Beware of the Stranger

By Janet Dailey

A beautiful heiress in upstate New York can’t resist a mysterious stranger in this entry in the New York Times–bestselling author’s Americana series.
 
Discover romance across America with Janet Dailey’s classic series featuring a love story set in each of the fifty states. A New York Times–bestselling author with over 300 million copies of her books in print, Dailey transports you to the picturesque northern border of New York State in Beware of the Stranger.
 
Samantha Jones is a small town journalist with a big secret. She is actually Samantha Gentry, daughter of one of New York’s most famous and powerful moguls. At twenty-two, she’s decided that finding true love isn’t easy for an heiress. But she’s willing to change her mind when she meets a man who knows her secret—and claims to have a message from her father.
 
Soon, the handsome stranger has Samantha traveling by boat to a remote island along the St. Lawrence River. But who is Chris Andrews and what does he want? Why isn’t Samantha allowed to leave the island? A prisoner of the passionate lover whose motives she can’t begin to fathom, she is also a hostage to the powerful desires he awakens in her. And surrendering her heart could demand the highest ransom of all.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Media
• Release date: Apr 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781497612792

Janet Dailey

Janet Dailey (1944–2013) published her first book in 1976. During her lifetime, she wrote more than 100 novels and became one of the top-selling female authors in the world, with 300 million copies of her books sold in nineteen languages in ninety-eight countries. She is known for her strong, decisive characters, her extraordinary ability to recreate a time and a place, and her unerring courage to confront important, controversial issues in her stories. You can learn more about Janet at JanetDailey.com.

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Janet Dailey's Americana Series

Dangerous Masquerade (Alabama)

Northern Magic (Alaska)

Sonora Sundown (Arizona)

Valley Of the Vapours (Arkansas)

Fire And Ice (California)

After the Storm (Colorado)

Difficult Decision (Connecticut)

The Matchmakers (Delaware)

Southern Nights (Florida)

Night Of The Cotillion (Georgia)

Kona Winds (Hawaii)

The Travelling Kind (Idaho)

A Lyon's Share (Illinois)

The Indy Man (Indiana)

The Homeplace (Iowa)

The Mating Season (Kansas)

Bluegrass King (Kentucky)

The Bride Of The Delta Queen (Louisiana)

Summer Mahogany (Maine)

Bed Of Grass (Maryland)

That Boston Man (Massachusetts)

Enemy In Camp (Michigan)

Giant Of Mesabi (Minnesota)

A Tradition Of Pride (Mississippi)

Show Me (Missouri)

Big Sky Country (Montana)

Boss Man From Ogallala (Nebraska)

Reilly's Woman (Nevada)

Heart Of Stone (New Hampshire)

One Of The Boys (New Jersey)

Land Of Enchantment (New Mexico)

Beware Of The Stranger (New York)

That Carolina Summer (North Carolina)

Lord Of the High Lonesome (North Dakota)

The Widow And The Wastrel (Ohio)

Six White Horses (Oklahoma)

To Tell The Truth (Oregon)

The Thawing Of Mara (Pennsylvania)

Strange Bedfellow (Rhode Island)

Low Country Liar (South Carolina)

Dakota Dreamin' (South Dakota)

Sentimental Journey (Tennessee)

Savage Land (Texas)

A Land Called Deseret (Utah)

Green Mountain Man (Vermont)

Tidewater Lover (Virginia)

For Mike's Sake (Washington)

Wild And Wonderful (West Virginia)

With A Little Luck (Wisconsin)

Darling Jenny (Wyoming)

Other Janet Dailey Titles You Might Enjoy

American Dreams

Aspen Gold

Fiesta San Antonio

For Bitter Or Worse

The Great Alone

Heiress

The Ivory Cane

Legacies

Masquerade

The Master Fiddler

No Quarter Asked

Rivals

Something Extra

Sweet Promise

Tangled Vines

Introduction

Introducing Janet Dailey Americana. Every novel in this collection is your passport to a romantic tour of the United States through time-honored favorites by America's First Lady of romance fiction. Each of the fifty novels is set in a different state, researched by Janet and her husband, Bill. For the Daileys it was an odyssey of discovery. For you, it's the journey of a lifetime.

Preface

When I first started writing back in the Seventies, my husband Bill and I were retired and traveling all over the States with our home—a 34' travel trailer—in tow. That's when Bill came up with the great idea of my writing a romance novel set in each one of our fifty states. It was an idea I ultimately accomplished before switching to mainstream fiction and hitting all the international bestseller lists.

As we were preparing to reissue these early titles, I initially planned to update them all—modernize them, so to speak, and bring them into the new high-tech age. Then I realized I couldn't do that successfully any more than I could take a dress from the Seventies and redesign it into one that would look as if it were made yesterday. That's when I saw that the true charm of these novels is their look back on another time and another age. Over the years, they have become historical novels, however recent the history. When you read them yourself, I know you will feel the same.

So, enjoy, and happy reading to all!

Chapter One

SAMANTHA'S FINGERS punched relentlessly at the typewriter keys. A furrow of concentration formed between her dark eyebrows and the line of her mouth was grim with determination. Regardless of her efforts, she couldn't achieve any speed with the manual typewriter. She might as well have been pecking the keys with one finger. Her little finger missed the a in Yale and the typed word became Yle.

Sighing impatiently, Samantha reached for the eraser, nearly worn out from frequent use. The image of the sleek electric typewriter at home flitted wistfully through her mind. If only she could bring it to work, she thought, and immediately shelved the idea. An expensive model like that would raise too many eyebrows and too many questions.

The eraser gouged a hole in the paper, completely obliterating the error. Damn! Samantha muttered in exasperation, and ripped the sheet from the carriage.

Problems? The question was loaded with good-natured ribbing.

Samantha shot the dark-haired girl a quelling look. None that a little manual dexterity wouldn't cure. Why don't you lend me some of yours, Beth? You can afford it.

The snappish reply carried a trace of envy. There wasn't a machine in the place that Beth couldn't operate with lightning speed and efficiency. It didn't matter whether it was a manual or an electric typewriter, a copy machine or the teletype in the adjoining news wire room.

Poor Sammi, Beth laughed. Why don't you try the one-finger, hunt and peck method? Mr. Lindsey has used it for years. Referring to their mutual boss and the owner-editor of the newspaper.

This is one reporter who's going to be a speedy typist—even if I have a mental breakdown first, Samantha grimaced, but her sense of humor had returned, however wryly.

What are you working on? Beth ignored the comment except for a faintly sympathetic smile that touched her lips. I'm not busy. Maybe I can type it for you?

No, thanks. Samantha shook her head firmly, thick, luxurious seal-brown hair rippling about her shoulders. It's the Around and About column. It's so dull you'd fall asleep before you were half-done. I wish Har—Mr. Lindsey would let me spice it up a bit. She quickly corrected her near reference to their boss by his first name.

Beth wrinkled her nose. How could you ever spice up that boring column? 'Mrs. Carmichael's daughter Susan was home for the weekend.' 'Mr. and Mrs. Donald Bradshaw entertained guests from out of state.' She irreverently mimicked the type of copy that appeared in the column.

It would be easy, Samantha asserted, if I were allowed to do a little snooping. Take this item about Frank Howard, our esteemed attorney and Yale graduate, who had one of his former classmates spend the weekend. It just happens that this former classmate applied for the position of District School Superintendent and Frank Howard just happens to be chairman of the school board. Now if that doesn't smack of political maneuvering and collusion, nothing does.

Really? Beth breathed, her eyes widening at that piece of gossip. But no one's been offered the position yet?

Not yet, Samantha agreed dryly. But I doubt if anyone else will get it other than our chairman's friend and fellow alumnus.

Does the boss know?

Yes. She inserted a new sheet of paper into the typewriter and turned her disgruntled expression to her notes. And he reminded me that he doesn't print that type of column.

Harry Lindsey had said a bit more than that. Samantha had listened to his twenty-minute lecture concerning the diplomacy needed to operate a small-town newspaper. He had pointed out that any of the innocent items in the column could be turned, through conjecture and supposition, into juicy gossip, a fact Samantha was well aware of.

He had also forcefully pointed out that these same people who liked to see their names in print in the innocent column were generally business people in the community. The same business people he relied on to run advertisements in his newspapers and provide him with an income to keep the newspaper going. And a good editor didn't offend his clients just to sell copies unless there was ample justification. A little political back-scratching did not fall into that category unless there was fraud or criminal intention involved.

It was a statement Samantha couldn't throw stones at for fear one of them would boomerang. Her father did plenty of back-scratching. It was his considerable influence that had obtained her this job with Harry Lindsey for the summer. She had wanted to learn the basics of newspaper reporting, and what better place to do it than on the staff of a small-town newspaper? With this experience and a diploma in journalism that would be in her hands at the end of her next college year, Samantha was confident that she could get a job with a big publication. Her ambition was to become one of the best investigative reporters around.

But realistically, Samantha sighed, she had to concede the wisdom of Harry's attitude. For the time being, she would simply have to stem the instinctive urge to delve below the surface of a given situation. Her natural curiosity could run free later when she had achieved her ambition.

It wasn't a goal she talked about too much. Few people she knew would understand her desire. Most of her female classmates and even her co-workers on the paper, such as Beth, still considered work of secondary importance. Their first ambition was to find a man, with luck, to marry. There were one or two who were as dedicated as Samantha was to the pursuit of their careers, but each one also planned to have a man to share in her future.

At twenty-two, Samantha had few illusions left about men, at least as far as she was concerned. She didn't hate them or even dislike them. Samantha had simply faced the fact that there never could be one man in her life.

It wasn't that she was repulsive to look at—quite the contrary. Her freshly scrubbed, wholesome features were quite pleasing to the eye. There was even a suggestion of sensuality to the curve of her lips. The brown of her eyes, the same richly dark shade as her hair, sparkled often with animation and a zest for life. There was a frankness to their expression that was decidedly fresh and appealing. Her eyes didn't know how to be coy and flirt. Occasionally there was a glimmer of shrewdness in the warm brown depths, an inheritance from her father and a trait that Samantha intended to put to use in her chosen career.

The truth was that she was every man's ideal of a perfect sister. It was a backhanded compliment received so often that it had lost its sting. That could have been overcome with the right man. But Samantha doubted that there was a man alive who could overcome her biggest obstacle.

This summer's charade had pointed that out to her. Being a new female face in a small town had attracted a lot of male attention to Samantha. Most of it was dissolved by her sisterly looks. At a local dance, she had overheard her date being teased that it must be like kissing his sister when he took her home. It was the last time the man had asked her out.

The few, very few, who had remained attentive would run to the hills the minute they found out she was Reuben Gentry's daughter, Samantha knew. She had discovered very early in life that the male ego was too fragile. Men weren't willing to marry a woman whose father would overshadow them their entire lives. Unless they wanted to share in the wealth and power he commanded, and Samantha wanted no part of that kind of man. Thanks to the shrewd perception she had inherited from her father, she usually spotted that kind the instant she met them and steered clear.

For a while Samantha had thought if she could find a man as powerful and wealthy as her father, she wouldn't have to worry about the problem of being Reuben Gentry's daughter. She had even been engaged to such a man when she was eighteen, but it had lasted only a month. She had found out two things. One was that money always wants more money and her fiancé considered their engagement more of a business alliance with her father. And secondly, she didn't love the man.

The broken engagement had also brought an end to any plans for a man in her life—at least in the singular. In time she would probably have affairs with men. She was a red-blooded woman with physical needs, too. It was even possible that she would fall in love with someone, but it wouldn't last—Samantha knew that. She loathed the terms spinster and old maid. She preferred to think of herself as a confirmed bachelorette. In these liberated times there was nothing to be ashamed of in not being married.

Reuben Gentry had always silently understood the burden she carried as his daughter. Only once had he said anything about it, and that had been after her engagement was broken and Samantha had explained why she had done it. He had suggested that she might prefer some anonymity, hinting that he wouldn't object if she changed her name.

Samantha had refused outright, declaring, I'm not ashamed of who I am!

Her cheeks dimpled slightly as Samantha concealed a smile. Only for this summer had she concealed her identity, wanting to work for the small newspaper without the usual notoriety that followed her. The smile continued to play about the corners of her mouth. Only minutes ago she had been wanting to spice up the column with a bit of gossip. And she was the biggest story in the entire town. Imagine how everyone would be set back on their heels if they found out that the innocuous Samantha Jones was really the Samantha Gentry!

What are you smiling about? Beth wanted to know.

Samantha let her mouth curve into a full smile. Just imagining the readers' reactions if I actually printed the truth, she replied, without explaining further her exact meaning.

Beth shrugged, not finding the idea nearly as humorous as Samantha did. She continued flipping through the magazine lying on her desk and stopped turning pages when a particular article caught her interest.

Here's my horoscope for the month, Beth said aloud and began reading it. 'June will be a calm month with plenty of warmth and laughter. Weekends will mean pleasant jaunts but not too far from home. Your closest friends will be a source of joy.' Nothing about weddings,