Book excerpt: Affair in Athens is a story of international intrigue and romance that chronicles a woman's journey of self-discovery and transformation. Athena Vallas travels to Greece to research her grandfather's heroic role as an Orthodox priest during the Resistance and discovers a part of her family she didn't know existed. She meets dangerously charismatic shipping magnate Luke Lambros, who involves her in a tangled web of an inept Greek government, a band of Roma gypsies, and a kidnapping. Her attraction to Luke and his extravagant lifestyle is intense until she discovers he plays a high stakes game of illegal pursuits. When she attempts to distance herself, Luke refuses to relinquish his plan to make her his perfect wife. Ruthlessly, he keeps his eye on the prize-Athena-who won't compromise love for wealth or fidelity for lifestyle.