October 2010 On Sale: October 5, 2010 Featuring: Garron of Kersey; Merry 336 pages ISBN: 0399156755 EAN: 9780399156755 Paperback Add to Wish List Romance Historical Buy at Amazon.com The Valcourt Heiress by Catherine Coulter Set in medieval England, this lively historical romance delivers the trademark wit that fans have come to know and love from the #1 New York Times-bestselling author. When Garron of Kersey returns home from the king’s service to claim his title as Baron Wareham, he’s shocked to find Wareham Castle very nearly destroyed by a man called the Black Demon. According to the last starving servants still clinging to life inside the castle walls, the Black Demon was looking for gold belonging to Garron’s brother Arthur. Among his remaining servants is the enigmatic Merry, the bastard child of the castle’s priest. Garron quickly realizes that she is much more than a servant: She reads and writes and makes lists, just as he does. Together they bring Wareham back to its former splendor. But this is only the beginning. Did Arthur have a cache of gold? Who is the Black Demon? And the biggest question of all: Who is Merry? This unique medieval romance has some surprises…

I have a thing for small town romance, which I’ve always found kind of interesting since I didn’t grow up in a small town. I grew up in St. Louis. Big city. Professional baseball and football teams, lots to do, major commerce, heavy traffic—all the big city things you would expect of a—well, a big city. But here and there I’ve lived in small towns. And oh, I love them. I raised my sons in what was then (but isn’t now) a small town. The kind of small town where if you lived there long enough, you’d run into people at the grocery store who knew who you were, or knew you were the parent of one of their friends. People on the street where I lived used to have block parties. No one stayed in their houses keeping to themselves. Everyone knew everyone else. If you went out at night, you knew your neighbors were watching your house (or your teenagers, much to their dismay). I live in a small town now, on an acre and a half of land, but still live on a street where I know my neighbors, where people watch out for you, where high…