Season of Strangers »

For New York Times bestselling author Kat Martin, a career in real estate led her down the road to romance.

Through real estate, Kat found her own perfect match— her husband, Western author Larry Jay Martin.

"We were on opposing sides of a transaction — I represented the seller and he represented the buyer," Kat recalls.

A short time after the two became acquainted, Larry asked her to read an unpublished manuscript of an historical western he'd written. Kat fell in love with both the book and the author!

"It was quite a romantic story," she admits. "I'd still like to see it get published." Then, after doing some editing for her future husband, she thought she'd try her own hand at writing.

Kat moved on to become the bestselling author of over thirty historical and contemporary romance novels. To date, 10 million copies of her books are in print, and she's been published around the globe, including Germany, Norway, Sweden, China, Korea, Bulgaria, Russia, England, South Africa, Italy, Spain, Argentina and Greece.

When she's not writing, Kat also enjoys skiing and traveling, particularly to Europe. Currently, she's busy writing her next book.

Dedicated, driven real estate agent Julie Ferris is enjoying a day at the beach with her sister Laura when a strange, almost undetectable charge fills the air. Then, under the hot Malibu sun, time stops altogether.

Neither sister can explain their "lost day"—nor the blinding headaches and horrific nightmares that follow—but Julie chalks it up to the stress she's been under since her boss's son took over Donovan Real Estate.

Patrick Donovan would be a real catch if not for his notorious playboy lifestyle and matching attitude. But when a cocaine-fueled heart attack nearly kills him, Patrick makes an astonishingly fast—and peculiar—recovery. Julie barely recognizes the newly sober Patrick as the same man she once struggled to resist. Maybe it's the strange beach experience fueling her paranoia, but she can't help sensing something just isn't…right.

As Julie's feelings for Patrick intensify, she's about to discover how that day at the beach links her newfound happiness with her wildest suspicions.…

Publishers Weekly

Real estate agent Julie Ferris and sister Laura fall asleep on the beach and wake up with no recollection of the hours that passed. Julie suffers splitting headaches; Laura begins to dream about people coming after her. Only later do they entertain the possibility that they might have been abducted by aliens-which they were. Alien commander Val Zarkazian is on a mission to study Earth and needs data. Using the body of Julie's handsome playboy boss Patrick Donovan, Val begins a complex pursuit of information, some of it quite intimtae. A subplot involving Donovan's relationship with some gangsters is distracting, and the body switch is initially a little bit of a gross-out. Yet Martin surmounts all difficulties with old-fashioned romance. (June)

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