The Matchmakers

His words were like a knife in her heart. Of all the romantic fools, Kathleen thought, she had to top the list. In her crazy, old-fashioned thinking, she had believed Jordan Long would want to marry her. Instead, he wanted to set her up as his mistress. Her eyes searched the beloved features of his face, scarcely believing the words he had just spoken. Could she be satisfied with such a tenuous existence—willing to accept the crumbs of his attention, never sharing the joys and sorrows of everyday life?

“No.” Kathleen was startled to discover she had spoken aloud. “No,” she repeated. “I don’t want you to make love to me.” Janet Dailey, who passed away in 2013, was born Janet Haradon in 1944 in Storm Lake, Iowa. She attended secretarial school in Omaha, Nebraska, before meeting her husband, Bill. The two worked together in construction and land development until they “retired” to travel throughout the United States, inspiring Janet to write the Americana series of romances, setting a novel in every state of the Union. In 1974, Janet Dailey was the first American author to write for Harlequin. Her first novel was No Quarter Asked. She has gone on to write approximately ninety novels, twenty-one of which have appeared on the New York Times bestseller list. She won many awards and accolades for her work, appearing widely on radio and television. Today, there are over three hundred million Janet Dailey books in print in nineteen different languages, making her one of the most popular novelists in the world. For more information about Janet Dailey, visit www.janetdailey.com.