And to round off the 40 for 40 celebration in true style - Victoria is celebrating her own wedding anniversary today.
Firstly, huge congratulations to Kate and Steve on 40 years of wedded bliss! My hubby and I celebrated our 10th anniversary last summer so 40 years seriously boggles my mind and leaves me completely awed. I was very young when I first met my husband and little did I know then, we had a rocky road ahead of us. Lots of ups and down and wrong turns but we always found our way back to each other. I like to think our hearts were driving us and we were destined to eventually meet in the same place. And if I’ve learned one thing from our youthful encounters and subsequent marriage it’s that you have to love hard. We all change through the years and it takes a deep loyal friendship and mutual respect to grow together. That’s one thing I noticed most about Kate and Steve when I first met them – they are great friends as well as a truly loving couple.
It’s that perfect blend
of two people coming together – being destined – that is always the starting
point for my Modern Presents and oddly enough my latest release ‘A Reputation
To Uphold’ was born around the time of my own anniversary.
On a whim we decided to
fly out to Thailand to celebrate with my rather wonderful sister and her family
and I knew I had the perfect setting for my next book. Question was; who could
I picture here in paradise? Then, one day, we were all relaxing on James Bond
Island, soaking up the sun and lush scenery and we all got to chatting about
love at first sight – was it even possible or was it merely wishful thinking, a
fairy tale of sorts? Naturally, the guys decided it was lust-at-first-sight
wrapped in a pretty bow but here’s the thing… I’m a die-hard romantic, so of
course I believe it is entirely possible. Then as always, I started thinking, what if. What if my heroine grew up
wrapped in the arms of her parents love and always dreamed of finding The One?
What if her fairy tale was a beautiful courtship and a white wedding with vows
from the heart? What if she met her hero in the form of her older brothers best
friend, was struck by the power of love at first sight and began to build
castles in the sky? Then, what if life threw her off course and dealt her some
hard heart-wrenching cards that meant she would forever be alone. Gone were the
dreams as she crashed into reality. Life was not a fairy tale, she discovered.
It was hard and love was a lie. Happy ever afters, she decided, did not exist –
at least not for her.
That was how Eva St
George was born. A series of what if’s. And as I painted her past I watched her
bury that beautiful youthful innocence. I watched her make mistakes, just as we
all do, but that makes her real and one of the many things I adore about her.
When the story opens she’s fought past her turbulent years and is on the brink
of becoming a hugely successful wedding dress designer. In truth, she makes
other women’s dreams come true, happy to live vicariously through her clients.
So there
she is, on the verge of success, creating a gown for the next Duchess and
who should swagger back into her life to reap havoc and destruction but super
sexy, inordinately powerful, Dante Vitale – the cynical brooding Italian who
crushed her youthful heart. The man she’s always wanted. The man she can never ever have.
As soon as I started
writing this book, I knew it would be chock full of romance, of all the
wondrous elements love has to offer that Eva has denied herself for so long. I
knew it would be teeming with a passion that has never died and I knew Dante
needed to show Eva the light, even as he lived in the dark. They bring out the worst
in each other but also the best and theirs is a true love story that will stay
with me always as they both learn that life is not about waiting for the storm
to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain. Life isn’t a fairy tale but
dreams do come true – you just need the courage to fight for them, have faith
and believe.
I’m giving away a signed copy
of ‘Reputation To Uphold’ to celebrate the power of love and life. Of making
every second count.
All you have to do is leave a comment and tell me; What is
the most romantic thing your partner has ever done for you?
Like Dante, did
they drive miles out of town for your favourite ice-cream or vividly remember their
first glimpse of you so many years ago. Or maybe they whisked you away for a
secret rendezvous just to say ‘I love you’. The romantic in me would love to
know!
