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Sam slid an arm around Riley’s waist as he chimed in. “To you two: for showing me that I might not want to marry this one and her whale cake after all—”
Jake lifted his glass to interrupt. “And to all of you, for being the best wedding party, with the absolute worst toast.”
Laughing, they all raised their glasses, but it was Mitchell, in his quiet, get-to-the-heart-of-the-matter way, who perhaps said it best:
“To Stiletto—for showing three different couples they were made for each other.”
Riley’s eyes landed on Emma and Alex and the way they weren’t looking at each other. She’d bet her favorite Manolo Blahnik boots that there was a fourth story there.
Then Sam’s hand found hers and squeezed, and she forgot all about everyone but him. He was hers.
And he’d been worth waiting for.
Acknowledgments
It seems like it was just yesterday that the Sex, Love & Stiletto series was little more than a hankering to write a New York–based series about women who wrote about men. Almost two years later, Stiletto isn’t just an idea. It’s a living, breathing series, complete with three stories, an online magazine, and a fan base that I am grateful for every day.
LAUREN LAYNE graduated from Santa Clara University with a B.S. in political science that she has yet to put to good use. After a few years in Manhattan, Lauren is now a recovering city girl, adjusting to a slower pace in the Pacific Northwest. She lives with her husband and their badly behaved dog, both of whom get neglected for days at a time when she’s drafting a new book. Lauren will, however, happily break for wine.
The Editor’s Corner
Welcome to Loveswept!
March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, and so do our Loveswept romances, enticing stories ready to seduce you all month long. Take a look at this list!
Just One Night finishes up Lauren Layne’s Sex, Love & Stiletto series featuring Sam Compton, the hero we’ve all been waiting for. New York’s hottest “sexpert,” Riley McKenna, has been living a lie, and it’s up to one man to keep her honest … all night long. Dream It introduces a new hot series by Jennifer Chance with the tale of a smoldering rocker and the fangirl who catches his eye. And Third Degree, Julie Cross’s new Flirt release, is one you don’t want to miss in the new adult coming-of-age scene. Marshall Collins gives Izzy Jenkins all the normalcy she’s looking for while Izzy teaches Marshall a thing or two of her own.
Classic Loveswept romances are back, too, and this month Sandra Chastain’s Adam’s Outlaw and The Runaway Bride top the list, followed by Fran Baker’s San Antonio Rose. And don’t miss Linda Cajio’s delightful Night Music, coming on the heels of Karen Leabo’s suspenseful and spirited Witchy Woman. Deborah Harmse’s charming and warmly passionate romance, A Man to Believe in, will touch your heart, and New York Times bestselling author Iris Johansen’s rerelease of Satin Ice continues with the Delaney family saga.
Last but not least, always a favorite of ours, New York Times bestselling author Connie Brockway sweeps us back to Victorian England with her enchanting stories Bridal Favors and Bridal Season.
Let Loveswept warm you on those cold winter nights.
Happy Romance!
Gina Wachtel
Associate Publisher
Read on for an excerpt from Tina Wainscott’s Wild on You
The last time Rick Yarbrough got into this limo was right after the Navy court hearing that had made him and four members of his team officially ex-SEAL. The man who provided that limo, Chase Justiss, had offered all five of them an intriguing job opportunity. Six and a half weeks later, Risk was an operational member of the Justiss Alliance. They were unofficially called J-Men, because two of Chase’s operatives had a thing for some cult-classic movie called J-Men Forever.
Risk, Saxby, and Knox had undergone a week of orientation and training at Chase’s Miami estate, nothing compared to the grueling thirty months of becoming a SEAL. Then again, they already possessed most of the requisite skills.
Chase leaned forward from the limo’s plush interior and shook his hand. “Welcome to your first mission, Risk.”
His new boss even remembered his nickname.
Chase was tall and lean, civilian, with a whiff of former military to his bearing. Government, he’d said, but was otherwise obtuse about his background. Or his reason for starting an agency that masqueraded as a private security firm.
Risk released his grip. “You haven’t told me what it is yet.” Which was odd, now that he thought about it. Though he was used to being given only bits and pieces of an upcoming mission, that was the military, after all.
“I didn’t want to scare you off.”
Risk rubbed his hands together. Oh, buddy, this was going to be good. “Fill me in.”
What had sold Risk on joining was the Justiss Alliance’s real purpose: obtaining justice for those who couldn’t get it through normal channels. The government and law enforcement agencies had their limitations, after all.
