The King's Convenient Bride / The Illegitimate Prince's Baby: The King's Convenient Bride. Michelle Celmer

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      Dear Reader,

      Welcome to the first book in my ROYAL SEDUCTIONS series. This is my first series for Desire and I couldn’t be more excited, nor could I have picked a more interesting family to write about than the Royals of Morgan Isle, a small island country located in the Irish Sea between England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.

      Phillip is everything you would expect from a king. Gorgeous, wealthy and powerful. And let’s not forget stubborn. This arranged marriage is nothing to him but that. An arrangement. But Hannah Renault, his bride-to-be, wants the real thing, and she’ll stop at nothing to chip away the ice covering his frozen heart.

      I hope you enjoy their story!

      Best,

       Michelle

      The King’s Convenient Bride

      MICHELLE CELMER

      The Illegitimate Prince’s Baby

      MICHELLE CELMER

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      To my mum, Karen,

      who is hands down my most devoted fan.

      THE KING’S CONVENIENT BRIDE

      by

      Michelle Celmer

      One

      Though she had been preparing for this day for eight years, as the limo pulled up to the palace steps and Hannah Renault caught her first glimpse of the prince—make that the king—waiting to welcome her, she trembled in her ecru Gucci pumps.

      Wearing his royal dress uniform, King Phillip Lindall Augustus Mead stood at the top of the stairs flanked by what had to be the entire palace staff. A collection of medals and commendations on his jacket glittered in the sun and a gilded sword hung at his hip.

      Outside the gates, residents of Morgan Isle crowded to get their first glimpse of their soon-to-be queen.

      Aka: Her.

      The limo stopped at the base of a gold-rimmed red carpet. The door swung open and a gloved hand appeared to help her out.

      She smoothed the skirt of her dark blue linen suit. This is it, she told herself. This is the day you’ve been dreaming of. The time to make a good impression on your husband-to-be and, from the looks of it, half the country. So, whatever you do, as you’re climbing those stairs, don’t trip.

      With all the grace and dignity a woman could manage while climbing out of a vehicle, her heart fluttering madly in her chest, Hannah stepped into the balmy sunshine. Beyond the gates a cheer broke out among the onlookers.

      Warring with the sudden, intense urge to turn around and dive back into the limo, she took a deep breath, straightened her spine and lifted her chin high. As per the instructions she received from the royal social secretary, she stood her ground and waited for the king’s formal greeting. She held her breath as he descended the steps and a deafening hush fell over the crowd, as though they were holding their breath with her. Don’t be nervous, she told herself, but nervous didn’t even come close to what she was actually feeling. She bordered more along the lines of terrified.

      Just breathe, Hannah. In and out. You can do this.

      It had been two long years since she had seen her fiancé face-to-face, and he was more handsome, more heart-stoppingly beautiful than she remembered.

      As instructed, the instant the king’s foot hit the bottom step, Hannah stepped forward and dipped into a routinely practiced curtsy. With a bow of her head, and in a wobbly voice, she said, “Your Highness.”

      “My lady,” he returned in a deep, rich voice, with proper British inflection, then offered his hand. A small burst of energy arced between their fingers an instant before they actually touched. When she met his eyes, something warm and inviting swam in their smoky-gray depths. Taking her hand gently in his own, he bent at the waist and brushed his lips across her skin. “Welcome СКАЧАТЬ