CAN YOU TAKE THE HEAT?

From street-smart kid to respected cop, Killian "Chili Pepper" Cray had left her old life behind eight years ago and never looked back. But after an attempted murder left her foster father in a coma, Killian was forced to wade through the bitter memories back home in Syracuse and dig up evidence that would bring down the killer. Facing her past had never been easy, but it was reuniting with the man who'd loved and betrayed her that really shook Killian to the core. Stubborn as always, Jack O'Brien insisted on helping her, especially as the threats against Killian's own life mounted. And before long, the man who'd helped build the walls around Killian's heart was doing his best to break them down.

After twenty years of working in a special school with children with severe emotional problems, school psychologist, Susan Peterson, decided that she desperately needed a few more humorous and happy-ever-after moments in her life. So she took the leap and started writing romance novels. There was plenty of early disappointments when Susan learned that the publishing world wasn't anxiously awaiting her literary contribution, but her big moment came when she won first place in the Harlequin Duet's Writer's Contest in the fall of 1999. Her excitement about winning quickly increased when she learned that Harlequin was interested in publishing her first romantic comedy, EVERYTHING BUT ANCHOVIES. Susan lives with her son, Kevin, their nut ball dog, Ozzie and the supreme princess, Phoenix the cat, in the Champlain Valley in upper New York State. Although Susan loves the beauty of the Adirondack Mountains in spring, summer and fall, she isn't yet convinced that shovelling several feet of snow every winter is worth the effort. Unfortunately, her efforts to relocate her family to the balmy warmth of the Southeast isn't being met with much co-operation from Kevin, Ozzie and Phoenix. For some reason, the three of them aren't very keen about leaving the frozen north!