Category: Jewel Under Siege

Jewel Under Siege, Milos Karadaglic, newsletter, plums

Food, Men and the Weekend…

Christina Hollis

Despite the poor start to the year, our garden ended up producing more fruit than it has done for a long time. The plum harvest was a good one, but because we had a downpour at the wrong time many of the fruits burst their skins. Although the plums tasted as good as ever they attracted wasps, and wouldn’t keep. Rather than waste them, I adapted a recipe I normally use for blueberries. It worked brilliantly.

PLUM SPONGE
You’ll need:
Prepared plums, washed, halved and with the stones removed.
6oz softened butter (or margarine)
6 oz caster (fine) sugar
6oz self-raising flour
3 eggs

Extra caster (fine) sugar to taste
Lemon juice (optional)

Heat the oven to 180ºC (Fan, 160 C) Gas mark 4.
Cover the bottom of a shallow ovenproof dish with the roughly sliced plums. Add a couple of tablespoons of water, and sprinkle them with sugar to taste. If the plums are already quite sweet, add a spritz of lemon juice.
In a separate bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, flour and eggs for a couple of minutes to make a smooth, glossy mixture. Spread this evenly over the fruit, and cook for around 35-40 minutes, or until the sponge is well risen, golden brown and springs back when lightly pressed.
Serve warm, with custard or ice cream.

This week’s hero is award-winning Milos Karadaglic. He comes from Montenegro, and began playing the guitar as a child. A scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music brought him to London at the age of seventeen, and now he has an international career.

I’ll be working on my Autumn newsletter this weekend, to be published the minute I get the draft artwork for Jewel Under Siege, which will be my next release.   If you want to be among the first to see it, click here to subscribe to my newsletter. Don’t worry, I’ll never pass on your details!

Constantinople, Crusades, Harlequin Masquerade, Jewel Under Siege, Robert Curthose, Romance, The First Crusade

Work In Progress – Jewel Under Siege

Christina Hollis
Sunset Over The Golden Horn By Bertil Videt

Jewel Under Siege is a revised and updated ebook edition of a physical book I wrote for the Harlequin Masquerade line some time ago. At the time it was released as both a hardback and paperback under my pen name of Polly Forrester, but this is the first ebook edition. 

I’d done a lot of research for a non-fiction project on Robert Curthose, the eldest son of William the Conqueror. Robert was a charming, real-life hero. He never got to be king of England, but the major flaws in his character meant that was the best thing for all concerned! He went on the First Crusade in 1097, and I loved reading about the exotic settings. They sounded ideal as the backdrop to a romance. 

Constantinople (now known as Istanbul) grew up on the junction of the great trade routes between Europe, Asia and the Near East. In those days, anyone who travelled long distances went through it, particularly pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land. In a parallel with modern-day tourism, pilgrims and traders alike stopped off in the city and spent money. Trading links and networks were created, and gossip swapped (along with various exotic pests and diseases, of course). When roaming bands of Seljuk targeted the surrounding areas Alexius, the emperor of Constantinople, appealed to Pope Urban II for help. The Pope took the idea and ran with it, calling for all good Christians to go and secure Jerusalem. In no time at all the message turned into “Go abroad and kill foreigners” with the definition of the word “foreigner” being a pretty liquid concept. When waves of rag-tag travellers spoiling for a fight homed in on Constantinople, Emperor Alexius took fright and slammed the city gates in the faces of the people who supposed to be helping him. The people inside the city were scared, while the band of Crusaders were affronted at the horrible ingratitude of the people they had come to help. 

Imagine travelling thousands of miles on foot, in terrible conditions and subject to highway robbery every inch of the way, then discovering you’re not welcome. The Crusaders weren’t happy, and by the time Jewel Under Siege starts, they’re starving and dying, too.

Emil Selest hasn’t travelled half way across Europe to die outside some foreign city. He’s determined to get food, and help for little boy he’s rescued from the mob. But then an accident brings him face to face with a beautiful, wilful enemy…

Christina Hollis, fiction, historical romance, Jewel Under Siege, Lady Rascal, Writing

Writing (and Rewriting) Romance As Ebooks…

Christina Hollis
Photo by Bertil Videt

I love putting my own spin on historical events by using them as the background to romance. At the beginning of my fiction-writing career, I wrote six books for Harlequin Mills and Boon’s Masquerade imprint under the pen name of Polly Forrester. These were originally only available in the UK so I’m currently working to introduce them to a wider audience by bringing them out as ebooks. Lady Rascal is already available and my next title, Jewel Under Siege, is due for release later this summer.


Jewel under Siege is set in Constantinople, at the time of the Crusades. Elena is a young widow who finds herself in an impossible situation when tough warrior Emil literally falls into her life. He is an enemy who has nothing but contempt for her people, but the lure of the forbidden means Elena and Emil are soon attracted to each other despite all the dangers.
Revisiting my earlier fiction means I can add a few little touches to the text. At the moment I’m taking the chance to make Elena and Emil’s romance sizzle still more under the Turkish sun. How do you like your historical romances – hot or homely?
You can keep up with the progress of Jewel Under Siege towards publication by subscribing to my newsletter. Just send an email to me at christinahollis@hotmail.co.uk with the word “Subscribe” in the subject line.