Playing for Time (Harlequin American Romance, No 193) [Mass Market Paperback]

Barbara Bretton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1987

Life was getting interesting
Strange comings and goings, odd disappearances - Joanna Stratton's Manhattan apartment building sizzled with intrigue. At the heart of it was Ryder O'Neal, who was supposedly incapacitated by a broken leg but who got around surprisingly well - and at unusual hours- with the help of a debonair Briton and a sleek Rolls-Royce.

Joanna was forced to maintain a safe distance between herself and the elusive Mr. O'Neal, for her new assignment as a makeup artist demanded she disguise herself as her own grandmother. But Joanna wasn't safe, not from Ryder, nor from adventure on a scale that she'd never dreamed of.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 253 pages
• Publisher: Harlequin (March 1, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 037316193X
• ISBN-13: 978-0373161935
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,729,581 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

In the month of February 1982 I wrote and sold my first novel. And no, I wouldn't believe it either if it hadn't happened to me. I sent in my manuscript on Thursday February 21, 1982 and four days later the telephone rang and I heard the amazing words, "We want to buy your book." How I wish you could have seen me. I was standing by the kitchen door of our North Babylon house, the picture of cool sophistication, as I listened to Vivian Stephens explain the terms of the deal to me. You would have thought I'd sold a first book every single day of my life. Yes, I said. Sounds wonderful. Thank you so much for calling. I look forward to our association. That cool sophistication hung on until I hung up the phone, took a deep breath, then promptly threw up on my shoes.

I was thirty-one years old, unagented, unschooled, unfamiliar with anything to do with the business of publishing. To put it mildly, I was in shock. My husband was working in Manhattan at the time (and finishing up his degree at night) so it would be hours until I could break the news to him. This was too exciting to waste on a phone call. I wanted to see his face when I told him that my dream had finally come true -- and came with a $6000 advance!

He pulled into the driveway at midnight. I was waiting in the doorway, holding a bottle of champagne and two glasses. I didn't have to say a word. He knew right away and the look of joy and pride in his eyes warms me now, years later, long after the advance faded into memory.