Idea

You won't hear from me for a week or so as we have our number one grandson staying with us and we shall be out and about. I've just sent my editor an idea for my next book so keep your fingers crossed that she likes it.

Australia

My Santorini book is out in Australia in August, and here's the cover.

Don't you just love the fact that they're called Sexy?

The Santorini Marriage Bargain

Julie Bonello at CataRomance has just put up this fabulous review. I’m so excited by it that I’m posting it in full.


Review: The Santorini Marriage Bargain by Margaret Mayo

Margaret Mayo celebrates 75 books with a compelling Modern Romance that you will devour in a single sitting: The Santorini Marriage Bargain!

Rhianne Pickering is having a very bad day: she’s been made redundant and she’s just walked in on her fiancé having sex with her best friend and flatmate. Heartbroken, upset and angry, Rhianne doesn’t know what she is doing – and almost ends up under the wheels of a car! The driver, Greek billionaire Zarek Diakos, is certainly not amused!
Zarek has got enough to worry about without adding Rhianne’s problems to his plate. His beloved father is at death’s door and his poor mother is going out of her mind with worry. Yet, something about the vulnerable Rhianne strikes a chord with him and he soon finds himself inviting her to his hotel room! After hearing about her problems, Zarek finds himself compelled to offer Rhianne a job in his firm as his secretary, replacing his current PA who has gone on maternity leave. Rhianne soon proves to be a more than an adequate replacement for his former secretary. But little does she know that Zarek has got another job for her. A job that will change her life for ever…
When Zarek asks her to accompany him to the beautiful Greek island of Santorini, Rhianne is initially taken aback, but she concedes to Zarek’s request. However, little does Rhianne expect to be introduced to his parents as his fiancée!
After breaking off her engagement with her fiancé, the last thing Rhianne wanted or needed was a relationship. But Zarek needs a wife if he is to inherit his father’s business and Rhianne cannot risk breaking the heart of the man which she has grown to love. Yet, Zarek makes it clear that theirs can only be a marriage of pure convenience. But will Rhianne manage to change his mind?

Modern Romance readers have a great treat in store for them with Margaret Mayo’s seventy-fifth novel for Mills and Boon. The Santorini Marriage Bargain is a compelling, emotional and heartwarming tale featuring a gorgeous Greek hero and a refreshing heroine who is strong and lively. Spiced with sizzling sexual tension, nail-biting emotional drama and tender love scenes, The Santorini Marriage Bargain is another triumph for one of the most reliable names in category romance: Margaret Mayo! Here’s to 75 more fabulous stories from the pen of this talented storyteller!

If you want to purchase it it's available at Amazon or from Mills & Boon

OR

The first person to post a comment will get a free copy.

West Side Story

We went to a wonderful performance of West Side Story on Saturday. A youth group performed it, no one over the age of 18, and it was spectacular. I've seen humorous shows by them before but never anything serious. My friend's young granddaughter is joining the group this year, she's only seven, and she's really looking forward to it. Most of them remain until they're 18 and some go on to become actors. It's good to see youngsters putting their heart and soul into doing something like this.

The Santorini Marriage Bargain

Good news! My London book has been accepted. I don’t have a title or publication date yet, but I’ll let you know as soon as I do.

Meantime here is the Pink Heart Society review for the Santorini Marriage Bargain.


I was delighted when asked to review Margaret Mayo's 75th book for Harlequin Mills & Boon. What a truly wonderful achievement.

By the first chapter I had fallen madly in love with the hero, Zarek who was both courteous and chivalrous whilst remaining an utterly gorgeous alpha male. Rhianne had experienced a terrible personal setback but Zarek helped her to take control of her life back - first by employing her and secondly by helping her to regain her confidence.

Although Rhianne had experienced a heartbreaking incident prior to the book beginning, she was in no way sorry for herself or overly emotional. Rather, she took the chances life and Zarek offered her with both hands.

The book begins in london but we are soon whisked away to the island of Santorini to meet Zarek's family. Although Zarek's father was seriously ill, I was impressed with the way this delicate subject was handled - just the right amount of sentimentality without becoming maudlin.

Zarek finds out he needs to be married in order to inherit his father's estate when he passes. Rhianne is the perfect candidate, yet she does not easily give in to Zarek's wishes. This story shows a strong hero with a heroine that matches him every step of the way despite her vulnerability. It is beautifully written by a prolific author who is a true inspiration to aspiring authors and a delight to her many readers.

In limbo

My accounts are finally done – whew! It’s the worst job. I’ve not heard from my editor yet about my book which is disappointing. I feel in limbo. I’m now about to go out into the garden and frighten away some weeds that are daring to reappear. My DH is at this very moment spreading weed and feed on the lawns. And the birds in the nest are growing very quickly. We’ve had some heavy rain these last few days but so far this morning it’s lovely and sunny so I’m looking forward to working in the garden.

My mind refuses to tackle thoughts on a new book. I have some vague ideas but I think I need the other one put to bed before I can really let my mind free to work it out.

Disappointed

At the weekend we thought that we would take a ride on the mountain railway up Mount Snowdon – which is the highest mountain in Wales, (higher than any in England too) and visit the new café that has been built there.

The weather was glorious when we set off but the closer we got the more cloudier it became. The clouds turned to rain clouds and it poured down. There were so many walkers huddled into their wet gear, heads down, that we felt sorry for them.

We decided not to go up the mountain in the end because we wouldn’t have been able to see anything. Another time perhaps.

Last year we went up (the café wasn’t finished then) and it was beautifully sunny, but even as we stood and admired the view the clouds came down. I guess it will always be a gamble.

Waiting game

I'm still waiting to hear whether my book has been accepted. I hate this waiting game. I feel on edge, not able to settle down to anything else. I still have accounts waiting to be done and an office to tidy. It's soooooo bad! I printed some bookmarks last week to slip into my books in local bookshops advertising the fact that I'm a local author. And could I find them this morning. I looked everywhere. Think logical, I told myself. I knew they had to be in my office. And, yes, I found them eventually, under my dictionary, which was in the wrong place.

And then I went down to our local town and proudly looked at my books. And with permission I inserted a bookmark into each. I wonder if it will help promote future sales. I'd like to think so.

Surprise

Do you remember me telling you that we had a visiting hedgehog? Well, he seems to have stopped coming, but yesterday we had another surprise.

We were thinning out the shrubbery in our secret garden, hacking away merrily, a robin playing at our feet. We’ve had two robins around for quite a while. And then what did we find? A robin’s nest.

Oh, my goodness. If we’d known we wouldn’t have cut quite so much of the bush away. But luckily the chicks didn’t seem bothered, they simply opened their beaks wide wanting to be fed. And the mother wasn’t disturbed either. So now we’re leaving it well alone.

Ideas

Yesterday’s post seems to have disappeared into the ether (and I didn’t keep a copy) So here I go again.

On Thursday my American daughter in law was sworn in as a British Citizen. DH and I attended and it was a marvellously patriotic ceremony. DH filmed it and we’re going to put it on a CD for her to show her parents next time she goes home. It was the sort of occasion that I’ll never forget.

Kimml – you’ve won my latest contest, so email me your address and your copy of The Santorini Marriage Bargain will be on its way to you.

Sadly that was the last week of my contest celebrating my 75th book, but I do have one more book to give away. This is not a contest as such but I’ve been trying to work out a new plot and I’m not sure in which direction to go. A marriage of convenience, a revenge story, amnesia (which I haven’t done in a long time) and I’ve just done the secret baby story, so that’s out.

How would you like to tell me which are your favourite plots – one of the above or something different. And if I choose one of them for my next book then I’ll send whoever came up with the idea a copy of The Santorini Marriage Bargain or The Italian’s Ruthless Baby Bargain. The choice is yours.

Empty

I feel totally bereft now that my book has gone. I should have spent time today working on my accounts but I couldn't face them. So I worked in the garden instead. Weeding is very therapeutic and now that it's all neat and tidy it's a pleasure looking out at it from our lounge windows.

Our grandson visited - with his Mum and Dad, of course. Oliver is now 14 months old and is taking his first faltering steps. I think I may have to put him in one of my books. I have a four year old in the book I've just sent off and I wrote that he liked sausage sandwiches for breakfast - which is my eldest grandon's favourite. So it just goes to show that we do put little bits of real life in our books. If you can call eating a sausage sandwich real life!

The four year old I'm writing about also fell down and cut his head and I had help from Anne McAllister whose granddaughter had done the same thing. In fact it was Anne mentioning it on her blog that gave me the idea to put it into my story. So if you're reading this Anne, thanks again for all the info.

Does anyone else use snapshots of real life?

Hurrah!

Hurrah, the revisions are finished. They were not as bad as I thought and I’ve read the book through twice to make sure I haven’t missed anything. Now all I have to do is wait and see.

I have two lucky winners for my June contest. My DH has picked Maureen to win a copy of my 75th book The Santorini Marriage Bargain, and Penney you get a book mark. If you’d both email me your address I’ll get them in the post straight away.

Now another week starts. Comments = prizes. If you don't comment you can't win. It's that simple. I have one more book to give away and loads of bookmarks.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Plots

I'm still deep in revision hell. But at the same time I'm idly thinking about my next plot. Not that I have one, but I'm sort of tossing options around. Remember this photo of Sienna in my current book? Well it was from a page I tore out of a magazine. I have no idea now what the article was about but printed on the same page were the words: 'Tom is charismatic, sexy and good-looking, but very intense and serious.'

I plan to print these words out in large print and pin it up in front of me. I want to know who Tom is and why he's intense and serious. I'm hoping it will prove a first stepping stone to my next story.

Best Seller

Yesterday Bought for Marriage was No 6 on eHarlequin’s top ten daily bestsellers. It doesn’t take much to make my day!

And last night I went to Kate Walker’s talk in Derby. Brilliant!

But now it’s back to the revisions…