Shattered Illusions

Shattered Illusions
Anne Mather

Mills & Boon are excited to present The Anne Mather Collection – the complete works by this classic author made available to download for the very first time! These books span six decades of a phenomenal writing career, and every story is available to read unedited and untouched from their original release.Some secrets just won't stay hidden Dominic Redding was curious – and intrigued. Why had English academic Jaime Harris left a perfectly good job to come work for his stepmother?Jaime Harris had come to Bermuda with a purpose–to find out more about the mysterious Catriona Redding – and her good-looking stepson, Dominic, seemed intent on jeopardizing all that. At first he’s suspicious and harsh…then protective and seductive. Is he her ally? Because even though the family was already full of dark secrets, Jaime was there to reveal some more of her own that might just change everything…

Mills & Boon is proud to present a fabulous collection of fantastic novels by bestselling, much loved author

ANNE MATHER

Anne has a stellar record of achievement within the

publishing industry, having written over one hundred

and sixty books, with worldwide sales of more than

forty-eight MILLION copies in multiple languages.

This amazing collection of classic stories offers a chance

for readers to recapture the pleasure Anne’s powerful,

passionate writing has given.

We are sure you will love them all!

I’ve always wanted to write—which is not to say I’ve always wanted to be a professional writer. On the contrary, for years I only wrote for my own pleasure and it wasn’t until my husband suggested sending one of my stories to a publisher that we put several publishers’ names into a hat and pulled one out. The rest, as they say, is history. And now, one hundred and sixty-two books later, I’m literally—excuse the pun—staggered by what’s happened.

I had written all through my infant and junior years and on into my teens, the stories changing from children’s adventures to torrid gypsy passions. My mother used to gather these manuscripts up from time to time, when my bedroom became too untidy, and dispose of them! In those days, I used not to finish any of the stories and Caroline, my first published novel, was the first I’d ever completed. I was newly married then and my daughter was just a baby, and it was quite a job juggling my household chores and scribbling away in exercise books every chance I got. Not very professional, as you can imagine, but that’s the way it was.

These days, I have a bit more time to devote to my work, but that first love of writing has never changed. I can’t imagine not having a current book on the typewriter—yes, it’s my husband who transcribes everything on to the computer. He’s my partner in both life and work and I depend on his good sense more than I care to admit.

We have two grown-up children, a son and a daughter, and two almost grown-up grandchildren, Abi and Ben. My e-mail address is mystic-am@msn.com (mailto:mystic-am@msn.com) and I’d be happy to hear from any of my wonderful readers.

Shattered Illusions

Anne Mather

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

Table of Contents

Cover (#u4ec3e3cd-cec5-5c60-8c3d-8edb6259d195)

About the Author (#uf4497848-080a-5fa2-b4ce-7f09beb0bc0e)

Title Page (#u3c299d1d-43b8-5deb-8090-beb71812543a)

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER ONE (#u84c4cdc0-72c1-5c02-8dfe-c494ec15e984)

SHE shouldn’t have come.

The feeling grew stronger every minute she was kept waiting in this beautiful room, which was nothing like any office she had ever imagined.

But office it was, despite the drifting clouds of chiffon at the long windows. A place where Catriona Redding wrote her very successful novels, regardless of the famous paintings that looked down from the silk-hung walls.

Jaime drew a steadying breath.

The desk alone must have cost a small fortune. A singular slab of polished granite, its surface was strewn with the evidence of Catriona Redding’s profession. Files, books, a veritable plethora of pens and pencils; Jaime already knew that she preferred to write her books in longhand, and who could blame her? Sitting in this room, which reflected the light of the huge outdoor pool that flanked it, with the sweep of Copperhead Bay beyond, the clatter of keys would have been an intrusion, even from the computer that Jaime would be expected to employ.

If she was taken on for the probationary two weeks...

And she was by no means certain that she would be. Although she had passed the preliminary interview with Catriona Redding’s agent in London, she had still to meet the woman herself, had still to be approved by her proposed employer. It had been made clear to her from the outset that Catriona Redding would make the final decision. For all she was here in Bermuda, the job still hung in the balance.

She cast another look about her, wondering if leaving her here in this impressive apartment was intended to intimidate her. She knew so little about the woman she had come here to meet, and the longer she remained in isolation, the more doubtful about her own motives she became.