**Includes lengthy excerpt from the Bestselling historical TIDES OF LOVE**TIDES OF PASSION: National Reader's Choice for Best HistoricalShe is his greatest temptation. He is her forbidden desire.A battle of wills leads to love.AN UNCONVENTIONAL WOMANSpirited Savannah Connor is passionately committed tostamping out social injustice. Yet when she arrives in Pilot Isle, NorthCarolina, ready to take up a new cause, she quickly finds herself on the outswith the town constable. Zachariah Garrett is the most arrogant, infuriating,maddeningly attractive man it's ever been her misfortune to meet. And suddenly,Savannah is fighting a whole new battle--this one against her own yearning for aman who is impossible to resist.AN UNCOMPROMISING MANEver since his wife's death two years ago, Zachariah Garretthas dedicated his life to keeping the peace. And avoiding love. But SavannahConnor isn't an ordinary woman--and she proves hard to ignore. She's a beguilingbeauty with the power to awaken emotions Zach thought he'd never feel again,and the tenderness to help him forget his fears. And risk his heart once more.***"Oh, heavens, Constable, is that a call for marriage in your world? I've never been kissed well enough to get me in front of a preacher." Covering her mouth with her hand, she gasped, "Must be some--what would you call it--mighty fine kissing to make people take vows.""Well," he said, feeling a frown bunch his brow, "it could be good. That's not out of the realm of possibility.""Prove it," she said around another burst of laughter. "Prove it, prove it, prove it."He rubbed a hand across his chin, debating the wisdom of having any more wine. Had he actually thought he was in control of this situation? "I don't know. This all seems crazy to me. And it was my idea."She gulped a breath and patted her chest. "My, from the fantastic entertainment I've witnessed in this town, I'm sure it does." Taking a step forward, she held out her hand, as if she were trying hard not to startle him. It was downright insulting. "Rightly, Constable, you asked me first. And I'm willing to go the distance to solve a disagreement.""I bet you're always willing," Zach muttered, wondering if he'd lost his mind sitting in his backyard on a lovely twilight evening. Gambling with a woman who wouldn't back down if a tiger had her latched in its jaws."Are you willing?"Through the shadows, he found her gleaming eyes, her slightly curved mouth. "No, it's too reckless. Too irresponsible.""You're sounding like a father. Or a constable, Constable.""I'm both, Miss Connor."He watched her lips tilt and flow into a glorious smile. "Rory's in bed, safe and sound. Most of the town is in bed, safe and sound. And you're here, with a pragmatic woman who can take care of herself. Two adults and one magnificent challenge.""More like a dare," he said and drained his glass.She took a step closer, until her skirt brushed his knee. "Call it a dare if you like.""No." His resolve slipped a notch when she crouched before him, the pleasing angles of her face flooding into view. She was much, much too tempting."I'll do it all. You don't have to participate. That should be enough to prove my case.""I wasn't serious when I said that. I'm sure you're not, hell, frigid."She leaned in, her hands sliding along the arms of the chair, her face fading out of view as it closed in on his. A scent, provocative and earthy, stole in with his stuttered breath. "You see, Constable, I'm always serious. And..." He watched her moisten her lips, so near he could almost taste her."Close your eyes. I've heard that's the way it's done."