Two Reasons to Celebrate! by Linda Conrad

April will be a special month for me. To start, the third book in my Desert Sons series for Harlequin Romantic Suspense is on shelves now! Lots of readers have been waiting for Tarik’s book, and SECRET AGENT SHEIK is his story. It’s a fun adventure that takes place mainly in Rio during Carnivale! I just love that sensous city as a setting for a story. I was born in Rio and it holds a special place in my heart. Of course, the book is sexy and suspenseful and brings two people together who’ve never realized they needed anyone.

Here’s an excerpt from when the two are literally undercover -- just to tease you:

What is Tarik saying?

Jass struggled to come out of her haze and listen, but the blood boiled in her ears. With her pulse screaming through her veins as though she were pulling down five Gs, her body throbbed with passion. And all because of the masculine body currently lying suggestively between her legs.

Geez. She bit the inside of her cheek hard enough to snap herself out of it. They were supposedly working a sting. She was Celile. But he was not the real Zohdi.

Work. Work. Work. Rember, this was an important assignment and not the most intimate experience she’d ever had. Worse even than the idea of taking a risk with her career, there’d been a camera trained on them this whole time.

She’d lost her mind. But, oh man, what a terrific way to go insane. The sexual chemistry between the two of them left her soaring. Tarik’s mere touch jolted her with an intense excitement, sparking a conflagration that had sent her down in flames. His naked and aroused body surprised her, but it shouldn’t have. He was so much more than she imagined. The most potent male she’d ever seen.

Like spontaneous combustion, she’d found herself wet and set to explode. But they were only acting at their mission. Right? Remember the mission. “Hold on.” Tarik left her long enough to drag the covers up and over their heads, covering them completely from view How could he remain unaffected? Well, not totally unaffected, she’d noticed. He was hot and pulsing…and huge. He’d been ready just like she was.

But his mind had stayed in the game. A trait she’d better learn how to mimic.

“Laugh,” he demanded in a raspy whisper. “Or giggle. Anything that makes it seem as though we’re doing what it looks like in this bed.”

His words actually made some sense through her clearing fog. At last. She wiggled out from underneath his body and rolled over to face him—while both of them remained hidden under the covers.

Watching him closely, she opened her mouth and let out one of the loudest moans imaginable. “Ah. Ah. Ah.” She forced the volume higher. “Oh, Zohdi. Oh. Oh.”

Finally, she wound herself up and screamed incoherently. A thing she had never done during the throes of passion in her entire lifetime.

Tarik actually smiled as he murmured low, “Nice work, agent. I’d like a repeat performance someday. But not for the cameras.”

That did it. He had to move away. Now.

“Get out of bed and turn off the lights, Zohdi.” She gritted her teeth. “And then bring me a robe.”

Why hadn’t the man thought to turn out the lights in the first place?

In a hushed tone, Tarik answered. “Okay, but I’m betting turning off the lights won’t help. The camera is probably NVC, night vision capable. Most surveillance equipment is set up that way. I’ll gladly get the robes.” He scowled and rolled out from under the blankets, leaving her covered and furious.

Seconds later he pulled down the covers and immediately threw one of the terry bath robes over her. “Get up, Celile,” he announced in a loud voice. “You need a shower and I have work to do on the laptop.”

“What did you say?” It was easy to fake a little indignation. She felt every bit of Celile’s part.

Tarik turned his back. “Get up.”

“Well, isn’t that romantic? You bastard.” She shoved her arms into the robe and stood. “I’m going. But if you think for one minute that you’re in for a repeat performance tonight, you are out of your mind. You and your damned laptop can sleep out on the terrace.”

Grasping the robe around her like a shield, Jass marched into the bathroom and slammed the door. Once alone and out of camera range, she leaned both hands heavily on the countertop. Hanging her head and breathing in and out through her mouth, she tried to calm her shaky nerves. Realization began to sink in. He had actually picked a fight in order to save them from having to sleep together tonight. The whole scene back there suddenly became clear. Everything he’d done in the bedroom—stripping himself and not her, carrying her to the bed and covering them from view—all of it was done for her benefit.

To save her from embarrassment.

From the book: SECRET AGENT SHEIK by Linda Conrad Harlequin Romantic Suspense April 2011 ISBN 978-0373-27722-3 Copyright 2011 ® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher

Great excerpt, right? It’s one of my favorites.

Now, on to the next most wonderful thing taking place in April. My fabulous Harlequin editor, Keyren Gerlack, is getting married! And she and her husband-to-be are tying the knot in Germany at the same little chapel where her parents and grandparents were also married. Sigh. Romantic.

Keyren is so stylish. (and I’m so NOT) She bought her dress at the bridal shop in New York where they shoot “Say Yes To The Dress” for the TLC cable channel. Isn’t that cool? For those of you who don’t get the TLC channel or who live in other countries, the show is a reality series where they televise women choosing and being fitted for their wedding dresses. The show features all the drama attached to such emotional chores. Keyren will not be on the show, by the way.

Now, I know some little girls dream of being married in a big white dress, but that was never me. Or my sister. Or my mother, for that matter. Both my mother and I were married on about two weeks notice. I remember it was all I could do to buy a new white suit that fit me before the wedding day. (which I never wore again, BTW) But it did look nice in the pictures and my husband says he thought it was spectacular.

All this thinking about weddings again sent me to the Internet to research the history of wedding dresses. Both Brides.com and author Shirley Thomas say that white has not always been the color of choice for weddings. White apparently came into vogue with Queen Victoria’s wedding to Albert in 1840. Before that anything except black and red would do. Today the color choices seem to be limited to white, ecru, off-white or ivory. Every now and then a bride chooses pink or blue. I saw one woman on the TV show who insisted on red. And one Goth girl who wanted her dress trimmed in black. Everybody to their own dream.

What do you think? Did you dream of your wedding dress as a child? Did your mother save her wedding dress or your grandmother’s dress for you to wear?

Leave your comments here and tomorrow I’ll draw one winner for two prizes: an autographed copy of SECRET AGENT SHEIK and a box of Ferrero Dark Chocolate Truffles! That’s Two Reasons to Celebrate!

For more information about Linda's Desert Sons series or to enter her website contest, go to: http://www.LindaConrad.com