Evil & Ecstasy Meredith Longley was a favorite child, sheltered and protected by an elderly father. She had been lovingly spared the harsh realities of life, and was ill prepared to carry on her father's work when he died. Now, committed to an archaeological expedition into the jungles of Mexico, she would try to discover herself. There was also the exciting possibility of discovering the fabled gold treasure of the lost city of Tonatiuhican. She would soon become the target of three dangerous men and an evil woman. Two of the men fight for her love - the dashing adventurer, Cooper Mayo and Ricardo Villalobos, a handsome Spanish Don. Would Meredith be able to survive in a deadly battle for love and gold? Could she control her own awakening desires and distinguish between the sweet truths of love and the seductive entrapments of greed and lust? Would it be marriage or murder, great wealth or peaceful anonymity? If she recognized the moment, when it came, it could all be hers...
Author
Patricia Anne Klein Ernst Brisco Matthews aka Patricia Ernst, P.A. Brisco, Patty Brisco, Pat A. Brisco, Pat Brisco, Patricia Matthews, Laura Wylie, Denise Matthews Patricia Anne Klein Ernst was born on 1 July 1927 in San Fernando, California, USA, the daughter of Gladys Gable and Roy Oliver Ernst. Her mother enrolled her in the famous Meglin Kiddies school, but she recorded only two of her songs professionally for one demo tape. She studied at California State University, Los Angeles, were she worked as secretary to the General Manager of Associated Students by the California State College. In 21 December 1946, she married Marvin Owen Brisco and moved to Arizona, they had two sons: Michael Arvie and David Roy. By 1961, the marriage had ended in divorce. Focused on her writing career, she returned to California, where she met the writer Clayton Matthews in a local writers' group. After Matthews divorced his first wife, he and Patricia married in 3 November 1972 and lived near San Diego. She started to write poetry, juvenile books, a play, fantasy and mystery short stories, which she signed under different names: Patricia Ernst, P.A. Brisco and Pat A. Brisco. Using the names Patty Brisco and Pat Brisco, she wrote gothic novels. When the market for gothic novels softened, at the suggestion of the Clayton's agent, Jay Garon, she began to write romance novels under her second married name, Patricia Matthews in 1976. She become a popular writer, called "American's First Lady of Historical Romance". She and her husband also collaborated on several romance and suspense novels using the pseudonyms Laura Wylie and Laurie Wylie. She and her husband wrote five Casey Farrell mystery novels together, and she wrote three on her own, the Thumbprint Mysteries, set in the American South, westat the fourth- sixth- and eighth-grade reading levels, yet offer characters, situations, and concerns appropriate for adult readers. With Denise Hrivnak, she also wrote under the pseudonym Denise Matthews. Her husband Clayton died in 25 March 2004. Patricia Anne Brisco Matthews died at 5:30 a.m. 7 December 2006 in the familiar house of Brisco in Arizona.
