LIZ FIELDING

MARION LENNOX did it twice!

I met Marion Lennox at the Romance Writers of America Conference in New York.

We were both nominated for a RITA that year (Debbie Macomber took the prize!) and had flown many a jet-lagging mile to be there, not that we let a little thing like that slow us down. I don't remember much about the conference, but New York was fabulous, the parties were fabulous... You get the picture!

Marion has been nominated, or double nominated for a RITA every year for as long as I can remember. She has two of the golden ladies at home already, proving just what a stellar writer she is in both Harlequin Romance and Medical Romance series. My first impression on meeting her is that is so tall! In fact I think my first words were, "You're so tall..." which wasn't exactly sparkling conversation, but honestly, we're talking super-model here...) My second was that she was fun. Oh, and charming. Just lovely. Like her wonderful books. I wish I was in Dallas so that I could visit with her again and celebrate her achievements because this year she's done the double again, with two books nominated for a Rita. The first is --

THE DOCTOR'S PROPOSAL

HOW did you knock on the front door of a medieval castle? And what was such a castle doing in a remote Australian fishing community?

Dr Kirsty McMahon was worried and tired and it was starting to rain. The castle doors looked as if they'd take a battering ram to open them, and using the incongruous intercom-thing produced nothing. Her tentative knock sounded ridiculous. She knocked harder and gave a hopeful shout but there was no response.

Enough. She'd been stupid to come. Susie was complaining of cramp. She and her twin would find a hotel in Dolphin Bay and broach the castle walls in the morning. If she could get Susie back here.

Then she paused as a sudden flurry of barking sounded on the other side of the gates. Was someone coming?

The vast timber doors opened an inch, and then wider. A lanky brown dog of indiscriminate parentage nosed its way out. A hand gripped its collar. A man's hand.

She took a step back. This place seemed straight out of a Gothic novel. The castle was set high on the cliffs above the sea, with purple-hazed mountains ringing the rear. In the mist of early evening, Kirsty was almost expecting to be met by a pack of ancient hunting dogs, anchored to armoured warriors with battle-axes.

"Boris, if you jump up on anyone you'll be toast." She blinked. The owner of the voice didn't sound like an axe-toting warrior. The voice sounded...nice?

The doors swung wider and she decided the adjective nice wasn't strong enough.

Her warrior was gorgeous.

Six feet two. Mid-thirties maybe? Aran sweater, faded jeans and battered boots. Deep brown, crinkly hair, ruffled just the way she liked it in her men.

Her men? Robert? The thought almost made her smile and she had no difficulty at all turning her attention back to her warrior.

What else? He had a craggy face, strongly boned and weathered. His eyes smiled at the edges even when he wasn't smiling. His body was...excellent.

Oh, for heaven's sake, she was standing outside a ridiculous Australian castle thinking lustful thoughts about a strange man's body?All her life she'd fought to stay in control, and now, when everything was teetering, the last thing she needed was the complication of a male. Back home she was dating nice, safe Robert, who'd stay being nice and safe for as long as she wanted. She was in control. She was married to medicine.

But her warrior was definitely gorgeous.

And the second --

THE SURGEON'S FAMILY MIRACLE

"ISN'T Kapua where Lily Cyprano lives?"

Ben was running to a tight schedule, and he sighed as Sam Hopper joined him. Sam was a skilled surgeon but he talked too much. The first Chinook was leaving in an hour. Normally the adrenalin was kicking in by now, making him move with lightning speed, but lately, Hell, what did it mean when preparation for disaster seemed routine?

"What?" he asked without looking up, and Sam poured himself coffee and hiked his frame onto the bench where Ben was sorting drugs.

"Lily,'he repeated patiently. "Cute as a button. Half islander, half French. We all thought she looked like Audrey Hepburn, only curvier. Sexiest thing on two legs. She went through med school, then went home to work on the little island where she'd been raised. Wasn't that Kapua?" He paused, sorting old memories. "Hey, weren't you two an item? I was a couple of years above you but I seem to remember, I'm right, aren't I?"

Ben's hands stilled. For a moment—just for a moment—a surge of remembered pain washed through him. Lily.

Then he regrouped. "We're talking about seven years ago,' he snapped. "The trivia you keep in that tiny mind of yours, "

"But Kapua is Lily's island?' "Yeah," Ben said, remembering. He'd been so caught up in the urgency of the job that until now he hadn't thought of the link between Kapua and Lily. But, yes, Kapua was definitely the place Lily called home.

"Is she still there?'

"How would I know? I haven't heard from her for years."

"It'd be a joke if she was among the insurgents."

"A great joke," he said dryly, starting to pack again.

Marion's latest, HIS MIRACLE BRIDE is on sale in the UK and US in August. You can check out an excerpt at her website.

And to win a signed copy, just tell us what it is about doctors that make them such great heroes.

Marion won't be drawing the prize until she gets back from the States, so, as with all the other finalists, you have until Monday to leave your comment.