Romantic Times Top Pick

It was wonderful to read Catherine Witmer’s review of THE MILLIONAIRE’S MAKEOVER (quoted in full on the Books page) and discover how much she liked the book.  Silhouette Special Edition is a wonderful line to write for, with lots of scope for strong emotion and character development, and it was great to hear that she felt I’d succeeded in those areas and more.  I particularly like that she thought my other woman was “fun and evil.”  J

All-Time Favorite

Every romance writer I know tries to make every book we write as special and fresh and page-turning as we possibly can, but inevitably some books succeed better than others, and some simply appeal more to us personally than others do.  THE CHILDREN’S DOCTOR AND THE SINGLE MUM was one of the really special ones for me, and it was particularly nice to hit that zone in Medical Romance, when I’ve written so many.  It just goes to show that there’s always something new in romance.  If you’re looking for a rich, sexy hero who knows how to laugh at himself, a heroine who has the doubts we all share but so much else going for her at the same time, and some heartstring-tugging medical drama, do look out for this book in August in the UK, September (I think) in Australia, and sometime soon after that in the US, via www.eharlequin.com and see if you share my opinion of it!

More Crocodile Creek

We’ve loved working on the Crocodile Creek : 24-hour Rescue series, but this final set brings us up to twelve books, which is one of those magic numbers in romance, so for the time being we’re going to stop.  After the drama of a cyclone and more than one wedding in the second mini-series, this final set of books moves out to the Crocodile Creek Kids Camp on Wallaby Island, where kids with special needs and chronic illnesses can take a tropical paradise break with their families.  As often happens in paradise, however, there can be unexpected trouble…  Look out for my book in September, Alison Roberts in October, Meredith Webber in November and Marion Lennox in December.  As usual, these are UK dates, and the US and Australian releases will be a month or two later.

San Francisco

After skipping the Romance Writers of America national conference for the past couple of years for family reasons, I’m going again this year and really looking forward to it.  Top priority will be cheering friends Jane Porter, Kelly Hunter and Anne Gracie who are all nominated for Rita Awards this year, each in a different category – which means they can all win!  Seriously, if you haven’t discovered these authors yet, you should try to get hold of Jane’s “Odd Mom Out”, Kelly’s “Sleeping Partners” and Anne’s “The Perfect Kiss.”  Those are the books that are nominated for Ritas, but their other books are just as good.  Jane and I are giving a workshop together at the conference.  It’s called “It’s My Process And I’ll Cry If I Want To,”  which pretty much sums up both our writing processes.  If you’re attending the conference, I hope you come to hear us!  Finally, there’ll be the usual connecting with friends, seeing agent and editors, and just a smidge of partying.