"New books"

There are two "new" books of mine out next week  -

Well, they're new out, but they're not new titles and I wanted to make this clear as I don;t want people to be caught out and not realise that they are new issues but not new stories.

This is because when my previous editor was leaving, she checked through some things for me and discovered that two titles of mine were not available individually in ebook form.  People had been asking about individual copies of  the two linked books - The Sicilian's Wife and A SIcilian Husband.
These books are a linked duo, with Cesare  Santorino, the hero in one of them  (The Sicilian's  Wife)   who is the half-brother of Gio Cardelli the hero of A Sicilian Husband.

One book has appeared in a  3 in 1 By Request reprint -  so if you've got a copy of Claimed By The Sicilian then you'll have a  copy of   The Sicilian's Wife  together with Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Bride and The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge.  But I know that a lot of readers had enquired about finding the 2nd book linked to The Sicilian's Wife to find out about Gio's story.   Many of you fell in love with him when he appeared in  Cesare and Megan's story - which is what happened to me, I hadn't planned on writing a linked duo until  Gio walked into the book and demanded  that I tell his story.

So both
of these books are now issued as individual titles if you want to catch up on them. Or if you;ve lost your original copy and would like an ebook edition.

THE SICILIAN'S WIFE
Marriage to Cesare Santorino is all Megan has ever wanted, although never l
ike this! She's in deep trouble and, with no other choice, agrees to Cesare's offer of a mutually beneficial, convenient marriage.
Cesare makes no secret of his attraction to her. But what about love? Megan can only hope that her proud Sicilian husband might eventually come to see his young wife with more than just passion….


A SICILIAN HUSBAND

One night: The time it took Terrie Hayden to fall in love with a stranger.
One night: Was all that Gio Cardella thought he wanted from
her.
However, one night proved to be not enough. The proud Sicilian
had thought his heart was totally insulated, that he would never let himself feel anything again. But Gio was being driven by desire, a need to possess…


I have included the original UK copies of these books so that you can check if you already have a copy of them and don;t need to buy  the re-issue - unless you particularly want it in ebook form!

Both titles are available from November 15th.

Book of The Day

I often take a look at the Mills and Boon web site - just to see what's going on and what books are around at the moment,.

Today I'm really glad that I did!

Unexpectedly I found that a By Request collection I have a novel in has been  brought back  as an ebook  - and it's today's Book of The Day.

Which means that it's  on a reduced offer for today  at £5.09 instead of £5.99.

Here's what the web site says:

Back by popular demand! These great value titles feature stories from Mills & Boon fans' favourite authors.

A Sicilian Husband by Kate Walker One night was all it took for Terrie Hayden to fall in love with a stranger. One night was all that Gio Cardella thought he wanted from her. But some irresistible force dragged the proud, remote Sicilian back to her door…

This book was originally published in 2003. (22004 in USA)

The other two books in the collection are The Passion Bargain by Michelle Reid  and
The Italian’s Marriage Bargain by Carol Marinelli

I know that some readers have been looking for an ebook version of A Sicilian Husband  because I've had messages from you asking where you can get hood of it. For some reason there isn't a separate single edition of this book  yet - I talked with my editor about it and they're working ion it. But this is a great way to get hold of a copy and get two other great books in the bargain bundle too.

Good news for Australian readers

One of the books I get enquiries about so often from my Australian readers is A Sicilian Husband.  This is because this novel is part of a duo – the first title being The Sicilian’s Wife.

The first book tells the story of Cesare Santorino and his heroine Megan, and in that story readers met Cesare’s half-brother Gio Cardelli. Gio had adored his wife and had been heart-broken when  she had died tragically and far too young.

So many readers wanted to read Gio’s story – it was published in 2003 here in the UK, 2004 in America. But in Australia, it wasn’t  easy to find as it was published in a multipack of ‘Winter Warmers’ rather than as a separate title.

So if you missed it then, I have good news for you – and it’s great news for me too. Mills & Boon Australia is publishing a special reprint of both  these titles in a double volume  in their Bestsellers Collection which is out this month.

I’m so thrilled  about this for a couple of reasons – on is that A Sicilian Husband is one of my own personal favourites amongst my books. I always loved Gio from the moment I introduced him in Maegan and Cesare’s story. And secondly because it’s a real honour to have  two of my stories  reprinted in the special Bestseller series. It’s something I’ve dreamed of for a long time – and I’m really happy that the books selected are these two titles.

So I hope that if you’re one of my wonderful Australian readers who missed Gio’s story (or perhaps Cesare’s)  the first time around, or perhaps you just want to replace an old/missing edition of these stories you’ll be as glad as I am to see them back again. Or it they’re totally new to you – really hope you enjoy them this time around.

Oh - and I've  just discovered that over on the Mills & Boon website,  my novella Wife For Real is being republished  in their On Line Reads. This is the very first  story in  the series The Alcolar Family.  It isn't  available  in the reprint of the 3 in 1 Collection  - so if you wanted to know how that series began  - and to learn about Alex Alcolar  now's your chance to catch up.

(Wife For Real is included in the ebook collection of The Alcolar Family on Harlequin web site too)

Tomorrow in the first Friday in November which means that I will be blogging over on the Pink Hearts Society  site. I’m posting a second set of thoughts following on  from the So You Think You Can Write Contest  - hope to see you there!

Nottingham and a nice surprise

I had a great day at the Nottingham Writers' Club workshop - the room was  full with just about every ticket sold. Evertyone was very warm and welcoming - and  enthusiastic.   My special thanks go to Carol who organised everything and to Mars who helped with the  details of the day. And  thanks yto everyone who attended and joined in  to make the  event a really pleasant one. The time between 10 am and 4pm just flew by and I  really enjoyed myself.    I know some people travelled a long way to get to Nottingham so thank you for making that special effort . 

You can read Carol's report on the workshop here - with more details about  the Nottingham Writers' Club on their home page too.

And when I came home it was to find a  couple of parcels waiting for m. The Large Print edition of The Devil and Miss Jones -  - some new foreign editions  - Swedish and  Norwegian translations of A  Sicilian Husband - great to see a book that's almost  10 years old being reissued - and another one with a  great surprise gift from my special guest this past week.

The lovely Janet Laurence sent me a signed copy of her brand-new historical mystery Deadly Inheritance and it looks so good - that cover looks even better in realtu - and who can resist this blurb?

American Ursula Grandison accompanies Belle Seldon to visit her sister, Helen, Countess of Mountstanton, commissioned by their father, multi-millionaire Chauncey Seldon, to discover what is wrong with Helen's marriage and what has happened to her dowry. At decaying stately Mountstanton House, Ursula finds the Earl is a cold fish, the Dowager Countess of Mounstanton the mother-in-law from hell, and Helen has not forgiven her for stealing her great love. Ursula discovers the drowned body of Polly, the nursemaid, thought to have deserted the household. Neither the Earl's brother, Colonel Charles Stanhope, nor Ursula believes Polly's death was an accident. Investigating against the Earl's wishes, they uncover a tangle of deception reaching into the past that threatens the reputation of the house of Mountstanton. After another death, Ursula fights to reveal the truth, to save Belle from dreadful scandal, and to fulfil Mr Seldon's commission, with a final shocking denouement.

 Thank you Janet!  I can't wait to dive into it . . . tyhere's just the small problem of too many books on the TBR pile (and a few on the Kindle!)  and not enough time to read.

And Janet will be picking a winner  from the contest last week - one lucky commenter will win a copy of Deadly Inheritance too. I'll let you know as soon as Janet tells me  who has won . . . watch this space.

Back and Backlist

Back home from a wonderful weekend in York. The roads were clear - in spite of it being Bank Holiday weekend. The sun shone. The company was wonderful - so very special to meet up with dear friends from Caerleon Writers' Holiday when we usually have to wait until July or February (For Fishguard) to get together.

York is always beautiful and we wandered round the city just enjoying the place and being together. Past the Minster, down the Shambles, then headed for Bettys Tea Rooms where we all had afternoon tea. Then a quick break before heading out to the Ghost Walk. This was great fun with a wonderful story-teller leading the walk, plenty of laughter and some spooky tales- appropriately enough just as dusk was gathering . . .

So now I'm back home and need to regroup and plan workshops for the next event - the NAWG Festival of Writing in Durham next weekend. It's all go! If you're going to be in Durham - I'll se you there.

Oh, and talking about Workshops - to those of you who have written to ask, yes it's true. I talked with Anne & Gerry who organise the Fishguard Writing Weekend as well as the fabulous Caerleon Writers' Holiday and they confirmed that my Advanced Writing Romance course at Fishguard is already booked up, 6 months in advance! So I'm really sorry to disappoint anyone who was hoping to book for 2011. I hope that I will be running it again the following year so you can put your name down in advance if you want. Or check out other courses listed on my Events page - but do remember that to attend an Advanced course, you must first have been to aprevious basic Writing Romance course at Fishguard, Caerleon or elsewhere. (There is on at Caerleon next July)

Finally those backlist books - if you've seen I heart Presents receently, you'll see that Harlequin are regularly bringing out authors' backlist books in ebook format. There are quite a few of mine already republished as ebooks - and the good news is that two more have just joined them -

A Sicilian Husband was first published in Presents in 2004

That's available now

And coming on October 1st is The Christmas Baby's Gift (2003)

Oh - and perhaps more importantly, if you've been waiting for the USA Presents EXTRA edition of The Good Greek Wife? that is available in ebook form from September 1st over on eharlequin

Celebrating friends

I'll be continuing to talk about the books I'm giving away as a prize in the Tote Bag Full of Books Contest soon but today I want to post about a special day for a special friend.

One of the great things that my career as a romance writer has brought me - apart from all those books on my shelves and money in the bank, has been the unexpected and very welcome gift of some very special friends.

Friends who think along the same lines as I do (does this mean that they are crazy too?). Friends who 'get' romance in the way that I do. Friends whose books I love to read. And, bless them, friends who like to read my books too.

More often than not, I have found these friends because I have read their books, enjoyed them and thought that I would love to meet the woman who wrote those stories. This is how it has been with two very special friends in my life.

Back in 1997 I read a book called Finn's Twins and I loved it. I loved the hero, New York photographer Finn MacCauley. I loved the heroine Izzy. I loved the author's voice, the sometimes dryly humourous tone. It had an emotional intensity but one that didn't come from anger and revenge but a believable situation between believable people. Since then I've read almost everything else that author has written (the book was a RITA finalist, so obviously I'm not alone in my admiration of it) - and I wanted to meet the woman who had written that book.

A few years later I achieved that ambition when,as a result of an on-line discussion about visiting castles in England (something that never came off but I'm so glad that she asked) I invited her to come and visit when she was in this country. She did and Anne McAllister has been in my life ever since.

One of the real highlights of being in San Francisco for the RWA Conference was that I could also meet up with Anne again. Or rather that we could meet up I should say because as you'll know the Magnet and Anne's husband the Prof get on so well together that they start talking as soon as they meet, never stopping until they finally have to say goodbye as one or other couple heads reluctantly for a plane or a train.

We don't meet often - I doubt if we've spent more than a couple of months in each others company in all the time we've known each other. But it doesn't matter. We just pick up things where we left off. And we leave them off in so many different places. This last time we were trying to remember just how many cities or towns we've shared in the course of our friendship - it's quite a roll call. It goes from Doncaster to Denver and Dublin, Sydney to San Francisco, and so many points in between. Like the Magnet and the Prof we've never run out of conversation topics and I always look forward to the next meeting.

And of course there is the special Feline Friendship that Anne shares with The Cat himself. Sidney the Cat of Superior Breeding always has a specially warm welcome for his Lady from Across the Pond when she comes to visit. He even sends her emails and she was the receipient of his special Sid Calendar (taken from the pictures I posted on here last year) at Chrismas. She is coming over the pond again in September and Sid is already checking out the bed. He will, if she's good (the she in this case being Flora the Maine Coon) introduce the newest kit on the block to TLATP but only if she realises that he has first call on all the head rubs because Anne knows just the best way to rub a furry head, right behind the ears. The Hecks will also, hopefully make an appearance because it was after all Anne who named them on another visit a couple of years back.

I'm thinking of Anne specially because today is her birthday and I want to celebrate that special occasion as well as celebrating our special friendship that is such an important part of my life. So why don't you go on over to her blog and give her your best wishes for today?

So Happy Happy Birthday Anne

I hope you have a wonderful day. Sir Sidney sends his best purrs and head butts. and he's so looking forward to seeing you again. We all are. And Flora can't wait to meet you.

And while I'm on the subject of special writing friendships, as regular blog readers will know, another really great friend of mine and a writer I also really admire is another Modern/Presents author, Michelle Reid.

It's not often that we have books on the shelves together but this September we do - in the UK at least.

Bedded By The Greek Billionaire and The De Santis Marriage will be published as Mills & Boon Modern Romances next month. And so Michelle and I have got together with a joint Super September contest so that you can win signed copies of each of these great books - together with the July By Request Collection Her Passionate Italian that contains my A Sicilian Husband and Michelle's The Passion Bargain.

We still finalising things but the full details of the contest and how to enter will be going up on our web sites very soon. So look out for that. On my site you'll find the details on my Contest page which is where you will also find how you can enter my other contest and put yourself in the running to win a Tote Bag Stuffed with Books too.

Book News

Just interrupting this Q&A to bring you up to date on my book news - with a bit of that good news I'm now able to let you know.

Basically, it's all good for Spaniards right now - I heard from my editor and the revised version of Santos's story has made her happy so that's the first new title for next year . It's out in paperback in March 2008 with the title of Cordero's Forced Bride.

I'll be sorry to say goodbye to this sexy Spaniard but there will be a new man in my life to replace him. At the moment I think he's Italian.

And talking of Italians - I finally found out which of my Italian heroes has his story in the July By Request reprint Her Passionate Italian. My editor tells me that it's Gio (Giovanni Cardella) in the book A Sicilian Husband - which is a coincidence as I posted the UK cover for that book in the discussion about Mediterranean heroes here

More Spaniards - the ebook version of my June Presents title Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife, is running high in the Top Ten Bestselling ebooks over on eHarlequin. Thank you to everyone who has bought and downloaded a copy to put it there. The print book is officially due out on June 1st, but I suspect that my American readers will find this book on the shop shelves in a week or so.

And yet more Spaniards - remember that I was thrilled that The Alcolar Family was being reprinted as a 3 in 1 By Request in the UK in August - well, the 'more good news' is that the whole Alcolar Trilogy will be available in a 3 in 1 ebook Bundle for sale from eHarlequin and other ebook sources, also from June 1st. I don't yet have an ebook collection cover for this - so I'll just show you that great cover from the August By Request reprint (any excuse - well, it is a great cover!)

Finally, following on from the question about Mediterranean heroes - there;s a great discussion on the appeal of the Greek hero over on I Heart Presents today. It's being led by Annie West whose own latest book, The Greek Tycoon's Unexpected Wife is a great read.

A Kate Bit Cats and Covers

Sid is busy working on the choice of winner for Lee's question about your favourite covers . We had a minor crisis when I realised that we had run out of cat crunchies!A quick dash to the supermarket has remedied that and so Sid can now get to work.

In the meantime, I've been looking at the covers listed as your favourites and many of them are my favourites too.

Lots of you chose the cover of the courrent 50th title - The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge - which doesn't surprise me at all. I've loved that cover from the start and it represents the book really well.

Those Sicilians are obviously very popular as several 'Sicilian' covers were chosen. One was specifically mention in the M&B Modern Romance version and that was A Sicilian Husband.

Another favourite of mine that several of you chose is Constantine's Revenge. I loved this one so much that it's the cover that is reproduced on my business cards - and used to be on my bookmarks - Sicilian's Red Hot Revenge is on them now.

As I expected, the wonderfuly rich and exotic cover of At the Sheikh's Command was very popular - both on the Presents and the M&B Modern version. I've posted the UK edition here as it shows more of the artwork on the cover. the artwork

Another cover where the UK version was chosen is Hers For A Night - where the comment was that it was - and still is - fairly rare just to have the hero alone on the front of the book.

The USA cover of The Antonkaos Marriage was another one that was popular and another cover that I totally agree with one of the comments about was the recent #1 bestseller

The Italian's Forced Bride.

Nature Nut Nancy loved the heart shaped surround given to the picture for the special February and Valentine's Day publication. But for me the way this cover is described by Olivia is exactly what I feel when I see this cover and why I personally like it so much:

Without a doubt, my favorite cover is The Italian's Forced Bride. There is no picturesque landscape as background. There are no fabulous diamonds adorning the heroine and nor is she in a flamboyant gown. But what strikes me is the intensity of the emotions of the characters as can be deduced from their body language . The hero pulling the heroine closer to him with subtle pressure. The heroine resting her hand on the hero's lower back. And the utterly sublime and anticipative expressions on them both. This cover always draws me back to re-read this story.

This is just a selection of the covers chosen - others were the Spaniard's Inconvenient Bride, Bound by Blackmail and The Groom's Revenge. If you'd like to see those covers - and more - they are all listed on the Backlist pages of my web site. You'll find a link to that here.

And I'll leave you with another preview of my brand new next cover

- this is the book that's out in November -

so here is the USA Presents cover of The Greek Tycoon's Unwilling Wife