New Cover

My editor sent me my new cover last week, and then I discovered that it's on Amazon.co.uk now too - so here it is -   The Return Of The Stranger   - coming on September 2nd

The shading is slightly funny on this Amazon reproduction so he looks a little redder in the face than in my copy  so if I can get a better version, I'll put that up as soon as I can.  (PS Have now amended the coer so it looks better - and less red!)

And here's the blurb:

Standing high on the windswsept moors, the lone figure of Heath Montanha vows vengeance on the woman who destroyed the last fragments of his heart.

Lady Katherine Charlton has never forgotten the stablehand with dangerous fists and a troubled heart from  her childhood. Now the rebel is back, his powerful anger concealed under a polished and commanding veneer.

When ten years of scandal and secrets are unleashed with a passionate, furious kiss, Heath's deepest, darkest wish crystallises . .  .

Revenge - and Kat - will be his!

Just one little point - this book is part of the The Powerful And The Pure  miniseries - where the four books in the series are  inspired by some of the Classics of romantic fiction.  There seems to be some confusion on the part of some readers that this is 'stealing'  from the originals  - but right from  the stories of Cinderella and such, plots have always been taken and reworked,  turned into something new.   So  just to repeat  - these boks are inspired by the Classics - because it's as I'm always saying in workshops etc, that we could all be given the same hero, heroine, setting and start to a plot and we would all come up with something new.

So the books in this mini series - The Forbidden Innocent (Sharon Kendrick)  - Jane Eyre

In Want of A Wife  (Cathy Williams) - Pride and Prejudice

 Mr and Mischief (Kate Hewitt)  Emma

and my The Return of The Stranger  - Wuthering Heights

 are all inspired by the spirit and the characters of the originals and then as authors ourselves, we created a brand new story as a result.

I'll be blogging more about how I worked on The Return of The Stranger  when it gets closer to September.

And talking of my books reminded me that I promised  to run a contest so that a couple of you could win a copy of The Proud Wife in order to join in the discussion on the Pink Heart Society where it's their Pink Heart Pick for June.

So I need to think of a contest to do that - watch this spaceThen you'll have time to read it before the discussion starts on June 30th.

Favourite romantic novels?

Over on the New Voices website - while you're all waiting for the announcement of the top ten submissions to the contest , the editors are talking about their favourite romantic novels.

So far,
Gone with the Wind
Cross Stitch
Wuthering Heights
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
The Devil's Cub
Lady Chatterley's Love
The Mists of Avalon
The Far Pavilions
These Old Shades
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveller's Wife

. . . are all on the list

And I have to admit to putting my vote in for - from this list - Jane Eyre, Devil's Cub, These Old Shades . . . Not Wuthering Heights? I can hear the questions already. I love WH as a novel - But for me it's is not a love story - passion, possession - yes - but love?? There is a love story in the second half - young Cathy and Hareton but most people don't think of that. The book is the story of Cathy and Heathcliff - but for me it's not a love story.

Other romantic novels I've loved and re-read again and again and would have to include in my Top Ten list would be the Game Of Kings (Lymond Chronicles - All 6 books!) by Dorothy Dunnett and the book that hooked me into reading everything Mary Stewart ever wrote - The Moonspinners. . .

What about you? If you had to choose a favourite romantic novel, what would you choose?

PS For those of you who would like to see more photos of the post-AMBA party with Mills & Boon editors and authors, editor Lucy Gilmour has posted a selection over on I(heart)Presents.