title: Deadly Promise (Francesca Cahill Romance Novels)
author:  Brenda Joyce 
description: Unconventional, reform-minded heiress Francesca Cahill has earned a reputation as an effective amateur sleuth, primarily through her work with New York City police commissioner Rick Bragg. Asked to look into the disappearance of young Emily O'Hare, Francesca discovers that Emily is not the only pretty girl who has gone missing in the last year. Unfortunately, Francesca's partnership with Rick has now become complicated since not only has Rick's former wife returned to him, but Francesca has recently received an offer of marriage from Calder Hart, Rick's wealthy half-brother and longtime rival. While trying to unsnarl her tangled romantic interests, Francesca finds she must rely on both Rick and Calder if she is to have any chance at finding the abducted girls. The sixth in a series picks up Francesca's story after the unexpected proposal she received in <i>Deadly </i>Love (2001), and Joyce expertly manipulates Francesca's deeply conflicted feelings for two very different men into an elegant blend of mystery and romance simmering with sexual tension. <i>John Charles</i><br /><i>Copyright  American Library Association. All rights reserved</i>
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  DEADLY LOVE
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  B.D. Joyce
  
  St. Martin’s Paperbacks
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  To all of my Bragg fans,
  
  with the utmost thanks and appreciation.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Chapter 1
  
  Saturday, January 18, 1902—8 P.M.
  
  There was a soft rapping upon her door. Francesca Cahill recognized the knock
  and she froze, hunched over her desk, a Waterman fountain pen in hand.
  Electric lighting, installed when the house was first built eight years
  earlier, spilled over the vellum she was writing upon. She felt like a crook
  caught with his hand in the bank safe.
  
  Her sister did not wait for her to answer, and she entered Francesca’s large,
  beautifully appointed bedroom. Outside, it was snowing heavily; inside, a fire
  roared in the dark green marble hearth. “You’re not even dressed!” Connie
  cried, eyes widening so vastly that the effect was almost comical.
  
  Francesca forced herself to smile as she jumped to her feet, effectively
  blocking Connie’s view of the desk. She stole a guilty glance at the
  grandfather clock 