The Next Mrs. Blackthorne

A Bitter Creek Novel

by Joan Johnston

Pocket Books

Contemporary Romance

September 1, 2005

ISBN-13: 0743454413

Available in: Paperback

The Next Mrs. Blackthorne
by Joan Johnston

A lavish summer wedding is being planned at Bitter Creek ranch. In one month, Clay Blackthorne will wed socialite Jocelyn Montrose. But when she hears stirrings of a corporate takeover by the family's archrival, North Grayhawk, Jocelyn covertly heads to North's ranch to offer a valuable commodity—herself—if North will call off his plans. Striking a deal to spend the summer with the steely, seductive North, Jocelyn fails to see that her sacrifice to protect the man she loves may have dire consequences.

Stunned by his fiancee's rejection, Clay, a newly appointed federal judge, begins presiding over an incendiary terrorism trial, which brings him face to face with his first love, Libby Grayhawk. As tensions mount, forces beyond Clay's control threaten the women most precious to him in the past and the present. And only in a daring act of sacrifice will he know which woman will become the next Mrs. Blackthorne.

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Joan Johnston's Bio

One of the most popular romance writers in America today, former attorney and college professor Joan Johnston has over 10 million books in print world-wide — including the New York Times bestsellers SISTERS FOUND, THE COWBOY, THE TEXAN, THE LONER, THE NEXT MRS. BLACKTHORNE and NO LONGER A STRANGER..
THE PRICE represented a milestone in Johnston’s career as her first hardcover original.

Joan Johnston has an eclectic background. Now the bestselling, award-winning author of forty-five novels, she was formerly an attorney with Hunton & Williams in Richmond, Virginia and Squire, Sanders & Dempsey in Miami, Florida. Joan also worked as a newspaper editor and drama critic in San Antonio, Texas, as a director of theatre in Southwest Texas, and as a college professor, most recently at the University of Miami, Florida. Joan has a B.A. in theatre arts from Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, Florida, an M.A. in theatre from the University of Illinois in Urbana and received her J.D. with honors from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law.

Joan loves to travel and visited England and Scotland to do research for her Captive Hearts series (Captive, After the Kiss, The Bodyguard and The Bridegroom). She also made journeys to Tahiti, Australia and Bali–for a South Seas, WWII novel that she hopes to write. Joan’s books have appeared on the New York Times, USA TODAY and Publishers Weekly Bestseller Lists.

For her Bitter Creek series, Joan toured the legendary King Ranch in South Texas and took a course on tracking (humans and animals!) from a Deputy Marshal deep in the Big Bend country of West Texas. She also traveled to Australia to tour the big cattle stations there and see what life is like Down Under.

Joan is a member of the Authors Guild, Novelists, Inc., Romance Writers of America and Florida Romance Writers. She divides her time between homes in Colorado and South Florida.

Johnston recently became a grandmother for the second time. Her daughter, a teacher, lives in the Tampa area. Her son, a budding novelist, lives in Orlando.