HOW TO: Lure Your Mate, Book #6

• Marriage of Convenience
• Mafioso Elements
• Steamy
• Trapped Together Romance

Six sexy Italian-American brothers, ready to win their soul mates.

The Salvatore Brothers will charm, tempt, seduce … or even wed and bed. They’ll do whatever it takes to find their bride.

And when they say whatever it takes, they mean absolutely anything!

I attended the Cinderella Ball—where couples meet and marry all in one night—in order to stop my brother from making a fool of himself. Instead I ended up married to runaway bride, Poppy Mirabella, a gorgeous waif with a great big problem.

Her problem? There’s a mafioso type intent on marrying her for her inheritance. My problem? I don’t want a temporary wife. I want permanent. I want her every way possible.

Protecting her proves to be challenging, whether snowbound in a mountain cabin, rescuing a homeless golden retriever, crash landing an airplane, or being abducted by Poppy’s mafioso ex-fiancé. Too bad my risk-adverse wife is determined to handle her problems all on her own.

What’s a huge, brawny Salvatore troubleshooter to do? Maybe make love to her until she’s willing to risk turning a brief, passionate marriage into a forever-after-love affair.

Find out if Soren succeeds in HOW TO: Lure Your Mate, a passionate, tender contemporary romance, guaranteed to make you a believer in happily-ever-after. Click to purchase your copy today!

Note to Readers: Book #6, HOW TO: Lure Your Mate is the final story in The Salvatore Brothers Series, a contemporary romance series by USA Today bestselling author and eleven-time RITA© (Romance Writers of America) finalist, Day Leclaire. This story features a hot, take-charge alpha hero and the perfect woman for him, and a sizzling romance between soul mates.

Poppy took a quick sip from her flute of champagne, even though she didn’t care much for sparkling wines. At this point any alcohol hit the spot after the day she’d had.

She regarded Soren over the rim of the glass. Lord help her, but he was gorgeous. Streaky dark hair. Eyes so dark they appeared black. Spectacular arrangement of cheekbones, nose, and a chin with the slightest cleft. She found it an irresistible combination, and yet one she struggled to resist. If only his mouth weren’t so darned kissable. She swallowed another gulp of champagne. She was losing it. Totally and completely losing it.

“I just don’t understand why a lawyer wouldn’t have notified me about my inheritance,” she said. “Dad must have pulled off some fancy footwork to keep me in the dark.”

“Which takes us to your marriage to Dante.”

“Almost marriage,” she corrected, a smile slipping free.
“And you just can’t bring yourself to say The Dante, can you?”

“No. It’s a ridiculous affectation.”

“I think it’s more along the lines of a warning. He’s quite a dangerous man.”

“Then why did you agree to marry him?”

How to explain? Ah, well. She’d give him the truth, no matter how bad a light it shed. “The Dante and I met once at a family dinner. Almost immediately afterward, he notified Dad that he wanted to marry me. Dad was so excited, said how marriage would solve all our financial problems because The Dante is so wealthy. It would take care of my sisters’ needs. That was the button he pushed. I didn’t care about The Dante’s wealth. But I did care about taking better care of my sisters.” She splayed her hands. “What can I say? He caught me in a weak moment.”

Soren’s eyebrows shot up. “You agreed to marry a man you’d only met once?”

Poppy glared at him. “Look around you. Every person here will have only met their bride or groom once before marrying. Besides, it’s an Italian thing.”

He snorted. “It most definitely is not an Italian thing. At least, not in this century. I’m Italian. I should know.”

“And yet…” She tilted her head to one side. “Isn’t your brother here, intent on marrying?”

“That’s not because Brand is of Italian descent,” Soren bit out. “It’s because our father is crazy.”

“Your father insisted Brand come here and marry? Hmm. Sort of like my father insisting I marry The Dante.” She waited for her point to impact. Settle. “I was flattered, Soren. I thought The Dante had fallen for me and, to be honest, I found him quite appealing. I thought I could fall in love with him, too.”

“What changed your mind?”

She drew a deep breath. “I started to get cold feet almost right away. That’s undoubtedly why my father rushed the marriage forward. Then, today when I overheard them talking about the gambling debt and my inheritance, I realized that whatever our wedding was about, it had nothing to do with love or attraction or lightning striking.”

“It was a business contract.”

“Exactly.”

“So, why come here?”

“My stylist told me about the Cinderella Ball.” She leaned forward, speaking urgently. “Don’t you see? What could be a better escape? If I marry someone other than The Dante, it nullifies all those agreements I signed. He couldn’t force me to marry him.”

“No one can force you to marry.”

She shivered. “Really? You say that even after meeting The Dante? Even after listening to him explain all the cold-blooded reasons for our marriage? He scares me.” She shot Soren a direct look, wishing she didn’t find him so attractive. It confused her. Threw her off center. Why couldn’t he be more like one of The Dante’s goons? Of course, if he were he’d have handed her over in exchange for a tidy little payout. “He should scare you, too.”

“I plan to treat him with caution, just like I do any reptile.” He dismissed the man with a wave of his large hand and his brows drew together in a fierce frown. “Let’s get serious.”

“We weren’t being serious?” she asked with a hint of amused irony.

He checked his watch. “It’s getting late, Poppy. I suspect I’m too late to stop Brand from marrying. They probably took off for the nearest marriage officiant as soon as I left them, but I’ll deal with him later.”

Interesting. “Is that what you do, Soren?” she asked gently. “Deal with things?”

“Actually, yes. I’m considered the family fixer.”

She stiffened. “What does that mean? Fixer of what?”

“I handle problems.”

“How do you handle them?” she pushed.

She didn’t like the sound of that. He was a huge man. Sort of like The Dante’s bodyguards. And hadn’t he taken out that one bodyguard with a single punch?

He studied her for a silent moment. “I’m not like Dante or his men,” he stated quietly. “I can’t help the fact that I’m large.”

“You hit that one man,” she dared to mention.

“I protected us from his attack.”

“How often do you protect your family from attacks?”

“Physically?”

She swallowed. “Yes.”

“Never.” He leaned across the table toward her, planting his muscular arms on the tabletop. A deliberate display? “I use my brain, not my brawn. I use intellect over brute force. This is one of the few times intellect would not have won the day. If I hadn’t taken down Dante’s muscle, he wouldn’t have told us as much as he did. It wouldn’t have given security the time to arrive at the scene. And you’d be on your way to Vegas for a fast wedding.”

“Fair enough,” she conceded. She glanced around in growing concern. “It’s getting late. I have to find someone to marry.”

“That’s not going to work, Poppy.”

“What’s not going to work? Marrying?” She shook her head in bewilderment. “Why?”

“Because of The Dante.” He exaggerated the prefix with part amusement and part disdain. “Look, you can’t just marry some innocent guy who’s looking for happily-ever-after and doesn’t understand what sort of predicament he’s going to find himself in.”

“He’s not going to find himself in any predicament,” she objected. “He’s going to find himself married to me and I’m going to go find out where my inheritance is so I can take care of my sisters.”

“Wrong. Dante isn’t going to give up coming after you. How much does your father owe him?”

“I have no idea.”

“How much is your inheritance?”

She silently shook her head, acknowledging his points with a tiny sigh. “Not a clue.”

“What if it’s a substantial amount? Dante feels entitled to that money. And you’re attached to all those dollar signs. You’re putting some poor guy in the middle of a situation he knows nothing about and most likely has no idea how to handle.”

“But I can’t marry The Dante. I won’t.”

“No, you can’t. And you won’t.”

She hesitated a split second. “Are you suggesting we marry?”

He nodded. “Yes, that’s precisely what I’m suggesting.”