Promise of Pleasure
by Cheryl Holt

“The Queen of Erotic Romance” is back with a tempting tale of secret desires and forbidden fruit—and what it takes to make dreams come true...

Mary Barnes has had it with her cruel stepmother who’s hoarded the family inheritance... with her two privileged stepsisters... and with feeling unloved and unappreciated. Her one desire is to flee her stifling world, but it doesn’t seem possible—until a mysterious peddler offers her an elixir and a promise: one drink of his tonic and the first man she sees will be hers. Though she is too much of realist to believe in potions, she accepts. As if by magic, a stranger crosses her path and steps into her life.

He’s Jordan Winthrop, scoundrel, viscount, and desperately bankrupt heir to the Earl of Sunderland. He's also meant for Mary’s stepsister. Thrilled by his advances, and intoxicated by their secret affair, Mary finds herself falling for a man who’s already unmistakably engaged—to her sister's fortune. As for Jordan, he can’t help but wonder if Mary is the woman to change his roguish ways—when he is spellbound in a sensual destiny spiraling beyond his control.

Cheryl Holt's Bio

Cheryl Holt is a New York Times best-selling novelist. She is one of the women’s fiction stars at two esteemed New York publishing houses, St. Martins Press and Berkley Books.

She’s also a lawyer and mom, and at age 40, with two babies at home, she started a new career as a commercial fiction writer. She’d hoped to be a suspense novelist, but couldn’t sell any of her manuscripts, so she ended up taking a detour into romance, where she was stunned to discover that she has an incredible knack for writing some of the world’s greatest love stories.

Her books have been released to wide acclaim, and she has won or been nominated for many national awards. She is particularly proud to have been named "Best Storyteller of the Year," by the trade magazine, Romantic Times BOOK Reviews.

Her hot, sexy, dramatic stories of passion and illicit love have captivated fans around the world, and she’s celebrated as the Queen of Erotic Romance, which is currently the fastest selling subgenre of women’s fiction. Due to the ferociousness of some of her characters, she’s also known as the International Queen of Villains.

She received degrees in music, languages, and education, from South Dakota State University, and her juris doctorate was obtained at the University of Wyoming. Her colorful and chaotic employment history includes such variety as public school teacher, cook, bartender, lobbyist, and political activist. She also did brief stints in metro-Denver as a deputy district attorney and administrative law judge.

She currently lives and writes in Los Angeles, where her teenage son, Sean Holt is pursuing his dream of becoming a Hollywood movie star.