The Reluctant Suitor CD by Kathleen E Woodiwiss

The Reluctant Suitor CD by Kathleen E Woodiwiss

For as long as she can remember, Lady Adriana Sutton has adored Colton Wyndham, to whom she has been promised by an agreement of courtship and betrothal since childhood. As a young girl, she was wounded by Colton's stubborn refusal to comply with his father's wishes and by his angry departure. He was too proud and too stubborn to accept a future not of his own choosing. Rather than submit, he fled from his ancestral home for a life of adventure and danger as an officer in the British army.

The years have been immensely kind to Lady Adriana. No longer the plain, thin tomboy Colton had spurned, she has blossomed into an uncommon beauty desired by nearly every eligible bachelor in the land. Yet the only man she desires is the decorated hero who has finally come home to claim his rightful title. Arrogant, unmoved, and seductive as ever, he remains averse to the idea of their betrothal in spite of his growing desire for her.

To demonstrate his belief that love cannot be forced, Colton agrees to court Lady Adriana for ninety days, after which time he will be allowed to keep his precious freedom if he so wishes. But much has changed since he balked at his father's plans. Forced into a courtship with this stunning, spirited woman, who is as different today from the young chit he left behind as spring is to winter, the heroic heart that was once closed to Adriana is moved by her charm, her grace, and her sensuality ... and begins to yield. But a secret from Colton's past may doom their burgeoning love ... even as the treacherous schemes of a sinister rival threaten to steal the remarkable lady from his arms forever.

A lush and spellbinding story of passion and betrayal that grandly sweeps the reader into the magnificent ballrooms and intimate boudoirs of Regency England, The Reluctant Suitor is romance as only the incomparable Kathleen Woodiwiss can deliver it -- a love story that will dwell in the reader's heart and memory forever and stand proudly as one of the author's very best.

Kathleen E. (1939-2007) was a woman who lived from 1939 to 2007. Woodiwiss, the father of the contemporary historical romance, died in Minnesota on July 6, 2007. She was 68 years old at the time. William Messerlie, her attorney, claimed she died after a protracted illness. Mrs. Smith was born on June 3, 1939, in Alexandria, Louisiana.

Woodiwiss was the youngest of a family of eight children. She'd always enjoyed making up stories, and by the age of six, she started telling herself stories to fall asleep. She first encountered a U.S. soldier when she was 16 years old. At a dance, she met Air Force Second Lieutenant Ross Woodiwiss, and the two married the following year.

When stationed at a military outpost in Japan, she began writing her first book in longhand. Woodiwiss is credited with inventing the modern historical romance book when she published The Flame and the Flower in 1972, which became an instant New York Times bestseller and set a literary precedent. The Flame and the Flower, an epic historical romance with a strong heroine and passionate sex scenes, changed conventional publishing. E. Kathleeen Kathleeen E. Kathleeen E. Kath

According to Carrie Feron, vice president/editorial director of HarperCollins Publishers' William Morrow and Avon Books labels, Woodiwiss is the founding mother of the historical romance genre. Avon Books is thrilled to have been Kathleen's exclusive publishing partner for her paperbacks and hardcover novels for more than three decades, says Feron, who has been Woodiwiss's editor for 13 years. Mrs. Avon Books, which has remained a pioneer in the historical romance category to this day, is still Mrs. Mrs. Woodiwiss's first and only paperback publisher; Mrs. Woodiwiss's first and only paperback publisher; William Morrow, Avon's sister business, publishes Mrs.

Hardcovers by Woodiwiss. Agents and hardback publishers turned down The Flame and the Flower because it was too long at 600 pages. Rather than heeding the rejection letters' suggestions and rewriting the manuscript, Mrs. Instead, Woodiwiss sent it to paperback publishers.

The manuscript was soon purchased by Avon, the first publisher on her list, and an initial print run of 500,000 copies was planned. The novel's success sparked a new form of writing romance, focusing mostly on historical fiction and tracing the monogamous connection between a vulnerable heroine and the hero who rescued her, even if he had been the one who put her in peril. Longer stories, more contentious events and characters, and more intimate and hot sex scenes characterized the romance books that followed her lead. Feron observes that her statements elicited a great deal of emotion from the audience.

Woodiwiss helped women want to read, says best-selling novelist Julia Quinn. She provided them with a viable alternative to Westerns and hard-boiled cop dramas. I grew up seeing my mother and grandmother read and enjoy romances, and when I was old enough to read them myself, I felt like I'd been accepted into a particular sisterhood of readers. We all owe our careers to her, says New York Times bestselling author Susan Elizabeth Phillips, a pioneering voice in women's fiction.

As readers, she introduced us to the realm of romance. She paved the way for us to pursue a career. Over the period of 35 years, the pioneering novelist has published 13 novels, all of which have been New York Times bestsellers. Kathleen E. (Kathleen E.) is

The impending Everlasing, Woodiwiss' final literary work, will be published by William Morrow in October 2007. Kathleen's ultimate gift to her admirers is Everlasting, according to Feron. Kathleen E. (Kathleen E.) is Woodiwiss is survived by her sons Sean and Heath, as well as numerous grandchildren. She was predeceased by her husband and son Dorren.