, danger comes with the job. But protecting breathtaking Samantha Cosgrove—and his heart—could prove to be his toughest assignment ever.

      Samantha Cosgrove:

      The sweet, idealistic campaign staffer has stumbled upon a troubling secret. Only Jesse Colton can help her discover the truth—and unlock the passions hidden inside her.

      Gloria Whitebear:

      Will the secret past of the Oklahoma Coltons’ matriarch come back to haunt her grandchildren?

      Sky Colton:

      Jesse’s hardworking younger sister is fast becoming famous for her Native American jewelry. But life has a very different design in store for this independent woman.

      Dear Reader,

      Summer is over and it’s time to kick back into high gear. Just be sure to treat yourself with a luxuriant read or two (or, hey, all six) from Silhouette Romance. Remember—work hard, play harder!

      Although October is officially Breast Cancer Awareness month, we’d like to invite you to start thinking about it now. In a wonderful, uplifting story, a rancher reluctantly agrees to model for a charity calendar to earn money for cancer research. At the back of that book, we’ve also included a guide for self-exams. Don’t miss Cara Colter’s must-read 9 Out of 10 Women Can’t Be Wrong (#1615).

      Indulge yourself with megapopular author Karen Rose Smith and her CROWN AND GLORY series installment, Searching for Her Prince (#1612). A missing heir puts love on the line when he hides his identity from the woman assigned to track him down. The royal, brooding hero in Sandra Paul’s stormy Caught by Surprise (#1614), the latest in the A TALE OF THE SEA adventure, also has secrets—and intends to make his beautiful captor pay…by making her his wife!

      Jesse Colton is a special agent forced to play pretend boyfriend to uncover dangerous truths in the fourth of THE COLTONS: COMANCHE BLOOD spinoff, The Raven’s Assignment (#1613), by bestselling author Kasey Michaels. And in Cathie Linz’s MEN OF HONOR title, Married to a Marine (#1616), combat-hardened Justice Wilder had shut himself away from the world—until his ex-wife’s younger sister comes knocking…. Finally, in Laurey Bright’s tender and true Life with Riley (#1617), free-spirited Riley Morrisset may not be the perfect society wife, but she’s exactly what her stiff-collared boss needs!

      Happy reading—and please keep in touch.

      Mary-Theresa Hussey

       Senior Editor

      The Raven’s Assignment

      Kasey Michaels

      To Julie Barrett, who has the patience of a saint.

       KASEY MICHAELS

      is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of more than sixty books. She has won the Romance Writers of America RITA^® Award and the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for her historical romances set in the Regency era, and also writes contemporary romances for Silhouette and Harlequin Books.

      Contents

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

       Chapter One

       P OTUS is on the move.

      “Copy that.”

      “Copy what, Sean? It’s a little late for activity from the residence, isn’t it?” Jesse Colton asked, looking up from the page he’d been reading as he walked through the West Wing toward the doors and what was left of his evening.

      “Nothing, Jesse,” Sean said, no longer talking into his shirt collar. “POTUS is on the move. It’s nearly midnight, so he’s on the way to the main kitchen, probably. FLOTUS keeps stashing the residence fridge with apples and pears. POTUS wants coconut-cream pie.”

      “I wonder what the American Heart Association would have to say about President’s sweet tooth,” Jesse said, perching on a corner of Sean’s desk just inside the main vestibule. As jobs went, Sean’s was pretty cushy—but guarding the West Wing was also pretty boring. “And the loyal opposition would probably start demanding monthly cholesterol checks.”

      “Yes, but with us all sworn to fall on our swords rather than play tattletale, I guess POTUS is safe, both from the AHA and FLOTUS.”

      Jesse looked at the small, boxy screen on Sean’s desk, a constantly updated listing showing the location of the first family. Sure enough, POTUS, better known as President Jackson Coates, now showed in the main kitchen, with FLOTUS still in the second-floor residence, probably sound asleep. “POTUS. President of the United States. FLOTUS, first lady of the etcetera, etcetera. The acronyms ought to sound more presidential, don’t you think?”

      “I’ll mention it at tomorrow’s meeting of the Proper Presidential Acronym Committee—that would be P-PAC, of course,” Sean said, shaking his head. Sean was the perfect Secret Service agent; his hair was neatly clipped, his suit neatly pressed, and his smile neatly neutral. “What do you have there, Jesse?”

      Jesse looked down at the now-closed manila folder. “This? Personal stuff. Don’t worry, I’m not planning to remove state secrets on your watch, and sell them to the tabloids. I mean, how much could they pay for a headline like POTUS Caught in Coconut-Cream Orgy.”

      “That’s a relief. So, what do you have there?”

      Jesse grinned. “That’s it, Sean, trust nobody.”

      “No, seriously. You were frowning. Frowning over personal stuff is never a good thing.”

      Jesse opened the folder and looked at the single sheet inside. “My family seems to have inherited a house in Georgetown.”

      “And this is bad news? Georgetown? Cushy address. Oh, wait a minute. Does it come with fifty years of back taxes they all want you to pay because you’re getting rich here at the White House, feeding from the public trough?”

      “Not quite, no,” Jesse said, knowing that if Sean knew the whole truth, he’d probably fall off his chair. “The place has been rented out for about sixty years now. I’m just trying to figure out a way to explain to the Senate Ethics Committee how I, a lowly public servant, came to be part owner of the Chekagovian embassy.”

      “You’re kidding,” Sean said, grabbing for the folder, which Jesse quickly raised beyond his reach. “Is that legal? I mean, for a member of the president’s staff to own part of a foreign consulate?”

      “I probably own a third of the garage, Sean. There’s a bunch of us who each own a small chunk of the place. The whole Colton tribe, as we call ourselves when we’re being facetious, inherited it. But I’ll admit, it is dicey. I mean, if we have a slow news week, who knows what could happen if this gets out. So I guess I have to tell…somebody.”

      “Chief of staff?”

      Jesse blew out a quick breath. “Might as well start at the top.” He slid the folder back into his briefcase and stood up. “Luckily, he went home at a decent