‘When you pick up a romance novel by Kate Hardy you know that you’re going to be reading a spellbinding novel which you will want to devour in a single sitting, and A CHRISTMAS KNIGHT is certainly no exception.’
—CataRomance.com
‘Kate Hardy has written an awesome story with an amazing build-up.’
—HarlequinJunkie.com
‘NEUROSURGEON … AND MUM! is a spellbinding tearjerker readers will want to read again and again. Written with plenty of sensitivity, understanding and heart, NEUROSURGEON … AND MUM! is the latest winner by this outstanding storyteller!’
—CataRomance.com
KATE HARDY lives in Norwich, in the east of England, with her husband, two young children, one bouncy spaniel and too many books to count! When she’s not busy writing romance or researching local history, she helps out at her children’s schools. She also loves cooking—spot the recipes sneaked into her books! (They’re also on her website, along with extracts and stories behind the books.)
Writing for Mills & Boon® has been a dream come true for Kate—something she wanted to do ever since she was twelve. She’s been writing Medical Romances™ for over ten years now. She says it’s the best of both worlds, because she gets to learn lots of new things when she’s researching the background to a book: add a touch of passion, drama and danger, a new gorgeous hero every time, and it’s the perfect job!
Kate’s always delighted to hear from readers, so do drop in to her website at www.katehardy.com
200 Harley Street:
The Soldier Prince
Kate Hardy
Dear Reader
I love writing continuity stories, as it’s a great excuse to work with my fellow authors and bounce ideas around. When my editor suggested this one to me I leapt at the chance. Special thanks to Louisa George, Amy Andrews and Scarlet Wilson for letting me take liberties with their characters, and being so brilliantly accommodating. Thanks to my son, Chris Brooks, for answering questions about military stuff, and to Chris Craig for technical advice about the kind of workouts that Marco could do post-injury.
Becca Anderson and Prince Marco come from completely different worlds. And although there’s a lot of attraction between them they also need to learn to trust each other before they can reignite their past love and get their happy ending. I love the way that Becca’s managed to rise above such an awful past and a total lack of family support—and that she eventually finds the support and the family she deserves in Prince Marco. I also enjoyed giving Marco a tough time; for someone who’s used to a life of action, having to wait and let things take their natural course is really, really difficult. And Becca most definitely teaches him patience …
I hope you’ll enjoy Marco’s fabulous house on the edge of Regent’s Park. And the tango at the salsa club (we learned a couple of new steps in the tango at dance class while I was writing this, so it was great to do a bit of personal research!). But most of all I hope you’ll enjoy seeing Becca and Marco fall in love all over again and this time learn to trust each other.
I’m always delighted to hear from readers, so do come and visit me at www.katehardy.com
With love
Kate Hardy
For the 200 Harley Street authors—I loved working with you! Also, special thanks to Chris Brooks for technical help with military stuff, and to Chris Craig for technical help with workout programmes following injury—much appreciated, guys :)
Table of Contents
Praise for Kate Hardy
Dedication
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
EPILOGUE
THAT WAS THE last of the men.
Safe.
Or were they? The rescue had been slightly too easy for Marco’s liking. The insurgents didn’t usually give up that quickly. And this definitely felt like a false sense of security, he thought as he drove the Jeep back towards base.
‘Pedro, I need you to keep a close eye out on the way back. Anything that makes you even slightly uneasy, you tell me immediately,’ he said to his second-in-command.
‘Sir. You’re expecting an ambush?’
‘Maybe.’
Pedro had worked with him long enough to follow his train of thought. ‘You’re right. It was a bit too easy. They’re prob—’
The word was cut off by a loud boom.
Bomb, Marco thought, and was about to slam on the brakes when the blast wave smashed into the Jeep, cracking the screen. Marco put his left hand up automatically to shield his eyes; even as he did so, he was aware of splintering glass spiking into his skin.
But he didn’t have time to worry about the pain. The blast wave had made the Jeep slew. He tried to steer out of the skid, but the blast wave was just too strong and the car rolled.
Everything went into slow motion, and Marco’s senses were working overtime. Everything felt magnified. The bang of the rest of the glass imploding, the scrape of metal, the salty, rusty smell of blood.
Finally, they came to a halt. Upside down.
Oh, great.
He knew they were a sitting target in the Jeep. They needed to get out—right now. It would take just one RPG fired into the fuel tank to blow them all sky-high …
Then again, Marco also knew that the insurgents preferred prisoners to dead men. Live prisoners would be much more useful to them. Especially if one of them was second in line to a throne—even if the throne in question