Stories of Love and Romance
Spring is really on the move here in Gloucestershire. Today is traditionally the day birds are choosing their mates, but we’ve already got a robin nesting in one of the boxes in our garden.
I’m joining in a promotion with other romance authors to offer free books over the next month, starting today. Why not investigate these scoundrels and billionaires? You might discover a new book boyfriend, or a new favourite author!
My contemporary romance Royal Passion was launched today, Tuesday, 24th October. The wait is over!
I’ve written twenty-three books, and this is my twenty-second romance. It’s also the first book in a trilogy. Subscribers to my newsletter can read the prequel to all three books, Royal Rivals, for free.
The subtitle of Royal Rivals is One Crown, Two Royal Houses, Three Love Stories. This prequel showcases the couples who will feature in the trilogy. For a sneak peek into their lives before they met each other, sign up for my newsletter here.
To buy the ebook of Royal Passion, click here.
…here’s a taster from Leo and Sara’s romance in Royal Passion, to whet your appetite…
“Addiction, depression, suicide – I have seen it all,” said Leo.
“And I suppose you’ve got the ideal prescription?”
He strolled around to stand beside her. “Of course I have. Close your eyes.”
“In a public place?” Sara gasped, but he was deadly serious.
“Do it. Close your eyes and open your mouth.”
His commanding voice made her obey instantly. When she realised what she had done, her eyes flew open again–at the exact moment the cool kiss of silver touched her bottom lip. Leo had piled a spoon with champagne granita and was about to put it into her mouth.
“Open wide.”
“I’m not a child.”
A bead of sorbet fell from the overloaded spoon. It landed on the smooth pale skin at the base of her throat, trembled, and ran down into the shadowy cleft between her breasts.
“I can see that,” Leo purred.
“But people are staring at us!”
“Let them. Open your mouth, or – ”
“Or – ” Or what, she was going to say, but Leo took his chance. As she replied, he put the spoon into her mouth. She couldn’t talk with her mouth full of sorbet, so she clenched her teeth on the silver spoon.
“I thought you said you weren’t a child?” he teased, tugging at it.
She released her grip. “I only did that because I’ve got a chill in my teeth.”
“Excuses.” He scooped up another helping of the dessert in front of her. “I am including a sample of each different flavour. If you don’t enjoy it, then I am afraid there is no hope for you.”
“Is that your professional opinion?”
“Maybe. First, I would need to make a full examination…”
She scowled.
“…of the facts,” he added smoothly, slicing into another scoop of sorbet.
To order your copy of Royal Passion from your favourite platform, click here.
You can find out more about me here, and see some of my books here.
Only a short post today as my Pocket Novel, The Wishing Tree is published in the UK this week. I’m in the mood to celebrate by spending some time away from my keyboard!
I’ve had quite a few short stories published in The People’s Friend magazine. The Wishing Tree is my first Pocket Novel for them. It’s the story of grumpy Jake and nursery owner Emma. Jake steps in to help Emma out when things get tough, and eventually she discovers his tragic secret. It’s a story of fresh starts and learning to work together, with that all-important happy ever after! You can find out more about The Wishing Tree on my Book Page, here.
I love writing for The People’s Friend. It’s such a privilege. The magazine has been popular for so long that at least three generations of my family have been fans! Throughout his childhood, my young son had appointments with hospital consultants every few weeks. The Friend was always on sale in the hospital shop, offering plenty of optimism and distraction. That was exactly what I needed. It’s great to be able to contribute stories to such a national institution
I managed to snap this shelfie in Cheltenham to prove it’s not a dream. I needn’t have worried. When this week’s copy of The Friend arrived in my postbox, The Wishing Tree was right there on the front cover. It’s part of a promotion!
I really enjoyed writing The Wishing Tree, and I hope you enjoy reading it. Pocket Novels are only on sale for a very short time. You’ll need to be quick to snap up a copy. The Wishing Tree is on sale in larger branches of Tesco, Morrisons, and other supermarkets, WH Smith and many independent newsagents. Look for it where you buy your copy of The People’s Friend. Catch it while you can!
I’ve got some exciting book news to share today.
My first bit of exciting news is that my journey from page to publication is now nearly complete. Royal Passion, the first book in my Royal Romances series is now available for pre-order everywhere online! Click on this link to find out how to order your copy.
My second bit of exciting news is that my first Pocket Novel goes on sale on Thursday, 31st August. That’s less than a week away! The working title of my book was The Wishing Tree. That may have been changed to fit in with the company’s other published titles. Pocket Novels are sold in larger Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrison stores, WH Smith High Street, Martin McColls, and independent newsagents.
You can read here about how I’ve kept my New Year’s Resolution to self-publish a book. Next time, I’ll start going through the individual steps to publication in more detail. I’ve already updated the My Books section of this site, here.
Along my road to self-publishing I’ve had lots of support from the writing community. The Alliance of Independent, the Marcher chapter of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, the Society of Authors, and my cover designer Joanna Maitland have all been really helpful. I couldn’t have done it without them.
I hope you will enjoy reading Royal Passion as much as I enjoyed writing it. Don’t forget—you can order your copy now, from Amazon, Apple, Kobo, or Barnes and Noble.
At last I can say those magic words—I’m an independent author! Royal Passion will be published on 24th October. You’ll be able to order it as soon as all the links are in place and live, which will be within a few days of the date of this blog.
I’ve written here about how it was my New Year’s Resolution for 2023 to stop procrastinating and start publishing my backlist. I’ve learned so much in the past six months. So many people—in particular Joanna Maitland and The Society of Authors—have kindly offered support and advice. It’s been a long, sometimes frustrating process, but I felt a real sense of achievement when I submitted the final, final, final draft and the computer said “yes”.
I’ve already added Royal Passion to the My Books page on here, but at the moment it’s for information only. As soon as I can I’ll be adding clickable links so you can find the ebook on Amazon, although that won’t be the only place Royal Passion will be on sale.
I’ll let you know when Royal Passion goes live on all the platforms, ready for pre-orders. By the way, isn’t it funny to talk about “pre-orders”? That’s what we used to call “orders”!
I’ll be sending out my August newsletter this week. Among other things, this month’s email includes a look behind the scenes of the recent Society of Authors Zoom chat, and a seasonal recipe (I’m still trying to decide which is more photogenic, damsons or blackberries). There will also be the chance to win an advance copy of Royal Passion. To find out how to enter my competition, sign up here to receive my newsletter, which will have full details.