Giveaway, Goodreads, Heart Of A Hostage, Her Royal Risk, His Majesty's Secret Passion, newsletter, Princes Of Kharova, The Wild Rose Press

Giveaways And Prizes—Not To Mention Romance, Royalty, and Rhinovirus…

myBook.to/HeartOfAHostage
myBook.to/HeartOfAHostage

Gah! No nonsense this week, as I’ve been felled by a bug that’s been doing the rounds of OH’s office. Now I (and the next generation) have been felled by it, too.

It would happen, this week of all weeks. On Friday, the third book in my Princes Of Kharova series for The Wild Rose Press, Heart of A Hostageis released. If you join the Goodreads giveaway before December 2nd, you can be part of the draw for a free signed copy of Heart Of A Hostage.

As part of The Wild Rose Press‘s holiday season, you can get 40% off the ebook versions of the first two books in the Princes Of Kharova series, His Majesty’s Secret Passion and Her Royal Risk, but you’ll have to be quick. This is a time-limited offer!

It’s Advent Sunday today, so in the spirit of the festive season I’ll be holding a draw for subscribers to my newsletter. Sign up to my mailing list here before December 2nd, and you’ll be entered in a draw to win two signed books—a copy of both His Majesty’s Secret Passion and Her Royal Risk, so you can catch up with the romantic excitement in Kharova before Heart Of A Hostage is released on Friday.

In my Christmas newsletter, there’s a competition to win all three of the Princes Of Kharova books in one romantic bundle along with other prizes, so sign up here today!

Heart Of A Hostage, Her Royal Risk, His Majesty's Secret Passion, Princes Of Kharova, Series, The Romance Reviews

Writing A Series: The Princes Of Kharova—How It All Began…

I’m getting really excited! In less than two months Heart Of A Hostage, the third book in my Princes of Kharova series for The Wild Rose Press, is published.

I started thinking about the plot of my eighteenth book, His Majesty’s Secret Passion, in the middle of a freezing winter. The sky was grey, and summer was months away. I needed an escape route, and I found it in writing the novel which turned into my twelfth contemporary romance. 


The idea of a powerful man taking on the job of rebuilding a country had been bubbling away in the back of my mind for a long time. Writing is all about living in a story world, and one miserable winter day, I was keen to escape to somewhere hot and sunny. Creating a new romance gave me the chance to do exactly that. I turned up the heating, switched on the white light box, poured myself some freshly squeezed orange juice (pretending I needed ice in it was a bit of a stretch, but I managed!) and dreamed up a luxury spa on a Greek island. King Leo was taking a break while waiting to be crowned, and Sara was a stressed executive in need of rest and relaxation.

I wanted to feel hot sun on my skin, and dig my toes into fine white sand. The only way I could do it was to lose myself in a fantasy. It was a lovely way to forget the dark days of winter. What began as a single idea for an escapist romance turned into a whole series of books. 

myBook.to/HisMajestysSecret
See myBook.to/HisMajestysSecret 


Leo and Sara’s story became His Majesty’s Secret Passion, the first book in my Princes Of Kharova series for The Wild Rose Press. I wrote the second book, Her Royal Risk, after readers wrote to me wanting to know what happened next. Krisia, the perfect personal assistant, was given the impossible job of working for Leo’s wild younger brother, Athan. Both these books were nominated in The Romance Review’s Readers’ Awards for Winter 2015. Voting is open until the end of October, so you can still register your vote by hitting one (or both) of the nominee badges at the top of this page!

There’s something unusual about the hero and heroine of the third book in my Princes Of Kharova series. Their roles are reversed.  Maia is the sister of the two princes who star in the other books, which of course makes her a princess. Mihail is Public Enemy Number One…

The second in the series…

In Heart of A Hostage, the third book in the Princes Of Kharova series, Leo and Athan’s younger sister discovers not everyone is willing to  let her get her own way in life.  Mihail, head of the Kharovan rebels, takes Maia hostage as she returns from a break. In return, he expects to get a big ransom, but the king of Kharova doesn’t bow to blackmail. 

Maia is a long way from the glittering, story-book princess Mihail fantasized about when they were both teenagers. His hostage becomes the houseguest from hell, but when Maia discovers the secret behind Mihail’s mysterious double life, everything changes in an instant.

Heart of a Hostage will be published by The Wild Rose Press in December, just in time for the Christmas holiday season. Sign up for my newsletter here to get a sneak preview, with the chance to win a free copy of Heart Of A Hostage the moment it’s released.  

Here’s a taste of what you can look forward to….


Mihail walks out of Maia’s past, and into her present. Who is in more trouble—kidnapper or victim?

Princess Maia has it all—including a horrible fiancé chosen for her by the king, and a family bullying her into doing the right thing—but all she wants is her independence. When she falls into the hands of rebel leader, Mihail, she tastes real freedom for the first time. Mihail is a lone wolf, Public Enemy Number One, and heir to a fierce tradition. A dangerous reputation, a castle full of guilty secrets and now rescuing Maia are all woven into his master plan. He can’t lose.
Until his unexpected hostage turns out to be the house guest from hell…

Her Royal Risk, His Majesty's Secret Passion, nomination, Readers' Choice Award, The Romance Reviews

Great News About The Romance Reviews Readers’ Choice Awards!

Thanks to your help in first-round voting, the initial books in my Princes Of Kharova series for The Wild Rose Press, His Majesty’s Secret Passion and Her Royal Risk, have both made it through to the final round of The Romance Review’s Readers’ Choice Awards for Winter 2015 (Contemporary Romance category). 

Now it’s a case of whichever book in each category gets the most votes, wins.
I’d be really grateful if you could spread the word about the competition for me, and if you enjoyed my books, then I’d love you to vote for them both again, too!

You can vote for each book by clicking on the respective buttons at the top of this page, or click on the following links:

For His Majesty’s Secret Passion, the link is: http://www.theromancereviews.com/viewbooks.php?bookid=18902

And here’s the link you’ll need to vote for Her Royal Risk: http://www.theromancereviews.com/viewbooks.php?bookid=17729

Again, thanks so much for your support.  I really appreciate it!

Her Royal Risk, His Majesty's Secret Passion, Lindsey Debout, My Dream Guy, RNA, The Romance Reviews

This Writing Life: There’s A Busy Week Ahead…

http://myBook.to/MyDreamGuy
http://myBook.to/MyDreamGuy
Only a short blog today as I’ve got a very busy week ahead. I’m editing my new thriller to a tight deadline, trying to get round to beta reading my friend Lindsay Debout’s second collection of Warming Tales, and on Tuesday there’s  a meeting of my local RNA group to discuss, among other things, our next workshop. 
I hope summer still has a while to run, but my short romance, My Dream Guy, is published tomorrow, Tuesday, 15th September. You can reserve your copy of My Dream Guy from Amazon by clicking on this magical link: http://myBook.to/MyDreamGuy.

I had some great news a few days ago. Both His Majesty’s Secret Passion and Her Royal Risk, the first two books in my Princes of Kharova series for The Wild Rose Press are up for nomination in The Romance Reviews Readers’ Choice Awards, Winter 2015.

His Majesty’s Secret Passion is my idea of escapist romantic fantasy, with an exhausted businesswoman and a king in disguise finding fun in the sun at a luxurious spa. There’s sun, sea and secrets to be discovered in the ultimate in getting away from it all.

Her Royal Risk pits a perfect personal assistant against the boss from hell in a new job that’s nobody’s idea of heaven. It’s only when Krisia and Athan are faced with a disaster they discover working together is a lot more productive than pulling each other apart…and it’s pretty romantic, too!


myBook.to/HisMajestysSecret
myBook.to/HisMajestysSecret


You can find out more about both books by clicking here. I’d be really grateful if you could cast your vote for His Majesty’s Secret Passion by clicking here, and for Her Royal Risk, here. Thank you so much! 
Cameron Dickie, Deane Saunders-Stowe, Fay Wentworth, Her Royal Risk, His Majesty's Secret Passion, Linn B Halton, Lurid Leominster, Peter Ellis, Princes Of Kharova, Trevor Robinson

A Holiday From Writing…

Waiting for opening time! Photo by Deane Saunders-Stowe

This weekend it was the Leominster Book Fair, and along with lots of other authors I spent the day at Grange Court, Leominster. The building is surrounded by beautiful gardens and parkland, and so lots of people called in to chat, listen and buy.

 As well as being a beautiful building in a lovely setting, Grange Court is full of character. If you’re ever in the Leominster area, it’s definitely worth a visit. As the sun was shining so brightly through the screen-printed curtain at the back of this room the detail doesn’t show up very well. It was a photograph of a courtroom scene, with the people taking part dressed in period costumes. An unusual feature, which really makes an impact. You can find out more about Grange Court here: http://www.grangecourt.org

The day was organised by Peter Ellis, and RNA member (and fellow Marcher Lady!) Fay Wentworth. Although Leominster is in Herefordshire, Gloucestershire writers were well represented. Cameron Dickie read from his latest release, Seeking The Eagle, I shared a table with Linn B Halton, and Deane Saunders-Stowe took these photographs.

Each of us got the chance to introduce ourselves and speak about our work during the day. I read an extract from the first book in my Princes Of Kharova series for The Wild Rose Press, His Majesty’s Secret Passion, and spoke to a lot of readers. I was especially pleased to meet Susan S’ari, who introduced me to The Bookshop Cafe group on Facebook.

Writing is a solitary business—as a natural loner, that’s one of the reasons I love it. I spend far too much time behind my screen. The chance to meet readers and other authors was the perfect excuse to take a day off. Now I can’t wait for the next one.

Does your town have a book fair?