When a romance writer discovers that she’s magically entered her own novel, she must team up with the gruff, alluring protagonist to find her way back home—from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Women. “Hannah is superb at delving into her main characters’ psyches and delineating nuances of feeling.”— The Washington Post Book World Romance writer Alaina Costanza has given up on dreams and fairy tales. Then one storm-tossed, enchanted night she is plunged back in time to the wild, Western world of her newest novel. Disoriented and disbelieving, she is kidnapped by her own character, a ruthless outlaw only known as Killian.   At first Alaina is not afraid. After all, she wrote this story, invented the notoriously sexy Killian. Now she’s matching him hard-bitten word for word . . . until she’s hit with the shock of her life: this is all too real. Once wisecracking and invincible, she is now a mother desperate to return to the child she left behind—one hundred years in the future.   Thrown together by fate, Alaina and Killian will discover a love too magnificent to last a single lifetime. But even magic has a price, and time is running out. For the sake of Alaina’s child, they must risk it all and fight for a future that depends on lightning striking . . . twice. Tough, outspoken, and deeply lonely, romance writer Alaina Costanza collapses over her computer one stormy night only to wake up 100 years earlier in Fortune Flats-a cow town that she has created in her latest novel. When she ends up being kidnapped by the outlaw villain and falls in love with him rather than with the sheriff "hero," she realizes something is terribly wrong-and then the fun begins. Hannah (A Handful of Heaven, Fawcett: Ballantine, 1991) has combined straightforward dialog and realistic description with a poignant, timeless love story and tied it all up with a healthy dash of magic. Well written and involving, this book should appeal to all romance readers. Hannah is a writer to watch. Readers who enjoy her work might also like to try the historicals of LaVyrl Spencer and Dorothy Garlock. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. ical storm, romance writer Alaina Costanza is hurled back in time, into the Western world of her latest novel. There she is kidnapped by her own character, a ruthless outlaw known only as Killian. Thrown together by fate, Alaina and Killian will discover a love too magnificent to last a single lifetime. But even magic has a price, and time is running out. For the sake of Alaina's child, they must risk it all and fight for a future than depends on lightning striking . . . twice. During a magical storm, romance writer Alaina Costanza is hurled back in time, into the Western world of her latest novel. There she is kidnapped by her own character, a ruthless outlaw known only as Killian. Thrown together by fate, Alaina and Killian will discover a love too magnificent to last a single lifetime. But even magic has a price, and time is running out. For the sake of Alaina's child, they must risk it all and fight for a future than depends on lightning striking . . . twice. Kristin Hannah is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of many acclaimed novels, including The Women, The Great Alone, The Nightingale, and Magic Hour . She and her husband live in the Pacific Northwest. Chapter One NEW YORK PRESENT DAY “So, Ms. Costanza, how much sexual research do you do?” Even now, almost four hours after the Geraldo interview, Lainie winced at the offensive question. She played and replayed it in her mind, every time coming up with a witty, stinging retort. So, Geraldo, how much research did you do before you blasted Capone’s basement on prime time? Of course, she hadn’t said anything that clever or intelligent. Oh, no. Not her. She’d let anger get the best of her–again–and spoken without thinking. “Could you ask a stupider question, Geraldo? Really, inquiring minds want to know.” She winced at the memory. She should have known better than to respond so bluntly. He was much too skilled an interviewer to let some historical romance author make a fool of him on national television. He’d seen right off that she was hostile, so he’d adroitly cut her off in midsentence and gone on to another guest. A woman who did as she was supposed to–blush and squirm and apologize for the books she worked so hard to create. He’d also been smart enough not to come back to Lainie. He hadn’t asked her another question for the remainder of the hour. She’d sat there, pinned to her uncomfortable chair like a dead insect, barely listening to what was going on around her, waiting desperately to be let loose. God, it had been awful. It wasn’t until now, hours later, in the anonymous, vast open space of John F. Kennedy International Airport, that she’d finally begun to relax. She glanced sideways at the woman beside her. Judith gave her a tense, irritated smile, and Lainie knew immediately that she shouldn’t have made