The Seventh Day of Christmas...Chris Stovell

On the seventh day of Christmas Chris Stovell adds to the RNA tree...

My parents rarely took holidays when my sister and I were growing up; there simply wasn’t enough money to go round.  In later life, however, there was no stopping them and my dad took great pleasure in the growing number of pins in his travel map of every place they’d visited.  I love this nativity scene, which they brought back from Peru for me, not just for itself and because it’s so jolly, but because it reminds me of Mum and Dad’s beaming faces (under Peruvian hats!) when we picked them up from the airport. 

One of the highlights of that holiday had been their river trip up the Amazon.  The skipper must have decided to give them added value as the trip went on far longer than my parents had anticipated.  With only bananas and Coke to sustain them – generously provided by their host - but no loo on board, by the time they disembarked they felt as if they’d travelled the entire length of the river.  They always roared with laughter when they talked about it, but it was a very long time before either of them could eat bananas again!

Chris's latest book...

When is it time to stop running?

Coralie Casey is haunted by her past. Deciding it’s time for a fresh start, she sets up ‘Sweet Cleans’, a range of natural beauty and cleaning products, and escapes to Penmorfa, a quiet coastal village in west Wales.

Gethin Lewis thinks he’s about to put his home village Penmorfa behind him for good. Now an internationally-acclaimed artist living in New York, he just has to return one last time to wind up his father’s estate.

But the village soon disrupts their carefully laid plans. As truths are uncovered which threaten to split the community apart, Gethin is forced to question his real reasons for abandoning Penmorfa, and Coralie is made to face the fact that some stains just won’t go away.

October Releases

Carole Matthews WITH LOVE AT CHRISTMAS
Little Brown
paperback
25th October 2012
£6.99

Can the imperfect family really have the perfect Christmas?

Juliet Joyce adores Christmas.  She loves the presents, the tree, the turkey, the tinsel, everything. Already the festive spirit is upon her, which is just as well as this Christmas things are starting to get out of hand. Her son Tom is out of work and bringing home a slew of unsuitable partners; pregnant daughter Chloe and her little boy have moved back in; Juliet’s father, Frank, is getting over a heartbreak of his own and Rita, her eccentric mother, is behaving more erratically each day.  And has the chaos got too much for Juliet’s husband Rick?  With the big day fast approaching, Juliet hopes that she can stop everything spiralling out of control, because the only thing she wants is her family all around her and her home to be filled… WITH LOVE AT CHRISTMAS

 www.carolematthews.com

Phillipa Ashley MIRANDA'S MOUNT
Piatkus Entice
ebook
4th October 2012
A sexy, funny contemporary romance set in Cornwall…

When Miranda finds herself fighting for her home, her job and her heart, sleeping with the enemy may not be the best tactic…

With no family of her own, Miranda Marshall has developed a healthy respect – some would say obsession – with other people’s histories. As property manager of a spectacular island castle in Cornwall, she’s made St Merryn’s Mount one of the UK’s most popular heritage attractions. While she may have the castle running like clockwork, Miranda hasn’t bargained on its sexy owner returning to claim his birthright. Dark, handsome and with a rakish reputation, Jago St Merryn not only looks like a pirate but is intent on flogging the Mount to a soulless leisure corporation. Miranda faces the battle of her life as she tries to persuade him to face up to his past and continue the St Merryn dynasty. But Jago has his own reasons for jumping ship and when he throws down the gauntlet to Miranda, she’s forced to delve into painful memories she’d much rather keep hidden…

Liz Fielding FLIRTING WITH ITALIAN

HMB Riva

Paperback/ebook

1 October

£3.49

Armed only with a photo of the house her grandfather stayed in, the village, and the name Lucia, Sarah sets out to find the woman who saved her great-grandfather's life during the war.

www.lizfielding.com

Christine Stovell MOVE OVER DARLING
Choc Lit
Paperback
7 October 2012
£7.99 

When is it time to stop running?  Coralie Casey doesn’t like the hand fate has dealt her so she’s taken charge of her own destiny.  Setting up ‘Sweet Cleans’, her range of natural cleaning products for body and home, she wipes away the past and starts afresh in Penmorfa, a quiet coastal village in west Wales.

Gethin Lewis thinks he’s about to escape Penmorfa for good.  Now an internationally-acclaimed artist living in New York, all he has to do is return to his home village one last time to wind up his father’s estate.

But the people of Penmorfa have other plans.  Securing a new work from a major artist could mean a big boost for the village.  And who better than Coralie to persuade Gethin to help the place that once rejected him – even if she has to go all the way to New York to seal the deal?  Yet it seems everyone in Penmorfa has something to hide; as truths are uncovered which threaten to split the community apart, Coralie also has to face the fact that some stains just won’t go away.

christinestovell.com

Nina Harrington MY GREEK ISLAND FLING

Mills & Boon

paperback and ebook

October

Could writing someone else’s life story mean re-writing her own? Sipping a cocktail under the warm Greek sun, Lexi Sloane can almost taste success. Ghost-writing a celebrity memoir on a postcard-perfect island will be the career breakthrough she’s been working towards for years…but only if she can persuade the infuriatingly guarded Mark Belmont to open up about his famous mother. Mark grew up in the spotlight and learned young to stay cautious and alert to intrusion, so Lexi has her work cut out. Lexi is hiding too – behind the experiences of those she writes about…Could she learn to be the star of her own life?

If you like the films Mamma Mia or Love Actually, you’ll love this.

http://www.millsandboon.co.uk/books/riva/my-greek-island-fling.htm

Tanith Davenport I HEARD YOUR VOICE

Total-e-book

EBook

22 October 2012

£2.48 on pre-order, £2.75 after

Paranormal investigator Tamar Steele is stuck in a loveless relationship with arrogant medium Reed James - until one night she sings to herself and is knocked down by an invisible force. Somehow she can raise spirits with her voice. And one matchmaking spirit is determined to turn her life upside down.

Website: http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=1811

Rena George Another Chance

My Weekly Pocket Novel

4th October, 2012

 "Rowan Fairlie, head teacher at Balcreggan Primary School, had no idea how her life would change when wealthy Clett Drummond and his two young daughters, Charlotte and Poppy, took on the tenancy of Ballinbrae Farm.

Clett insists he's come to the Highlands to help the girls recover from their mother's recent death in a car accident, but Rowan suspects there's more to it.

And why does her growing friendship with the family so infuriate the new laird, Simon Fraser?  Is his apparent hatred of Clett merely jealousy because he wants Rowan for himself, or are the two men linked by some terrible way from the past?"

http://renageorge.com/blog/

Annie Burrows HIS WICKED CHRISTMAS WAGER, a short story

Harlequin
ebook

$2.39

The last person Lord Crispin Sinclair expects to see in a disreputable inn is the woman he's there to forget: Lady Caroline Fallowfield. He hasn't forgiven her for marrying another man--or forgotten their mutual passion. When she implores him to come home for his brother's Christmas nuptials, he agrees--if the now-widowed Caroline is willing to share his bed and take another gamble on love...

Ann a Jacobs THE TRADER’S DREAM #3 in The Traders series

Hodder & Stoughton, 11 October 2012

Hardback

£19.99

1869: Bram Deagan dreams of bringing his family from Ireland to join him in Australia, but a typhus epidemic in Ireland decimates the Deagan family, leaving only Maura Deagain left to look after her orphaned nieces and nephew. Forced to abandon her own ambitions, Maura sets sail, travelling via the newly opened Suez Canal. It is only when a storm throws her and fellow passenger Hugh Beaufort together that Maura realises this journey may also give her a chance to realise a dream she set aside years ago – to have a family of her own.

http://www.annajacobs.com/book.aspx?title=The-Traders-Dream&bookID=65

Angela Britnell  HUSHED WORDS

DC Thomson

Paperback

18 October 2012

£1.99

Cassie Moore and Jay Burton have a one-night stand on holiday in Italy but when fate brings them together again it's the start of a rocky ride towards lasting love. Cassie's a single mother of a troubled teenaged son and Jay has forged a successful financial career in London, far from his large Irish family. They rekindle their sizzling romance but Cassie's overwhelming family problems make a future with Jay seem nothing more than a dream. Jay's fear of commitment  and growing dissatisfaction with his extravagant lifestyle lead him to make a drastic change. When he discovers the direction he wants to take Jay finds the courage to lay it all on the line with Cassie.

www.angelabritnellromance.com

Christine Stovell on Being On Her First Panel - RNA Conference 2010

The Chot Lit Panel

A CORPSE WITHOUT A BODY

I used to work in the research department of a trades union with a lovely colleague, Maureen, who, whenever I was gnashing my teeth about some woe, would smile serenely and say to me, ‘No-one died!’.  I took some comfort from Maureen’s words after my stint on Choc Lit’s panel on Saturday. 

The theme of our slot was ‘Sharing Our Choc Lit Heroes,’ and whilst Lyn, Christina, Sue and Jane did just that, my brain decided it wasn’t going to share mine, no way.  The talk that I had practised in my study went straight out of my head when I looked up and saw... faces!  Where did all those people come from?

I thought that caring deeply about my subject would make it easier, but in fact it made it twice as hard!  Despite smiles and nods from some kind souls in the audience (I’m truly grateful to you, you lovely ladies), I stammered and stuttered through my piece before staggering off wondering how it had all gone so wrong.  But then Maureen’s words came back to me.  So what if I’d made a bit of chimp of myself?  I got through it.  No-one died.

If anyone would like a copy of the talk I meant to give, just contact me at chrisstinestovell.com and I’ll happily email it to you!

Christine Stovell Talks Of Turning Points and Chocolate

Debut novelist Christine Stovell talks about the moment when she stopped letting others things get in the way of her writing and the importance of chocolate in her life...

Holding a copy of my debut novel, Turning the Tide, for the first time was a thrilling moment. The result of lots of hard work, not just from me, but from everyone who helped to make my dream a reality. My book’s release was also tinged with a little sadness as it coincided with the fifth anniversary of my dad’s death. Maybe, if I’d taken myself seriously as a writer sooner, he might have seen a copy. As it was, it took the loss of someone who was so full of life to make me realise that time does run out.

I’d always written, but somehow The Novel never quite made it to the top of the list. Oh, I’d tried and failed to write a Mills & Boon, joined the Romantic Novelists’ Association and even got as far as attracting an agent in some early chapters of a novel I was working on, but I kept letting other things get in the way. Dad’s death made me reassess my priorities. I completed a novel that I’d thoroughly enjoyed writing then sent it to Hilary Johnson’s Authors’ Advisory Service for a professional appraisal and was delighted when Hilary liked it too.

After two very near misses, I had a Mystic Meg moment when I read in the book press about Sue Moorcroft being signed to Choc Lit. You see, it was winning a tin of chocolate at primary school in a national essay that started it all for me! It wasn’t just Choc Lit’s name that attracted me; I also really enjoy writing from my hero’s point of view so I felt that my novel would be a good fit for a publisher ‘where heroes are like chocolate – irresistible!’ Luckily Lyn Vernham, Choc Lit’s Marketing Director and the team at Choc Lit agreed.

Turning the Tide is based in a sleepy seaside town on the east coast. It’s the story of one woman’s quest to keep her father’s boatyard afloat and the town she loves unchanged. When a handsome property developer arrives with ambitious plans for the area and quickly gains local support, it looks as if thing can only go one way, but there are plenty of surprises ahead.

Choc Lit have wrapped my story up in the most gorgeous cover, but there’s one person who will never see it... if you’re reading this because you want to write a novel, take my advice – just do it!

Publications Coming out in June

Here' June's offerings from the members of the RNA...

Katie Fforde PERFECT PROPOSAL
Century
10th June
£14.99
Sophie Apperly's family has never taken her seriously. Fiercely academic, they see her more practical skills as frivolous whilst constantly taking advantage of her. So when her best friend Milly invites her over to New York, she jumps at the chance. It'll do her ungrateful family good to do without her for a while. What s more, she's on a quest America holds the key to solving her family's financial woes, even if they don't deserve her help.

From the moment Sophie hits the bright lights of Manhattan she's determined to enjoy every minute of her big adventure. So when an evening at an art gallery throws her into the path of Matilda, a spirited old lady who invites her to Connecticut for Thanksgiving, Sophie willingly accepts, much to the dismay of Matilda's grandson Luke. Undeniably attractive but infuriatingly arrogant, he is very protective of his grandmother and seems to doubt Sophie's motives for befriending her. No match for the formidable Matilda, he eventually admits defeat, but first he has a proposal to make. He'll help Sophie in her quest to save her family from financial ruin if she repays the favour. But just what does she have to do in return...?

www.katiefforde.com

Sue Moorcroft ALL THAT MULLARKEY
Choc Lit
1 June
£7.99
Revenge and love: it's a thin line... The writing's on the wall for Cleo and Gav. The bedroom wall, to be precise. And it says 'This marriage is over.' Wounded and furious, Cleo embarks on a night out with the girls, which turns into a glorious one night stand with... Justin, centrefold material and irrepressibly irresponsible. He loves a little wildness in a woman and he's in the right place at the right time to enjoy Cleo's. But it s Cleo who has to pick up the pieces of a marriage based on a lie and the lasting repercussions of that night. Torn between laid-back Justin and control freak Gav, she s a free spirit that life is trying to tie down. But the rewards are worth it!
www.suemoorcroft.wordpress.com

Carol Townend HER BANISHED LORD
Mills & Boon
4th June 2010
£3.99
Disgraced, stripped of his title and lands, all Hugh Duclair has left is his pride. Will the beautiful Lady Aude, once a childhood playmate, win his heart as she risks everything to help clear his name?
www.caroltownend.blogspot.com

Louise Allen PRACTICAL WIDOW TO PASSIONATE MISTRESS (First in The Transformation of the Shelley Sisters trilogy)
Mills & Boon
June 2010
£3.99
Widowed and betrayed, Meg Shelley is stranded in France at the conclusion of the Peninsula War, her only hope of rescue the brooding and wounded Major Ross Brandon. Can they heal each other or is Meg on the road to further ruin?

Louise Allen THE LORD & THE WAYWARD LADY (Regency Silk & Scandal continuity no.1)
Mills & Boon, North America: Harlequin
June 2010
£6.99
Murder, scandal, treachery - a vengeful spirit brings a 20-year old scandal to life. Marcus Carlow must chose between honour and passion to save both his family and the woman he loves. (First of 8 books by 6 authors)

Christine Stovell TURNING THE TIDE
Choc Lit
30 June 2010
£7.99
Harry Watling has fought to keep her father's boat yard afloat, but now she has to fend off property developer Matthew Corrigan.

Portia Da Costa A GENTLEWOMAN’S RAVISHMENT
Harlequin Spice Briefs
Ist June 2010
$2.99
Mrs Prudence Enderby gets more than she bargained for when her fantasy of being kidnapped and ravished by a masked brigand comes true!
http://www.portiadacosta.com

Amanda Grange The Mammoth Book of Regency Romance
Constable and Robinson
June 24
£7.99
Collection of Regency stories including Amanda Grange's story The Dashing Miss Langley. Miss Annabelle Langley is a dashing aunt, but has love really passed her by?

Jennifer Bohnet ACKNOWLEDGING THE PAST.
8 part serial in The People's Friend.
Two very different women arrive in town for the Cannes Film Festival.
Anna, with a past that is about to implode on her present life and Daisy, a young journalist at a crossroads in her life. By the end of the festival both women's lives will have changed irrevocably.

Charlie Cochrane LESSONS IN LOVE
Samhain Publishing
1st June 2010
£9.08
He didn’t think he had a heart. Until he lost it.
www.charliecochrane.co.uk
http://charliecochrane.livejournal.com/

Jo Beverley THE STOLEN BRIDE (Reissue.)
Penguin NAL
When Beth Hawley journeys to Lord Wraybourne's castle to help young Lady Sophie Kyle prepare for her wedding, she has to share her carriage with two unexpected travelers, the rakish Sir Marius Fletcher, who is stranded after his curricle overturns, and an unidentified elderly woman, found unconscious in a wrecked carriage.
As the date of Sophie's wedding draws near, Beth realizes some mysterious shadow from the past seems to haunt the bride and groom. The elderly woman, suffering from memory loss, may hold the key. Beth turns to Sir Marius for help, but her efforts are thwarted at every turn as she encounters a most unlikely villain-while her only ally seems to have his mind set more on romance than the danger at hand...

Monique DeVere MORE THAN A PLAYBOY
The Wild Rose Press26th May 2010
$3.00
She has a shield...he has one too...and they’re both hiding secrets.
Karen Abbott HOLD ON TO YOUR DREAMS
My Weekly Pocket Novel
£1.55
Impoverished at the death of her parents, Emily is too proud to let the man she loves know of her change of circumstances. Flung upon the mercies of her malicious aunt, she is forced to work as a servant...but her dreams linger on. Will she ever regain her position in Society and her lost love?

Toni Sands NORTHERN LIGHTS
e-book
Accent Xcite
1st June 2010
0.99p
Lizzie's Icelandic holiday reveals dark, glacial landscapes and lots simmering beneath the surface of the Blue Lagoon which she visits with her best friend and Arni the talented Viking.


Liz Fielding INSTANT FIRE
Linford Large Print Romance
A case of mistaken identity leads to love at first sight, but don't they say "marry in haste..."?
http://www.lizfielding.com