Still Mooning Over My Brand New Cover

I had all kinds of things I wanted to talk to you about.

What a great show Castle is, for example. What's not to love about Nathan Fillion? And Richard Castle is the coolest writer ever!



Especially when he's reading a really, really good book I happened to love myself.

But the truth is, I can't bear to pass up one more opportunity to show off the gorgeous new cover for my first Harlequin Presents, coming out in February:



Isn't that pretty? There is not one part of that cover I'm not in love with. That's just how I pictured Luc Garnier, the ruthless hero, and that looks just like Princess Gabrielle, my heroine-- sold by her father into an arranged marriage with this hard, determined man.

I had so much fun writing PURE PRINCESS, BARTERED BRIDE. I got to make up a Mediterranean kingdom, for one thing, which involved a whole lot of gazing at pretty pictures online. And I got to pretend to be a modern princess, faced with high stakes dilemmas and far too much to lose. Far more glamorous, I assure you, than my usual day to day life around the house--which usually involves decisions about which chores to ignore, rather than any conflict between, for example, duty and desire.

But I also love this cover because it represents the culmination of a life-long dream. I've been reading romance novels for decades. I've loved along with countless heroes and heroines, stayed up reading until I was gritty-eyed and useless the following morning, and rushed to the bookstore to get an author's next book mere moments after its publication because I couldn't bear to wait another second to be sucked into their worlds. I've moped around the house for days after some books ended, because I could have happily lived in those pages forever. I sometimes daydream about the daily lives of couples in books I read long ago. My keeper shelf is... much bigger than a single shelf. (A book case? A library?) Romance novels have saved me on occasion, healed me, changed my way of thinking, and made me conversant on numerous historical periods I never studied in school. All while delivering happily-ever-afters that make me cry, laugh, and breathlessly demand that others read them right this minute.

And now I get to write my version of these books I love so much, and share them with you.

With that lovely, lovely cover.

You can feel free to pinch me anytime!