Monday, March 31, 2008

Winner!

As it's the end of the month, we've drawn for the winner of Jennie Adams's TO LOVE AND TO CHERISH.

Congratulations to Amanda Reynolds-Smith!

Amanda, your info has been sent to Jennie and she'll be mailing out your book!

Now...you're not going to want to miss April! April's a big month...we have lots of announcements coming up, as well as a brand new Spotlight and giveaway, AND exciting news about some wonderful series within the Romance line this year!

Come back tomorrow, when I announce the line up for April!

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Foreign Releases - March


A melhor união por Donna Alward

Harlequin Portugal 12 de Março 2008

Ambos resolveriam os seus problemas com aquele casamento temporário…
Alexis Grayson sabia muito bem como cuidar de si, pois fizera-o durante toda a vida. E continuaria a fazê-lo, embora estivesse grávida e sozinha. No entanto, o muito bonito cowboy Connor Madsen parecia estar empenhado em cuidar dela e, em troca, Alexis ajudá-lo-ia… Precisava de uma esposa temporária e ela precisava de um lugar onde viver até o bebé nascer.Contudo, assim que Alexis começou a conhecer bem aquele homem corajoso e honrado, perguntou-se se não teria cometido o maior erro da sua vida. Porque aquela esposa por conveniência queria agora um casamento a sério.



A Razão de Sua Vida - Natasha Oakley

Harlequin Brasil

O Casamento do ano!

Eloise Lawton tinha finalmente encontrado uma verdadeira família. Mas agora, ela tem de enfrentar os costumes da alta sociedade e apenas uma pessoa desse meio inspirava confiança: Jeremy Norland, um homem totalmente lindo e arrasador. À medida que segredos do passado são revelados, Eloise percebe que se ela se apaixonar por Jeremy, poderá perder tudo pelo que tanto lutou para encontrar. Será que Eloise terá coragem para arriscar suas conquistas e se entregar a um grande amor?


Dulce corazón - Rebecca Winters

26 de Marzo 2008

La coraza de aquel duque tan frío estaba a punto de romperse...

El duque Lance Malbois era un duro militar con una cicatriz que le atravesaba la cara y le llegaba hasta el corazón. Pero lo que más deseaba en el mundo era tener a un bebé entre sus brazos y que lo llamara “papá”.

Andrea Fallon era una viuda embarazada y sola, pero estaba empeñada en darle a su bebé el padre y la familia que ella nunca tuvo.

¿Sería un matrimonio de conveniencia la solución perfecta?

La baby-sitter amoureuse de Barbara MCMAHON

Horizon (France) 15 mars 2008

En acceptant d’accompagner son cousin Max à Al Qu’arim, dans le golfe persique, Melissa était loin de se douter que son destin allait basculer. Une fois sur place, elle découvre en effet avec émerveillement le somptueux palais du cheikh Surim Al-Thani, un ami de Max, et se sent bientôt incapable de repartir pour les Etats-Unis, où son travail d’assistante maternelle l’attend. Non seulement parce que les trois neveux de Surim, qui viennent de perdre leurs parents, se sont pris d’affection pour elle et ne veulent plus la quitter, mais aussi parce que, bien malgré elle, elle se sent comme hypnotisée par le charme magnétique du ténébreux cheikh…



Contratto di Nozze - Susan Fox

Jolly Romance (Italy)

March 2008

Mescolare affari e sentimenti non è mai una buona idea.

Fay Sheridan è sempre stata una donna forte e piena di risorse, ma ora che è rimasta da sola alla guida dell'azienda di famiglia, deve affrontare difficoltà che non si aspettava. Come essere costretta a uscire appena prima di una tempesta con i fiocchi. Per fortuna il suo affascinante vicino Chase Rafferty, l'amore apparentemente mai corrisposto della sua gioventù, è pronto a soccorrerla quando cade da cavallo. Chase la porta a casa e si occupa di lei, dimostrandosi disposto a tutto pur di farle tornare il sorriso. Anche a sposarla, per consolidare un legame d'affari che potrebbe tornare utile a entrambi. Quando sente la proposta, Fay è titubante. Vista l'attrazione reciproca, saprebbe dominarsi se la loro intimità crescesse? Non le resta che...


DU BRINGST DAS EIS ZUM SCHMELZEN - TERESA SOUTHWICK

BIANCA (Germany)

Erscheint am: 26.03.08

"Helfen Sie meinem Kind. Bitte!" Nur zögernd gibt die Sprachtherapeutin Mary Jane dem Drängen des reichen Geschäftsmannes Gavin Spencer nach: Seit dem tragischen Unfalltod ihres Sohnes arbeitet sie nicht mehr mit kleinen Kindern. Aber schon am ersten Tag in Gavins Haus ahnt sie, dass sie richtig entscheiden hat. Der kleine Sean berührt ihr Herz - und sein Vater weckt Träume von Liebe in ihr. Doch obwohl Gavin ihre Besuche offenbar von Mal zu Mal sehnlicher erwartet, weist er sie zurück! Wie kann sie den Eispanzer durchdringen, den er um sein Herz gelegt hat?"


Barfotabröllop av Jessica Hart

(Sweden)

Höga klackar och hög lön … eller barfota och beundrad?

Alice Gunning har ett perfekt liv. Hon älskar sitt jobb, sin flotta innerstadslägenhet och tanken på att hon snart ska förlova sig. Men på bara en dag förändras allt: Pojkvännen lämnar henne, hon får sparken – och hon vinner på lotteri!

En biljett till en paradisö är vad Alice behöver för att komma bort och tänka. Och nu har hon råd att unna sig det. Döm om hennes förvåning när hon på den lilla soldränkta tropiska ön springer rakt på en gammal kärlek, Will Paxman.

För karriärkvinnan Alice är en vild romans på en tropisk ö helt otänkbar, hon måste ju snart tillbaka till verkligheten igen. Men Will gör allt han kan för att övertyga henne om att drömmen kan vara för evigt …
Don't forget...this is your last chance to enter to win a copy of Jennie Adams's TO LOVE AND TO CHERISH...just send your e-mail to hrablog@hotmail.com with the subject line JENNIE to be entered! The winner will be drawn April 1st!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Reviews for March books

I hope these turn out okay...I'm working from the laptop away from home!

The books this month simply sparkle on the review front....here's just a sampling!

To Love and To Cherish by Jennie Adams

"absolutely packed with emotion" - Romance Junkies, 5 ribbons


Promoted: To Wife and Mother by Jessica Hart

"Wonderfully moving, hilariously witty and totally absorbing, Promoted: to Wife and Mother is another triumph for this exceptional writer of romantic fiction!" Cataromance, 4.5 stars

The Soldier's Homecoming by Donna Alward

"Tender, poignant, dramatic and heartrending...If you like the emotive storytelling of Lucy Gordon and Rebecca Winters, you will simply adore Donna Alward’s latest Harlequin Romance, The Soldier’s Homecoming!" Pink Heart Society Reviews

A Royal Marriage of Convenience by Marion Lennox

"A Royal Marriage Of Convenience delights with a crazy roller coaster plot ride." Merrimon Book Reviews

Falling For The Rebel Heir by Ally Blake

"a sweet, often funny story with a wonderfully written pair of lovers and a believably developed relationship." Romantic Times, 4 stars

Monday, March 17, 2008

Harlequin Mills and Boon



Mills and Boon celebrates their centenary this year, but many don't know how that fits into Harlequin's history, or how Harlequin fits into Mills and Boon history. In the UK, you've grown up with Mills and Boon, but in North America, you might not even know who Mills and Boon is - because in NA the name Harlequin is synonymous with Romance.


I thought today would be a good time to explain how this all came about, and what better source than the Mills and Boon website:


In 1971, the companies (Mills and Boon and Harlequin) merged. A few years later, a controlling interest was sold to the Torstar Corporation, a Canadian communications company.

The development led the company on the road to unprecedented expansion and profit. With the injection of funds, during the 1970s, the publisher started to advance across the globe - their overseas acquisitions and partnerships took the company's brand of love stories to bookshelves in The Netherlands, Germany, France, Sweden, Italy, Greece and as far a field as Japan.
The company also marketed books in a different way and now readers could have the books delivered directly to their doorstep, along with special gifts and reader questionnaires.

Such was their worldwide domination, by the mid 1980s Harlequin Mills & Boon were selling in the region of 250 million books worldwide.


The initiatives speak for themselves - in 1989 to mark Harlequin’s 40th anniversary, every one of the company's 100 foreign markets published the same title on the same date, A Reason For Being by Penny Jordan - their most popular writer. When the Berlin Wall came down in 1990, staff from their West German office handed out 750,000 free copies to women from East Germany. Sheila Holland (Charlotte Lamb) said: "Mills & Boon put my books all over Europe but Harlequin has built an Empire".




The lines edited out of the Mills and Boon office, in Richmond, Surrey, are Modern/Presents, Modern Heat/Promo Presents, Medicals, Historicals, and our very own Romance.


P.S....Don't forget, there's still time to enter to win a copy of Jennie's March release, TO LOVE AND TO CHERISH! Send an e-mail with the subject line JENNIE to hrablog@hotmail.com to enter!










Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Spotlight in Six with Jennie Adams



This month we have Jennie Adams with us from Down Under! Jennie has a copy of her current release, To Love and To Cherish, up for grabs so read on to find out how to enter!

Welcome, Jennie!



Where do you find new and fresh ideas?

I think if you are in love with life and enthralled with people and the human condition and are cursed/blessed with an overactive imagination, the ideas are always going to be there. Frankly, it’s a relief to have an outlet, LOL. Where the ideas come from? That’s hard to answer. A little bit from that pondering, from wanting answers to universal questions about love, friendship, relationship, commitment, heroism and a whole lot of other stuff. A little from playing the ‘what if’ game about things I see or notice or worry or care about. And a lot from characters who circumvent any conscious thought process of mine and somehow manage to come alive to address some of those things I’ve wondered about, in their own unique way.


Writers often use photos of celebrities as “casting”. Do you do this, and who has inspired some of your characters?

I tend to divide the use of celebrity pictures between physical description, mood, and emotion. I used two different actresses for ‘The Boss’s Unconventional Assistant’, my August 08 release. A picture of Scarlett Johansson in evening wear became the inspiration for the glamorous side of Sophia Gable, but the emotion between the hero and heroine came from a beautiful movie still of a man and a woman holding each other in a kitchen. My hero description is nothing like the picture I clipped of Jude Law, but Jude’s expression encapsulates several key things about my hero’s character and emotional position.

It’s magical when you take pictures at the start of the creative process and later discover all their hidden meaning. This happened for me with my hero inspiration in my March release, ‘To Love and To Cherish’. After looking through a lot of pictures, I chose one of Keanu Reeves for my hero Jack. The picture is sensual and guarded. Keanu is in the process of pulling a dark fitted T-shirt up to take it off and his eyes are full of secrets. I had no idea when I chose the picture that it would end up representing something quite heart-wrenching about my hero.


What are your favourite and least favourite parts of writing a novel? Is there a particular section that you struggle with?

Novel writing is like bungee jumping. The big leap, the sick stomach, the soaring sensation as though you could own the whole world, over and over until it finally stops and you get off and feel sick, then line up to do it all over again. I love the start of a new story when everything is fresh and the ideas are flowing. I hate it when a new story idea won’t come together and the hero and heroine won’t ‘talk’ to me. I particularly hate it when I take that problem to stream of consciousness interviewing and my hero tells me I’m the problem, and I should loosen up! But the joys of the work far outweigh the tough bits. I wouldn’t change what I do for anything.


When you are not writing, what do you do? How do you pamper yourself?


Well, first there’s ‘speed pampering’ for those times when there just isn’t time. Good quality facial products feel brilliant on your skin at the end of a long, tiring day. I’d say chocolate, but there are days when I think that’s more like medication. There’s a reason there’s a whole range of greeting cards and other stuff that says ‘Hand over the chocolate and nobody will get hurt’. LOL. And I love to be swept away by a great romance story, be it in film or written form, or to listen to romantic music. If you have a favourite movie or book or song, please tell me. I’d love to hear!


Imagine you’re stranded…where are you and who are you with?


I’m trapped in a lift with three talkative experts who can answer all my current research questions. I think three hours should do it. And maybe when we’re all rescued, it could be by a team of Special Armed Services men who (unbeknown to us during my research talks), are here to defuse the bomb stuck to the top of the lift, save the building, the city and the country. I did mention that overactive imagination of mine, didn’t I?


Finally, Jennie, please tell us what’s up and coming for you in the months ahead!

In the month of March ‘To Love and To Cherish’ is out as a Harlequin Romance in the USA. Check it out at http://www.eharlequin.com/ in print and ebook formats or buy from the amazons. The third and final Gable Sister book, Sophia’s story, hits the shelves as ‘The Boss’s Unconventional Assistant’ in August 08 in the USA and UK. I’ve recently handed in a boss/secretary story, and I’m working on a new book and in talks with my editor about other upcoming projects. 2008 is looking to be an exciting year.


Love and hugs to you all, and please feel welcome to visit me at my website at http://www.jennieadams.net/.
Thanks Jennie! To win a copy of TO LOVE AND TO CHERISH, send an e-mail to hrablog@hotmail.com with the subject line of JENNIE. We'll draw at the end of the month!

Monday, March 03, 2008

March Releases!

Here are the fabulous releases on board for March.

A Royal Marriage of Convenience by Marion Lennox

Nikolai de Montez, an international lawyer, has just discovered he's the estranged heir to the throne of Alp de Montez. To rightfully rule, he must marry Rose!

Rose McCray is an ordinary country vet, but her royal bloodline makes her Nik's bride of choice—and Rose knows it's her duty to accept.

The wedding ceremony is sumptuous, but when the formalities are over it's time for the prince and princess of Alp de Montez to get to know one another as man and wife!

Read Excerpt





The Italian Tycoon and the Nanny by Rebecca Winters

A new daddy to his orphaned nephew, Massimo needs help. Bringing the baby's beautiful aunt Julie Marchant to Italy as a nanny seems the perfect solution.

Plucked from her quiet, suburban existence, Julie is a fish out of water in Massimo's glamorous, wealthy world. But she's thrilled to be part of her nephew's life, even if it means being the hired help! More of a challenge is spending every day with Massimo, trying desperately to ignore her attraction to this brooding tycoon.…

Read Excerpt



Promoted: to Wife and Mother by Jessica Hart

Perdita James is thrilled with her new job, until a personality quiz reveals she's an attention-seeking peacock! Her boss, Edward Merrick, is a panther—forceful, decisive and more than a little ruthless.

Perdita's head tells her to ignore her attraction and work hard for a promotion. But somehow, whenever she's with single-dad Ed, she feels anything but professional. She's becoming crazy about her boss!

Read Excerpt







Falling for the Rebel Heir by Ally Blake

All she wants is to feel safe

Never going beyond the boundaries of her small town, Kendall York craves safety and security since the accident that injured her and claimed her fiancé's life.

Danger is his middle name

Returning from his latest assignment as a war-zone correspondent, risk-taker Hudson Bennington III finds Kendall swimming in the pool at his estate, and is enchanted.

Will she say yes to this rebel's proposal? Their lives and ambitions are so different, but he's vowed to ease the pain of her past. Can Kendall trust that he'll be around for her future?

Read Excerpt


To Love and to Cherish by Jennie Adams

All that I am I give to you…

When Jack left Australia a year ago, Tiffany thought she'd lost him for good. But in truth, Jack loved Tiffany too much to share the painful secret of his illness. He went away to cope the only way he knew how—alone.

Now seeing Tiffany again makes Jack long for the love he believes he neither deserves nor could ever return. Tiffany has different ideas, and sets out to prove she can love and cherish him—for better or for worse.

Read Excerpt

The Soldier's Homecoming by Donna Alward

A hero for his country—home to win her heart!

Jonas Kirkpatrick left town to be a soldier without ever looking back. But Shannyn saw him every day in her little girl's green eyes.…

Six years later, Jonas has come home, changed utterly from the carefree boy Shannyn once knew. Hardened by war, Jonas can't allow himself to open his heart.

Until he discovers what he left behind—the unbreakable bond with a child he never knew existed, and the enduring love of the only woman who can make him whole again.

Read Excerpt