Thanks, Sarah, for having me here today! Since this site is all about a love of romance novels, I thought I’d share a few of the books that led me to write my own.

As a teenager, I read a phenomenal amount of books. I devoured the entire school library, and most of the public one. Every birthday and Christmas was easy for my relatives – books, or book tokens, every time.

My usual fare was fantasy novels, and historical stories, with the occasional murder mystery thrown in. But considering my consumption rate, it took me a long time to figure out what the common thread was between my favourites.

Romance. As much as I loved the world building, the fighting, the details and the clues, what I wanted most was more of the love story.

The first book I read more for the romance than the history was M M Kaye’s The Far Pavilions. The copy I found on my parent’s bookshelf had an embracing couple on the front, which earned my some good natured ribbing from my Chemistry teacher when, as usual, I started reading as soon as I’d finished my work.

It didn’t matter, though – I was hooked. My Grandmother was born in India, and had a vast collection of novels set there. I borrowed Kaye’s second India novel, The Shadow of the Moon, and fell even deeper in love.

Fast forward seven or so years. I’d just graduated from university, and was planning a lengthy trip abroad – to Abu Dhabi, where I was born, Singapore, then on to Australia to visit relatives and explore on my own, too. Kindles had yet to be invented, and I knew I’d want to buy books there, so I had to choose which ones to take with me very carefully.

I can’t remember which other books I took, but I know I made one superb choice – Jenny Crusie’s Welcome to Temptation. Right there, in those pages, devoured on planes and in lonely hotel rooms, I found the type of community story I wanted to write. The people and the romance and the sensuality and the happy endings.

While I was in Australia, I picked up as many other Crusie books – along with some reissued M M Kaye romantic murder mysteries, actually – as I could fit in my suitcase. I left clothes and souvenirs with my relatives to post back to me, just to make more room for stories.

It was after that trip that I started writing seriously. It was slow progress – I got a demanding full time job, fell in love, got married, had a child. I got close several times, as far as finding an agent and having a book out with editors. But it wasn’t until I was on maternity leave with my daughter that I finally wrote the kind of books I’d been dreaming of – the two books (so far!) in my Love from Wales series, Room for Love and An A to Z of Love – books that finally sold to Lyrical Press, and are coming out this summer.

And now? Next I’m looking to more category romance, and feeling very inspired by India Grey’s Craving the Forbidden…

Get Sophie’s Room for Love at: Amazon UK, Amazon US, Barnes and Noble, and Waterstones

She’s Finally Found a Place to Call Home . . .
How Far Will She Go to Save It?

With nothing to their names, young widow Rosa Garner and her mother-in-law return to their Texas family ranch. Only now the county is demanding back taxes and the women have just three months to pay.

Though facing eviction, Rosa falls in love with the countryside and the wonderful extended family who want only her best. They welcome her vivacious spirit and try to help her navigate puzzling American customs. She can’t help but stand out, though, and her beauty captures attention. Where some offer help with dangerous strings attached, only one man seems honorable. But when Weston Garner, still grieving his own lost love, is unprepared to give his heart, Rosa must decide to what lengths she will go to save her future.

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Heat index: hot

The child she gave up for adoption eight years ago is missing, and Ava Simpson is convinced his life is in danger. Only one person can help her find the boy: Blake Tranowski, the birth father of the child. If only she can forge the courage to tell him of the existence of their son. . .

The anger Blake felt toward Ava when she dumped him nine years ago can’t touch the fury he experiences when she makes her shattering revelation. Even more shattering is Blake’s discovery that the boy really has gone missing. Why hasn’t the adoptive father contacted the police? How is the man involved with a Mexican drug cartel? Is their son even alive? As Blake and Ava race against the clock to find their son, others are intent on stopping them. Even if it means killing them.

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What’s the market price on a decent guy these days?

Maggie Beaumont’s luck is about to change. Sure, she’s known for her bad romantic choices—her former boyfriend broke up with her by bringing his new girlfriend home for a visit. And then there was the crush she had on a gorgeous young Irishman, who turned out to be Father Tim, the parish’s new priest.

But romantic salvation has arrived in the form of handsome, if surly, fisherman Malone. It turns out there’s a heart of gold underneath his barnacle-clad exterior. Will this catch of the day turn into the dish of a lifetime?

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The Duke of Longville, in need of an heir, is about to take a second wife—a sturdy young widow who followed the drum during Britain’s campaigns on the Peninsula and has proved her fertility by producing a child. But two weeks before the wedding, his long-estranged daughter arrives on his doorstep with a shocking announcement that tumbles all their lives into confusion.

The widowed Lady Eugenia Wharton, almost as strong-willed as her betrothed, has no illusions about why the Duke of Longville wishes to marry her. Unfortunately, that has not kept her from falling in love with him. Their future is destined for some memorable clashes, as she challenges his conviction that he is always right.

The duke’s daughter, Lady Caroline Carlington, has been raised in a home with egalitarian leanings. She does not approve of London society, does not want to make her come-out, and she most particularly does not want a step-mother. And then one night in the duke’s bookroom, she meets exactly the type of useless nobleman she most abhors, a charming fribble named Anthony Norville. Caroline is startled by a sudden, if reluctant, attraction—until she discovers he is the brother of the woman who is about to become her despised step-mother. Which would make Tony Norville her uncle!

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On leave for Thanksgiving, the last thing marine lieutenant Talia Barnett expects to find is Liam Brodie waiting for her at the airport. He’s had a starring role in her fantasies for the past two years, and although she’d love to make them a reality, she has a dark secret that prevents her from taking things further.

A former marine, Liam’s specialty is planning tactical operations, and that’s just what he plans to do to win Talia. The woman has kept him at arm’s length for too long, and this time he’s finally going to claim her—body and heart.

What begins as comfort quickly turns hot. When Liam shows Talia a hint of the dominant nature inside him, the submissive part of her flares to life. Though she desires him, she’s going back on deployment and doesn’t want to dump all her drama on him. Will he find a way to break through the protective walls around her heart and convince her they have a future that goes far beyond the bedroom?

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THAT CERTAIN KIND OF MAGIC

Tired of the endless sell-outs, Elizabeth Fitzgerald kisses L.A. goodbye to follow her dream. But how was she to know that old hotel she purchased sight unseen in Montana was not only a crumbling ruin but was haunted to boot?

Artist and building remodeler Jonathan Winchester doesn’t believe in ghosts. Besides, he could never refuse help to this determined lady whose beauty and enthusiasm stir more than his artistic sensibilities. But Ellie is involved with Jon’s unscrupulous cousin—and more concerned with the plight of the inn’s restless, lovelorn spirit than with Jon’s yearning heart.

A century earlier, two lovers were wronged by fate—and it will take a special magic to reunite them. Together—though they don’t know it—Jon and Elizabeth can generate that magic. And perhaps they’ll have enough left over to start a fire of their own.

Originally released in 1997

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Jacob La Costa Rios is the head of the California governor’s security team; he’s also a vampire who wants the governor, a presidential hopeful, to support the peaceful integration of vampires into human society. Unfortunately, there are others who oppose Jake’s plan. Plus, Jake’s a little distracted by discovering his one true mate, the human female who can give him everything he’s always wanted: love, children, and continuing immortality.

Francesca Marie Stewart is the governor’s “go-green” political consultant. Although she’s been attracted to Jake from day one, her priority is her career and protecting her heart. But then Jake blatantly propositions her and Frankie, who hasn’t experienced sexual intimacy since she was seventeen-years-old, decides it’s time to take what she wants—within reason.

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On the anniversary of his beloved wife’s death, Dr. Michael Everett receives a letter Hannah had written him.

In it she reminds him of her love and makes one final request. An impossible request. I want you to marry again. She tells him he shouldn’t spend the years he has left grieving—and she’s chosen three women she asks him to consider.

First on Hannah’s list is her cousin, Winter Adams, a chef who owns a café on Seattle’s Blossom Street. The second is Leanne Lancaster, Hannah’s oncology nurse. Michael knows them both. But the third name is one he’s not familiar with—Macy Roth.

During the months that follow, he spends time with these three women, learning more about each of them…and about himself. Learning what Hannah already knew. He’s a man who needs the completeness only love can offer. And Hannah’s list leads him to the woman who can help him find it.

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An appetite for sensual pleasures must never be denied…

Lily Ellis has curves — soft, beautiful curves. The kind of voluptuous body she fears Travis Carson, the man she’s always loved from afar, would never crave. But Lily is about to be proven wrong. Her adventure begins when the demure San Francisco interior decorator agrees to model a plus-size dress for her fashion designer sister. Watching this sensual beauty move down the runway, Travis can’t believe it’s the same Lily he’s always known — and always rejected. In a whirlwind of electric attraction, Lily is soon moaning Travis’s name in his bed, not just in her wild fantasies. But Lily is all too aware that she’s nothing like his past lovers.

Determined to beat Travis at his own game by guarding her true feelings, Lily partners with him on a business deal that takes them all the way to Italy. In the seductive warmth of the Tuscan sun, Lily plays a game of desire with the hot-blooded Travis. Will she be burned by an all-consuming ecstasy or will Travis open his heart to the sexy, exciting, and lasting love she has to offer?

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