… to see the cover of my next book, Wild, coming out in January, 2009. Here it is, in all its glory!

The Avon cover artists totally nailed the hero and heroine of Wild. They conveyed a true sense of the characters as well as the tone of the book. I’m so pleased!

The hero is Anthony Maddox, Earl of Sutton, who was lost on safari in Africa as a child, twenty-two years before the start of my story. When he is brought to his grandmother in England, he has no interest in staying. He doesn’t care about the title he inherited from his father, or the wealth he will have if the House of Lords recognizes him as the true heir. He is acclimated to the Congo. His valley is as close to perfect as any place on earth can be, and he wants to return to his life there. Besides, being abandoned by his father in Africa was enough to make him wary of English society. He cannot trust that he won’t be abandoned and betrayed again by those who claim to care about him.

Grace Hawthorne is the proper young woman who is companion to the dowager countess of Sutton, Anthony’s grandmother. Grace is straight-laced and rigid, and cool propriety has gotten her through some very tough times in her life. As Grace is being courted by a wealthy and proper landowner nearby, Lady Sutton shakes her world by giving her the task of tutoring her grandson. Grace’s assignment is to make him ready to appear before the House of Lords in order to claim his title – a title he doesn’t really want. He is a huge challenge to Grace and everything she believes in, refusing to allow her to let fear rule her life. And if Grace can overcome her own fears, she might also be able to teach Anthony how to trust again.