Favourite covers - For Andrea

I must apologise to one of my readers and students on my writing courses - I have been so so busy that I've only just caught up on this,. 

So -  For Andrea

When I was helping with the Tickled Pink Collection for Breast Cancer Research,   Andrea wrote and offered a generous donation   to the collection if I would let her know which of my covers are some of my personal favorites.

To start this off, she listed these  covers as her personal choices  - and I have to agree with her on them really!

So -   Andrea said -
I loved the ones with the painted covers. Some of my faves are:

'Hers for a Night' (can't beat the James Bond dinner shirt and untied bow tie look),

 'Man of Shadows' (man in a jumper and old jeans ... enough said)



'The Konstantos Marriage Demand' - incredible story and incredible cover - the way the hero is kissing the heroine


 ... and 'Kept for Her Baby' ditto



  So now I need to go and check through my covers . . . only 60+ of them  - and see which ones I'd label as my  'favourites' . 

I have to admit that, long ago title though it was, that  Man of Shadows cover was one I always loved.

Anyone else want to join in?

A little something Extra

I've had enquiries about some  of the titles of mine that are in the  great big Harlequin Sale at the moment - Until October 25th
.
These are titles that people are realising they missed  out on when they came out. They didn't see them on the shelves, they said?  Where were these books on sale?

And even more so  - what are Presents EXTRA???

Oh dear - this is something that I thought had gone away. It's an idea that was brought up  to get more Presents novels of the shelves back in 2009-2012.   That was when there were two issues of Presents titles each month - and the  4 other Presents Extra titles later in the month.

All  it did was confuse people.  Especially as some of the books were from the Riva/Modern Extra/  line  were included.  And some of the confusion went on to my titles issued then.

So it looks to me as if  some of my readers missed out on finding books they wanted to read.  These books are now in the big sale as ebooks - but they're nder the 'Presents Extra' label.

Still confusing people.

So I'm going to share the details of these titles in case you are one of the readers who want to catch up with the books I've written that they haven't read.

These are the titles I'm talking about:

KEPT FOR HER BABY

Wanted: wife and Mother...
Staring at the granite-handsome features of Italian billionaire Ricardo Emiliani, Lucy knows she's made a mistake coming back to their palatial Lake Garda home. But she'll do anything for her baby son—even return to the husband who never loved her...
Ricardo branded his wife a gold-digger, however, tiny Marco needs his mother so he will keep Lucy captive on his private island until she proves herself a worthy wife—in every sense...

 THE KONSTANTOS MARRIAGE DEMAND 

The Greek's ruthless reunion.
Sadie Carteret and Nikos Konstantos were once blissfully in love. They planned the wedding of the

year, and their union would create a powerful dynasty.
But business and pleasure should never be mixed. Nikos was accused of scheming for Sadie's money and title, and was systematically destroyed by her family. The wedding was cancelled, the relationship in tatters.
Now the ruthless billionaire has built himself back up from scratch. He will clear his name and demand what was rightfully his...
Sadie must love, honour and...obey....

The Konstantos Marriage Demand was a Romantic Times  March 2010 Top Pick  and awarded Romantic Times Best Presents Extra 2010!

THE GOOD GREEK WIFE 

The return of the proud Greek husband...
He was declared missing at sea — but now notorious Zarek Michaelis is back and ready to take control! First he'll see to his business, and then to his wayward wife...
For two years Penny has struggled to come to terms with Zarek's disappearance. But enough is enough. It's time to move on… Her proud Greek husband is still as darkly handsome as ever, and the attraction between them is just as potent. But Penny can't trust Zarek's motives — does he just want her body and the fortune he left behind…or to try again?




THE PROUD WIFE  

Her husband wants her back!
Marina thought her dreams had come true when her husband placed a wedding band on her finger. But their marriage was not the fairytale she'd hoped for, and eventually Marina walked away, her heart broken.
But two years on Pietro DInzeo no longer haunts Marina's dreams. She knows the time has come to move on, and even a summons to join him in Sicily won't deter her However, with his wife stand
ing before him, about to sign on the dotted line of their divorce papers, Pietro wonders why he ever let her go?





THE RETURN OF THE STRANGER 

Standing high on the windswept 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!









THE DEVIL AND MISS JONES
Martha Jones has never taken a risk in her whole life. Until the day she runs out on her wedding and succumbs to the magnetism of a man she has only just met! A man she knows only as Diablo.
Lone wolf Carlos Ortega won't promise Miss Jones more than one searing-hot night. Yet Carlos is shocked by Martha's sweet innocence. This runaway bride is a virgin, and it seems the repercussions of their sizzling encounter could last forever . . .



OK - so those are the books - but as I'm celebrating my 65th title - Indebted to Moreno -   I'm going to run a flash giveaway of these 'missing' books -   I have one copy of each book to give away and when they're gone they're gone!

But you're going to have to be quick!

You have just 24 hours to enter . .. . but then if you don't win the books will still be in the $1.99 sale!

Details coming up  . . .

A special Australian By Request Collection - your chance to get your hands on some older Kate Walker titles!

So - a few days ago, I promised my lovely Australian readers that there was some special news about my books coming up - well, here it is!

This month, as well as the Sexy edition of Indebted to Moreno, there is a special 'By Request - Popular Bestsellers ' 3 in 1 collection of 3 of my past titles on sale as well. This collection is called Resisting All Temptation - and the books in this collection are: A Question of Honour, The Konstantos Marriage Demand and Saturday's Bride.


Obviously, these are all reprints - A Question of Honour (which originally had the same cover as this collection) came out in 2014, The Konstantos Marriage Demand won the Romantic Times Best  Presents Extra in 2010 and Saturday's Bride goes right back to 1999!

So it's great to see these older titles get a new edition. If there are books you missed the first time around - or if you had a copy but lost it, then now's your chance to grab a copy in this special new Australian edition! If you want any more details on these titles  here they are:

A Question Of Honour

A runaway princess...
It should have been easy. Karim al Khalifa, crown prince of Mazarkhad, had one task—retrieve rebellious princess Clementina Saveneski from her hideout in England and return her home to be wed...to another man.
His to find, or his to keep?
It is not for Karim to notice her alluring scent, those seductive curves, the enticing glances she sends his way. No, his family's honor, and his own, require Clementina to be delivered—pure and untouched—to her unwanted bridegroom. And he must resist all temptation to keep her for himself!



The Konstantos Marriage Demand


The Greek's ruthless reunion.
Sadie Carteret and Nikos Konstantos were once blissfully in love. They planned the wedding of the year, and their union would create a powerful dynasty.
But business and pleasure should never be mixed. Nikos was accused of scheming for Sadie's money and title, and was systematically destroyed by her family. The wedding was cancelled, the relationship in tatters.

Now the ruthless billionaire has built himself back up from scratch. He will clear his name and demand what was rightfully his...

Sadie must love, honour and...obey....



Saturday's Bride

A most determined seduction . . .
Connor Harding was outraged to come back home and discover that Jenna Kenyon was getting married - to the wrong man! But he knew that Jenna was determined to prove him wrong, despite the passion still smouldering between them.
Connor decided that all was fair in love and war. Only five days remained before Jenna became Saturday's bride, but that was more than long enough for him to persuade her to change her mind. . .




Oh - and these are not the only reprints! Look out for the Surrender to The Sheikh collection coming in December - with At The Sheikh's Command, Desert Affair and Destined for the Desert King (which of course is the second part of the Rhastaan Royals duo - the first being A Question of Honour.)

   I don't have a cover for this collection yet but I'll share as soon as I do. This a real collection for everyone who loves a sheikh story

Book News

I have book news to catch up on.
After working my way through the piles of emails and letters that were waiting for me after  we got back  from Wales, there were also several boxes of books  to open.    Some were foreign editions -  Indian, German, Dutch . . .

But the best moment is always when I open a new box of a brand-new title and get to see the books in  reality for the very first time.  Unfortunately I still haven't seen the UK's edition of my new (September)  Presents title - Indebted to Moreno.

There is also a new reprint edition of an older book that's out right now - and that's  the 2013 title  A Throne For The Taking  which is now reprinted in a 3 in 1 By Request collection in the UK. The title of the collection is Claiming His Princess.

Coming up is some extra news for Australian readers  who will get Indebted to Moreno in October - and a best seller collection of 3 of my older title - A Question of Honour (2014) , The Konstantos Marriage Demand (2010)   and Saturday's Bride (1999).   These will all be in a collection that (I think ) will be called Resisting All Temptation!   

No covers for those yet, but as soon as I see them I'll share them with you.

As you'll see,  Saturday's Bride is a long ago title - so if you're looking to add a missing title to your collection, this might be the one. There might be more older titles coming up soon - certainly there'll be some news about older titles in the UK  in ebook form as well.  I'll let you know about that as soon as it's all finalised

This weekend I'm off to Harrogate to have a short break  to treat the Babe Magnet for his birthday.  Afternoon tea at Bettys and a trip to the theatre - I'm  so happy  I get to share it with him.

Hopefully there won't be so many emails/letters/packages waiting for me when we get back!

February publication date

I was so busy thinking about red-headed heroes yesterday that I forgot that it was February 1st.

And Feb 1st is the publication date for this  3 in 1 By Request title.

His Revenge Seduction  contains my book The Konstantos Marriage Demand  - which won  the Romantic Times  Best Presents Extra 2010 - back when there were such things as 'Presents Extras'.

We have  more snow.  Ruby is intrigued  but hates the feel of it on her paws. Charlie has such huge furry paws that they act like snow shoes  until he comes back inside and leaves giant paw puddles everywhere.

Ruby has solved the cold paw problem by sitting on top of the radiators and staring out at the world, watching the strange white flakes falling down from the sky. When she gets bored she demands to be let go outside again - and is disgusted to find that the white stuff is still there!

I'm actually quite grateful for the snow - it keeps me inside to finish of my sheikh book and get Nabil and Aziza to their happy ending. And when that's done I have a course to finalise for the Fishguard Writers and  Artists Weekend.    Because this is the Advanced Writing Romance course, it's not a one-size-fits-all course, so I work on what the students most need (gathered from their chapter submissions etc.) Meanwhile the chapters and synopses are arriving for the Writing Retreat in Weetwood Hall in  March.

No peace for the wicked!( I must have been very bad!)

Cover changes

I'm always intrigued by new covers.   I always look forward to seeing the brand new  coves for each new book. (I don;t have any cover yet for Olivero's Outrageous Proposal but I'll share just as soon as I do)  But perhaps the most interesting  look at covers is when an older book is reprinted and reissued  - perhaps in  a 3 in 1 collection and then it gets a brand new cover which is totally unlike the previous one.

I have two reissues at the moment - one out now and one coming up and so I thought I'd share the covers with you - and the original covers these books had.

So the first one is out now  The book of mine that is in this reprint  is Kept For Her Baby  which was originally published in   2009.

Then the cover looked like this  -


So now it's reprinted in a  3 in 1  - Secret Love-Child  (with other books by Catherine Spencer and Tina Duncan)   It's  on  the shelves now.  And  this new edition looks like this.

Incidentally, Kept For Her Baby isn't really a 'secret love-child' story - both the hero and the heroine know exactly who the baby is  - but that's the name of the collection.

 The second reprint coming up is a republication of The Konstantos  Marriage Demand That's a book from  2010 - and it won the Romantic Times Best Presents Extra in that year.

When this book was originally published it had a cover that looked like this:
And now that it's reprinted it has a brand new cover that you can see at the top of this post - for the 3 in 1  Collection His Revenge Seduction  (with other titles by Melanie Milburne and Elizabeth Power.)

The two covers (for each book) are very different - just shows how things have changed in  a round  4 or 5 five years.

What do you think? Do you prefer the original covers ?  (You can see the Mills & Boon editions on the books' pages on my web site if you want to.)

Do you like the 3 in 1 collections that come out regularly\- the ones that are  called 'By Request' ?
Do you find it a good way to catch up on books you've missed - or get a copy of an old favorite?

Busy.. . busy





 I've been  so busy, I haven't had time to post or even think of something to write for an age -  but some of you might benefit as a result.  You see, I've been sorting things out - collating and filing all my teaching notes    so now they're ail filed  correctly and I should be able to find anything at any time - for any course.  The next one starts in  so it's in good time . . .
And as result of tidying, sorting, filing and organising,  I've also found that I have a small deluge of  foreign editions that haver arrived in the past weeks -  and this is where my international readers get a  chance to share in a giveaway.

I've done quite a lot of giveaways, but most of the time it's English language copies that I send out - so this time is different - I want to share some of the foreign language editions with some  readers to whom these languages aren't foreign. Usually these go to libraries for foreign language sections, but they're getting the large print copies  so I can share these books with you - if you speak/read the language.

So here's the details   - I have 12 books to giveaway and if you would like one then email me  kate at kate-walker.com to let me know which book you'd like and what language it's in.

The giveaway is only on a first come, first served basis - one book only  per person.  Or you can apply for a friend in their language if you prefer. Once they're gone - that's it - till the next time!
 

What I have on offer are these books:

JAPAN:

               The 12 Month Mistress

               Shattered Mirror

FRANCE:
              Bound By Blackmail
             Their Secret Baby |(in a 3 in 1 with books by Anne McAllister and Linda Conrad
             The Italian's Forced Bride  (With another novel by Michelle Condor.

BRAZIL:
                The Konstantos Marriage Demand (+  book by Michelle Reid)
                 A Question of Honor (+ book by Kimberly Lang)

ITALY:
              Bedded By The Greek Billionaire  ( 4 in 1)
              With books by Chantelle Shaw, Kate Hewitt, Michelle Reid)
              The Devil and Miss Jones

CZECH:
               The Greek Tycoon's Unwilling Wife  ( + novel by Metsy Hingle)

SWEDEN:
                  Rafael's Love Child (+ Caitlin Crews)
                  Her Secret Bridegroom  (+ Lynne Graham)

Catching Up

I made  a mistake this week - I decided to tidy up and sort out my office . . . . That will leave me ready to focus totally on the book I'm writing - once I've organised my teaching notes (and  prepared the hand-outs for the Relax and Write course on  Before You Submit Your Novel - The Practicalities  at Weetwood Hall next weekend. )  But organising my teaching notes led to organising every  last file of hand-outs, course notes, writing exercises . . .

OK, it was a great excuse to buy some new stationary and lovely coloured files   . . . but it still took up too much time and - well, do you know that time when things get worse before they get better? That's the way things look this morning! The Babe Magnet is also preparing for a course on Writing  About Your Life - so he has hand-outs to organise as well.

But there's one thing about being busy in a practical sense - it leaves my mind free to think and plan the new story (working title currently  The Wrong Bride ) so I'm also scribbling down notes and making plans as I put papers in  files and plan work on synopsis, first chapters, opening lines  . .etc for the 24th- 26th.  And the story is growing as a result.

Other book news -  I was looking on Amazon  last week and discovered this cover. It's for a 3 in 1 By Request collection of past titles reprinted in one volume. This one - Secret Love-Child  - is coming out at the end of October. The title of mine that's in it is Kept For Her Baby.  Not exactly a 'secret love-child' story.  But definitely a novel in which the love of a baby is very important!
The other two novels in this volume are by Catherine Spencer and Tina Duncan

I also spotted another 3 in 1 volume coming out in January: His Revenge Seduction -   this time my novel The Konstantos Marriage Demand (the book that was awarded Best Presents Extra by Romantic Times in 2010) is I  the collection with books by Melanie Milburne  and Elizabeth Power.  I don't have a cover to share with you yet  -0 but I'll post it when I see it.

If you haven't already noticed, there is now a brand new Facebook page for all the Harlequin  Presents Authors. Lots of news,messages, and interest for anyone who loves reading Harlequin  Presents (Mills and  Boon Modern)

. Why not come along and 'like'  it - and join in all the fun.

Advent Calendar - day 12

The people in the Post Office are getting used to see me arriving with packages of prizes for the winner  on the Advent Calendar  - or the special draw  for my Newsletter group.  (If you're not on that  and you want to be - see the link to join at the bottom of the page.)  They even recognise the shape of the parcels and when I say ' This is to go to America. . . Australia . . .Indonesia . . . ' they'll add  'and it's  a book?' The advent calendar is getting me noticed!

So today I'm getting some more prizes in the post -  and there's another winner I need to announce - that's the winner of Kept For Her Baby.

And the winner is Yvonne.

Yvonne please email me kate AT kate-walker dot com  with your postal address so that I can get your prize in the mail to you.

So far the Newsletter winners are:
Tonda H from Kentucky
Gemma W  from Norfolk
Flora L from  Baltimore
Jane S
Barbara S from Indiana
One point I need to mention - obviously at this time of year, there is a lot of mailing going on! Cards,  gifts, all over the place, flying to all  parts of the world.   I guarantee that I will put your prize in the mail just as soon as I can and I will package it securely, send it on its way.  After that, it's up to the Royal Mail  or whoever delivers to your part of the world.   I can't guarantee delivery - and I can't guarantee when it will arrive. I hope you all appreciate this.  It's a risk I take when I send parcels all over the world - but  it's one I'm prepared to take as I have friends/readers all over the world too.

Yesterday As well as the parceling the Babe Magnet and I did some major sorting out and cleaning, getting the house  ready for Christmas,. As a result, by the time the evening came we were both  worn out,  So I indulged in  a long, hot soak in the bath, with a vanilla scented candle  burning on the windowsill. I slept wonderfully after that.

So  - today's  question  for you to talk about is this - at this time of year, everyone is so busy - especially women! As mothers, wives, daughters, we all have so much to do, things to prepare, gifts to buy, meal to cook.  We all need a little me  time to help us  keep going.   What little extra treats do you have to keep yourself going -  a cup of tea, a hot bath?  A lie-in in the morning?   Watching a special TV programme?  (I love catching up with the soaps for this!)

I'm sure that for a lot of us, a quiet time with a good book is a special indulgence in the busy days.  So I have 2 copies ( because I might have missed a couple of days on the calendar!)  of  The Konstantos Marriage Demand  to give away this time.

The Greek's ruthless reunion.
Sadie Carteret and Nikos Konstantos were once blissfully in love. They planned the wedding of the year

, and their union would create a powerful dynasty.
But business and pleasure should never be mixed. Nikos was accused of scheming for Sadie's money and title, and was systematically destroyed by her family. The wedding was cancelled, the relationship in tatters.
Now the ruthless billionaire has built himself back up from scratch. He will clear his name and demand what was rightfully his...
Sadie must love, honour and...obey....


The Konstantos Marriage Demand was awarded Romantic Times Best Presents Extra 2010!

Advent Calendar Day 14

Well that was another busy day - are there any other sorts of days in the run up to Christmas?  Today was  a day I had to be out and about, shopping for groceries,

buying cat food – very important in the opinion of Charlie and Flora.  Cat treats are all very well when they are picking the prize-winners for this giveaway, but  they need real food as well!  Luckily their food  cupboard is well stocked now.   The bitter freeze that was making things very slippery over the past couple of days has melted and we are back with rain,  rain and more rain so it was a very soggy set of shopping expeditions.  I’m glad to be back home, with a warm fire and  now I plan to wrap some gifts and get them ready for the mail.

Amongst the packages going to the post office tomorrow will  be the prizes that I have announced so far. So, hopefully most of these will reach people before Christmas – I hope so anyway.

I’m still waiting for Charlie to come in to pick the winner of the copy of Game of Hazard.  (He spent most of the afternoon staring at the rain with a ‘you must be joking!’ look on his face when I opened the door for him to go out. But now the downpour has eased a little so he has gone out roaming for a while. I’ll get him on to picking  a winner when he comes back in.

So today’s question – well,  the fact that I have these packages to wrap and get in the mail made me wonder about how you all do this. Are you someone who loves to wrap parcels, create mini works of art with bows and glitter and specially colour co-ordinated ribbons and decorations?

Or are you someone who just puts a basic wrapping paper on the parcel and that’s that?

Or perhaps you’re one of these clever and original people who do fancy wrapping with pretty material or even ecologically sound wrapping in news.

Personally,  I love the idea  of really pretty parcels,  beautifully wrapped and decorated. I always start out with lots of great intentions  - and plenty of pretty paper etc. But somehow the enthusiasm never lasts quite long enough and even when I plan to get ahead and do things is good time, I always seem to be rushing to wrap the last of the gifts on Christmas Eve so that the parcels are barely finished before they’re being ripped open.

What about you?

Today’s give away is a signed copy of  The Konstantos Marriage Demand

The Greek's ruthless reunion.

Sadie Carteret and Nikos Konstantos were once blissfully in love. They planned the wedding of the year, and their union would create a powerful dynasty.

But business and pleasure should never be mixed. Nikos was accused of scheming for Sadie's money and title, and was systematically destroyed by her family. The wedding was cancelled, the relationship in tatters.

Now the ruthless billionaire has built himself back up from scratch. He will clear his name and demand what was rightfully his...

Sadie must love, honour and...obey....

The Konstantos Marriage Demand was awarded Romantic Times Best Presents Extra 2010.

Tomorrow is the 15th of December, so my blog post  - and the Advent Calendar  - will be over on We Write Romance  in my Kate's Corner.  See you there!

 

Great Big Blog Tour, Stop 15

I'd hoped to post today before any one got worried about my absence   - but I see that Kaelee  got in before me and has already asked how I'd doing - thank you for your concern Kaelee - that's so kind of you.

I've had a bit of an enforced break from writing, working on the keyboard, looking at the screen, just recently. It wasn't what I wanted but it's been necessary and I hope it will be doing me some good. A few health problems have meant that I'm having to follow doctor's orders to 'pace myself' and one of the things I'm supposed to 'pace' - or in this case 'ration' is my time at the computer screen. A series of bad headaches that have a nasty tendency to turn into flashing migraines if I over do it means that I need to restricrt the time I spend at the computer and do other things. Hopefully the new medication will work on this but if my posts are a bit hit and miss for a while - that's the reason.

Anyway, today I needed to blog because my regular post is due over and Tote Bags 'n' Blogs - so that's where you'll find me.   It's another stop on my Big Blog Tour (yes that's still going on!)  and  there's also a giveaway again.

This time it's  a special giveaway because when I could put the screen on and read emails, I got some  very good news this week -

The Proud Wife is nominated for the Best Presents Extra 2011 Reviewers' Choice Award over  at Romantic Times. 

You may remember that The Konstantos Marriage Demand won Best Presents Extra 2010 so I was really thrilled and honoured to be nominated again this year.

And if you'd like a chance to win a copy of The Proud Wife, perhaps you'd  like to join me over on Tote Bags 'N' Blogs.

There will be a few more stops on the blog tour coming up this week  and a few more giveaways.

So I hope I'll see you more often!

Interview

Super-super busy   but there's plenty for you to read here  at Romance Author Buzz where lovely Marilyn did a long interview with me  - she asked some great questions.

And if you didn't visit yeterday, there's my blog over at I heart Presents on reunion stories and why I love writing them so much - My very first book The Chalk Line was  a reunion story, my current title, The Proud Wife is one and my award-winning (I love saying that!) Konstantos Marriage Demand is a reunion story too.

There's just so much potential for emotion in these tales of lovers who had broken up but are now reunited.

Time for some good news

Life, and this blog reflecting it, has been decidedly downbeat lately so  I'm really happy to be able to share some much better news with you  - some really great news.

I've been holding on to the secret though I was almost bursting with excitement because I had to wait for the latest edition of Romantic Times Magazine to come out so that the news could be announced officially. Now that the latest issue is up on their web site I can tell you . . . .

My book The Konstantos Marriage Demand won Best Harlequin Presents Extra 2010 in the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Awards!

I am so thrilled by this. I  have been nominated for the Best Presents/Presents Extra three times now but this is my first win and it really made my day when the email came through. Thank you to all the RT reviewers' for this wonderful  honour.

And special congratulations too to my friend Anne McAllister  whose book The Virgin's Proposition won Best Presents.

And still connected with RT, I was really delighted to see that my newest release in America - that's the Presents Extra  edition of The Proud Wife -  has been awarded 4.5  stars in their reviews. I don't have a copy of the review yet but as soon as it's available I'll let you know.

But I have been asked to contribute a post about The Proud Wife to the Romantic Times  blog for this month,  The topic was on Lovers Reunited and The Proud Wife fitted perfectly into that theme. I've just heard that the blog is up now on the Romantic Times site  so  I hope you'll visit there as well and read all about it.

It's so lovely to have some really good news to report.

Advent Calendar Giveaway Day 17

Still 'tweaking' - but it really is only tweaks. None of those things editors think are 'tweaks' but that mean whole sections have to be unravelled and knitted back together again. But I'm concentrating on that so I can hope to have a break over Christmas.

So quickly on to prizes and questions

The winner of yesterday's prize of The Konstantos Marriage Demand is Milly

Milly - you certainly made Persuasion sound so very romantic. I'll admit it's not one of my favourite books - or even a favourite Austen but you made me want to go back and look at it again. Please send me your postal address in an email

Some of you sounded almost apologetic that you hadn't read the classics - please don't feel that way. I'm a firm believer that reading is a wonderful and (to me) vital thing in live but we all should read what we want to read and enjoy. Too many critics tell us that there are 'good' books and even 'great' books - and there are books that aren't worth reading.

To me the great books are the books you love and the books worth reading are the ones that keep you reading. War and Peace may be a 'great' book to some but if you can't get past the first three pages then it's not going to be on your 'best books ever' list. I may have an MA and have studied so many of the classics of all literatures but I love lots of wonderful popular fiction - and that's why I write it!

Anyway, I'll come back a talk about my favourite Classics of romantic literature when I've finished tweaking.

In the meantime, today's giveaway is another of those wonderful Australian collections with the fabulous covers- The Greek Collection - The Price of Passion came out in 2008 - and it has a copy of my Constantine's Revenge in it, along with The Greek Tycoon's Ultimatum by Lucy Monroe.

You'll remember Constantine's Revenge from December 8th when Michelle won a copy in the Her Greek Tycoon Collection.

His plan was to make her his mistress. . .

When Constantine Kiriazis reappeared after two years, Grace thought that he'd finally forgiven her for her lack of trust in him - and for cancelling their wedding. Certainly, Constantine's desire for had not waned. But neither had his desire for revenge . . .

He fully intended to seduce Grace, but vowed she'd only ever be his mistress - never his wife. It was only when she melted in his arms that Constantine began to wonder just who was exacting the revenge and who was paying the price?

And today's question ? Back to Christmas.

What special traditions do you have at Christmas time?

Do you go to Midnight service? Or always leave out a mince pie for Santa/Father Christmas? A carot for Rudolph? Do you open presents on Christmas Day, or like a Polish friend of mine on Christmas Eve?

Tell me your family's special traditions and you could be in with a chance of winning this great collection.

As always, answers in the comments section please.

Advent Calendar giveaway day 16

Another quick dash in here today. I have to tweak the latest book - I should have had it tweaked and back to her by now but my editor's comments letter went missing in cyberspace so I've only just got to know about it! And we are on a tight dreadline with this so - only a brief post today.

Yesterday's winner of a copy of The Antonakos Marriage is Mary Reinert.

Mary please email me your postal address and I'll send the book on its way.

Today's book is much more up to date and very special to me because it's the novel that is short-losted for Best Presents Extra on the Romantic Times RT Book Reviews web site.

And that book is of course The Konstantos Marriage Demand.

The Greek's ruthless reunion.

Sadie Carteret and Nikos Konstantos were once blissfully in love. They planned the wedding of the year, and their union would create a powerful dynasty.
But business and pleasure should never be mixed. Nikos was accused of scheming for Sadie's money and title, and was systematically destroyed by her family. The wedding was cancelled, the relationship in tatters.

Now the ruthless billionaire has built himself back up from scratch. He will clear his name and demand what was rightfully his...

Sadie must love, honour and...obey...

Today's question is a little different - because December 16th marks a special day in the history of romantic fiction and writing.

Because December 16th 1775 is the birthdate of Jane Austen,

So to mark Jane's 235th birthday - my question today is do you read the 'classics' of romance/literature? Which Jane Austen is your favourite? Or do you have another classic author you prefer? Tell me your favourite classic read. Or say if you don't read them at all.

I have a special reason for asking - more later when I finish tweaking!

And just to say - again I'm so sorry I don't have time to comment on each individual comment but there are a lot of you entering - and I love it! But I do read every post you make. And to prove it - Valerie - eleven kids!! - you can have a real party all together - never mind the boyfriends/girlfriends! I hope you find time to sit down and read your prize book which will be in the mail to you today.

Today is the first Sunday of the month so I'm blogging over on Tote Bags 'N' Blogs.

I'm talking abo9ut the reasons for - this year - I'm already loving November. And I'm giving away a copy of my Romantic Times Award short -listed book The Konstantos Marriage Demand so someone else can celebrate with me.

Hope I'll see you there!

Great News

I have SO much to do today -

A book to finish - an editor to please by doing so - that's top of my list today.

25 names to pick from the 200+ entries for the 25th Anniversary contest . . . (Sid's pleased - I have to write all those names on different pieces of paper. He just gets to eat the cat treats!)

A book launch for a 3rd edition of a book . . . More later

Shopping to prepare for an important event happening at the end of the month . . . More later

So I don't really have time to put my head over the parapet - but . . .

I do want to celebrate the fact that I just learned that The Konstantos Marriage Demand has been nominated for the short list for Best Harlequin Presents Extra of 2010 by Romantic Times Book Review Magazine.

That has really made my morning. Thank you RT!

Now back to the grindstone - but with a smile on my face.

In case you missed it, here is the RT review. If you remember The Konstantos Marriage Demand was also an RT Top Pick for March 2010

THE KONSTANTOS MARRIAGE DEMAND (4.5) by Kate Walker:

As far as Nikos Konstantos is concerned, Sadie used him, humiliated him and then walked out on him -- on what was to be their wedding day no less. Five years later, the tables have been turned. A penniless Sadie has her work cut out for when she approaches Nikos to save her family home. Nikos intends to exact retribution against the woman he still lusts after, but where does his mysterious new bride fit into his plans? Misunderstandings and family betrayals propel this terrifically well-paced and fiery romance to its very rewarding conclusion.

Where did the week go?

Is it just me or do you find that if you go away it takes longer to catch up than you were actually away for?

We had a wonderful weekend with Michelle Reid and her husband - the sun shone, we walked by the sea, ate wonderful meals, talked, laughed, talked some more. Michelle gave me an advance copy of her upcoming book - Mia's Scandal. This is the launch book for a new continuity The Balfour Legacy that starts in July. I'll have more info on that in a while and Michelle and I will be running a joint contest to mark the publication of our next books.

Mine of course will be The Good Greek Wife? and that's part of the mini-series The Greek Tycoons which has the shout line - Legends are Made of Men Like These! Some of the other books in the series are already out now and they are:

The Greek Tycoon's Achilles Heel by Lucy Gordon

The Power of the Legendary Greek by Catherine George

A Good Greek Wife? will be out in July

and the fourth book in the series will be

Powerful Greek, Housekeeper Wife by Robyn Donald (coming in September)

These dates are the UK ones. The first two books are out in Presents EXTRA in June and my book and Robyn's will also be Presents EXTRA in October.

Of course if you can't wait till then and you haven't already ready it, there's my other Greek book The Konstantos Marriage Demand still available on eHarlequin or Amazon. And as a sneak preview of good news, if you're buying from eHarlequin, from May 26th - May 31st they're running a BOGOF (buy one get one free) sale - so you could get twice the number of books for your money!

If you're in America, have you noticed the changes that have happened in the Presents line-up lately? This is how it was announced over on I Heart Presents:

On another note I wanted to talk to you, our most avid fans, about a recent change that you may have noticed within the Harlequin Presents line. In the month of May there are a few less Presents stories available than you may be used to, instead of 8 titles per month we will now be publishing 6 titles each month. We decided on this change for a few different reasons as we felt very strongly that we weren’t being fair to our authors or readers; with so many titles out there we noticed it was becoming difficult for our readers to keep up and we didn’t want anyone to miss out on any of the fantastic stories that were being offered.

The other change in the line-up is that the Presents titles that were originally Modern Heat/Harlequin Sexy in the UK and Australia will now be brought out in special collections in Presents Extra in America.

There will still be 4 Harlequin Presents Extras on-sale mid-month. Two of these will be regular Presents titles and two of them will be books that have been published in Modern Heat in the UK - these will now appear in their separate 'collection' in the Presents Extra instead of being in the first strand of publication when it wasn't easy to tell which ones had this rather different editorial content.

You should be able to tell them more simply now with the titles to the collections - Modern Heats will be in the ones with titles like Sex in The City/P.S. I'm Pregnant/Conveniently Wedded . . .And Bedded

And the traditional Presents authors' books will be in collections like: The Greek Tycoons/Her Irresistible Boss/British Bachelors. So there will still be 8 great 'traditional' Presents books each month - just split over the two lines.

Will this help you find the type of books you're looking for? And American readers - are you finding it easy to get hold of copies of the Presents Extras you want? OR even to get the info on which books are out in that line-up each month?

Oh yes - and talking about changes - there are some coming up in the UK lines as well. The number of books in the Modern line will be reduced to 8 - 4 in each two-weekly line-up and there are some BIG changes coming in the way the books will look.

I can't tell you more just yet but watch this space and you'll find out . . . (but looking at Michelle's book cover up above should give you a clue)

Reasons why I love my job . . .

Sometimes I curse and swear when a character won't behave or a plot gets totally knotted, but really, althought slightly wierd, writing romance is a great way to earn a living.

Some days there are parcels and parcels of books that arrive - this last week alone, there have been

French editions of The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge, and The Spaniard's Inconvenient Wife and Cordero's Forced Bride.

Brazilian editions of Cordero's Forced Bride, Bedded By the Greek Billionaire, The Greek Tycoon's Unwilling Wife, Sicilian Husband,Blackmailed Bride, The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge

Polish copies of The Greek Tycoon's Unwilling Wife

German, Portugese, Japanese and Dutch editions of Cordero's Forced Bride

The foreign languages collection in Hull library is going to be happy with me!

Other reasons to smile -

The Konstantos Marriage Demand has 3 five star rating son the Mills & Boon web site- when the readers rate your book, that's what it's all about! Oh and Claimed by the Sicilian is at #2 in the bestselling listing of the M&B By Requests titles.

And last night I spent the evening with a glass of wine and two great DVDs - and it was all research.

Honest.

Nothing but research.

The DVDs were supposed to have been this drama. . . but for reasons beyond my control they ended up being something else. Oh well, North and South can always be used for inspiration . . .

More clues? Well the 'special project' is sort of linked to a famous author who was born on this date in 1816 . . .

Oh and the post lady has just delivered an extra treat in the shape of the latest great romance by a special favourite author - Liz Fielding - A Wedding at Leopard Tree Lodge - and I might actually have time to read it!

Can't wait.

Like I said, sometime I love my job!