A Royal Vow Of Convenience. Sharon Kendrick

      

      His princess under the covers...

      The whirr of helicopter blades announcing the return of her new boss sends Sophie scurrying back to the kitchen. Little does she know that fleeing from royal scrutiny will place her under the devastatingly searing gaze of notorious billionaire Rafe Carter.

      Having resisted his cook for days, a secret midnight swim sends Rafe’s senses into overdrive and he can’t resist a taste of the forbidden. But the press descend when Sophie’s identity is shockingly revealed, and Rafe is duty-bound to rescue the beautiful princess...with a convenient vow.

      ‘Oh, don’t worry,’ Rafe said, with a disdainful curl of his lips. ‘I haven’t come here for sex.’

      ‘Oh? Then why have you come here?’

      Sophie tilted her chin in a defiant gesture and suddenly Rafe wondered how he could have been so dense. Of course she was someone—hadn’t that been apparent from the start? A diamond in the rough—that had been his initial reaction on seeing her, and he had been right. And when he stopped to think about it, her high-born status had been apparent in every gesture she made. It had been there in the way she moved and the way she walked. In her flawless skin and heart-shaped face and in the thick, lustrous bounce of her hair. She was a princess. Of course she was. A runaway virgin princess who had chosen him as her first lover.

      ‘I’m still trying to get my head around what happened last night,’ he said. ‘And wondering if there’s anything else you’ve omitted to tell me.’

      ‘Like what?’ she questioned nonchalantly.

      ‘Oh, sweetheart,’ he said softly. ‘Why do women find it impossible to give a straight answer? I’m talking about the fact that you’re a princess—and that the world’s press know you’re here.’

      ‘No...’ she whispered, her fingers moving from her neck to her lips.

      ‘Yes. So you’re going to have to come to England with me.’

      Dear Reader,

      Every book is special. The characters become totally real to me and by the time I write ‘THE END’ I hate to leave them. But this book is extra-special because it’s my 100th, and although I wanted to mark that in some way I didn’t know how until—a friend said, ‘Why don’t you go back to where it all started?’

      Go back? What a tantalising thought. Go back to Australia, which was the setting for my very first book, about a nurse who fell in love with a doctor.

      This story is very different. My heroine is a runaway princess, seeking to escape her gilded world—a world in which she has been humiliated. She’s chasing anonymity and peace and she finds both on a cattle station in Queensland. Until sexy billionaire Rafe Carter arrives unexpectedly and suddenly everything is threatened.

      The story moves to snowy England, to the high-octane glamour of a New York Christmas, and then to Sophie’s sumptuous Mediterranean island home. There’s glitz, grit and heartache, and I hope you like it as much as I do.

      There are so many people I should thank for the help they’ve given me along the way. People who have carefully explained what their jobs entail. Others who’ve helped me come up with clever first lines or brilliant ideas. Who have patiently listened while I lose myself in the world of my imagination. You know who you are.

      But most of all I need to thank you, the reader. Because without you I wouldn’t be writing.

      This one’s for you.

      Sharon x

      A Royal Vow of Convenience

      Sharon Kendrick

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

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      ‘Sharon Kendrick is such a talented author and a good friend. Her books are all-consuming, and I race through the pages from start to finish every time I pick one up.’

      —LYNNE GRAHAM

      SHARON KENDRICK once won a national writing competition by describing her ideal date: being flown to an exotic island by a gorgeous and powerful man. Little did she realise that she’d just wandered into her dream job! Today she writes for Mills & Boon, featuring often stubborn but always to die for heroes and the women who bring them to their knees. She believes that the best books are those you never want to end. Just like life...

      Books by Sharon Kendrick

      Mills & Boon Modern Romance

      The Ruthless Greek’s Return

      Christmas in Da Conti’s Bed

      The Greek’s Marriage Bargain

      A Scandal, a Secret, a Baby

      The Sheikh’s Undoing

      Monarch of the Sands

      Too Proud to Be Bought

      The Billionaire’s Legacy

      Di Sione’s Virgin Mistress

      The Bond of Billionaires

      Claimed for Makarov’s Baby

      The Sheikh’s Christmas Conquest

      One Night With Consequences

      Crowned for the Prince’s Heir

      Carrying the Greek’s Heir

      Wedlocked!

      The Billionaire’s Defiant Acquisition

      Visit the Author Profile page at millsandboon.co.uk for more titles.

      This book is dedicated to my two greatest achievements—Celia Campbell & Patrick Kendrick, who are talented, hard-working and funny. I’m very proud to be your mum.

      Contents

       Cover

       Back Cover Text

       Introduction

       Dear Reader

       Title Page

       Praise