HERE GO THE GROOMS

Ciao

Domenico here again. Kate asked me to write the blog for her – see Max – she asked.

Yesterday Max (that’s Max Valentine over one Liz Fielding’s blog) came over all domineering and autocratic – ‘This blog is Mine!’ Anyone would think he was the Presents hero around here! Not to mention Theo’s demanding - "I want Martha. Here. Now" over on Anne's. But then I guess he has some cause to be demanding He's got a very pregnant not-quite-wife. He certainly doesn't want her flitting off to Ireland with her bride buddies!

Nor does Max want his fidanzata disappearing just when he thought they were heading for that Happy Ever After they were promised. But bullying the authors won’t work – without them there’d be no Happy Ever After and I’m not about to take risks with that. So a little Italian charm was all it took. The lady Kate was happy to let me chat with you a while. It seems she’s busy with some new Spanish guy anyway so she doesn’t mind if I talk with you and tell you what the Grooms have come up with. A Spaniard, huh? So what’s wrong with another Italian I asked, but she says she has two more Italians after me – Sicilians – and she’d like a change! Italian’s make the best heroes, I pointed out – just ask Alicia. But Kate says she’s getting to know a Spaniard so I can have the blog and talk to you about the plan that the other guys - the other Grooms - and I have come up with.

I told you we’d come up with a contest that would make their little effort look insignificant – and we have. We had a great night last night sitting round the table at Max’s restaurant in Chelsea – great food – great wine – and when we got Theo off the topic of his sailing exploits we all got along like a house on fire. (You English have some truly strange expressions of speech).

So – to the contest. Seems to us that the Brides have underestimated you readers and your abilities. All they asked are three small questions and for that, as a prize, they offered three chances of winning three books. Well, anything the signorinas can do, the signori can do better. The Brides may have got their - our - authors to offer you our books, the one s we all appear in, but we’ve persuaded them – I told you all it would take was a little sweet-talking Max – to offer three books each. To make this contest even bigger and better than the one the Brides came up with, of course we had to ask a little nmore of you. But Kate, Anne and Liz all claim that you can handle the challenge – their readers are smart, they say – they can track down the answers, non problema – so here’s what we’ve come up with.

So, here's the deal -- our GROOM'S CONTEST has much the same rules as the brides' contest.

You get three chances to win -- one on each of the blogs: mine (well, Kate’s), Max's (Liz's), and Theo’s (Anne’s)

You have to answer the following nine questions - three on each blog. That’s just one for each book you can win, Some of them have two parts, so make sure you’ve got all the answers before you send them in. For nine books you didn’t expect a walk in the park. (another strange English phrase) The answers can all be found on the blogs– or by using the sidebar links..
What do you get if you're a winner?

Well, from Anne each winner gets:

A three-in-one book containing three complete novels: The Cowboy's Code, containing Cowboys Don't Quit, Cowboys Don't Stay and The Cowboy and the Kid (Romantic Times's Best Series Novel of the Year) PLUS a copy of Theo Savakis's book by the author whose name you have to figure out.

From Kate each winner gets:
Her best-selling Alcolar Family trilogy: The Twelve-Month Mistress, The Spaniard's Inconvenient Wife and Bound by Blackmail. (Spaniards again – see? But she tells me she has two really great Sicilian guys coming up later this year)

And From Liz each winner gets:
Copies of her terrific book all about GROOMS: The Corporate Bridegroom, A Suitable Groom and Her Wish-List Bridegroom

So now I’m sure you’re longing to know how you can win these great prizes – well, like I said, all you have to do is answer these nine questions - we’ve each set three of them and you can find the answers on our author’s blog.

THEO’S QUESTIONS

1) Which book, also being published in February has a hero called Theo Savakis (who is NOT ME because he is going to marry Miranda Weston and I am going to marry MARTHA!) and who is the author of that book?

2) My (Theo's) sister was the heroine of an earlier McAllister book. What's the name of the book -- and the full name of my sister?

3) McAllister says there is "another hero" in The Santorini Bride (which isn't true, by the way). What breed of dog is Ted?


DOMENICO’S QUESTIONS:

1 Where did Kate celebrate a book launch party this month and which famous novelist did she meet there?

2. What award did Kate's February release - The Italian's Forced Bride win? (see – I told you Italians are the best heroes – we win awards)

3. If the winner of The Brides Contest has already read The Italian's Forced Bride, Kate will give away a copy of her March M&B Modern release which also had Bride in the title. What is the name of this book – and what is the name of its hero? (If you need as clue he’s one of those sexy Sicilian guys . .)


MAX’S QUESTIONS:


1) St Valentine’s Day is a worldwide phenomenon, but Liz (my author) lives in Wales and they have their own special day for lovers in January. What’s the date? And what is the name of the saint involved?

2) The Valentine Bride (the book that Louise and I share), is the last one in a mini series. What was the series called? Name another author who wrote a book in that series.

3) Liz wrote a special online story The Cinderella Valentine to set up this series. What are the full names of the two characters who met and fell in love in my Chelsea restaurant?

When you’ve got all the answers, send a copy of all of them to each of our authors. You can contact them through their websites (there’s a sidebar link on the blog) or, in the case of Anne you can just click on the "Contact Anne" tab and then send the email from there. Don’t forget to put GROOMS CONTEST in the subject.


The contest starts now and ends February 10th, 2007 so we can send off prizes before the weddings (and so Anne and Kate can go to Ireland "to research") And believe me, once February arrives and I get my hands on Alicia again, I don’t intend to be disturbed for a long long time . . . Not for nothing is that time after the wedding called a luna de miele.

So, that’s it – You have three chances to win a pile of great books. Okay, so you might not get my story – or Max’s or Theo’s. In fact Kate is getting involved with Spaniards all over again – but Liz, Kate and Anne are all award winning authors. , so you know every book will be worth reading.

And if there are more entries for the Groom’s contest than there are for the Brides, then I’m sure I can persuade la bella Kate to add a little something to those prizes when she sends them out . . .

Just remember, the Grooms give you three times the pleasure