ABOUT THE BOOK - "The Wedding Surprise"

Trish Wylie is the only Irish writer for the Harlequin Romance line and all of her books are set in the island she calls home. Her first Harlequin Romance: The Bridal Bet, won The Romantic Times Reviewers Award last month for Best First Series Romance of 2005.

TRISH SAYS:

When I first came up with the idea for The Wedding Surprise I had written most of my books about friends who became lovers, or workmates, even a story about a couple who had already been married. I wanted something different. And then I veered towards thinking about the opportunities people miss sometimes and what would get them to look at someone they might never have taken a second glance at.

Hence Cara and Aiden’s story was born…

When Cara Rourke discovers her Father’s business is in trouble she accepts a place on a reality TV Show to try and make the money he needs to stop their family home from being lost. All she has to do is convince her family that she’s met a man on the internet, and that she’s getting married. But Cara’s family is close, they share everything, and lying to them costs her a little piece of her heart with each passing day.

Aiden Flynn is the last man she would have looked at on the street. Because when she meets him, he’s scruffy, bearded, and has a chip on his shoulder. He’s the opposite of Cara in so many ways that there is no reason they should get along, which makes the task of convincing her family and friends they are in love even more difficult! But Cara has no-one else she can talk to, and as they spend time together they discover that they’re not really that different. Each of them is lacking something in their life.

Except that even as Cara finds herself falling in love, trusting in Aiden and hoping for a future beyond the end of the TV Show, Aiden is carrying a secret she couldn’t possibly have known. One that may cost him the woman he never expected to love...

EXCERPT:

Moving away from the mirror and along the softly lit hall, he found himself looking at frame upon frame of photographs. Caitlin Rourke’s life laid out before him. Pictures of her laughing, smiling at the people around her with love in her eyes. Close-ups of her curled up on a sofa, caught off guard as she looked up into the camera lens. Shots of an autumn day when she’d had longer hair tossed by an unseen wind. Every one showed scenes of a happy, contented woman, in love with life and living.

Caitlin Rourke was everything he wasn’t. And a familiar ache, so old it burned like a physical pain in the pit of his stomach, made him unexpectedly angry with her for that.

To buy the book, go to eHarlequin.com! And for more info about Trish and her gorgeous Irish books, check out her website, and her fabulous blog.

ABOUT THE BOOK - "Contract To Marry"

This month, Nicola Marsh has a previously unreleased book now available online!!! Contract to Marry is a fun, fabulous, flirty romance set in the bustling city of Melbourne, Australia. Now here's some sneak peek behind the scenes info about this book which you will find nowhere else:

HERO: Darcy Howard. 38 y.o. CEO of Innovative Imports.Needs to lighten up and have fun.

HEROINE: Fleur Adams. 24 y.o. Life coach. Just the woman to show Darcy a thing or two.

NIC SAYS:

In creating CONTRACT TO MARRY, I deliberately chose an older hero, not only in age but in years and life experience. Darcy has raised a younger brother since his late teens, has always been responsible and when his business stagnates, he has no option but to hire someone to remedy the problem.

The inspiration behind Darcy had to be Pierce Brosnan: suave, sophisticated, a man of the world and then some! (Throw in those simmering dark good looks and he’s perfect in the role of Darcy!)

Fleur is young, idealistic and starting out in her career. I created her as the complete antithesis of Darcy, giving her the tough task of showing him how to have fun. With this in mind, she takes him to a nightclub and a paintball range to accentuate their age difference but it’s Darcy who ends up showing Fleur a thing or two!

To create Fleur, I chose Reese Witherspoon for her vibrancy, vivacity and cheekiness, the perfect foil for serious Darcy.

Mostly set in Melbourne, I invented a fictitious small town for Fleur’s family and ultimately, the place she learns a few home truths. Springwood resembles many small delightful Victorian country towns, with great hospitality and gossip that spreads like wildfire!

I love creating the whole opposites-attract storyline and this book has been one of my favourites. Marketed as part of the 9 to 5 miniseries, it is an office story with bite.

One of my favourite quotes from the book? Would have to be where Fleur’s best friend Liv—who always has her head buried in a romance novel—defends the genre to her cynical friend.

EXCERPT:

Fleur scanned the growing lunch crowd and spotted her friend at a corner table, nose buried in the latest romance novel as usual.

Taking care not to decapitate anyone on the way to their table, Fleur slid into a vacant seat and stacked her load against a nearby wall. “Let me guess. The tall, dark and handsome hero is about to rip the heroine’s bodice and thrust his—“

“No! Romance novels aren’t bodice rippers. They’re contemporary romance. How many times have I told you that?”

Good one Liv!

To buy Nic's book, go to eHarlequin! And for excerpts, news and reviews, check out Nic's gorgeous brand new website.

BOOKS AVAILABLE IN JULY 2006

This July, Harlequin Romance gives readers a beautiful range books including the second book in Marion Lennox's Castle at Dolphin Bay series, and the continuation of Jackie Braun's Conlans of Trillium Island trilogy. Alongside these are a Barbara McMahon Sheikh and a Leigh Michaels tycoon and we have some month of heroes in store!

Their Unfinished Business by Jackie Braun

Even after ten years Ali Conlan's heart still beat too strongly for the man who had left without a goodbye — and her body still responded to his bad-boy confidence and winning smile. But she knew his visit was all about business and his partnership in her family's resort.

Or was Luke's real reason for returning to Trillium about unfinished business of a different sort...with her?


The Heir's Chosen Bride by Marion Lennox

As a widow and single mom, Susan is wary about meeting the man who has just inherited the rambling castle in Australia where she and her small daughter live. Surely New York financier Hamish Douglas will want to sell up?
Hamish had planned to turn the castle into a luxury hotel — until he met the beautiful Susie. He might see everything as a potential business deal, but even he couldn't deny the attraction between them. Nor could he evict her and her baby from their beloved home. For Hamish, surely marriage was the only sensible solution?

But Susie is the last person who will accept a marriage proposal just because it's "sensible." If Hamish wants to marry her, he'll have to prove he loves her first!


The Sheikh's Secret by Barbara McMahon

Laura has been absolutely swept off her feet by a gorgeous new man — she's never been made to feel so special!

But as they become closer, Talique is torn. Laura doesn't know his real name, the past that drives him, even that he's a sheikh! All she knows is the perfect world he's created for her. And just as his secret plan is about to be revealed, he realizes his intentions have changed: he wants Laura as his bride!


The Tycoon's Proposal by Leigh Michaels

With the holiday season fast approaching, Lissa Morgan is in dire straits — she's stuck without a job, and the roof over her head is definitely temporary! So when a two-week live-in job is offered to her, Lissa snaps it up. What she doesn't realize is that she'll be in close proximity to Kurt Callahan — the man who broke her heart years before when she discovered he had only dated her for a schoolboy bet!

Kurt's now a sexy businessman, and the attraction between them is sparking. Can Lissa forgive, forget and accept this tycoon's new proposal...?


ALSO THIS MONTH...

And readers can now grab copies of these fabulous books, not previously released in North America online at eHarlequin!

Claiming His Family by Barbara Hannay

Contract to Marry by Nicola Marsh

The Wedding Surprise by Trish Wylie

At the Cattleman's Command by Lindsay Armstrong

BUY THE BOOKS at eHarlequin now!

For June books out now on shelves in North America, click here!

And the nominees are...

Congratulations to Nicola Marsh whose Harlequin Romance novel IMPOSSIBLY PREGNANT is making huge waves in contests across America. It has been nominated in the Best Traditional category of both the Holt Award and the Booksellers' Best.

IMPOSSIBLY PREGNANT was the first book in a commissioned trilogy using three different authors! Set in a web design agency in Melbourne and starring Keely the website designer with weight issues and Lachlan the oh-so-sexy radio psychologist, it is a fun, flirty, fast-paced read with a big heart.

To find out more, go to Nicola's website.

Good luck Nic!


AND MELISSA JAMES...

To add to the growing list of nominations and awards, Melissa James, whose first Romance, Long Lost Father, will be released this October, is a finalist in the Romance Through The Ages contest with her entry, Dark Waltz. Dark Waltz is a Georgian historical romantic suspense set during the time when Napoleon's fleet was set to invade Britain. It is with the editor and agent who are the final judges. Winners will be announced at RWA National in July.


AND SHIRLEY JUMP...

Next cab off the rank we have the wonderful Shirley Jump who is a finalist in the Madcap Award for THE DATING GAME (Silhouette Romance, December 2005) and in the Bookseller's Best for THE MARINE'S KISS (Silhouette Romance, August 2005).

Fingers crossed for you Shirley!

AND THE WINNER IS...

Last night, new M&B Romance author, Fiona Harper, was presented with the Joan Hessayon New Writers’ Award at the Romantic Novelists' Association Summer Party for her first romance, The Blind-Date Marriage, to be released in December. She beat off contenders from mainstream houses to win the prize with a book that judge, Jenny Haddon, described as follows --

"This very contemporary short novel is funny and charming and has real heart. The hero is an original, with his two distinct personae. You’re on his side right from the cracking first page. Among our pleasures were a delightfully brisk heroine, whizzy plot, her ageing rocker dad and the way the hero handles a truculent kid. We believed totally in the world and the characters, including a scuzzbag would-be blackmailer. And there were some fabulous one liners that turned us green with envy."

Apparently not only Fiona, but several M&B editors were in tears at the news!

Fiona with her editor, Kim Young, at the party.

JUNE...

THE CONLANS OF TRILLIUM ISLAND


Jackie Braun's emotional new trilogy, kicks off in June with A WOMAN WORTH LOVING.

Audra Conlan has always been flirtatious, flamboyant and wild, until fate gives her a second chance she vows not to waste. This time she'll repent her mistakes, face her estranged family and evade men like photographer Seth Ridley, whose sexy smile and welcoming ways tempt her to fall for him hard and fast. But when the past threatens her new life, will Audra dare to forgive the woman she once was and embrace the woman she was meant to be ... a woman worth loving?

Then, in July, Luke Banning is back on the Island in THEIR UNFINISHED BUSINESS and it's just Ali Conlan's luck that he's sexier than ever. Even after ten years her heart still beats too strongly for the man who had left her without a goodbye. And a decade has done nothing to lessen her body's response to his bad-boy confidence and winning smile. But his visit to Trillium Island is all about business. He's about to become a partner in her family's resort. Or is Luke's real reason for returning about unfinished business -- with her?

Find out more about this fabulous trilogy here.

BUY THE BOOK at eHarlequin.

Buy the book at Amazon.


ALSO IN JUNE

The Doctor's Proposal by Marion Lennox

Tragedy has left Dr. Kirsty McMahon afraid to fall in love. So when she meets commitment-phobic single father Jake Cameron — Dolphin Bay's gorgeous doctor — she assures herself that the chemistry between them will never amount to anything.

Kirsty busies herself with getting to know the people of Dolphin Bay — and generally doing all she can to keep her mind off the handsome single dad. But when the attraction between her and Jake becomes too strong to ignore, they find themselves having to reconsider the rules they've made for themselves....


Blue Moon Bride by Renee Roszel

Roth Jerric may be drop-dead gorgeous, but as her ex-boss he's the last person Hannah Hudson wants around. A stay at the Blue Moon Inn seemed like the answer to her prayers, but finding she's sharing close quarters with Roth is hardly her idea of relaxation!

Roth can't understand why his existence disturbs Hannah so much. And can't understand just why he cares. Disillusioned with women, he's not looking for any romantic entanglement. But, try as he might, Hannah's one woman he can't ignore....


Her Outback Protector by Margaret Way

At first sight, Alexandra Kingston looked too young to have inherited the running of Moondai cattle station. Overseer Daniel Carson knew she would most likely need all the support he could give her.

Daniel combined strength with gentleness — a heady mix for a woman who had learned the hard way how to fight her own battles. Alexandra's small frame belied her inner strength, but she couldn't deny that having Daniel close by her side made her feel both protected...and desired


BUY THE BOOKS at eHarlequin now!

AND THE WINNER IS...

We’re totally thrilled to announce that yesterday, at the annual awards lunch of the Romantic Novelists’ Association held at the Savoy Hotel in London, author JESSICA HART was named this year’s winner of the Association’s ROMANCE PRIZE, for her Harlequin Romance, CONTRACTED: CORPORATE WIFE. The award, for short romance, is judged by readers. Her prize, a cheque for £1,000, endowed by Association President, Diane Pearson and the Betty Neels Rosebowl.