Full Circle
Shannon Hollis
SHANNON HOLLI S
got her first positive review at the age of eight, when her teacher shivered at a story she wrote about a ghost in a graveyard. She wrote her first book at thirteen and sent it off to a literary publisher, who probably took one look at the yellow typing paper and white correction fluid and deduced the age of the author. His remarks were consequently very kind, and gave her the courage to keep writing.
Twenty-five years, seven manuscripts and zillions of rejection letters later, Shannon sold her master’s thesis to Mills & Boon and fulfilled a lifelong dream.
After moving to California from Canada, Shannon started work in the high-tech industry in Silicon Valley. She fell in love with and married her boss, but while they were still newlyweds, the 1989 earthquake destroyed their house. During the construction of a new home, she learned what teamwork and communication really mean!
Shannon is now living her dream of being a writer, and freelance editing keeps her in touch with the fast-paced corporate life that sparks so many ideas. She loves to hear from readers. Send her e-mail at [email protected]
Dear Reader,
Welcome to book five of THE WHITE STAR mini-series! I’m thrilled to be part of it, and hope you enjoy the next instalment, which features academic cate Wells and adventurer archaeologist Daniel Burke.
Theirs is a reunion story – an ever-popular plot. But why is it so popular? What is it about the “do-over” that fascinates us so? Is it the chance to revisit an old love and see what has changed – and what has not? Or is it the chance to remember what went wrong – and get it right this time? Because we all know that our first love may not be our true love. But when it is, as cate and Daniel discover, getting it right can cover anything from that first magical kiss…to… well, let’s find out!
Warmly,
Shannon Hollis
For my fellow writers in the San Francisco Area
and Vancouver Island chapters of Romance Writers of America.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Carrie Alexander, Kristin Hardy,
Jeanie London and Lori Wilde – true professionals and a pleasure to work with. Thanks also to Dr David Andersen, paleogeologist, who knew exactly where I could find a plesiosaur.
1
THERE WAS NO SUCH THING as a dead man’s curse.
In the murky twilight of two hundred feet of silty water, Daniel Burke felt like arguing the point as he squinted through his mask, searching for the ribs of the sixteenth-century Basque galleon on the ocean floor.
This recovery expedition had been cursed with everything from bad organization to shoddy safety practices, and the fact that Daniel knew he was only here to give it some legitimacy with the inevitable press orgy didn’t help. He should have said no when the Society for the Preservation of Antiquities had approached him. He should have told them that water wasn’t his element—he belonged in the desert, where layers of sandstone and petrified ash yielded their secrets as reluctantly as a beautiful woman, where caves and hills whispered to him of long-lost civilizations.
But no. The Society had promised him enough money to fund his next trip to Asia Minor, and he, like any dope, had fallen for it.
If the Society’s information was correct, the master of the whaling ship had been the first European to set foot on the shores of the New World. Not Columbus. Not Cabot or Cartier. But a wily Basque captain who had seen the money that could be made out of whale oil from the dangerous waters off the Atlantic coast of Canada. Daniel had no idea how many trips the ship had made before those waters had claimed her, but the success of this expedition and maybe even his own reputation were waiting on the results.
Not to mention the kid’s father.
The