Dangerous Secrets

A chance meeting and mistaken identity throw gorgeous Hollywood superstar Conor Fitzpatrick and pretty Kiera Donovan together in an unlikely romance fraught with tragic secrets that could endanger a young girl's life. When an arranged marriage seems like the only way to save Conor's daughter from a ruthless murderer, Kiera must risk destroying their growing love to return to Ireland and confront a terror from her past.

Love and lives hang in the balance as they travel from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and then to the treacherous cliffs of Kilkee, Ireland, for a dramatic showdown with a crazed madman.

~~~~~ Excerpt ~~~~~

The ringing telephone jolted her, and sent her panicked heart into overdrive. Had something terrible happened to Lissa? Quickly she grabbed the receiver. “Hello?”

“Kiera?” Conor’s rich lilting voice filled her small bedroom. “Good, it is you. I was hoping I’d dialed the right number.”

“Conor.” Momentary relief weakened her knees, and she sank down onto her mattress. Then her hands began to tremble—from delayed reaction, she assured herself. Just because she’d been worried about Lissa. Never, ever because she was thrilled to hear his deep, lyrical voice. “How did you find me?”

His laugh was warm and full of boyish delight. “Directory assistance, of course. Did you think I’d followed you from the park?”

“No, of course not.” Why, after all, would an important man like Conor Fitzpatrick bother tracking her movements?

Because her quick refusal this afternoon had intrigued him, she realized with a quick mental groan. She’d have done better to fawn on him until he got bored, and lost interest in her.

Oh, she never should have let the phone company list her number when she’d changed it again last October! But she’d been so sure no one would suspect innocuous K. Donovan of having even the slightest connection with a far-distant Irishwoman named Peggy Delaney.

Careless, careless, careless! Five cautious years of successful anonymity had dulled her sense of self-preservation!

Conor’s lilting voice scattered her chaotic thoughts. “I thought maybe we could get together for dinner tonight, since you won’t have time for lunch tomorrow afternoon.”

“Why?” Kiera struggled to keep panic from ringing through her voice. “I’m not an actress or anyone famous. Why bother with me?”

There was a moment of silence, so brief she wondered if she’d imagined it. Then he chuckled. “Obviously you haven’t looked in a mirror lately.”

A hot flush rose to her tanned cheeks. She could almost see him on the other end of the phone, smiling in that sensual way that made women’s hearts flutter. Sternly she ordered her own to settle back down into her chest, and stop trying to batter its way through her rib cage.

“Conor, I don’t think…”

“Have you eaten yet?”

“Well no, but…”

“Then my timing’s perfect! I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Conor, wait! You can’t just…”

“Kiera.” A slow smile curved his lips, and his voice dropped to a deliberately intimate murmur. “I’m not going to take ‘no’ for an answer.”

Then he was gone.

Shaken, Kiera stared blankly at the buzzing phone in her hand. This just couldn’t be happening!

Oh sweet heavens, what was she going to wear? A different kind of panic, purely feminine, washed through her like an icy wave. What could she wear that would impress Hollywood’s sexiest new superstar?

Peggy’s picture! He mustn’t see it! Gasping, she snatched it off the table, and thrust it deep into the bottom of her lingerie drawer. Not that she was ever going to allow him up into her bedroom. But still. He was a clever, persuasive fellow, and she couldn’t be too careful. If he ever learned of her connection to Peggy, the results could be catastrophic.

C.J. Darling was raised on a remote farm in rural Indiana. Since she was an only child and neighbors were few, she developed a rich and colorful imagination that became her closest loyal friend. Together they roamed the hills of her home, 'finding tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in every thing.'

Her literary tastes have been shaped by the inspired works of Anne McCaffrey, Robert Heinlein, and Nora Roberts—all of whom she hopes to become when she grows up.

She has been publishing since 1994, and has written nearly 200 books and short stories under various pen names.

Her love of animals has led to rescuing a wide variety of handicapped animals, including birds, ferrets, reptiles, and a semi-paralyzed cat named Phantom.

She has been blessed with two sons who actually acknowledge her existence, and an incredibly tolerant husband who indulges her whimsical flights of fancy without calling for the guys with butterfly nets.

Recently she was lucky enough to find her long-sought birth family, and was reunited with her older brother who was adopted out separately as a baby. Now they're making up for a lot of lost time, and every day is a joy of new discoveries.

Though she has traveled extensively and seen many beautiful and wondrous things, the home of her heart will always be lovely Ireland. She dreams of emigrating to that glorious land of magic and mystery…and once there, shall nevermore stray.