Dear Reader,<br><br>Here is the first of my new "Brides" trilogy, in which three unconventional young women vow they will never marry--only to be overtaken by destiny.  Bride #1 is the outspoken Portia....<br><br>It's bad enough that seventeen-year-old Portia Worth is taken in by her uncle, the marquis of Granville, after her father dies.  As the bastard niece, Portia knows she can expect little beyond a roof over her head and a place at the table.<br><br>But it truly adds insult to injury when the Granvilles' archenemy, the outlaw Rufus Decatur, hatches a scheme to abduct the marquis's daughter--only to kidnap Portia by accident.<br><br>Portia, who possesses more than a streak of independence as well as a talent for resistance, does not take kindly to being abducted--mistakenly or otherwise.<br><br>Decatur will soon find himself facing the challenge of his life, both on the battlefield and in the bedroom, as he contends with this misfit of a girl who has the audacity to believe herself the equal of any man....<br><br>Warmest wishes,<br><br>Jane Feather<br><br><br>P.S.  Phoebe, the "awkward" one, will be next, in <i>The Accidental Bride.</i>  Watch for it in early 1999.