It's summer and the reading is easy...

It's July - time to put your feet up in the garden with a glass of something cold within reach and great read to hand - so click to download these four fabulous new Harlequin Romances from fan favourite authors Susan Meier, Marion Lennox, Bella Bucannon and Kandy Shepherd.

They are also available in paperback and as individual downloads.

And just for today (1st July) its #FreebieFriday at Harlequin so click here to buy all four of these books using voucher code JUL16FR and you'll get one free.

And if you're looking for a Liz Fielding - this is my click for a perfect summer read.

"I laughed all the way through..."

Have a wonderful summer.

Stormachtige ontmoeting / Liefde met slagroom

Auteurs: Liz Fielding, Marion Lennox | Miniserie: Stoere papa's | Reeks: Bouquet | Boek nr: 362 | Pub.datum: 28 apr. 2015

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Korte omschrijving

De steenrijke financier Ben Logan is gewend zijn eigen boontjes te doppen - totdat hij tijdens een zeilrace in een cycloon terechtkomt en aanspoelt op wat een verlaten eiland lijkt.

Lees de hele omschrijving

(1) STORMACHTIGE ONTMOETING - Marion Lennox
Stoere papa's 1:
Samen op een verlaten eiland... kan het romantischer?

De steenrijke financier Ben Logan is gewend zijn eigen boontjes te doppen - totdat hij tijdens een zeilrace in een cycloon terechtkomt en aanspoelt op wat een verlaten eiland lijkt. Dan moet hij zijn lot wel in handen leggen van de beeldschone vrouw die hem vindt. In een grot vinden ze beschutting tegen de storm en warmte bij elkaar. Weer thuis denkt Ben zijn leven gewoon voort te kunnen zetten, maar dan meldt zijn redster zich. Ze heeft hem iets heel bijzonders te vertellen...


(2) LIEFDE MET SLAGROOM - Liz Fielding
Op dít soort verleidingen is ze niet voorbereid....

Sorrel Amery bedenkt de geweldigste desserts voor feesten en partijen. IJs met peper of komkommer, of een toetje in de kleur van je bruidsjurk? Geen enkel probleem. Dat dient zich pas aan als ze een bestelling komt ophalen bij haar vaste leverancier en daar alleen een zeer aantrekkelijke man aantreft, accountant Alexander West. De winkel is failliet, vertelt hij haar. Vreemd genoeg doet haar dat weinig. Want op het moment dat ze in zijn prachtige ogen kijkt, heeft ze een heel nieuw doel - en ook al een plan!

Deze verhalen zijn ook los verkrijgbaar.

AUGUST COMPETITION

I promised you a competition this August for a copy of the September BY REQUEST (UK only) called BRINGING UP BABY with reissues of books by me, Jessica Hart and Marion Lennox.

To win all you have to do is email me the three years in which Jessica, Marion and I have each won a Rita. Email the answer to me with your name and address and BRINGING UP BABY in the subject line and I'll draw one lucky winner on 31 August.

SHEIKH NEWS...

The novella has reached a conclusion. I got to a point this week that I could call the end.

I wasn't entirely happy with the last scene (I could hear my editor in my head saying, "Mmmmm, I think we need to do something...")

Anyway, I woke this morning with my head in that clear space that it goes to when you stop trying and it'll be on her desk on Monday morning when she returns from holiday. Whew!

I've been thinking titles and I rather like THE SHEIKH'S HONOUR, but you can all see the problems with that one straight away can't you? US readers will think I can't spell. It doesn't matter. Whatever I come up with "marketing" will have it's own ideas. Leave them to worry about it.

Now I have an October deadline and a clear space in my head. Question -- Where do you get your ideas from? Anyone ... please ...

WRITING A QUERY AND GETTING AN AGENT

Writer Marcus Sakey tells us all how it's done, here. In the meantime, where does he get his ideas from...

THE FINAL WINNER...

Marion Lennox is now safely back from RWA and has snagged a passing koala to draw "Juliemt" as the winner of her signed book. Email me with your street name and addy, Julie, and I'll pass it on to Marion so that she can send you her book.

And Joye!!!! Are you out there. You won Fiona's book, but without your details we can't get it to you. Email me -- there's a link on my website -- NOW!

And there's still time to take part in the competition for VINTAGE BABES by Elizabeth Oldfield. Scroll down and tell us who is your most admired "mature" woman.

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.

TRADITIONAL ROMANCE

Since this seems likely to be the last year that Traditional Romance will stand alone as a category in Romance Writers’ of America annual RITA awards for excellence in romantic fiction, I wanted to celebrate the wonderful authors and books who have been short-listed this year. This is who they are

Jackie Braun

Barbara Hannay

Fiona Harper

Marion Lennox

Sandra Paul

It’s Fiona’s first RWA conference, she’s up for Best First Book as well as Best Traditional Romance. Marion is flying in from Australia, too. Already a double Rita winner and a RWA veteran, I imagine that they’ll need stewards at the book-signng keep her fans in line, but it’s a long trip from both England and Australia and if you can make the book-signing – the money from all the books sold goes to the cause of Literacy -- please so make a point of stopping by to say hello.

During the week of the conference, Tuesday to Saturday, I will be featuring the five authors in the line-up. They have each been kind enough to donate a signed book – for the chance to win, all you’ll have to do is answer a simple question.

I’m taking the finalists in alphabetical order and the first up is

JACKIE BRAUN talking about A WOMAN WORTH LOVING

I loved writing this story. It's a powerful tale of redemption and not just for the heroine but for the hero. I have to say, I was a little surprised that my editor climbed on board when I pitched this book to her, and as the first book in a trilogy no less. This is a very different kind of story for a traditional romance. My heroine, Audra, was thrice-married and a failed actress. My hero, Seth, was a photojournalist who turns to a career as a tabloid photographer to pursue Audra, whom he blames for the accident that killed his family. It's my hope that readers enjoy Audra and Seth's journey to forgiveness and love as much as enjoyed writing it.

Here's the story in a nutshell --

Audra Conlan has always been flirtatious, flamboyant and wild, until fate gives her a second chance she vows not to waste. This time she'll repent her mistakes, face her estranged family and avoid men like photographer Seth Ridley, whose sexy smile and welcoming ways tempt her to fall for him hard and fast. But when the past threatens her new life, will Audra dare to forgive the woman she once was and embrace the woman she was meant to be ... a woman worth loving?

And here's an excerpt --

It was easy to have regrets about the way she’d lived her life when a man’s hands were wrapped around her throat, thumbs pressing insistently on her windpipe to cut off her oxygen supply. In truth, though, the excuses Audra had made for her bad behavior hadn’t seemed valid for a while now.
It’s not fair.

That thought registered even as her vision began to dim.

After all, she had been changing her ways -- discreetly, which perhaps explained why the tabloids’ most recent headlines had still labeled her a gold digger.

Audra didn’t like the moniker, although she supposed she had been called far worse. Still, she had married for love and, after that, for emotional security. Wealth hadn’t been the quality that had attracted her to any of her husbands, including the late Henry Dayton Winfield III. He’d been kind, undemanding. He’d been ... safe. And she had been determined that this marriage would work despite the gap in their ages. She had been determined that this time she would not fail. Marriage number three would not end in divorce like the previous two had, leaving her disillusioned and her heart a gouged out husk.
“Lying, manipulative witch,” spat the man squeezing her throat.

Audra was incapable of disputing his words. How ironic that when she had been capable of speaking out in her own defense, she hadn’t bothered.

In general, she hadn’t cared what other people thought about her or what adjectives they used to describe her, as long as they'd spelled her name right. She’d known her soul wasn’t completely black even if the rag-reading public thought differently. Since her most recent marriage in particular, she’d taken steps to restructure her lifestyle and realign the egocentric pattern into which she had fallen since coming to Hollywood. She was no Mother Teresa, but she had found great satisfaction and personal fulfillment becoming involved with children’s charities in recent years, working quietly behind the scenes lest someone accuse her of exploiting the already exploited in an attempt to salvage her flagging acting career.

While the tabloids might call her a gold digger -- and the man trying to kill her clearly saw her that way -- she had in fact made an appointment with her lawyer that very afternoon to rework her late husband’s will so that his rightful heirs would inherit the vast estate.

She didn’t need the money, nor did she feel entitled to it. She had amassed a fair bit of wealth on her own thanks to a few smart investments. Still, she could understand why some people who didn’t know her, and who only read tabloid stories about her, would see her as a candidate for stoning.

As she floated near the edge of consciousness the past thirty years played through her mind like some poorly acted made-for-television movie. That was galling, but apropos. She’d never made much of a name for herself in Hollywood, at least not the kind that could be repeated in polite company.

She’d caused her share of trouble and heartache, bitterness and outright rage, which, she thought with the brutal honesty of the dying, was exactly how she found herself in her current predicament. She’d pushed the envelope too far, thumbed her nose at convention one time too many.

At one point she’d felt she’d had good reasons for being a wild child, a rebellious teenager and then an adult who’d lived scandalously enough to become weekly tabloid fodder. Those reasons had ceased to matter, perhaps because Audra had finally realized they didn’t absolve her from responsibility or translate into happy endings.

You reap what you sow. How often had she heard that advice while growing up? Yet it had taken her all this time to understand and accept the truth of those simple words.
And now it was too late to complete her metamorphosis.
As the saying went, the chickens had come home to roost, and the head cock now had his big hands encircling her neck. With each passing second his grip grew tighter.

And tighter.

And tighter.

I’m not ready to die.

Even as that panicky thought registered anew she prepared for the inevitable, praying for forgiveness from the God she’d only recently become re-acquainted with and wishing she could seek the same from the many people she had wronged over the years. Her sister topped the list.

I’m so sorry.

The words whispered through her mind, unable to make it past her gasping lips. Surrendering to the blackness rimming her vision, Audra accepted that her apology was too little and, like her bid for self-respect, had come too late.

For a chance to win a signed book from Jackie's backlist, tell her what special qualities make a heroine memorable for you.

And come back tomorrow for a glimpse at Barbara Hannay's shortlisted book.

PS Draws for the books won't be done until after the weekend, when the travellers have returned from conference!