Joanne Rock - Making a Splash

Look what people are saying about this talented author

Joanne Rock puts her own personal magic into the pages of Highly Charged!, giving us a story that defines romance.

Cataromance, 5 stars

The super-sexy Highly Charged! is an explosive good time.

RT Book Reviews

A thrilling romantic suspense that will keep you turning the pages.

RT Book Reviews on Under Wraps

Definitely a home run! Characters jump off the pages and into our hearts.

Cataromance on Double Play

Readers will be held captive by Joanne Rocks superb historical.

Genre Go Round Reviews on The Captive

Very hot, as is Ms. Rocks trademark.

Tampa Bay Examiner, 5 stars on In the Lairds Bed

Dear Reader,

I love connected storiesreading them, and writing them, too! Im excited to introduce connected stories with this months release, Making a Splash and next months Riding the Storm. What made it even more fun for me was writing them for The Wrong Bed miniseries, which many readers already know is a perennial favorite of mine! Now, I have the unique pleasure of visiting The Wrong Bed: Again and Again, with two stories where a couple of hero brothers trade boats for a week.

My first hero, Jack Murphy, has no idea that theres a surprise waiting for him belowdecks when he boards his brothers power catamaran. But his brother set him up precisely so hed have no choice but to face the One That Got Away, sexy water sports instructor Alicia LeBlanc. Keith is pretty pleased with himself, but cosmic payback is inevitable next month in Riding the Storm!

I hope you enjoy visiting The Wrong Bed, too! Thanks so much for reading and dont forget to check out my website at www.joannerock.com for a contest every month to win free books and more.

Happy Reading,

Joanne Rock

Joanne Rock

MAKING A SPLASH

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The mother of three sports-minded sons, Joanne Rocks primary occupation is carting kids to practices and cheering on their athletic prowess at any number of sporting events. In the windows of time between football games, she loves to write and cheer on happily-ever-afters. A three-time RITA Award nominee, Joanne is the author of more than fifty books for a variety of Harlequin series. She has been an RT Book Reviews Career Achievement nominee and multiple Reviewers Choice finalist, including a nomination for The Captive (Blaze #534) as Best Blaze of 2010. Her work has been reprinted in twenty-six countries and translated into nineteen languages. Over two million copies of her books are in print. For more information on Joannes books, visit www.joannerock.com.

Books by Joanne Rock

HARLEQUIN BLAZE

171SILK CONFESSIONS

182HIS WICKED WAYS

240UP ALL NIGHT

256HIDDEN OBSESSION

305DONT LOOK BACK

311JUST ONE LOOK

363A BLAZING LITTLE CHRISTMAS
His for the Holidays

381GETTING LUCKY

395UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL

450SHE THINKS HER EX IS SEXY

457ALWAYS READY

486SLIDING INTO HOME

519MANHUNTING
The Takedown

534THE CAPTIVE

560DOUBLE PLAY

582UNDER WRAPS

604HIGHLY CHARGED!

HARLEQUIN HISTORICAL

749THE BETROTHAL
Highland Handfast

758MY LADYS FAVOR

769THE LAIRDS LADY

812THE KNIGHTS COURTSHIP

890A KNIGHT MOST WICKED

942THE KNIGHTS RETURN

To my sister and brother-in-law,
Linda and Bob Watson.
Thank you for letting me hang out on the boat
and for giving me another book idea. Turns out
my Florida visits are not only fun and fattening
but creatively productive, as well. I appreciate you!

Contents

Prologue

JACK MURPHY HAD BEEN BACK in town for less than four weeks since hed completed his navy contract and returned to Chatham, Massachusetts, from Bahrain. Already Keith had noted the changes in his older brother. Jack was quieter. More brooding than he used to be. And he refused to resume his old job as VP of global properties for Murphy Resorts, the family business.

Perhaps most notably, he hadnt bothered to show up for a family football game the day before, even though all the Murphy brothers were back in town at oncesomething that hadnt happened since Christmas three years ago. Clearly, something was wrong.

Keith watched him now as they shared a table at their oldest brothers engagement party on the lawn of the familys home overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Jack stared out at the waves, while one table over their father tapped his beer bottle to signal for the crowds attention.

There were six brothersfive by birth plus Axel, the foster brother from Finland whod been with them for eight years. Out of the six of them, Jack and Keith had both landed in the middle, with twenty-eight-year-old Jack eleven months older than Keith. They shared a lookthe family pictures proved it (as well as the face that Keith dressed better than the rest). All the brothers had inherited their fathers green eyes, in varying shades, and dark brown hair. Even Axel fit the mold, except for his blue eyes. Danny and Kyletwenty-six and twenty-five years old respectivelycarried the most muscle. Jack was the tallest. The other differences were in the way they carried themselves. Ryan was the corporate shark who would take over the family business. Jack was ex-Navy, clean-cut and brooding. Keith the GQ charmerhed like to thinkwhod developed his own company. Danny was a former rocker with a goatee and bad-ass sneer, but hed joined the Navy, too, and had no plans to get out. Kyle was a hockey superstar whose nose had taken its fair share of hits. Axel had come to the U.S. to ease his transition into the National Hockey League after playing on college teams with Kyle.

As the family peacemaker, Keith naturally felt compelled to pinpoint the problem with Jack. Hed ruled out post-traumatic stress disorder last week, thank God, after strong-arming his closemouthed brother into talking about his second overseas stint in four years. Instead of PTSD, hed discovered that Jack had a woman problem.

And that, Keith planned to address tonight.

To the future bride and groom! Their fathers hearty toast reverberated through the huge outdoor tent on the lawn.

On cue, Keith clanked glasses with his brothers in honor of Ryan and his bride to be. At least one of the Murphy men was in a good mood today.

Not that they werent all glad for Ryan, whose hard work with Murphy Resorts had more than earned him some personal happiness. Thats why all the Murphys had heeded the call to return to the sprawling house on Cape Cod for tonights brouhaha.

Jack didnt bother suppressing a scowl despite the festivities. Even as the chamber ensemble gave way to a lively dance band that cranked up tunes for the future bride and groom, Jack slid back into his chair after the toast and drummed his fingers on the white linen tablecloth.

The guys problem had a name, of course. Alicia LeBlanc. She was a firecracker and just the kind of woman a strong-willed man needed. But with two ardent opinions at work, theyd been too stubborn to see the possibilities of a future together, and Jack had joined the navy at a critical juncture in their relationship, telling her not to wait for him.

Nothing like slamming a door on a future.

The family had assumed four years away from homereturning only on the occasional leavewould cure Jack of Alicia. But hed come back from Bahrain more restless and edgy than ever. Something needed to be settled between those two, one way or another.

Luckily, Keith had a plan to shove his hardheaded brother in the right directionhe just happened to have the woman in question aboard his boat and docked nearby at this very moment. Because of his success starting up the environmental consulting firm he now ran, Alicia had approached Keith two weeks ago with some questions about developing a business plan for a bed-and-breakfast she hoped to purchase. He might have simply given her the advice and sent her on her way. But the inn she wanted was up in Bar Harbor, Maine, close to where Keith was headed. He needed to hand off the catamaran to one of his companys VIPs as part of a corporate incentives reward. Hed agreed to give Alicia all the help she wanted, but because of his busy schedule, hed talked her into discussing her plans on the ride to Bar Harbor. It would save him time, and allow her to view the property.