Legend has it that the famous Colto

Legend has it that the famous Colton family sapphires shine brilliantly on only the women— who are meant to be Colton brides....

Meet three powerful and sexy Colton men whoface the challenge of finding the right women—the brides of their hearts! Join New York Times bestselling author Kasey Michaels, along with national bestselling author Ruth Langan and reader favorite Carolyn Zane as they create unforgettable romances and lure you into the fascinating world of the Coltons.


THE COLTONS:
Harrison Colton: The vengeful tycoon. When the sister of his ex-fiance shows up begging for his help, he discovers that the steel wall surrounding his heart isn't as impenetrable as he'd thought.

William Colton: The playboy earl. Rather than succumb to a loveless union, he'd willfully chosen poverty over prestige. But now he must convince the beautiful, destitute widow living next door of the sincerity of his love....

Jason Colton: The determined doctor. When this hardworking M.D. rushes to aid a pregnant woman, her secrecy suggests she's cut from the same cloth as his former bride-to-be. Now she must persuade him that their meeting was more than mere chance—but destiny!

KASEY MICHAELS is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than sixty books that range from contemporary to historical romance. Recipient of the Romance Writers of America RITA Award and Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times Magazine, in addition to writing for Silhouette, Kasey is currently writing single-title contemporary fiction and Regency historical romances. When asked about her work for the Colton series, she said that she has rarely felt so involved in a project, one with such scope and diversity of plot and characters.

RUTH LANGAN, award-winning, bestselling author of more than sixty books, both contemporary and historical, has been described by Romantic Times Magazine as "a true master at involving your emotions, be they laughter or tears." Ruth has given dozens of print, radio and TV interviews, including Good Morning America and CNN News, as well as such diverse publications as the Wall Street journal, Cosmopolitan and the Detroit Free Press. It should be obvious to all her readers that Ruth Langan loves her work and lives to please her readers. "Colton's Bride" is a story that truly touched her heart. She hopes it touches all of yours, as well.

CAROLYN ZANE loves to write stories about pregnancy, as she is one of those hateful women who feels her best when she's expecting. While other women might have languished with morning sickness, Carolyn devoured barbecue beef sandwiches and chocolate cake with ice cream. Or anything that was not nailed down...with ice cream. Her husband, Matt, being the supportive sort, joined her in her ice cream habit. Had Carolyn known how wonderful the whole pregnancy thing really was, she most likely would not have waited sixteen years into her marriage to try it and would have well over a dozen children by now. As it is, she is kept more than busy with her two beautiful little daughters, Madeline and Olivia, and her adopted son, golden retriever Bob Barker.


SAPPHIRE'S BRIDE by Kasey Michaels
COLTON'S BRIDE by Ruth Langan

DESTINY'S BRIDE by Carolyn Zane




Brides Of Privilege




SAPPHIRE BRIDE

by Kasey Michaels



Chapter 1


Lorraine Nealy stuck small yellow arrows on the neatly typed pages. "Here, here and here," she said rather unnecessarily as she then placed each page on the desktop. The paper arrows that said without words "Sign here, bozo" were also redundant, but Harrison Colton didn't say anything; he just signed on each indicated line. Break Lorraine's stride and she unfailingly started over from the beginning. Harrison was just about done signing the papers and the idea of going back to Go wasn't part of his plan.

"Lorraine," he said at last, as his personal assistant—she'd made it very clear she was not a secretary—gathered up the contracts, "whatever would I do without you?"
"You'd wither and die, Mr. Colton. The whole place would fall down around your ears. It wouldn't be pretty, trust me," Lorraine responded without missing a beat.

In her middle fifties, Lorraine had been at Colton Media Holdings for thirty years and had convinced herself that she was the linchpin that held CMH together. She'd been Frank Colton's personal assistant until Harrison's father had let go of the reins enough to let his younger son take over, and now she ran CMH through Harrison, as she'd tell anyone who asked. Even if they didn't ask.

Harrison smiled, stood up, reached for the navy-blue sport coat he'd hung on the back of his chair. "In that case, I'm probably safe in leaving early today, with CMH in such reliable hands. Unless you've got more papers for me to sign?"

"Nope, all done. Your collar's crooked," Lorraine added, and Harrison quickly reached up and straightened it, slipping the Windsor knot on his maroon-and-navy striped tie back into place as well. At thirty-one, he had yet to adopt CMH's own policy of casual Fridays, although he had heartily subscribed to the optional work-at-home Fridays. He had only come into the office to sign the contracts, and was more than ready to get an early start on his weekend.

Smoothing down his collar, he then ran a hand over his jet-black hair before Lorraine could tell him
that he looked like he'd been "rode hard and put away wet," and picked up his briefcase. "I am excused,
aren't I, Lorraine?" he asked, already heading for the door.

"Actually..." Lorraine began, and Harrison stopped halfway across the wide expanse of beige Berber carpeting, turned to look at her, his green eyes narrowed. "No, never mind. I'll get rid of her. Just go
out the side door."

"Her?" Harrison, intrigued in spite of himself, shot a quick look toward the closed door that led to Lorraine's office and the reception area. "Her who?"

Lorraine clasped the contracts to her rather flat chest and rolled her watery blue eyes. "Her who has
been sitting in my office for the past hour, obviously unable to take a hint and go away. That her."

"No appointment? No, of course not. I don't make appointments for Friday afternoons. But she didn't leave? Wow. Lorraine, you must be losing your edge. When you say no, strong men cringe. I know I do."

"I told her maybe," Lorraine said so quietly that Harrison had to step closer in order to hear her.

"You said maybe," Harrison repeated, sincerely impressed. "You never say maybe, Lorraine. Yes, no,
not in your wildest dreams. But never maybe. What does this woman want? Is she collecting for homeless poodles and hit your one soft spot?"

"There are rarely homeless poodles, Mr. Colton," she replied tightly. "Poodles are eminently lovable, and almost always find homes."

"Yeah," Harrison said, grinning. "With you. What are you up to, at last count? Ten?"
"Six, with all of them expecting me home in the next hour to feed them, so if you're done dragging your feet, please leave by the side door so that I can go back out there and truthfully tell this Hamilton woman that you've gone for the day."

"Whoa," Harrison said, holding out an arm, blocking Lorraine's exit. "Did you say Hamilton? Annette Hamilton? No, that couldn't be. She's Annette O'Meara now."

Lorraine pulled a small piece of notepaper out of her pocket and checked it before saying, "Not Annette. This is a Ms. Savannah Hamilton. I'll tell her you've gone. Would you like me to set up an appointment sometime next month?''

No, he didn't want Lorraine to make an appointment for Ms. Savannah Hamilton for next month. What he'd like is for Lorraine to arrange for Ms. Savannah Hamilton to be on the next space launch headed for Mars. And definitely with the trip being a real family vacation, so that Sam and Annette went with her.

Harrison rubbed at his jaw as he walked back to the desk and laid down his briefcase. "What does she want?"

"What do any of them want?" Lorraine said. "A job. They think they can do an end run around the personnel department, bat their big baby blues at you, and have their byline on a story within six months, their Pulitzer within the year. Like I said, I'll get rid of her. I should have gotten rid of her an hour ago."

"Why didn't you?"
Lorraine shrugged her thin shoulders. "I think you're right. She does have a sort of stray-dog or wounded-puppy look to her. All dressed up and nowhere to go. And she seemed to be more unhappy about being here than I was to look up and see her standing in front of my desk. Maybe, I thought, she isn't looking for a job. Maybe she's looking for something else. I thought I could get her to tell me what she wanted, but she said it was a personal matter and I couldn't get her to say anything else. Even my homemade peanut butter cookies couldn't get her to talk."

"Wow," Harrison said, slipping off his sport coat and walking behind the desk. Trying to keep it light, so that Lorraine didn't suspect anything, he continued, "When the peanut butter cookies don't work, there's nothing else left. Thumbscrews, the rack— none of them are more potent than your peanut butter cookies. I'm surprised you didn't call Security and have Ms. Hamilton tossed out on her rear."

"Me, too," Lorraine said, her hand on the doorknob. "I take it I can relax now and Ms. Savannah Hamilton's personal matter doesn't have anything to do with an unexpected Colton cooking in the oven, because you seem truly surprised to see her, and because I know you're a good boy. Sometimes. So, you'll see her?"

Harrison lowered his six-foot-two-inch frame into the chair behind the desk. He ignored the first part of Lorraine's little speech because he was too used to her to object. "But you can go home once you've shown her in. And don't worry. I took three karate lessons when Jason and I were kids, so I don't think she'll be able to overpower me."
"Your father was never flippant," Lorraine reminded him. "He would never have made that crack, or the one about my peanut butt