If you love hot romance reads featuring brooding, dominating Alpha Males who are imminently vulnerable to just the right woman, then you will love "Fortune's Forbidden Woman" by author Heidi Betts. The "forbidden woman" in Creed Fortune's life is his younger step-sister, Maya Blackstone. Ten years his junior, and transformed from a shy teen into a lovely woman, Maya has always held a fascination for Creed. He resolutely kept himself at a distance from her, afraid that his feelings would show and cause a disruption in the delicate balance of the Fortune family's personal and public lives. Maya has long adored Creed, never understanding why he was often gruff and abrupt with her throughout the years. An incident from the past, in which Creed rescued Maya from an overzealous date and then lectured her and accused her of inappropriate behavior, caused Maya difficulty in her few relationships with men. A fully-grown Maya, now a school teacher, has a pleasant relationship with a great guy, Brad McKenzie, but she still cannot physically connect with anyone on a sexual level. When her mother vanishes without a trace, Creed contacts Maya with updates on the investigation into the disappearance. Their discussion becomes a heated argument which leads to the heat of passion, and what was long forbidden becomes a blazing affair. Creed and Maya become even more involved as they work together to locate Maya's mother and bring her back home to the family. As the two of them grow closer, Creed continues to tell himself that he can walk away from the woman who has haunted his thoughts for so long, but will his heart ever truly be free from Maya's spell? "Fortune's Forbidden Woman" is the concluding book in the Silhouette Desire (Harlequin) continuity series, "Dakota Fortunes".