The Devil's Necklace

To British privateer Ethan Sharpe, Grace Chastain was nothing but a pawn for vengeance against Harmon Jeffries, the traitor responsible for his brutal years in prison. Believing Grace to be Jeffries' mistress, he plans to humiliate his enemy by seducing her.

Grace fears her priceless heirloom necklace has begun to live up to its curse when Captain Sharpe makes her his prisoner aboard his schooner. Defiantly she resists his coarse advances, but suspects there is more to this complex sea captain than his brooding anger and silent accusations.

And Ethan quickly realizes that she is not the wicked woman he imagined her to be. Grace is as headstrong as she is lovely, and the battle of wills that ensues weakens his resolve. But can Ethan settle the demons of his past and follow the destiny his heart commands?

Publishers Weekly

Full of spirited romance and nefarious skullduggery, the second volume of bestseller Martin's Regency trilogy (after The Bride's Necklace) centers on Capt. Ethan Sharpe, a British privateer determined to punish Harmon Jeffries, Viscount Forsythe, a convicted traitor whom he believes to be responsible for his years of imprisonment in France and the death of many of his crew members. Sharpe's search for Jeffries leads him to Grace Chastain, Jeffries's illegitimate daughter, who, contrary to his expections, proves to be a gently reared young woman possessed of a courageous spirit and intense family loyalty. To his horror, Sharpe finds himself falling in love with her. Complicating matters is Grace's friendship with the wife of Ethan's best friend, who managed to secure Ethan's prison release. Lively emotional skirmishes between these two strong-willed characters propel the plot toward one of Martin's trademark nail-biting endings. (Aug.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

For New York Times bestselling author Kat Martin, a career in real estate led her down the road to romance.

Through real estate, Kat found her own perfect match—her husband, Western author Larry Jay Martin.

"We were on opposing sides of a transaction—I represented the seller and he represented the buyer," Kat recalls.

A short time after the two became acquainted, Larry asked her to read an unpublished manuscript of an historical western he'd written. Kat fell in love with both the book and the author!

"It was quite a romantic story," she admits. "I'd still like to see it get published." Then, after doing some editing for her future husband, she thought she'd try her own hand at writing.

Kat moved on to become the bestselling author of over thirty historical and contemporary romance novels. To date, 10 million copies of her books are in print, and she's been published around the globe, including Germany, Norway, Sweden, China, Korea, Bulgaria, Russia, England, South Africa, Italy, Spain, Argentina and Greece.

When she's not writing, Kat also enjoys skiing and traveling, particularly to Europe. Currently, she's busy writing her next book.