Escape, His Majesty's Secret Passion, Romance, The Wild Rose Press

Looking At Pay-Day Down The Wrong End Of A Telescope…

Find out more at http://bit.ly/1GEkZkJ

There’s a long wait between getting your hands on December’s wages, and the day January’s pay drops into your account. And still the bills keep coming! The mid-winter gloom isn’t helped by the short, dark days and long, cold nights here in England.  You can try sorting out your debts over at Arianne Cassini‘s blog. Over here, I like to look on the bright side… 

This new year is a blank canvas. Anything can happen. The start of 2014 was so bleak and dreary, I turned my back on the bad weather and snuggled down to escape into a world of sun-drenched romance. Tucked away in my nice warm office and dreaming of an exotic foreign holiday, I realised I couldn’t actually imagine taking any time off. I’m hooked on my job, that’s the trouble. 

Loads of us spend all our waking moments either in the office, or stressing about work. Everybody is running at top speed and over capacity all the time, with no time to sit back and relax. I think everyone deserves an affordable escape from everyday life, whether or not they can manage to take an exotic holiday, so I switched on my computer and tapped out the words…

…which became the opening lines of His Majesty’s Secret Passion, the first book in my Princes of Kharova series for The Wild Rose Press. You can read a longer extract from His Majesty’s Secret Passion by clicking here

Writing Leo and Sara’s story let me escape to a world of sunshine and spa treatments, without leaving my desk. It was the perfect antidote to the sleet and snow outside my office.

What’s your top tip for escaping the January gloom? Comment below to enter a draw with the chance to win a free download of His Majesty’s Secret Passion!

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!

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

Goodreads Giveaway: His Majesty’s Secret Passion…

myBook.to/HisMajestysSecret 

I’m running a Goodreads Giveaway this week over at http://bit.ly/1PBDK9H, with the chance to win a free copy of His Majesty’s Secret Passion. That was the book which launched my Princes Of Kharova series for The Wild Rose Press, and you can find out more about it in my blog post  Writing A Series.

The Goodreads giveaway is running ahead of the launch on 4th December of the third book in the Princes Of Kharova series, Heart Of A Hostage. His Majesty’s Secret Passion is the romance between King Leo and Sara, the career girl who captures his heart. Heart Of A Hostage is the story of King Leo’s younger sister, Maia. She’s heading for an arranged marriage into a horrible, money-mad family of social climbers. She must obey her brother the king’s command, but secretly dreams of breaking free to find her independence. There’s no hope of that, short of a miracle…

…and then, on the way back from celebrations for her brother’s coronation, Maia’s car breaks down. She’s stranded in the middle of nowhere, alone, until a strangely familiar figure strides into view. It’s Kharovan royal family’s sworn enemy, gorgeous rebel Mihail.

Here’s an extract from Heart Of A Hostage to whet your appetite…

myBook.to/HeartOfAHostage 

“What’s the matter?” His voice was as rough as his stubble.

“I want to go back to my car.”
“Not possible. Sorry.” 
That must top the chart of most insincere apologies, ever.
“My driver and my bodyguard…they’ll be worried.”
“Not about you. They’ve got other things to think about, such as their own skins. I’ve got lookouts posted everywhere. They’re busy taking your vehicles to a place of safety.”
“You mean they’re stealing them.”
“Haven’t you heard the saying ‘all’s fair in love and war’?”
 Maia looked him up and down. There wasn’t any room to hide a weapon in his white tee shirt and tight jeans, so she lifted her chin and tried to calm her breathing.
  “This is neither. You’re a rebel and a thief, Mihail Dukagjini, and I want to go home.”
“No. And I haven’t stolen anything for years.”
He reached out, ready to trail his fingers down her cheek. Maia recoiled. Truffle tensed, and she waited for the  little dog to lunge at her attacker, but he wasn’t going to challenge Mihail. Petrified to have someone stand up to his threats for once, Truffle turned tail and hid. 

To find out more, and to order Heart Of A Hostage ahead of publication, go to myBook.to/HeartOfAHostage 


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!