Colter sat up and looked at her.
“It’s true. The guy came back and rang her bell one day. I told you she was always flirting with him, and I guess he remembered.”
“I guess he would,” Colter said, shaking his head.
Karen’s expression became serious, and she traced the outline of an old scar on his forehead.
“Will you be sorry to give it up?” she asked.
“What?”
“The mercenary business.”
“Not if I can have you,” he replied. He settled back down, encircling her with his arm. “It was time, anyway. You were right. Sooner or later my luck was bound to run out.”
Karen shuddered. “I’m glad you left before it did.”
They heard footsteps in the hall and listened until they had passed.
“Bellboy?” Karen said.
Colter shrugged. “We didn’t have any luggage. They probably know enough to leave us alone.”
Karen giggled. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”
“Like what?”
“Booked a hotel room to make love. It makes me feel like...”
“A hooker?” he suggested. “Please don’t start that again.”
“No, no. Like I’m having an affair.”
He rolled her under him and pinned her with his weight.
“You are. With me. One that’s going to last for the rest of your life.”
– THE END –
I am Doreen Owens Malek, author of over forty books and lifelong fan of romantic fiction. I live in PA with my husband and college student daughter, a mini dachshund and a sun conyer parrot. I would like to tell you a little about myself.
I came to writing by a circuitous route, starting out as an avid reader of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights and Gone With the Wind and Rebecca, and any other similarly themed books I could find. I first worked as a teacher and then graduated from law school when I desired a more lucrative and independent career. I had always been discouraged from pursuing a writing career by the volatile nature of the business and the relatively poor chance for success. But the realization that I needed a focus for the future encouraged me to do what I had always wanted to do. I sold my fledgling novel to the first editor who read it, and I have been writing ever since. I have written all types of books for all types of people, but my favorite literary pursuit is and always has been romance. Nothing is as rewarding as hearing from my readers, so please use my website to communicate your thoughts and criticisms, as I am always eager to learn from you.
A romance novel rarely disappoints me: in an uncertain world filled with tragedy and sadness, reading about an appealing woman finding a strong man to love her and share her life is the perfect escape. I like to read and write stories in which the main characters overcome obstacles to get together, and then stay together because their mutual devotion cannot be denied no matter what else is happening around them. They always HELP each other and reinforce the quaint but enduring notion that love conquers all—at least in the fictional universe of my imagination. So pull up a chair and take down a book—or pick up a Kindle—and join me in a world where the heroes are tough and headstrong but never boorish and the heroines are feminine and sympathetic but never helpless.
Happy reading! — Doreen Owens Malek
See all of Doreen Owens Malek’s
Kindle eBooks on Amazon.com
RECENT RELEASES BY
DOREEN OWENS MALEK
www.doreenowensmalek.com
Brand new, never before published
Amanda’s Blue Marine
Contemporary Romance
Available for digital download
at Amazon.com, and in print at
www.doreenowensmalek.com
Look for the reissue of the enormously popular,
A Marriage of Convenience (1989)
Contemporary Romance
available for digital download at Amazon.com
Also available for digital
download at Amazon.com,
Marriage in Name Only
Contemporary Romance
(Best seller from 1995)
NEW DIGITAL RELEASES
(APRIL 2012)
The Panther and the Pearl (Historical Romance): In the Ottoman Empire of 1885 the Pasha of Bursa could have anything he wanted…except her.
Montega’s Mistress (Contemporary Romance): The fires of revolution fanned the fire of their love…
Winter Affair (Contemporary Romance): Can the passion of unlikely lovers overcome a tragedy from the past?
An Indecent Marriage (Contemporary Romance): Revenge is a dish best served…HOT
DIGITAL RELEASES
(MARCH 2012)
Men of Intrigue: A Trilogy
750 Pages of Romance Reading Entertainment!
The Harder They Fall (Western Romance): The bigger they come in life, the harder they fall in love
Look for Panther’s Prey
(the sequel to The Panther and the Pearl),
available for digital download in May 2012
Amanda’s Blue Marine (Contemporary Romance): Doreen Owens Malek. The Harder They Fall (Kindle Location 2703). Gypsy Autumn Publications. When Amanda Redfield, an assistant district attorney from a wealthy Philadelphia family, is harassed by a mysterious stalker, she meets Brendan Kelly, the detective assigned to her case. Smart and capable but deeply troubled, Kelly protects Amanda while he works to find her tormentor, but his disturbing presence and rogue behavior disrupt Amanda’s settled life. She is helplessly drawn to the sexy and charming but barely controlled cop. As their passion grows she must choose between her privileged past and an uncertain future with a man who is spiraling out of control. How she draws on her wits and resources to rescue Kelly as surely as he once rescued her makes for a powerful and satisfying love story.
A Marriage of Convenience (Contemporary Romance). Taylor Braddock. His name brought back memories of a man so handsome that a young girl had fallen in love - and made a fool of herself. A man so unique he’d spoiled Sharon Philips for any other love.
But now her father’s will had joined their lives once again. In a final attempt at matchmaking, Dad left half his California horse ranch to Sharon, the other half to Braddock - provided they were husband and wife.
A quick wedding. A quick divorce. A quick sale of the ranch. It seemed simple. but time had only fueled their passion. Could Taylor erase then years of pain and show Sharon that loving him was her destiny?
Marriage in Name Only (Contemporary Romance): Years ago Ann Talbot had been forced to leave Heath Bodine without a goodbye. Now she was back, and though Heath still had the power to make her insides quiver with longing, he had changed. Yes, he was proposing marriage. But not out of love—out of revenge. And Ann knew she had no choice but to say yes.
Heath intended to make Ann pay for running out on him. But no matter how much he tried to deny it, living under the same roof and sharing the same bed with her was going to prove his undoing. Because he didn’t just want her body, he wanted her heart as well...
The Panther and the Pearl
The American Beauty: When an innocent excursion to Constantinople took an unexpected twist, Sarah Woolcott found herself a prisoner in the harem of young and virile Kalid Shah. Headstrong and courageous, Sarah was determined to resist the handsome foreigner whose arrogance outraged her—even as his tantalizing touch promised exotic nights of fiery sensuality.
The Turkish Prince: Never had he encountered a woman who inflamed his desire like the blonde Westerner with the independent spirit. Although she spurned his passionate overtures, Kalid vowed to tempt her with his masterful skills until she became a willing companion on their journey of exquisite ecstasy!
Montega’s Mistress (1986) tells the story of a Central American revolutionary who discovers love with a sheltered American heiress when, badly injured, he stumbles into her family’s isolated resort home in Florida. Matteo Montega relies on Helen Demarest for his very survi
val as she nurses him back to health, but then must leave her to pursue overthrowing the corrupt government in his native country. How their lives reconnect and take them to the jungles of fictional Puerta Linda to share an unlikely but compelling passion is a timeless tale of devotion with an unexpected and delightful conclusion. Matteo and Helen are an irresistibly appealing couple, and you’ll root for them to overcome the odds and get together in the end. BTW, love the title.
Winter Affair (Contemporary Romance): A twilit hush had settled over the cemetery, and the sighing of the wind in the trees and the hiss of falling snow combined to enclose two strangers in a still world.
Leda Bradshaw was visiting the grave of her beloved father. Kyle Reardon was paying his last respects to a man everyone believed he had wronged.
Leda knew Reardon was accused of destroying both her father’s business and his life. She knew the townspeople scorned him as an outcast. She knew he was the one man she should avoid at all costs. But one glimpse of the pain and determination in his bleak gray eyes told her he was also the one man she could never turn away from.
An Indecent Marriage (Contemporary Romance): The town of Bright River held too many sad memories for Jessica Portman. She’d returned for one reason—to oversee the takeover of her ailing father’s mill by a rival company. She intended to finalize the deal and return to Italy.
Then she met the owner of J.C. Enterprises, Jack Chabrol—the boy she’d left behind. Only Jack was no longer a boy; he was a man—a man bent on revenge. He had never forgiven Jessica for leaving him to marry someone else, nor had he forgotten the love they’d once shared. Jack was determined to possess Jessica, and she had only one defense against his anger: her love.
MEN OF INTRIGUE: A Trilogy
Montega’s Mistress (1986) tells the story of a Central American revolutionary who discovers love with a sheltered American heiress when, badly injured, he stumbles into her family’s isolated resort home in Florida. Matteo Montega relies on Helen Demarest for his very survival as she nurses him back to health, but then must leave her to pursue overthrowing the corrupt government in his native country. How their lives reconnect and take them to the jungles of fictional Puerta Linda to share an unlikely but compelling passion is a timeless tale of devotion with an unexpected and delightful conclusion. Matteo and Helen are an irresistibly appealing couple, and you’ll root for them to overcome the odds and get together in the end. BTW, love the title.
Danger Zone (1987) has a tough, cavalier loner for a hero in Steve Colter, and the fun in this story is watching Karen Walsh worm her way gradually into his mercenary’s heart and break down his defenses. He tries hard to resist her and maintain his independent existence but the reader can tell from word one that he will eventually surrender. The story takes them around the globe but never far from each other’s thoughts, and when at the conclusion Colter transforms his life to keep Karen with him it is gratifying and fulfilling but not a surprise. The story also features a wise and witty best friend for Karen in Linda Folsom, a savvy Brit with a wicked sense of humor who keeps the saga humming along on the rare occasions when Colter is offstage. All in all it’s a fast moving and absorbing tale.
Devil’s Deception (1985) has a mafia princess for a heroine and an FBI Bureau Chief for a hero, so the story gives new meaning to the notion of “opposites attract.” Brett Devlin is a fed planted in the home of Angela Patria in the guise of her bodyguard to get the goods on her drug smuggling uncle. When Devlin finds himself instantly attracted to the lonely, withdrawn beauty who is Patria’s innocent niece, his life becomes complicated very quickly. It is Devlin’s job to be with Angela at all times since he is supposed to be protecting her, and this task makes it impossible for him to conceal his growing feelings for the woman he is deceiving on a daily basis. How this dilemma is resolved and the embattled couple wind up together makes for a satisfying read, and watching straight arrow Devlin unbend enough to fall for the gangster’s ward is touching as well as amusing.
The Harder They Fall: Helene Danforth had loved her late fiancé, though he’d never stirred the passion she knew was in her. So when she found herself alone, unmarried and pregnant with his unborn child, she realized she had to do something to make things right. She never expected that Martin’s brother Chris, a Wyoming rancher and rodeo champion, would offer her marriage; she never dreamed she’d be hungering for Chris’ long, lean body...
Chris Murdock swore to give his bother’s child a secure life, but he wasn’t about to let the “innocent” Miss Danforth lure him into her gold digging trap. But Chris soon discovered that he had no defenses against his own fiery longings…
Panther’s Prey
Turkish Delight: He rode from out of the Turkish wilderness atop a magnificent charger. Dark and mysterious, Malik Bey swept Boston-bred Ameba Ryder into an exotic world of sultans and revolutionaries, magnificent palaces and desert camps. Amy wanted to hate her virile abductor, to escape his heated glances forever. But with his suave manners and seductive charm, the hard-bodied rebel was no mere thief out to steal the proper young beauty’s virtue. And as hot days melted into sultry nights, Amy grew ever closer to surrendering to unending bliss in Malik’s fiery embrace.
OTHER HISTORICAL ROMANCES
BY DOREEN OWENS MALEK
The Highwayman
A tempestuous story of love and betrayal in Elizabethan Ireland
The Lion and the Lark
A Roman officer and his Celtic captive transcend the barriers of war to find an undying passion
The Raven and the Rose
A Roman centurion and a Vestal Virgin forge a forbidden liaison, while a noblewoman falls in love with her Celtic slave
Torchlight
A mine owner’s daughter in post Civil War Pennsylvania
is irresistibly drawn to the union organizer working to destroy her father’s company
The Highwayman
The Noblewoman and the Irish Patriot: It was a bold and perilous plan—disguising herself as a boy and stealing aboard a ship bound for the far-off shores of Ireland. But from the moment orphaned Lady Alexandra Cummings arrived at besieged Inverary Castle, her life and heart were no longer her own. Captured by rugged Irish rebel Kevin Burke, the daring English noblewoman became a pawn in a dangerous game of treachery and betrayal.
For she lost her heart to the one man she dared not trust, and her passion could not be swayed by reason. But cruel fate tragically plunged Kevin into exile and Alexandra into a loveless marriage. Enemies and lovers, their forbidden desires swept them across a divided realm. A man and a woman bound together pledged their lives toward liberty and love.
The Lion and the Lark
The Year is 44 B.C. Julius Caesar is dead. And as rebellion divides Italy and Britain, a Roman centurion and a Celtic princess forge a bond no woman or man can rend asunder…
To ensure peace between her tribe and their savage conquerors, the exquisite Bronwen has been promised in wedlock to a high-born Roman tribune. But the British beauty is also a secret spy ready to risk her life to free her people.
Dispatched to Britain by Mark Antony, Claudius is irresistibly drawn to the flaxen-haired, cobalt-eyed Bronwen. Yet he knows he dare not trust the woman who is bound to him by law––not love.
The Raven and the Rose
Set against the tempestuous backdrop of Ancient Rome in the final days of Caesar...comes the stunning love story of a man and a woman who defy destiny to follow their hearts—only to be swept up in a forbidden and all-consuming passion.
She is Julia Casca, a young noblewoman pledged against her will to the sacred order of Vestal Virgins...dedicated to a life of eternal chastity. He is Marcus Demeter, the powerful centurion and war hero sworn to protect Julius Caesar...betrayed by his own desperate desires.
As a land seething with intrigue and treachery erupts in murder—turning honorable allies into deadly enemies—Julia and Marcus become lovers in an explosive liaison that rocks Rome and could destroy them both..
.
Torchlight
Forbidden Desire: One look into the fires of Sean Jameson’s rebel eyes and Elizabeth Langdon knew she would forsake everything for the shattering pleasures of his forbidden embrace. Sean was bent on the destruction of all her family stood for, but Elizabeth vowed her love would triumph over the society that tore them apart.
Sean tried to keep away from the woman who represented all he could never have–but one illicit moment with Elizabeth, and his hunger for her rivaled his commitment to the rebellion he led. How could he resist the daughter of his sworn enemy, when her heart spoke the language of his soul?
COMING SOON FROM
DOREEN OWENS MALEK
Another Marriage of Convenience (Contemporary Romance): The sequel to the enormously popular A Marriage of Convenience. Visit the next generation of Braddocks as they find heartbreak and romance on the ranch in present day California. Watch Tay and Sharon survive a rocky patch in their enduring marriage to prove once again that love conquers all.
Clash by Night (World War II Romance): United by love, divided by war. As the German war machine claims Europe, tanks roll into the peaceful French village of Fains les Sources, and the brave French Resistance fighters wage their desperate struggle for freedom. But for three proud, passionate women, the same fierce conflict that rages throughout France burns in their own hearts ... and will forever change their lives.
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