COLORADO AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

I've finally run down the full list of shortlisted books for the Colorado Award of Excellence. Great to see author buddies Annie West, Bronwyn Jameson, Holly Jacobs and Brenda Novak in the line-up. Good luck to everyone!


Short Contemporary

Wedded in a Whirlwind ~ Liz Fielding
Editor Bryony Green, Harlequin

The Daddy Dilemma ~ Karen Rose Smith
Editor Tina Colombo, Silhouette

The Tycoon’s One Night Revenge ~ Bronwyn Jameson
Editor Diana Ventimiglia, Silhouette

The Billionaire’s Bought Mistress ~ Annie West
Editor Suzanne Clarke, Harlequin

And Baby Makes Four ~ Mary J. Forbes
Editor Susan Litman, Silhouette


Long Contemporary

Once Upon a Thanksgiving ~ Holly Jacobs
Editor Kathryn Lye, Harlequin

Another Man’s Baby ~ Kay Stockham
Editor Wanda Ottewell, Harlequin

No Place Like Home ~ Margaret Watson
Editor Victoria Curran, Harlequin

The Secret Soldier ~ Jennifer Morey
Editor Natashya Wilson, Harlequin

A Perfect Stranger ~ Terry McLaughlin
Editor Laura Shin, Harlequin


Single Title

Accidentally Yours ~ Susan Mallery
Editor Tara Parsons, Harlequin

Sweet Spot ~ Susan Mallery
Editor Tara Parsons, Harlequin

Addicted to Love ~ Lori Wilde
Editor Michele Bidelspach, Grand Central Publishing/Forever

Windswept ~ Ann Macela
Editor Helen Rosburg, Medallion Press, Inc.

Red-Hot and Royal ~ Susanna Carr
Editor Anne Bohner, NAL/Signet Eclipse

Romantic Suspense

Watch Me ~ Brenda Novak
Editor Paula Eykelhof, Harlequin/MIRA

Stop Me ~ Brenda Novak
Editor Paula Eykelhof, Harlequin/MIRA

Phantom in the Night ~ Dianna Love and Sherrilyn Kenyon
Editor Lauren McKenna, Pocket

Trial by Fire ~ Jo Davis
Editor Tracy Bernstein, NAL/Signet Eclipse

Under Fire ~ Beth Cornelison
Editor Bethany Morgan, Samhain Publishing


Spicy Romance

Unleashed ~ Lori Borrill
Editor Kathryn Lye, Harlequin

Risque Business ~ Tawny Weber
Editor Brenda Chin, Harlequin

Sex, Straight Up ~ Kathleen O’Reilly
Editor Kathryn Lye, Harlequin

Shaken and Stirred ~ Kathleen O’Reilly
Editor Kathryn Lye, Harlequin

Hot Silk ~ Sharon Page
Editor Hilary Sares, Kensington Aphrodisia


Paranormal/Time Travel/Fantasy/Futuristic

Kiss of Fire ~ Deborah Cooke
Editor Kara Cesare, NAL Eclipse

Talgorian Prophecy ~ Ariana Dupre
Editor Helen Woodall, Cerridwen Press

Enchanting the Lady ~ Kathryne Kennedy
Editor Leah Hultenschmidt, Dorchester Love Spell

In Twilight’s Shadow ~ Patti O’Shea
Editor Heather Osborn, TOR Books

Heart Fate ~ Robin D. Owens
Editor Cindy Hwang, Berkley Sensation


Mainstream w/Romantic Elements

Alibi in High Heels ~ Gemma Halliday
Editor Leah Hultenschmidt, Dorchester

Making It Turning Thirty-Twelve ~ Sandy James
Editor Amanda Hilton, Bookstrand

Knock Em Dead ~ Rhonda Pollero
Editor Audrey LaFehr, Kensington Books

Don’t Hex with Texas ~ Shanna Swendson
Editor Liz Scheier, Ballantine Books


Inspirational

The Perfect Life ~ Robin Lee Hatcher
Editor Ami McConnell, Thomas Nelson

Wagered Heart ~ Robin Lee Hatcher
Editor Sue Brower, Zondervan

My Heart Remembers ~ Kim Vogel Sawyer
Editor Charlene Patterson, Bethany House

Beyond the Night ~ Marlo Schalesky
Editor Julee Schwarzburg, Multnomah Books

For Pete’s Sake ~ Linda Windsor
Editor Cynthia DiTiberio, Harper One, Avon Inspire


Historical

The Rebel and the Lady ~ Kathryn Albright
Editor Jenny Hutton, Harlequin Historicals

Siren’s Song ~ Trish Albright
Editor Leah Hultenschmidt, Dorchester Publishing/Leisure Books

Distracting the Duchess ~ Emily Bryan
Editor Leah Hultenschmidt, Dorchester Publishing/Leisure Books

The Mistress Diaries ~ Julianne MacLean
Editor Erika Tsang, Avon Books

The Kiss ~ Sophia Nash
Editor Lyssa Keusch, Avon/Harper Collins

FIRST THE GOOD NEWS…

I had some lovely news on Sunday morning – along with the flowers and cards for Mothering Sunday; an email from the organisers of the Colorado Award of Excellence competition telling me that WEDDED IN A WHIRLWIND is one of five finalists in the Short Contemporary category of the competition. You’ll find a full list of finalists in all categories here within the next few days.

WEDDED was a very special book for me. The heroine, Manda, made her first appearance in Reunited: Marriage in a Million. She was not, on first acquaintance, a sympathetic character. She was pretty horrible to Belle, the heroine in that book, but she was sharp, lively, clever and I enjoyed her somewhat biting sense of humour. A woman like that had to have a back story and by the end of the book her brother, Ivo, in revealing his own desperate pain, gave us some clues. By the end of that book I really liked Manda and I wanted her, like him, to have a happy ending.

It wasn’t an easy book to write. Most of it takes place in the dark as Manda and Jago, two strangers caught up in a life-threatening situation, learn to know one another, sharing their secrets, shedding anger, guilt, pain as they reached for the light. For life. For the future.

It became a book that roused some controversy on the eHarlequin members board, too. One reader suggested that I had “chickened out” of addressing a subject that had become the “elephant in the room” in romantic fiction because my heroine lost the baby she was carrying before she had finally confronted whether or not to go ahead with the abortion she was contemplating. For me the abortion issue was an irrelevance and anyone who read Manda’s story deeply enough to understand her would have known that she could never have gone through with it. She was a woman who had been starved of love. A baby would have given her that – and unlike its wretched father – given it unconditionally. No contest.

It was guilt at the knowledge that she’d even contemplated an abortion that caused her mental breakdown. And that was, for me, the last taboo. The fact that she’d had a breakdown and been “sectioned” -- locked away for her own safety; that although she was academically brilliant and on the surface had made a full recovery, had no trust in her own emotions.

I loved her vulnerability, felt her pain, rejoiced in her awakening. I’m totally thrilled and touched that readers and booksellers in Colorado felt the same way.

AND THEN SOME MORE GOOD NEWS…

I guess that hitting the #1 spot when your book is being given away for free is not something to shout about, nevertheless I was still as pleased as punch to see THE BRIDE’S BABY #1 in Contemporary Romance Kindle downloads over the weekend. Such moments are fleeting but can still lift the spirits. Now if only I could manage to do the same on the Waldenbooks list the way that my fabulous colleague Caroline Anderson did with her Harlequin Romance last month you’d hear me celebrating in Queensland!

AND MORE…

Many congratulations to new Harlequin Romance author, Golden Heart finalist, Barbara Wallace, who signed this week. It’s the sign of a vigorous series when new authors regularly join the line-up and this is the second in the last twelve months.

More details when her first book is published.

AND FINALLY…

A reminder that SECRET BABY, SURPRISE PARENTS is about to hit the stores in April in both the US and the UK.

The tragedies of infertility, of broken homes, touches nearly everyone.

SBSP is a story of healing, forgiveness, sacrifice and courage – with the occasional giggle thrown in. There’s an taster on my website, and Author Sound Relations will be running a competition on their newsletter in April – with a $50 Amazon voucher up for grabs – and it’s already available online at Mills and Boon and Harlequin

I’m baaaack…

Sort of.

The laptop, which is my lifeline to the outside world is in hospital at the moment on life support. Its innards have been backed up by the tech guys in Swansea, but are still ungetatable so all unanswered emails will remain that way for at least another week. Meanwhile I’m picking up the ones that are making it through on the dh’s laptop – although I’m not sure whether mail to liz @ lizfielding.com is getting picked up. Sigh.

I really hate the dh’s laptop. Not it’s fault. It’s a big, beautiful, glossy black job, but the keyboard doesn’t work for me. The right hand shift key is a tiny little thing lost amongst a group of other keys and my finger doesn’t know where to find it (I’m a touch typist). And it seems so slow having to go to my server for mail instead of downloading it. So hold off sending me emails for the moment. I’ll tell you when I’m back up to full steam.

Never mine. Lots of good things have happened.

HER DESERT DREAM has now gone through copy edit and so the CHANGING PLACES duet is now scheduled for November/December this year. These are Cinderella stories. In the first, CHRISTMAS ANGEL FOR THE BILLIONAIRE, Lady Rose yearns to be an anonymous "nobody". In the second, HER DESERT DREAM, Lydia becomes the "princess". These two books proved something of a challenge to write, largely I suspect because both women are pretending to be something they’re not, but editors cried, so I’m pretty happy with the outcome.

But enough of future books. SECRET BABY, SURPRISE PARENTS is available now at the Mills and Boon and eHarlequin websites -- links opposite -- both in paper and eBook versions. And they’ll be on sale retail in April (as always, a month later in Australia and New Zealand).

So what is this story about?

A while back, when I pitched a story to my editor, she did that yeeees, thing. The one with doubt in every inflection. Then she said, "Could you add a baby.’ Pause. ‘And a marriage of convenience.’ Well, I tried, then I abandoned that idea and wrote this book instead. With the baby, the marriage of convenience and secrets galore. (Not the baby though – everyone knew about the baby!) But a secret love, desperate fears, and a desperate tragedy. And a couple of monstrous mothers.

Romantic Times have given the book 4.5 stars, which always makes me glow a little. But the people who really matter are the readers. My last book, Wedded in a Whirlwind, started a very heated debate on eHarlequin -- let's see what you all make of this!

LAST DAY TO WIN "THE GROOMS"

Nick Jago again. It seems that Anne, Kate and Liz are all too busy to stop by and remind you that the HERE COMES THE GROOMS (that would be Santos, PJ and me) competition ends today.

Liz, I have to tell you, is pleading work, but she has taken to downloading books on her PC and reading them when everyone thinks she working.

Santos, that must be some story you've got there because she appears to be glued to that laptop. My ex stole my work, which was bad enough, but I can't wait to find out how the Montague's got away with your money. Or how you got away with the girl!

For those of you out there who also want to know, and who haven't already entered the competition, this is your last chance to win all three of the following books.


First up is Anne McAllister's hero, P J Antonides in her book Antonides' Forbidden Wife.

No one knew PJ Antonides had a wife!

Sometimes PJ barely remembered it himself. He'd married Ally Maruyama in another lifetime on the other side of the world. He'd been doing her a favor then. They'd both moved on.

Now Ally is back! And she says she wants a divorce. Suddenly PJ wants anything but . . .

Ally isn't sure she trusts PJ or these new ideas of his. And heaven help her if she falls in love with him all over again!

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Groom # 2 is Kate Walker's Santos Cordero in Cordero's Forced Bride. Alexa Montague is mortified. She's had to call off her sister's wedding, and now the ruthless, arrogant groom, Santos Cordero, is demanding that shy, ugly duckling Alexa, takes her sister's place!

The Montague's have stolen his money and his convenient bride, so Santos will enjoy taking Alexa instead. For Santos does not - cannot - love. But his body burns for Alexa as it has for no other woman before. He'll keep her captive in his bed until she's begging to be his.

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And finally Groom # 3, is yours truly Nick Jago in Wedded in a Whirlwind.

Trapped in the dark, certain she's about to die, Miranda Grenville believes things can't get worse. She's wrong. She's trapped with Nick Jago...

Okay, you've had a taste of what's in store for three lucky winners of these three books. Now here's what you have to do.

There are three questions and to win you have to answer all the questions and email your answers to Anne, to Kate and to me. Each of us will pick a winner and that winner will get a copy of each of the these books.

Here are the questions:

1. PJ left New York after he graduated from high school. Where did he go?
2. Who was Santos supposed to be marrying?
3. What scent did Jago recognise?

You'll find the answers in excerpt on our websites and you've got until January 21 to send in your answers.

Got it? You'll find "contact me" links on all our websites. Use those to email us -- all three of us with all three answers, don't forget. And good luck!

IN THE CAVE...

Nick Jago here again to eat humble pie.

Liz is still locked in the deadline cave but she's read PJ's book, Antonides' Forbidden Wife and said I've been too hard on him. Apparently he's funny, smart, sexy and NOT FORGETFUL. In fact she thinks he's a man in a million, and okay, having taken a peek myself I'm ready to admit that I was a little quick to jump on the guy. But don't blame me for getting the wrong end of the stick. Take it up with whoever wrote the book blurb.

In the meantime I've been ordered to read Kate's book, Cordero's Forced Bride. Santos has already left a message to tell me I've got that all wrong, too. What can I say, guys? When you're in London, the drinks are on me.

Now, if you'll excuse me, Michael's scratching and apparently it's my job to check his hair for nits.

Just talk amongst yourselves, or take part in the competition. Here's what you have to do: --

There are three questions and to win you have to answer all the questions and email your answers to Anne, to Kate and Liz. All three of them.

Each of them will pick a winner and that winner will get a copy of Cordero's Forced Bride, Antonides' Forbidden Wife and Wedded in a Whirlwind.

Here are the questions:

1. PJ left New York after he graduated from high school. Where did he go?
2. Who was Santos supposed to be marrying?
3. What scent did I recognise?

You'll find the answers in excerpt on their websites -- you'll find "contact" links there -- and you've got until January 21 to send in your answers.

HERE COME THE GROOMS...

Hi. I'm Nick Jago and apparently I have to drop everything, including Manda, my lovely bride, in order to tell you about this competition that Anne, Kate and Liz are running this month.

Fortunately, I'm not in this on my own.

P J Antonides, a man who can barely remember that he's married (which frankly doesn't sound promising) and Santos Cordero, whose chosen bride has done a runner -- who are these guys, Liz? -- are in this with me.

Here's the deal.

There are three questions and to win you have to answer all the questions and email your answers to Anne, to Kate and Liz. All three of them.

Each of them will pick a winner and that winner will get a copy of Cordero's Forced Bride, Antonides' Forbidden Wife and Wedded in a Whirlwind.

Here are the questions:

1. PJ left New York after he graduated from high school. Where did he go?
2. Who was Santos supposed to be marrying?
3. What scent did I recognise?

You'll find the answers in excerpt on their websites -- you'll find "contact" links there -- and you've got until January 21 to send in your answers.

Is that it, Liz? Can I go and sort out those little details you flung in at the last minute? Cancel the honeymoon...

WEDDED HITS AUSTRALIA!

Because of Christmas those of you in the southern hemisphere have had to wait an extra month for WEDDED IN A WHIRLWIND, but it's now available at the Australian Mills & Boon website here.

Or here if you'd rather have an eBook download.

And my website has just been updated, too.

I am now retreating to the cave in an effort to get on top of the wip before the season takes over. SUSAN MEIER will be putting in a guest appearance next week, though, so do stop by and say hello to her.

And don't forget, that if you're looking for the perfect stocking filler for the romance addict, you can still buy the Centenary collection from Mills & Boon (there a link on the sidebar).

That's 24 books for less than £1 a book.

FAB REVIEWS!

Many thanks to Nicola for a fun weekend, and to everyone who took time to leave a comment or take part in the draw for THE UNMASKING OF LADY LOVELESS.

I'll post the name of the winner as soon as Nicola has made the draw.

In the meantime, while I'm battling through the last chapter of my wip, here are some absolutely fabulous reviews for WEDDED IN A WHIRLWIND, which I know I don't have to remind you is ON SALE NOW!!!

First, Cataromance said this...

Liz Fielding never ceases to amaze me! Just when you think that her books cannot possibly get any better, she pulls the rug from under your feet by delivering an outstanding romantic tale that leaves you breathless! Sensitively-written, heartrending, beguiling and absolutely impossible to put down, Wedded in a Whirlwind is another classic by one of Harlequin’s finest writers!


Then Romance Junkies added their pennyworth with: --

If you’re looking for a soul stirring tale that makes readers laugh, cry, and look at the world just a little bit differently then WEDDED IN A WHIRLWIND fits the bill perfectly. Nick and Miranda have troubled pasts that they’ve never fully shared with anyone. The time they spend together talking allows them a new perspective on their lives. While I really enjoyed Miranda and Nick’s arguments and their stubborn attitudes I really became ‘attached’ to the characters once they began disclosing the events of their past that made them into the people they are today. Liz Fielding gives readers a fun story full of passion, adventure and believable emotional situations which allow readers to feel like they’re a part of the story rather than just a reader.

And finally there was this from All About Romance, who are famously hard to please. I've never made their coveted Desert Isle Keeper list before, but Wedded touched the right chord this month and here's what their reviewer said about Miranda and Nick and their story: --

As a reader, I find myself quick to praise the new and innovative. However, sometimes a sweet, "comfort food" book comes along that just leaves me smiling. Wedded in a Whirlwind is just such a book. It does not reinvent the genre, but in a very limited number of pages, the author constructs a beautiful fairytale that truly sweeps one right out of the everyday world.

Read on here



So would you like to share your own excitement about books that touch your heart? The Pink Heart Society is looking for regular, enthusiastic reviewers who would like to join them and write about the new releases.

They are looking for reviewers for every line and they would really like to see more of the American lines represented as well as the ones edited from the UK. So if you're interested, why not email the Pink Heart Society (there's a link on the sidebar) and tell them a bit about yourself. Maybe you can join the team, which means yo'd get the new books, which has to be the biggest incentive ever!

A REVIEW I HAD TO SHARE...

I have a real problem with the packaging of my November book, Wedded in a Whirlwind. The cover is light, air, movement -- a joyful moment. (And the fact that the hero is dressed in white tie and tails like a competitor in Strictly Come Dancing rather than the morning coat more usually worn at a formal wedding leaves me frankly bemused.)

I was concerned that readers would look at that cover and then, when they read the book think, "What?"

Well so far Catherine Witner at Romantic Times has given it 4.5 stars and the accolade "...exceptional emotional honesty."

And now Merrimon Books has described it as as a "Double delight!" with "...a unique inner and outer landscape."

"WEDDED IN A WHIRLWIND captures the reader's attention immediately with a combination of emotion and dramatic fast-paced action that will keep readers up late at night wanting to discover how these two can possibly escape. Forced to work together in darkness and close physical proximity, Miranda and Nick..."

Read on...

And if you want to discuss the book with people who've already read it, click here

TIME FOR A NEW BOOK

Remember me? Miranda Grenville. I was a bit-player in my brother's book Reunited: Marriage in a Million. The bratty sister who made Belle's life a misery.

Anyone but Liz would have shut me up in a cupboard and never let me out again, but she has a lot more imagination that that. It wasn't chance that she called Wedded in a Whirlwind her "Eurydice" book.

She sent me to hell and then, as if that wasn't bad enough, she gave me Nick Jago as my Orpheus. The woman has a sense of humour because Nick, when my screaming disturbed his hangover, wasn't in any mood to offer comfort and sympathy to a damsel in distress. I had to get quite assertive before he finally grasped the seriousness of the situation. Not that I've ever found assertiveness a problem. But I have to admit that with Jago, I pretty much met my match.

So, there we were, trapped underground. Somewhere in the dark I had a bag with half a bottle of water, a cell phone (with no signal) and a packet of mints. All Nick brought to the party was a a bottle of Cordilleran brandy and an itty-bitty archaeologist's trowel. We weren't going to dig our way out with that so we climbed.


In the dark, without sight to fill in the gaps, the other senses become heightened. You hear things in a voice that in sunlight you would overlook. The lightest touch has an intensity. And as you hang between life and death, climbing towards the light, towards life, you share everything, bare your soul and become, for a while, almost one.

* * *

There's an excerpt on my website and the book will be available online at Mills & Boon and Harlequin as both print and ebook in October. It will be on sale retail in November.

Here's what Romantic Times had to say about it: --

"Liz Fieldingʼs Wedded in a Whirlwind (4.5) is fast-paced and fun, and the relationship between Miranda and Nick has a remarkable emotional honesty. Truly a keeper."

For chapter one, click here...

WINNER

Just a quickie to let you all know that Dena's name was under the pin in Melanie's hand today and has won a copy of THE SHOCKING LORD STANDON. Congratulations! Melanie will be in touch, Dena.

And pretty much the last reminder that there's a hardback copy of WEDDED IN A WHIRLWIND (Miranda Grenville's story) up for grabs at my website this week. It won't be pub'd until November.

THE GREAT ADVENT GIVEAWAY

DAY TWENTY

DECEMBER 20th

Christmas is getting closer. I bought the last of my gifts today, along with a copy of debut "Romance" author Michelle Douglas's book, HIS CHRISTMAS ANGEL. Have to keep up with what these new young things are doing! Actually we have so many young authors writing for "Romance" and that's brilliant. It keeps the series fresh and vibrant.

More news, too, on Miranda's story. There's still a little work to be done, but it's going to be called WEDDED IN A WHIRLWIND and will be published next November.

Now back to the Calendar; Claritta in Little Rock was the lucky winner of GENTLEMEN PREFER ... BRUNETTES. I'm holding off posting anything now until after the holiday, but it'll be on its way as soon as the last mince pie has been eaten.


For Day 20, I've got another oldie-but-goodie, PRISONER OF THE HEART.

This is the one where Sophie Nash, driven to desperate measures to get a photograph of elusive celebrity Chay Buchanan, finds herself his very reluctant house guest.

Why does she need the photograph? Why is he so desperate to keep himself out of the gossip mags?

If you want to find out, email me at liz @lizfielding.com with Day Twenty in the subject line, your name and address in the body of the text and this time I want to know what name you'd give a hero.