Jack's Christmas Mission

By Beverly Barton

The last thing Peggy Jo Riley wanted this holiday was a hard-boiled charmer in her house 24/7. But if she wanted to stay alive, she needed Jack Parker. And once she was in Jack's well-muscled arms, she realized just how much she needed him....

Up until the moment he'd seen desire flicker in her pretty eyes, bodyguard Jack Parker had thought Peggy Jo Riley was just another assignment. But the vulnerability he'd glimpsed under this cool beauty's armor made him ache to do a whole lot more for Peggy Jo. Like kiss her till she gave him her trust. And love her till she gave him her heart...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Harlequin
• Release date: Feb 21, 2011
• ISBN: 9781459203778

Beverly Barton

I'm a sixth generation Alabamian who writes mainstream romantic suspense for Kensington. I'm also a wife, mother and grandmother. People who know me well will tell you that my family is more important to me than anything in the world. I'm fortunate to have a cousin who is like a sister to me and am blessed with a handful of close friends, whom I refer to as my bosom buddies. I wouldn't know what to do without these great gals who give me encouragement, support, advice, love and lots of laughs. I was born in Alabama, where my parents lived on my paternal grandmother's ancestral home place, a farm that is still owned by a member of the family. My upbringing was divided between Tuscumbia & Barton, Alabama and Chattanooga, Tennessee. I graduated high school from Chattanooga Central and then attended college at the University of North Alabama. I married young and traveled briefly with my husband, who served in the navy in the mid-to-late sixties. After my husband decided against a military career, we settled back in our home state of Alabama and started a family. First a daughter and then a son. I was "in my element" as a stay-at-home mother and I can truthfully say that I've loved every moment of motherhood. I enjoyed my children as babies, as toddlers, grade-schoolers, teenagers and now as adults. Our children are both grown and out of college, with successful lives and good marriages. I always wanted four children and when my two kids married fabulous people, I finally got that second daughter and son. We have two young grandsons, who have brought tremendous joy into our growing-older world, and just this year, we were blessed with the birth of a beautiful granddaughter. I sold my fist book in 1989 and it was released as a July 1990 Silhouette Desire. Yankee Lover was set in my hometown of Tuscumbia, Alabama, during the annual Helen Keller Festival. Since that first sale, I've written over sixty books for Silhouette and Kensington. My first mainstream romantic suspense, After Dark, was released in December 2000 under the Zebra imprint for Kensington. In the past seventeen years, I've gone from being one of the "new kids on the block" to one of the "old pros."