Maid at Muirfield

My latest Linford Romance is now out.

Maid at Muirfield was first published by DC Thomson pocket novels as Murder at Muirfield.

When Hannah Miller loses her servant's position, she is glad to quickly find another at Muirfield Hall. There she discovers that she is filling the shoes of Ellen, a maid who drowned in the lake under suspicious circumstances. Soon Hannah is drawn into playing detective, as it turns out that Ellen know many secrets about the Muirfield staff. Handsome gardener, Adam, also catches her eye but are they destined to be together?

A Perfect Christmas

My latest My Weekly pocket novel is out now. A Perfect Christmas has all the tinsel, turkey, snow and excitement of the festive season but will sisters Kirsty and Lara find their perfect loves before the big day?

Murder at Muirfield

My latest People's Friend Pocket Novel is out now.

Murder At Muirfield

New maid, Hannah Miller, discovers a mystery when she arrives at Muirfield House. The previous maid has drowned in the lake and there are many at the House who have something to hide. Could one of them be a murderer?

Heart of the Mountain - New Linford Romance out now!

Emotionally burned out from her job as a nurse, Beth leaves London for the Scottish Highlands and the peace of her aunt's cottage. Here she meets Alex, a man who is determined to live life to the full after the death of his fiancee in a climbing accident. Despite her wish for a quiet life, Beth is pulled into a friendship with Alex's sister, the bubbly Sarah-Jayne, and finds herself increasingly drawn to Alex...

Shadows at Bowerly Hall

My latest Linford Romance 'Shadows at Bowerly Hall' is out now.

Forced to work as a governess after the death of her father, Amelia Thorne travels north to Yorkshire and the isolated Bowerly Hall. Charles, Viscount Bowerly, is a darkly brooding employer, and Amelia is soon convinced that the stately home holds secrets and danger in its shadows.
Then a spate of burglaries in the county raises tensions amongst the villagers and servants, and Amelia finds herself on the hunt for the culprit. Can Charles be trusted?

My first People's Friend Pocket Novel is out this week

My first People's Friend Pocket Novel - At Bowerly Hall - is out this week in WH Smiths, larger branches of Tesco and other book selling shops.

It is a Victorian romantic suspense story set in the wilds of Yorkshire.

My latest Linford Romance has been published:

Her Highland Laird

Fleeing her unfaithful fiance, Lara sticks a pin in the map and vows to go wherever it lands. She finds herself in the cool summer of the Scottish Highlands, landing a job at the Invermalloch Estate.
Here she meets Cal, the brooding Laird who is hiding from his own painful past. A powerful attraction between them slowly turns to love. But when Cal is called back to America, will this love survive? Or will Lara's Highland Laird prove to be only a summer romance?

Finding Her Perfect Family

Fleeing as far as she can from an unhappy home life, Amelia Knight arrives at the tropical island of Trinita to work as a nanny at the Grenville estate. As she battles insects and tropical heat, she must also fight her increasing attraction to baby Lucio's widowed father, Leo Grenville - a man whose heart has been broken and is determined never to love again.
Amelia must conquer stormy weather and reveal a desperate secret before she can find her perfect family to love forever.

Available from Amazon or ask for it at your local library.

The Jubilee Letter - E-Book available from today

Very excited that my sweet romance 'The Jubilee Letter' is now available as an E-book and in paperback from Accent Press or Amazon and other book platforms.

Set against the backdrop of 1950s Glasgow and the grand drama of the young Queen's coronation, Avril must choose between two suitors. Both have secrets and only once Avril finds what they are hiding can she choose a love to last a lifetime. Will she be tempted by charming Jack or by quiet Gordon? A choice once made will affect her whole life.

My sweet romance 'To Love Again' is now available from Accent Press and from Amazon and other book platforms either as a E-Book or in paperback:

Meg and her little daughter Katie, flee to rural Devon to escape her sinister ex-husband Phillip. Here, Meg meets the reclusive artist, Garth Winter and although neither wants to become friends they cannot ignore the magnetism between them. As the threat from Phillip increases, Meg realises she needs Garth's help to keep Katie safe. Set against a backdrop of country moors and busy London streets, Meg must battle to keep her daughter while she falls irresistibly in love with Garth.

RNA Interview today

I am featured on the Romantic Novelists' Association blog today.

http://romanticnovelistsassociationblog.blogspot.co.uk/

Writing Process Blog Tour

This post is part of the Writing Process Blog Tour and I'm very grateful to Janice Preston for inviting me to take part. Janice writes Historical Romances for Harlequin Mills and Boon and here is a little bit about her:

Janice lives in the West Midlands with her second husband and two cats. She is excitedly waiting for the publication in August 2014 of her first novel, Mary and the Marquis – a Regency romance for Harlequin Mills and Boon Historicals.

You can find Janice at her new blog: http://janicepreston.co.uk 
On facebook at https://www.facebook.com/janice.preston.77
 And on Twitter @janicegpreston 

So, I've been given four questions to answer and here they are:

1. What am I working on?

I am at that exciting moment of being 'between books' and letting my head fill up with ideas, plots and characters before getting started on my next project. All I know at the moment is that it will be a Romance.

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I think it comes down to 'voice' which  is the individual way each author chooses to tell their story and seems to be vital when submitting to publishers of romance. I read in a 'how to' book that it can take a while of practising before one finds one's writing voice so it shows that all the scribbling over the years hasn't gone to waste!

3. Why do I write what I do?

That's easy - it's because I love reading romances and I absolutely love writing them and knowing there is going to be a Happy Ever After no matter what.

4. How does my writing process work?

I plan out my chapters and make sure I've got at least one major scene or character development in each. Then I start to write and as I do so, my plan evolves and changes. I edit in the mornings before I start to write for the day and I aim for 3000 words. I only get time to write two days a week so it's not as fast as it may seem.

If you'd like to find out more about my writing day and my new EBook coming out soon, I'm featured on the Romantic Novelists' Association Blog on May 23rd and would love to get some comments here and also over there if you can. Thanks!

Coming Home

I'm very excited to be E-published in May with Accent Amour which is the contemporary romance list from Accent Press.

'Calling Home' will be available from Accent Amour very soon:

Melody has sworn never to return to Barradale, the island where she'd grown up - and been so unhappy...Now living in Glasgow, she has forged a new life in the City for herself. But when the gorgeous Kieran Matthews turns up on her doorstep, demanding that she go back with him to see her sick sister, she finds she cannot refuse. And for Melody, family secrets must be unravelled before Kieran's love can help to resolve her past.

This story was first published by My Weekly Pocket Novels as 'Calling Home' and is also available as a Linford Romance entitled 'Return to Barradale'.

Despite its title changes, the story is the same and I hope if you read it, you'll enjoy the growing romance between Melody and Kieran who at first appear too different to ever get along but who find they cannot live without each other.

I've just finished reading...

I have to have a tower of 'waiting to read' books beside my bed, otherwise I panic when I finish up a book. Luckily with Mills and Boon Cherish, I got two titles in  one book. I've just finished reading 'English Girl in New York' by Scarlet Wilson and really enjoyed it. The hero, Dan, is gorgeous with dark hair and lovely brown eyes, mmm.... He and the heroine, Carrie, are stuck in a New York apartment with an abandoned baby to look after in the middle of a snow storm. It was a great read beside the fire while the weather was dreich and horrid outside. Lovely. Now I'm going to start 'That Summer at the Shore' by Callie Endicott which is the second story in the book. Hopefully that'll keep me going over the weekend.

Frozen Heart

My latest Linford Romance is now out! Frozen Heart is a cinderella-themed sweet romance. Here's the back cover blurb:

Jenna has reached a low point in her life - she's lost her business, her home and her boyfriend. Reluctantly she goes to live with her stepfamily, where she's treated like Cinderella. Then she meets Gus, a handsome stranger with his own problems. When they fall in love it looks like Jenna will get her own fairytale happy-ever-after but there are troubles to overcome before Jenna and Gus can finally reach for a life and love together.

You can buy it on Amazon or other other on-line booksellers or request it at your local library.

I wish you happy reading, and a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The Jubliee Letter

My latest Linford Romance has arrived - I am really pleased with the artwork on the cover.
'The Jubilee Letter' was originally published by DC Thomson Pocket Novels to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee - Maggie Seed, the Editor, was looking for a story set at the time of the new young Queen's Coronation but which also included the contemporary theme of the Diamond Jubilee.
The Jubilee Letter is all about a young woman called Avril Garnett, here's the back page blurb:
The letter had been lost in the post for fifty years. But for Avril it solved a mystery, which had unsettled her since the Queen's coronation - when she was young and in love...There had been two suitors to choose from: was Avril tempted by charming Jack or quiet Gordon? Both Jack and Gordon had secrets and it was only when Avril discovered what they were hiding that she had been able to choose a love to last a lifetime.

I had a lot of fun researching Glasgow of the 1950s - the music and fashions and the way the city looked. It was fascinating and the book itself was a delight to write, in fact it's my favourite of the seven pocket novels I've written.

Now it's been published as a Linford Romance and if you'd like to read it, you can request it in your local library. I hope you enjoy reading it.

Hey! Finally Summer is here - and it's wonderful to see the sun and feel its heat. As predicted, after a very late Spring here in the north, Summer came in like a lion.

We've had a real surge in Orange-tip butterflies courting and laying eggs on very late flowering Cuckoo Flower this year. Now Green-veined White butterflies are dominant, fluttering agitatedly everywhere. They can be distinguished from the very similar looking Small White butterfly (all of them, including the Large White, collectively known as Cabbage Whites) by the 'jizz' of its flight. The Small White is a lazier flier, not bothered too much while the Green-veined has places to go and people to meet...

Now you can look out for Small Heath, Meadow Brown and Ringlet amongst the flowering grasses. All of them rather dull in colour at first glance but have a closer look and marvel at their soft markings and pretty shades of grey, orange and brown.

Return to Barradale

My latest Linford Romance is now published - you can get it from Amazon or other online booksellers or request it at your local library:

Melody has sworn never to return to Barradale, the island where she'd grown up and been so unhappy. Now, living in Glasgow, she has forged a new life in the City for herself. But when the gorgeous Kieran Matthews turns up on her doortstep demanding she return with him to see her sick sister, she finds she cannot refuse. And for Melody, family secrets must be unravelled before Kieran's love can help resolve her past.

I hope you enjoy it!

January Wildlife

It is still cold, dark and damp up here in the north. It doesn't get light until about 8.20am which doesn't inspire me to get up in the mornings. However, the sight of a flock of 30 Waxwings did light up the day for me recently.
These beautiful birds are exotically coloured like little parrots. In severe winters they fly over from the Russian tundra and Scandinavia to the UK looking for berries to eat.
We only get to see them every second or third winter so it's a real treat to find them. In flight they look like a flock of starlings but once they settle on a tree their head crests give them away.
Look for them now because by the end of February they've gone, not to be found until December if we're lucky or two or three years hence if we're not.

Frozen Heart - new My Weekly pocket novel out now

Just to let you know that my latest pocket novel 'Frozen Heart' is on sale now at newsagents and shops or directly from DC Thomson. The story is based on the ever popular Cinderella theme and of course has a very happy ending. I hope you enjoy it. Merry Xmas!