Over the past few weeks, I’ve been wrapped up in editing work for Royal Hostage , and reading for The Romantic Novelists’ Association’s New Writers’ Scheme.
By the time I got back to my own work-in-progress this week, my brain had got busy with a different plot. I now have two sets of characters keen to meet and get busy. Eventually both books will get written, it’s just a matter of when.
So now it’s over to you! I’ve written mini outlines for both my projects. Which would you like to read first – the Crime, or the Romance?
Photo by Djurdjina ph.djiz on Pexels.comMurder Most Foul…
A Fine Romance
Rebecca has been two-timed, and her life is bleak. Then she wins a house in a competition. It seems like her problems are over, until handsome-but-grim property expert Jack literally falls into her life…
Accident, or Crime?
Pip finds her boss drowned in an ornamental lake. Then the murdered man’s son arrives to take over the family business. Pip soon has the job of her dreams, the new boss of her nightmares–and a killer in her garden…
Over to You – Crime, or Romance?
Which of those two little outlines appeals to you more? The Romance will be gentle, the Crime will be cosy (or Cozy, depending on which side of the Atlantic you live!)
I’d love to hear what you think. Pop your thoughts in the comments section below!
It’s all change in romance for me this year. I’ll be saying goodbye to one series of my Romances, and saying hello to a new one. Royal Hostage is to be published in the summer, and it will be the final book in my series of torrid escapist novels, Royal Romances.
All Change…
As soon as I’ve said farewell to the hotblooded royal families of fictional Kharova, I’ll be introducing you to a whole new cast of characters. Right now, I’m surrounded by Post-it notes and highlighter pens, planning a series of contemporary romances with a dash of mystery. The working title for the whole of my new series is Cotswold Charm, but that could easily change! The first book will be published in 2025.
Escape From The Cold!
My Royal Romances series came about through a combination of foul weather and escapism. Royal Passion is set on the fictional Paradise Island. When I started writing this book, it was freezing cold and bucketing down with rain so I cheered myself up by writing about somewhere hot and sunny. The setting may be fictional, but the problems faced by workaholic Sara and Leo, her troubled Prince Charming, are real enough.
Office Romance?
Royal Passion is the story of career girl Sara and dedicated doctor-forced-to-become a king Leo. For the second book in the series, Royal Risk, military hero Athan plunges into the action. King Leo insists that his brother Athan must get his office work in order. Ultra-efficient personal assistant Krisia is supposed to make sure he gets the work done. Sparks fly in this enemies-to-lovers romance.
The final book in the series, Royal Hostage, is a Beauty and the Beast story – although it isn’t always clear who is the hostage! Mia is a spoiled princess in every meaning of the word. She is taken hostage by rebel leader Mihail, but he doesn’t always get his own way. Mihail is soon wondering if he can pay Mia’s family to take her away…
I’m not giving away any spoilers, but if you love redemption stories with happy endings then I’ve wrapped up my Royal Romances series with you in mind!
Royal Passionand Royal Risk are already on sale. You can find out more about them here. Royal Hostage will be released later this year. Join my mailing list, and you’ll get advance notice of the publication date.
Work in Progress
My new series of contemporary Romance novels is still at the planning stage. The books in my Cotswold Charm series will revolve around life in a pretty little Gloucestershire town. The setting and characters are all completely fictional, although the layout and buildings of ‘Avondale’ are inspired by several towns I know, including Tewkesbury. That’s where my daughter lives, so I visit the town often.
DD’s tiny cottage is the setting for my current work in progress. If you’ve ever seen news reports of flooding in Gloucestershire the exterior of her home may look familiar. News crews sometimes plonk themselves down on her doorstep to report from the brink of the rising waters. DD’s cottage is many hundreds of years old but (so far, anyway!) floodwater has never got into the house. Those medieval builders knew better than to build out on the flood plain. DD’s house is in the shadow of the Tewkesbury Abbey, which makes it fractionally higher than the surrounding fields.
Kitten Cupid
Right now I’m working on a “stranger in town” story for my new Cotswold Charm series. Kitten Cupid is my first book for this collection. Emily wants to make a fresh start in a new job miles away from the cheating liar who broke her heart. Alone and friendless in a strange town, she finds an abandoned kitten. Veterinary surgeon Ben helps Emily save tiny Teeny’s life. Broken hearts take a long time to heal, but it takes an accident for Emily to realise she isn’t the only one who is suffering…
I include news about the progress of Kitten Cupid each month in my reader newsletter, along with glimpses into my writing life, here in the middle of a Gloucestershire bluebell wood
Find out more…
…by joining my mailing list here. As a ‘thank you’, I’ll send Royal Rivals (the prequel to my Royal Romances series) straight to your email inbox.
I love writing romance. The amount of detail I include in the love scenes depends on who I am writing for. What kind of stories do you like to read – sweet, or spicy?
Sweet Romance
At the moment, I’m busy working on short stories and a Pocket Novel for The People’s Friend. “The Friend” is a British weekly magazine known for its family-friendly content. It publishes optimistic, feel-good stories. The magazine’s readers appreciate its consistent quality and wholesome content.
Not all my stories for “The Friend” feature romance, but when they do, it’s definitely sweet. A happy ever after is always guaranteed!
You can sample my most recent Pocket Novel, The Wishing Tree, here.
Spicy Romance
My first published novels were for Harlequin Mills and Boon’s Modern Romance line (known as Harlequin Presents in the US). You can find my UK titles here, and my US titles here.
My most recent contemporary romance is Royal Passion, which is the first book in my Royal Romances series. Readers of this type of story want to explore the physical and emotional attraction between the hero and heroine. The central characters experience tense internal conflicts and emotional responses at a level that would be completely out of place in anything I write for The People’s Friend.
Sweet, or Spicy?
I love writing to please readers, so I’m happy to create stories at whatever heat level they like best. Do you prefer your romance sweet, spicy, or somewhere in between? Let me know by posting your answer in the comments box below!
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!
How do you fancy a short burst of fun at the end of this washout of a summer? I’ve got the perfect antidote for your back-to-work blues.
Here in Gloucestershire we had a miserable spring and early summer, followed by the hottest, driest July on record.
Luckily for the wildlife (but not so good if you like life outdoors), all that sunshine was followed by a dismal, wet August. With the barbecues in storage, why not splash out on an affordable treat—my next release?
My latest short romance, My Dream Guy, was inspired by a holiday booked by my husband a few years ago. I thought it was going to be glorified camping, which we’d got out of our systems in the years BC—Before Children.
It was fun, but the idea of roughing it with a baby on board made me dread a week stuck in the middle of nowhere.
Emily, the heroine of My Dream Guy, doesn’t have any children to worry about. She’s only twenty-three, with a job she likes, and a gorgeous boyfriend in the shape of Jack Wright, but the sparkle has gone out of their romance.
When Jack books them into a Welsh campsite during the wettest summer on record, it’s nearly the last straw for poor Emily. Like her friend Grace, she’s a soft beds and sushi kind of girl.
Emily thinks the bronzed farmer who was her teenage crush is going to be the best thing about this dreaded holiday. But time has moved on. Feinwen Farm isn’t the place she remembered. Hunky Harri might be twice the man he was, but he’s not the only one who’s full of surprises!
Will Emily’s holiday from hell turn out to have a happy ending, too?
The real-life holiday I was dreading turned out to be great fun. The minute I discovered we’d be staying in a lovely chalet with all mod. cons (including a hot tub!) I was hooked. From an open fire to swimming under the stars, our holiday had it all. What’s your best holiday memory? There’s a free copy of My Dream Guy on offer for a comment picked at random on Saturday, 10th September.
