Marie Ferrarella - One Plus One Makes Marriage

PRAISE FOR MARIE FERRARELLA—AUTHOR OF SEVENTY-FIVE SILHOUETTE NOVELS! PRAISE FOR MARIE FERRARELLA—AUTHOR OF SEVENTY-FIVE SILHOUETTE NOVELS! “Marie Ferrarella is a charming storyteller who will steal your heart away.” —Romantic Times magazine The Baby Came C.O.D. (SR #1264): “Marie Ferrarella pens another winner.... As usual, Ms. Ferrarella finds just the right balance of love, laughter, charm and passion.” —Romantic Times magazine “This is a hilarious, slapstick read.... It will leave you in stitches while wanting more.” —Rendezvous Do You Take This Child? (SR#1145): “The strong romantic flavor...will win the hearts of romance fans everywhere.” —Romantic Times magazine Father in the Making (SR#1078): “Lively, heartwarming characters make this poignant romance...a read to cherish.” —Romantic Times magazine Wanted: Husband, Will Train (SE#1132): “This is an irresistible, sparkling and sometimes funny story. Absolutely delightful.” —Rendezvous “Taking a classic plot and adding her own humor and passion, Ms. Ferrarella gifts readers with a grand romance.” —Romantic Times magazine Letter to Reader Dear Reader, Silhouette welcomes popular author Judy Christenberry to the Romance line with a touching story that will enchant readers in every age group. In The Nine-Month Bride, a wealthy rancher who wants an heir and a prim librarian who wants a baby marry for convenience, but imminent parenthood makes them rethink their vows.... Next, Moyra Tarling delivers the emotionally riveting BUNDLES OF JOY tale of a mother-to-be who discovers that her child’s father doesn’t remember his own name—let alone the night they’d created their Wedding Day Baby. Karen Rose Smith’s miniseries DO YOU TAKE THIS STRANGER? continues with Love, Honor and a Pregnant Bride, in which a jaded cowboy learns an unexpected lesson in love from an expectant beauty. Part of our MEN! promotion, Cowboy Dad by Robin Nicholas features a deliciously handsome, dutyminded father aiming to win the heart of a woman who’s sworn off cowboys. Award-winning Marie Ferrarella launches her latest miniseries, LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER, with One Plus One Makes Marriage. Though the math sounds easy, the road to “I do” takes some emotional twists and turns for this feisty heroine and the embittered man she loves. And Romance proudly introduces Patricia Seeley, one of Silhouette’s WOMEN TO WATCH. A ransom note—for a cat!—sets the stage where The Millionaire Meets His Match. Hope you enjoy this month’s offerings! Mary-Theresa Hussey Senior Editor, Silhouette Romance Please address questions and book requests to: Silhouette Reader Service U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269 Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3 Title Page One Plus One Makes Marriage Marie Ferrarella www.millsandboon.co.uk Dedication In the memory of Miss Anne J. Nocton, who took a shy, awkward fifth grader and made her see her own potential. Thank you. About the Author MARIE FERRARELLA lives in Southern California. She describes herself as the tired. mother of two overenergetic children and the contented wife of one wonderful man. The RITA Award-winning author is thrilled to be following her dream of writing full-time. Letter to Reader Dear Reader, In One Plus One Makes Marriage, I have the opportunity to share with you a little of one of my passions—old movies. The heroine was raised in the movie business and thus has a clear view of reality while still believing in the magic of life—and love. It’s a lesson she finally manages to pass on to the hero, but not easily. Therein, hopefully, lies the entertainment. This book is rather special to me. It marks my seventy-fifth book with Silhouette. I remember the exact moment I sold my very first book to Silhouette. I was in the shower. My agent called to tell me the good news, and it was like getting a reprieve from heaven. I was seven months’ pregnant with our second child, and my husband had been laid off for thirteen months from a very depressed aerospace industry. The wolf was not at our door yet, but he was circling the area. Thanks to Silhouette and you, he never arrived. I’ve been writing for Silhouette for fifteen years now, and I still feel as if I’m in the honeymoon stage of a wonderful marriage. So far, I’ve had seventy-five “children”—how’s that for a world record?—and a world full of neighbors to come and enjoy them with me. All my love, Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Copyright

PRAISE FOR MARIE FERRARELLA—AUTHOR OF SEVENTY-FIVE SILHOUETTE NOVELS!

“Marie Ferrarella is a charming storyteller who will steal your heart away.”

—Romantic Times magazine

The Baby Came C.O.D. (SR #1264):

“Marie Ferrarella pens another winner.... As usual, Ms. Ferrarella finds just the right balance of love, laughter, charm and passion.”

—Romantic Times magazine

“This is a hilarious, slapstick read.... It will leave you in stitches while wanting more.”

—Rendezvous

Do You Take This Child? (SR#1145): “The strong romantic flavor...will win the hearts of romance fans everywhere.”

—Romantic Times magazine

Father in the Making (SR#1078): “Lively, heartwarming characters make this poignant romance...a read to cherish.”

—Romantic Times magazine

Wanted: Husband, Will Train (SE#1132): “This is an irresistible, sparkling and sometimes funny story. Absolutely delightful.”

—Rendezvous

“Taking a classic plot and adding her own humor and passion, Ms. Ferrarella gifts readers with a grand romance.”

—Romantic Times magazine

Dear Reader,

Silhouette welcomes popular author Judy Christenberry to the Romance line with a touching story that will enchant readers in every age group. In The Nine-Month Bride, a wealthy rancher who wants an heir and a prim librarian who wants a baby marry for convenience, but imminent parenthood makes them rethink their vows....

Next, Moyra Tarling delivers the emotionally riveting BUNDLES OF JOY tale of a mother-to-be who discovers that her child’s father doesn’t remember his own name—let alone the night they’d created their Wedding Day Baby. Karen Rose Smith’s miniseries DO YOU TAKE THIS STRANGER? continues with Love, Honor and a Pregnant Bride, in which a jaded cowboy learns an unexpected lesson in love from an expectant beauty.

Part of our MEN! promotion, Cowboy Dad by

Robin Nicholas features a deliciously handsome, dutyminded father aiming to win the heart of a woman who’s sworn off cowboys. Award-winning Marie Ferrarella launches her latest miniseries, LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER, with One Plus One Makes Marriage. Though the math sounds easy, the road to “I do” takes some emotional twists and turns for this feisty heroine and the embittered man she loves. And Romance proudly introduces Patricia Seeley, one of Silhouette’s WOMEN TO WATCH. A ransom note—for a cat!—sets the stage where The Millionaire Meets His Match.

Hope you enjoy this month’s offerings!

Mary-Theresa Hussey

Senior Editor, Silhouette Romance

Please address questions and book requests to:

Silhouette Reader Service

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

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

www.millsandboon.co.uk

In the memory of Miss Anne J. Nocton,

who took a shy, awkward fifth grader and made her see

her own potential.

Thank you.

MARIE FERRARELLA lives in Southern California. She describes herself as the tired. mother of two overenergetic children and the contented wife of one wonderful man. The RITA Award-winning author is thrilled to be following her dream of writing full-time.

Dear Reader,

In One Plus One Makes Marriage, I have the opportunity to share with you a little of one of my passions—old movies. The heroine was raised in the movie business and thus has a clear view of reality while still believing in the magic of life—and love. It’s a lesson she finally manages to pass on to the hero, but not easily. Therein, hopefully, lies the entertainment.

This book is rather special to me. It marks my seventy-fifth book with Silhouette. I remember the exact moment I sold my very first book to Silhouette. I was in the shower. My agent called to tell me the good news, and it was like getting a reprieve from heaven. I was seven months’ pregnant with our second child, and my husband had been laid off for thirteen months from a very depressed aerospace industry. The wolf was not at our door yet, but he was circling the area. Thanks to Silhouette and you, he never arrived. I’ve been writing for Silhouette for fifteen years now, and I still feel as if I’m in the honeymoon stage of a wonderful marriage. So far, I’ve had seventy-five “children”—how’s that for a world record?—and a world full of neighbors to come and enjoy them with me.

All my love,

Chapter One

“I’ve never seen such a wonderful collection of photographs. And all autographed, too.”

Staring at the uniquely decorated wall for a moment, the small, matronly woman’s gray eyes became as round as a child’s, lighting up her face and adding color to the almost-translucent, sagging skin. Wrinkles and stiffness, the outward heavy signs of her advancing age, magically faded. Like twin beacons breaking through a thick fog, her eyes scanned the back wall of the shop again, picking out familiar, well-loved faces of movie stars, many long gone except for the miracle of celluloid. She sighed in what sounded to Melanie like ecstasy.

The reaction pleased Melanie. Melanie McCloud had hammered in every single nail herself that supported the 126 photographs, painstakingly recreating Aunt Elaine’s old parlor.

Her shop, Dreams of Yesterday, now had the atmosphere of a cozy room, where someone could seek refuge from a frantic world for an afternoon—the way she had so often in Aunt Elaine’s parlor, she remembered fondly. It was there that the photographs had originally hung. Most of them were personalized with a salutation from a movie star, and some had short notes, all directed to her late aunt.

Melanie smiled to herself as she silently watched the woman next to her. The woman’s excitement grew in direct proportion to her recognition of the various celebrities. It was her first time in the shop, and she didn’t know where to look first, afraid of missing something in her scattered, shotgunlike approach to viewing the photographs.

“Oh, look, there’s Rita Hayworth.” She sighed again, beaming. Without being fully conscious of it, she patted her own strawberry-tinted hair as she commented, “Such a beauty.” Turning her head a fraction of an inch, the woman spied another star. “And Tyrone Power. My mother was just crazy about him. Oh, and Errol Flynn.” Standing on her toes, she looked closer at the inscription, then blushed over the risqué message written in a bold hand across the actor’s bare chest.

Melanie bit her tongue to keep from laughing. That particular photograph, one of her aunt’s treasures, was not for sale, but she knew her aunt would have gotten a kick out of having people see it. As a matter of fact, she would have insisted they see it. She was proud of the. fact that the handsome actor had come on to her in print.