Mistress of Deceit — Edita A. Petrick

Doctor Ambrosia Severn �" Amy �" had worked very hard for her position in life. The daughter of a horse- breeder, she had clawed her way up life's ladder to be a physician specializing in the design and fitting of prosthetic devices. She was one of a handful of pioneers into prosthetics controlled by the human mind. She has everything now �" genius, a challenging and fulfilling job, extraordinary personal beauty, wealth, the freedom to choose sexual partners at her whim, a boss that she loves, and, best of all, an over- bearing, unethical, glory-seeking, credit-stealing, chauvinistic colleague with half of her ability. To top it all off, she has exchanges of four-letter words with her less-capable colleague. Amy's solitary vacation in an enormous Pacific beachside retreat takes a bizarre turn when a veritable Adonis of a man walks, naked, out of the surf and into her life. His cryptic answers and odd behavior fuel her curiosity enough to overpower her very reasonable fear that he is a murderer �" or worse. Then, after dinner, he saves her life in what is possibly the strangest way she could wrap her mind around. He introduces Amy to his fiancée soon after they meet. She is a woman of wealth and influence �" a woman with control and power, much of it garnered by less-than-honorable means. She is also a woman prepared to commit an act of cosmic selfishness. What follows are weeks of excitement and danger. Amy meets strange new friends, some with viewpoints alien to her way of thinking. She explores possibilities that she could never have imagined before �" assassins, intrigues, committing murder, an epic bedtime story and, for the first time in her life, a lover who does not fall into either of the categories of “twice my age” or “half my intellect.” Not exactly, anyway.