One Red Rose, Vol. 3 by Julie Garwood

From the Publisher

The Claybornes are back -- and love is in bloom! First introduced in Julie Garwood's magnificent New York Times bestseller For the Roses, which inspired the Hallmark Hall of Fame television film Rose Hill, the Clayborne brothers of Blue Belle, Montana, have been embraced by millions worldwide. Now Julie Garwood spins the individual stories of these three spirited brothers -- once a mismatched gang of street urchins -- in a trio of special novels that continues with One Red Rose.

Adam Clayborne has always put great stock in the power of books. As an escaped slave -- and a wanted man -- reading has been his only ticket to the wonders of distant lands. Adam is content with his life as a confirmed bachelor, which is why his Mama Rose has summoned the irresistible Genevieve Delacroix to Montana. Also a former slave, Genevieve shares his dream of seeing the world, but she arrives to find Adam unfailingly polite...and just as distant. Undaunted, Genevieve determines to teach Adam what he'll never learn from a book -- that true freedom only comes when you open your heart.

Library Journal

Although each of these books focuses on a different love story and could theoretically be read independently, they are linked by the characters and a thread of mystery that runs throughout the series. Readers may find it more satisfying to read the books in sequenceand to read the original story, For the Roses (Pocket, 1995), before tackling the "Clayborne Brides" trilogy. Second in the trilogy, following One Pink Rose (Pocket, 1997), One White Rose concerns Douglas Clayborne, who comes to a rundown ranch to claim a horse he is buying and ends up playing midwife and then protector to the beleaguered widow of the man he has come to see. Well-maintatined sexual tension and some great one-liners mark this title. In One Red Rose, Adam, former runaway slave, family scholar, and oldest of the Clayborne brothers, meets his matrimonial match (with a bit of help from Mama Rose) in the beautifuland stubbornGenevieve Perry. A plot that is frightening and funny in turn deftly advances a series that concludes this December with the publication in hardcover of Come the Spring (see Prepub Alert, LJ p. 58). Garwood lives in the Kansas City, Kansas, area.

Product Details

• Table of Contents
• Interviews & Essays
• Read an Excerpt

Table of Contents

Interviews & Essays

Q:  Which couple in history do you think is the most romantic?

A:  Harry Truman and Beth Truman, because they were so in love with each other. William the Conquerer, because in all he did and in all his travels, he was ultimately faithful to his wife. Fidelity and loyalty are really important to me. For me, these traits define marriage.

Q:  Have you ever successfully played matchmaker?

A:  No, I haven't. I learned early not to interfere.

Q:  Where is your favorite place to read?

A:  I'm usually doing three things at once. I have a big, long sofa that I usually curl up on at night. There are some nights I fall asleep on that sofa with research books all around me, and I wake up and have to go to bed.

Q:  Have you given a book as a gift lately? Which one?

A:  Yes. Frank McCourt's book, Angela's Ashes, which I just gave to a friend. He's coming to speak here soon, and I'm sure he will be wonderful.

Q:  What's your thirst quencher of choice on a scorching summer day?

A:  Diet Coke with lime. In fact, I drink that instead of coffee. I drink it for the caffeine. It hits the spot.

Q:  What is your favorite romantic movie?

A:  The original "An Affair to Remember." I still cry when I see it. Also "Casablanca." A movie I've been thinking about a lot lately, because Robert Mitchum just passed away, is "Heaven Help Us, Mr. Alison." Although it is about a nun and a soldier, the way they feel about each other is wonderfully romantic. I prefer the older movies. The last really wonderful movie I saw recently was "Sleepless in Seattle," which of course had "An Affair to Remember" in it.

Read an Excerpt

It really was a hell of a mess, and he had no one but Mama Rose to blame for meddling in his private affairs. He would deal with her later, but now he needed to

First things first. He needed to move away from her. He was standing entirely too close. Odd, but he couldn't seem to make himself step back. Her scent, so light and feminine, made him think she'd bathed in lilacs. He liked it more than he thought he should. He liked just about everything about her. He even noticed, and approved of, what she was wearing, and he had never been interested in such superficial things before. Still, the starched, high-collared white blouse and white skirt were a nice contrast to her flawless coloring. She looked as prim and proper as a banker's wife, and was as sexy as hell.

He shook himself out of his reflection. "Why don't we go down to the library."

"The library? Yes, we should go to the library."

"Good idea," he drawled out.

She inwardly groaned. She was doing it again, repeating his words. He was going to start calling her a parrot if she didn't get hold of herself and stop thinking about foolish things, such as how deep and rich the sound of his voice was and how clean and masculine his scent was. He seemed to carry the outdoors around with him.

He really had the most devastating effect on her. She let out a little sigh. "I've been dreading this."

"Dreading what?"

"Our private talk," she said. "Shall we go and get it over with?"

She sounded as though she were on her way to a firing squad. He agreed with a nod and walked by her side down the stairs. When they reached the end of the back hall, he moved forward to open the door, then stepped back so she could enter the library first.

The room was musty and smelled of old books. She found it very pleasing and looked around in fascination and approval. There were hundreds of volumes lined up on cherry wood shelves from the ceiling to the floor, and more books were piled in stacks on the hardwood floor near the windows.

The library had taken on the character of the man who occupied it, she decided. She knew from Adam's letters to his mother how much he loved to read, and she would have wagered every cent she possessed that he had already read every book there. He might even have read them more than once.

He motioned for her to take a seat. She chose one of the two overstuffed leather chairs facing the desk, sat down on the very edge of the seat, with her knees and her ankles pressed together and her back as straight as a ruler, and folded her hands in her lap.

She couldn't sit still long. While he was getting comfortable in his chair behind the desk, she nervously began to tap her heels against the floor. She stared down at her lap so she could concentrate, and rehearsed what she would say to him.

She thought it would be better if she let him speak first, and after he was finished, she would then gently -- yes, gently -- explain that her circumstances had changed and she couldn't marry him. She would be as diplomatic as a statesman so that she wouldn't injure his feelings or damage his pride.

Adam sat back in his chair and stared at her, patiently waiting for her to tell him what was on her mind. After several minutes passed in silence, he decided it was up to him to begin. He knew exactly what he wanted to say to her, for he'd been thinking about it all week long. Why then was it so difficult for him to get started?

He cleared his throat. The tapping got faster and louder.

"Genevieve, I'm not certain what your understanding with Mama Rose was, but I --"

She jumped to her feet. "Oh, Adam, I can't do it. I just can't."

"You can't what?"

"I can't marry you. I wish I could, but I can't. I wanted to explain right away, but you've been avoiding me all week long, which makes me think you don't really want to marry me anyway, and this personal matter wasn't something I wanted to talk about in front of your relatives. It's all so awkward, isn't it? Your mother put both of us in such a peculiar position. Are we engaged or aren't we? No, of course we aren't. Will it surprise you to know that I do want to marry you, or at least I used to want to marry you? For heaven's sake, don't look so surprised. I'm telling you the truth. Everything's changed though, and I can't possibly marry you now. No, it's out of the question, and even if you did want to marry me, well, eventually you'd find out about the trouble I'm in, and then you'd be horrified you ever entertained the notion. Do you see? I'm saving you from making a terrible mistake. I'm so sorry to disappoint you. Truly I am. You're just going to have to get over me. Broken hearts do mend. There, I've had my say. We can't get married, no matter how much you want to, and I apologize for deliberately misleading you. It was insensitive and cruel of me."

She finally paused long enough to take a breath. She knew she'd made a mess out of her explanation, and even while she had been rambling on and on, she'd kept telling herself to stop, but she couldn't seem to make herself do it. He probably thought she was crazy. His expression didn't give her a hint of what he was thinking, and she could only conclude that he was too stunned to react at all. Some of the words she'd blurted out kept repeating inside her head. Dear God, she'd started out telling him she didn't believe he wanted to marry her, and by the time she'd finished, she was insisting that his broken heart would mend. Oh, yes, he had to think she was demented. Mortified, she turned her attention to the wall behind him, pretending great interest in the framed map hanging there.

Copyright© 1997 by Julie Garwood