Linked characters...

I've been asked about secondary characters in my Rita nominated book, The Sheikh's Convenient Princess.

Does Violet have her own story? Do the Garland Girls appear in other books?

Happily, the answer is yes and yes.

I created the Garland Agency for the book Dating Her Boss.

When Jilly Prescott arrives from London clutching her certificates for incredible typing and shorthand speeds, Amanda Garland is torn.

 Garland Girls are the creme de la creme of secretarial/PA staff and Jilly doesn't have their finishing school gloss or style but she is desperate. Her brother needs help, but he's grown suspicious of her efforts to tempt him out of a very dark place by sending him her most attractive temps. Jilly, with her uncontrollable mop of hair and a Geordie accent that elocution lessons have not been able to entirely eradicate, will at least deal with his immediate need for secretarial help.


Jilly, who has arrived in London to catch up with her childhood sweetheart, only to have her dreams smashed, touches Max's grieving heart and he sets out to help her be noticed in her friend's glamorous new world.

Amanda Garland has her own story. Self-sufficient, successful, independent but with love all around her, her biological alarm clocks goes off and she decides it's time for a baby. She is highly organised, independent and doesn't need a man - she's going to use a donor clinic to achieve her dream. That's until she meets car hire chauffeur Daniel Redford and The Baby Plan begins to unravel.

Having created the Garland Agency, whenever I need a competent woman to take charge of a difficult situation, that is - like it's very happy clients - where I always go, so the name does crop up in other books.

Finally, there is Princess Violet, English wife of Sheikh Hamad, who is determined to give Ruby and Bram a wedding that, while private, will be unforgettable.

Descended from a runaway princess who took with her the legendary gold and ruby encrusted dagger, the Blood of Tariq, I wrote Violet's story, Chosen As the Sheikh's Wife  as a special commission for the 100th anniversary of Mills and Boon.

It's a novella, but packed with action. A life-threatening situation, a marriage of convenience, a kidnapping and an attempted coup. And two lovely people falling in love.

And while I'm here talking about linked characters - one of the books in the Invitation to a Royal Wedding series, The Baronet's Wedding Engagement, by Rita award winning Jessica Hart, is free at the moment.

Here are the links -

Tule
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Kobo
iBooks

Six degrees of separation...

Actually, that title is not right. I'm not talking about separation in this blog, but connections.

One of my lovely "Team Liz" members who received an ARC of The Sheikh's Unsuitable Bride had spotted a number of characters who had appeared in other books. She wrote and asked me if one of the other characters had also had a book of her own. She didn't, but the fact that she was "real" enough to give the feeling that might have was very pleasing. It meant that even though she appeared briefly, in a phone call, she had a three-dimensional quality that I hope to give to even the walk-on parts.

I love revisitng my characters and all my sheikhs are linked, either through family or close ties.

Sheikh Fayad and his lovely Princess Violet, who play an important part of this story, first appeared in Chosen as the Sheikh's Wife (with a guest appearance from my very first sheikh, Prince Hassan - His Desert Rose). I needed a country where the exiled Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Ansari could make his home and where better than Ramal Hamrah? Fayad is his cousin. The fort had been his maternal grandmother's home. Perfect.

Sheikh Zahir gets a passing mention. He first appeared in The Sheikh's Guarded Heart, then got his own story in The Sheikh's Unsuitable Bride.

His unsuitable bride was Diana, who worked for Sadie, (first appearance in The Baby Plan) who is the step-daughter of Amanda Garland (first appearnace Dating Her Boss), who also makes an appearance in The Sheikh's Convenient Princess.  Are you still with me? :)

When you have created the world's finest staff agency, why would you need to invent another one?

Amanda is one of those very useful women who will put in appearance whenever I need her. Her brother was the hero of Dating Her Boss; she was a bit edgy, very self-contained and I couldn't resist blowing her world apart in The Baby Plan.

Another character who gets a mention in The Sheikh's Convenient Princess is Jude Radcliffe, who met and married the adorable Talie in The Temp and the Tycoon (reported in the Daily Telegraph as one of the most downloaded books on Amazon UK when it was first published). That's the retro cover Mills and Boon used when they reprinted it for their 100th anniversary.

Are there any characters in my books that you wish had a story of their own? There are one or two who I think deserve a story of their own but I'd love to hear your thoughts.

In other news, I'm expanding Team Liz. The duties are not onerous. You have to be signed up to my newsletter (there's a link on the sidebar), "like" my Facebook page and follow me on Twitter. More importantly you have to love my books because you will receive an advance copy, in return for which you will be asked to leave a honest review on Goodreads and Amazon. If you hate it, I'd rather you emailed me and told me what bothered you - actually that goes for everyone. I will be putting an invitation on my newsletter in February with details of how to come on board.

There will be another new Liz Fielding Harlequin Romance/Cherish, Her Pregnancy Bombshell, in June 2017. And one other book this year. Maybe a short story if I can keep sufficiently focussed and everything runs smoothly at Fielding Towers.

Here are the links for The Sheikh's Convenient Princess.

Harlequin

Ibooks  Barnes & Noble

Kobo
 Amazon US
Amazon UK

The Sheikh's Temporary Princess?

The good news is that my latest book is now going through the long procedure that starts after I've finished it and my editor has said "Yes!"

Copy-editing (to catch the boring stuff like typing errors, spelling mistakes, whether I got into a muddle with my time-line and that my heroine's eyes didn't change colour half way through. (None of that happened!)

It's still without a title, although in my head it will always be The Sheikh's Temporary Princess. I'll let you know what the combined might of editorial, marketing and the tealady decide when they've made up their mind.

The publication date - so far - is February 2017 which seems a very long time to wait here's link to my Pinterest page where I gathered loads of lovely inspirational pictures of jewellery, clothes, shaded courtyards and of course my hero.

Meanwhile, allow me to introduce Sheikh Ibraham al-Ansari (Bram to those who know him), former downhill race ski champion, superb horseman - the disgraced and disinherited heir to the throne of Umm al-Basr.

He's in a jam. (Make that another jam.)  He's got a temporary PA from the fabulous Garland Agency  - the uber efficient Ruby Dance - but what he really needs is a temporary wife.

"Garland Girls" have a legendary status, but will this "Girl" live up to the billing and save him from an arranged marriage?

Serial Liz Fielding fans will remember that Amanda Garland first appeared in her brother's story, Dating Her Boss and I thought she was so interesting that I wrote her own story. It's told in the The Baby Plan.

Oh, and her step-daughter, Sadie Redford, runs the car hire company that gave things a helping hand in the Sheikh's Unsuitable Bride. Which reminds me. Sadie really deserves her own happy ending.

Classic Office Romance

It's publication day for the ebook version of a classic office romance I wrote a while back. I loved this book -  in which a very down to earth, very ordinary girl, captures the heart of the very broken Max Fleming.

Max made a brief appearance in Amanda's story - his sister - The Baby Plan,  when she fell in love with Dan a year later.

And because some characters just live on, when I wrote The Sheikh's Unsuitable Bride, Dan and his daughter Sadie were on hand to prime the romance pump!

I just love it when that happens!

THE GREAT ADVENT CALENDAR GIVEAWAY

DAY TWENTY-FOUR

DECEMBER 24TH

"Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house..."

Actually I saw a mouse the other day. It nipped up on to the stoop, bold as brass, and helped itself to a snack from the crumbs left out for the half-tame robin that visits every day. He should look out for the neighbourhood cat who's also started dropping by looking for tasty snacks!

Catching up with the news, Elsje in South Africa won THE BABY PLAN. I posted a load of books yesterday to winners not just for the Advent Calendar giveaway, but for Kate Walker's Christmas Stocking, too. I hope they all arrive safely.

Behind the door today is THE SHEIKH'S GUARDED HEART. A grieving man, a desperate woman saved from certain death, and a beautiful garden. Lucy owes her life to Sheikh Hanif and sets about healing his heart, as he has healed her body.

And Hanif's young cousin, Sheikh Zahir, makes his first appearance, too. This is the moment when his feet are set on the path that will eventually take him to London and his meeting with Diana Metcalfe, a highly unsuitable bride for a sheikh...

For a chance to read this story, email me at liz @lizfielding.com with Day Twenty-Four in the subject line and your name and address in the body. And tell me the most memorable Christmas gift you ever received.

THE GREAT ADVENT CALENDAR GIVE AWAY

DAY TWENTY THREE

DECEMBER 23rd

Oh, lord. This is Sadie, covered with blushes here. I can't believe Liz actually dug out that old story where I behaved so badly! I was sixteen!

As if having to cope with the papparazi camped on the company doorstep hoping Diana might turn up wasn't bad enough. I hope I did the right thing when Sheikh Zahir phoned, but he sounded so sincere. So desperate. I wish I had someone who felt that way about me...

Anyway, what have we got here? Oh, yes. A FAMILY OF HIS OWN won the RNA Romance Prize in 2005. Trenda, in the delightfully named Saltillo, was drawn from the hat and the book is on its way.

Today, behind the door, is THE SECRET LIFE OF LADY GABRIELLA. This is the story of Ellie March, aspiring writer, cleaner, house-sitter, who has somehow managed to convince the editor of Milady magazine that she's Lady Gabriella March, domestic goddess, and she's now writing a monthly column on her "lifestyle". The only trouble is that she doesn't have a lifestyle. She doesn't even have a life.

Then Dr Benedict Faulkner, the owner of the lovely house she's "sitting" returns unexpectedly and, since he didn't know he had a house-sitter (sisters!) she's really in trouble. Oh, and one of the neighbours shoots at her. Life, as Ben quickly discovers, is never dull with Ellie around.

For a chance to win a copy of Ellie and Ben's story, email Liz at liz @lizfielding.com, with your name and address in the body of the text and Liz wants to know what you'd most like to find under your Christmas tree on the 25th. No men allowed -- we've already done that one -- not even your husband. And "World Peace" goes without saying!

THE GREAT ADVENT CALENDAR GIVEAWAY

DAY TWENTY-TWO

December 22nd

How's the shopping going? Are all the gifts wrapped? Is the cake iced, are the mince pies made? Or are you, like me, thinking, What? There are how many shopping days left?

Relax. Take an hour or two off and be kind to yourself. You'll be in a much better state to cope with it all afterwards.

But before you do, I have to thank you all for the fabulous names you sent me. Inspirational! Although, Sue, if you look at The Three Year Itch (lovely book, but I HATED that title, which was imposed on me by an editor long since departed) you'll find it has a hero called Gray!

It was Dena's name that came out of the hat for PRISONER OF THE HEART and the book is on its way to the US.

Behind the door today is THE BABY PLAN.

You've already met Sadie Redford, Diana's boss. Well, when I wrote THE BABY PLAN she was a troublesome sixteen-year-old determined to mess up her Dad's love life.

Actually, Amanda Fleming and Dan Redford were doing a pretty good job of that for themselves; hiding their true identities, protecting themselves.

For a chance to win a copy of this book email me at liz @lizfielding.com, with Day Twenty-Two in the subject line and your name and address in the body of the mail. That's it. You've got enough to think about this weekend without me setting you daft tasks!

COMPETITIONS

Have you entered the two competitions running on this blog yet? You've got until the end of the month for the chance to snaffle a copy of Lilian Darcy's stellar single title CAFE DU JOUR. Scroll down for full details of how to win, but first feast your eyes on Diana Dempsey's review from THE MELBOURNE AGE, a journal not normally known for kindness to romance authors.

Saturday, August 18, 2007

"Susie is a 28-year-old chef whose sister has been injured in a motorbike accident and she’s in love with a schmuck who starts up a series of shonky New Age workshops. Now that’s a good set-up. Lilian Darcy does an incisive job demolishing the dilettante boyfriend, as well as some of the self-centred participants, who, in the name of personal development, just want more and more and more.

"With regard to Susie’s career, we have the pleasure of eating vicariously as well as being able to participate in the backstage argy-bargy of the restaurant. Despite the culinary setting, Susie doesn’t eat much herself and instead fixates on coffee. The stress of seeing her sister suffering has put Susie off her tucker, which means, in fact, she loses weight and becomes more and more gorgeous without realising it.

"Darcy is the writer of about 70 romances for Harlequin and Silhouette and she says on her website that editors didn’t quite know where to place Café du Jour. I can understand why.

"While a new boyfriend looms on the horizon, the romance in this case is secondary to the book’s theme: Susie’s personal crisis as she deals with the changes in her life. Written as a journal through Susie’s eyes, the voice is warm and witty. Susie’s insights into her relationship with her sister, workmates and her lover are handled in a subtle and totally credible way, making for an excellent read."

You can tell this a "serious" publication by the way it refers to the author by her last name!

And you still have a few days left to enter my own competition to win a copy of the 3-in-1 UK reissue BRINGING UP BABY, which includes my THE BABY PLAN, as well as books by Marion Lennox and Jessica Hart.