Married to a dying artist who could no longer return her love, Ronnie von Hurst had sworn never to reveal her husband's impending death to the public. As a result, she lived a lonely life on their South Carolina island estate. For a brief moment, however, Ronnie's life changed when she and Drake O'Hara fell in love aboard a cruise ship. But O'Hara's love turned to hate when he discovered that Ronnie was married. Although Ronnie wanted to protect her husband, she had to make a choice: tell Drake the truth or lose him forever.
New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Heather Graham majored in theater arts at the University of South Florida. After a stint of several years in dinner theater, back-up vocals, and bartending, she stayed home after the birth of her third child and began to write, working on short horror stories and romances. After some trial and error, she sold her first book, WHEN NEXT WE LOVE, in 1982 and since then, she has written over one hundred novels and novellas including category, romantic suspense, historical romance, vampire fiction, time travel, occult, and Christmas holiday fare. She wrote the launch books for the Dell's Ecstasy Supreme line, Silhouette's Shadows, and for Harlequin's mainstream fiction imprint, Mira Books.
Heather was a founding member of the Florida Romance Writers chapter of RWA and, since 1999, has hosted the Romantic Times Vampire Ball, with all revenues going directly to children's charity.
She is pleased to have been published in approximately twenty languages, and to have been honored with awards frorn Waldenbooks. B. Dalton, Georgia Romance Writers, Affaire de Coeur, Romantic Times, and more. She has had books selected for the Doubleday Book Club and the Literary Guild, and has been quoted, interviewed, or featured in such publications as The Nation, Redbook, People, and USA Today and appeared on many newscasts including local television and Entertainment Tonight.
Heather loves travel and anything have to do with the water, and is a certitified scuba diver. Married since high school graduation and the mother of five, her greatest love in life remains her family, but she also believes her career has been an incredible gift, and she is grateful every day to be doing something that she loves so very much for a living.
Ronnie Von Hurst is not living her best life at the moment. Her husband is difficult, but Ronnie won’t leave him. He is a great sculpturer and is struggling. He forces her to take a short cruise where she meets Drake. She didn’t intend to fall for him so hard or so quickly. She ends it with Drake because she knows she won’t leave her husband. This was a sweet respite and the memories will stay with her. Ronnie returns home to learn they will have a visitor – the visitor happens to be Drake. Things do not go well at all when he arrives. There are so many secrets! Loved the ending!