"What is so sweet and dear
As a prosperous morn in May,
The confident prime of the day,
And the dauntless youth of the year,
When nothing that asks for bliss,
Asking aright, is denied,
And half of the world a bridegroom is,
And half of the world a bride?"
 

... William Watson, Ode in May, 1880

 

 

 

So, what happened to April?  How can a month fly by so quickly?  I could scarcely believe it was time to update my website, but the calendar doesn’t lie.

April was a bit special I have to admit.  The publication of THE BRIDE’S BABY, my 50^th Harlequin Romance, made it all a bit special. 

But just to add to the excitement, Romantic Times awarded me a Career Achievement Award for Love & Laughter in romance fiction.  A genuine Champagne moment.

May is also going to be busy.  First, there’s the re-issue of THE ORDINARY PRINCESS in a By Request special called HIGH SOCIETY WEDDINGS.  This is published in the UK, but will be available at Amazon.ca.  And Mills & Boon in Australia are reissuing my Boardroom Bridegrooms trilogy, too, each story doubled with another author.

And I’m still hosting some amazing guests on my blog – all of whom are giving away signed copies of their books.  In May it will be Lucy Gordon, Rebecca Winters and Natasha Oakley (only three this month because I’ll be away for a week visiting family).

Coming up in June is a new novella, CHOSEN AS THE SHEIKH'S WIFE, written to celebrate Mills & Boon’s Centenary.  You’ll find it in 100 ARABIAN NIGHTS, with novellas by Meredith Webber and Kim Lawrence.  You’ll find a taste here.

My husband gave me the idea that started this story – a  mysterious jewelled khanjar.  I immediately thought of the fabulous emerald khanjar in the Topkapi museum which we saw on our honeymoon more than thirty-five years ago.  I changed the stones to rubies and my khanjar became the fabled “Blood of Tariq”, touched by the hand of Lawrence, stolen by a princess and hidden for eighty years.

When Violet Hamilton discovers it hidden beneath her floorboards she finds herself pitched into a world of danger, intrigue and love.

“The handle had the patina of hard-use and, inset in the top was a large, smoothly polished red stone the size of a pigeon’s egg.  The sheath wasn’t straight, but sharply curved and adorned with fancy silver and gold-coloured filigree work into which were set three similar, tear-shaped red stones, decreasing in size as they reached the curved point and looking for all the world as if the stone on the handle was bleeding along its length.”   Read on…

Reserve your copy here.

And for those of you in Australia and New Zealand, my fiftieth Harlequin/Mills & Boon Romance, THE BRIDE’S BABY, will appear on the shelves this month too.  (You can still find it online in the UK!)

As I mentioned last month, the book is the first of a four-book series, A Bride for All Seasons and the brilliant Trish Wylie has put together a blog that features all four books, along with loads of background material, extra photos and some more snippets from the book.

 

There are also loads of wedding links.  And if you ’d like to share wedding stories --  your own or anyone else’s! -- there’s a chance to win all four books, signed by the authors. 

liz's books   |   about Liz   |   about wales  |   about writing   |    blog   |    links   |   contact