Di Marcello's Secret Son by Rachael Thomas

The Secret Billionaires - Book One

On the 16th of May, June, and July, look for interviews with the authors of each book in this fun trilogy about tycoons who go undercover to win a bet and lose their hearts along the way...

How does your hero go under cover?

Antonio Di Marcello returns to his home city, Milan and is told by Sebastien, the organiser of this particular challenge, that he is to become Toni Adessi, a motor mechanic for the duration of the two week challenge.

What does he think when he finds out exactly what the bet entails? (Share a couple of lines if you like)

During his first morning working as Toni, Antonio discovers that Sadie Parker, the woman he’d enjoyed a passionate weekend affair with four years ago, also works there. He is convinced that mending bridges with his estranged parents and seeing the one woman he could have loved if circumstances had been different is his challenge. But then he has a shock. Sadie has a son.

Guilt raced through him. He didn’t need a paternity test to confirm this was his child. Just one look into the little boy’s eyes told him all he needed to know. Leo was most definitely a Di Marcello.

  

Who is your heroine? What does she think of Antonio when she first meets him?

When Sadie first meets the new mechanic Toni Adessi, she is shocked that his dishevelled and bearded appearance reminds her of her son’s father, a man she hasn’t seen since he ended their brief affair so callously. She wonders if this is the reason she is drawn to him despite her resolve not to date.

What situations or challenges does Antonio face that risk exposing him?

When Antonio meets his son, he knows the real challenge is to be the one thing he’d never wanted to be – a father. He has to continue with the challenge until the two weeks are up, having found out about and met his son and heir when all he wants to do is take him back to his home in Rome and make up for the three years he has missed out on.

What does Sadie think when she realizes who he really is?

Sadie’s worst nightmare comes true when Antonio Di Marcello arrives at her apartment. She knows instinctively he wants his son and is convinced that Toni has been his spy, hardly able to comprehend he is the same man.

Share a few lines of her reaction?

‘We didn’t have anything to say four years ago, Antonio, and we certainly don’t now.’ She didn’t move—couldn’t move. The hallway suddenly seemed dark and narrow as he moved towards her, into her home, into her new life. The one she’d built without him for herself and Leo—his son.

Di Marcello's Secret Son is on shelves now or you can buy it at your favourite online retailer. 

Amazon: UK | US | iBooks | Kobo | Nook 

Rachael Thomas lives in West Wales, where she and her husband run a farm.

Writing romance has been a long held dream and she can’t believe how lucky she is to be able to escape into the glamorous world of her heroes and heroines as part of her job. 

When she isn’t writing or working on the farm she enjoys photography and visiting historic castles and grand houses. Visit her at www.rachaelthomas.co.uk

Happy Easter!

Have you been waiting for signs of spring? I have! Ours has been very slow to show up, I must say. But I also must say, despite the unpredictable weather, I love spring. Feeling the sun warm on my face. Seeing the blossoms and greening up of trees and lawn. And chocolate, I'll be honest. I love an excuse to eat chocolate.

Of course, mixing green with chocolate? I bought this bar for my husband the other day. I'm a dark chocolate girl whereas he likes white chocolate. This one was a Green Tea white chocolate which sounded like it might be interesting.

That's probably the kindest thing we can call it. "Interesting." It had a real vegetable underbelly to it. Yeah. No. I'm trying to stay away from the treats anyway, so this was easy to resist.

You can have treats, though. I've lined up a couple for you in this post, but you'll have to go hunting for them.

In keeping with Spring's abundance, I have four Harlequin titles coming out kind of back-to-back (March, two in April, and June.)

The first two are the first two books in my Sauveterre Siblings quartet. I talked about my March book last month. Book Two, His Mistress With Two Secrets, released April 1st.

His Mistress With Two Secrets

The eldest twin, Henri, discovers his former mistress, Cinnia, is pregnant with his offspring--the latest pair of Sauveterrre Twins.

Henri never intended to marry or procreate; his little sister was kidnapped when they were young and he refuses to be vulnerable to such a thing by having a wife and children.

Best laid plans, chere Henri! He insists Cinnia marry him and move into the protected world the Sauveterres have created for themselves.

Cinnia, however, is hurt that he didn't want her before she was pregnant, so refuses to marry him. Fireworks ensue!

Easter Egg #1 

Here's your first Easter treat. Take a peek at all four books in the Sauveterre quartet by downloading the sneak peek.

Download the Sauveterre Sneak Peek here 

InstaFreebie will ask you to sign up for my newsletter, but you can unsubscribe anytime.

When you get your confirmation email, you'll also get a link to download Cruel Summer, another freebie, this one a complete short story romance that I wrote exclusively for my newsletter members.

The Secret Billionaires

Last year, when I was in the throes of writing my Sauveterres, I was offered a delightful opportunity. Did I want to participate in a trilogy with the wonderful Rachael Thomas and Jennifer Hayward?

Of course I said, Yes please! And by the way, the premise of our trilogy is So. Fun.

The Secret Billionaires are bored tycoons who are challenged by their friend, Sebastien, to go two weeks without their fortunes and their family names.

They go undercover into 'regular' jobs. Rachael's hero masquerades as a mechanic, Jen's hero is a sexy stableboy, and my hero is... wait for it... a pool boy!

We had a riot with these books. You'll see a post about these three books on the 16th of May, June and July, right here on Tote Bags 'n' Blogs.

But here's another treat for you that's linked to them. After we'd put our heroes to bed with their respective heroines (*wink*) I said, "Wouldn't it be nice if we saw Sebastien's romance?" He was the ring leader for this bet, after all.

Easter Egg #2

I wrote a prequel called  which should show up as a free online read at Harlequin.com on April 17th. (That's tomorrow, if you're reading this today.)

Read The Secret Billionaire's Mistress -April 17

Have a wonderful Easter filled with family, treats, and the wonderful promise that comes with this time of year.

Dani Collins is the USA Today Bestselling author of more than thirty books for Harlequin Presents, Tule's Montana Born, and herself. 

Dani lives in Canada with her high school sweetheart. They're empty nesters so, when she's not writing, they're traveling. 

Friends and Readers

It’s been one of those rather special weeks.  A week when I have enjoyed the unexpected, sideline

joys of being a writer.

When I first started writing, all I focussed on was the hope of getting published.  I  wanted  a publisher to buy my story, put it into  book form and put it out on the shelves in the bookshops.  I remember I said to the Senior Editor I met on my very first trip to London to meet someone from the Mills and Boon Editorial team, ‘I just want to see my name on a book and I’ll be happy.’

Of course there’s more to it than that.  When you hope to be published you also hope that people will read your  stories. You hope that people – lots of people! – will buy  your book and read it, and enjoy it and buy the next one.  . .  You hope for readers out there in the world.  But I have to admit that I never got to thinking about those readers  - and other writers  - and that they might become friends and  maybe even part of my life.

I also never thought, back in those early days, when The Chalk Line  was first published,  that I’d get to know other writers, or that the internet, email,  Facebook,  Skype etc would make the world seem so much smaller and people so much closer and  communication so much easier.

This was bought home to me in the first couple of weeks of March as it seemed that every day brought another connection, another communication, with a friend  I had made  as a result of being a writer. Someone I would never have met up with, or even communicated with  if it hadn’t been for this unique job I have.  

March has the birthdays of a couple of  friends – Irish author,  Abby Green  has her special day on March 3^rd , and then  Tote Bags ‘N’ Blogs  own Lee  has her birthday a day later – on the 4^th.   Next up was a special visit from a  dear friend  from ‘across the pond’ as  AnneMcAllister was always described in the past when my  cat Sid and she were great friends. This time Anne came to stay for a few days while she’s in England researching  a new book in  a quartet for Tule that she’s 

writing.   Sadly, Sid the Cat is no longer with us but she had two new felines to get to know – Ruby the black and white rescue cat is always friendly and welcoming, but unexpectedly Charlie the Maine Coon, who is usually rather stand-offish – decided to become her best friend. This can be a double-edged privilege as  Charlie is a very large cat  - and when he decides to sit on your knee . . .well, look  at the photo of him and Anne together!

Another  friend this week let me know that she is embarking on a big adventure later in the year. Rachael Thomas, who was once one of my students at the  Writers’ Holiday Fishguard course and is now multi-published in her own right, has signed up to  walk the great wall of China 

forcharity.   Go for it Rachael – I’m so happy to support her in this.

And talking of courses, I have another one coming up in Cirencester in April – and then a get together  for my birthday in May with some one of the students who have become ‘regulars’ on my courses and are affectionately known as Walkers  Stalkers. When I first started writing, I never even dreamed of doing any teaching but now  I meet up with ‘stalkers’ regularly  - and   their company is another joy I never expected to receive as a result of my writing.

Then there are so many people, more widely flung, sometimes known, sometimes never ever met in any way -  the hundreds, thousands of readers who have bought and enjoyed my books  so that I can continue to write more for your enjoyment. I have had a lot of emails since the publication of Indebted to Moreno  and recently one of these was a reader who has been in touch with me since way back when.  15 years or more I think.  I love it when readers get in touch with me – and just lately  people have been asking just when my next book is coming up.  So I’m happy to be able to say that  this new story – current working title is Claimed by The Corsican – will be out in February 2018/ I know, it’s a

long time to wait, but in the meantime I have to get on with and complete the second part of the duet. These two linked books I’ve called The Scandalous O’Sullivan Sisters  - the first one is  Imogen’s story and now I’m at work on her  sister, Ciara’s romance. I need to get it finished so that they can come out close together.

So while I’m thinking about all these wonderful friends and readers I’ve gained as a result of being a writer – I just wanted to say  a great big thank you to all my friends and readers out there, wherever you are in the world. I value you all and appreciate  your support and  the lovely emails you send me.  After all, that’s why a writer writes-  to be read and the sales of the books means I can keep going, write some more romances – so I couldn’t do it without you!

Thank you to all my friends and my readers (and Student Stalkers!)   Wherever you are,   I’m so glad you’re there.

You can keep up to date with all my news on my web site blog page  or my Facebook page  which is where you can also find details of my courses with    Writers' Holiday  or Relax and Write

The Friends I’ve Met Along the Way - Kate Walker

As some of you may already know, this year I’m celebrating 30 years as a published author. It’s really a rather special occasion – and one I’m not quite sure how I got here! I was a child author,

of course!  Born with a pen in my hand and graduating to a keyboard before I could walk!    People often ask me how I managed to write so many books (63 and one on my editor’s desk  if you count the romance fictions stories--  another 2 if you take into account the  ‘How To’ books.)

The answers to that one’s easy (well – easier to answer than to managed) I wrote these books one word at a time – and that’s how I’ll continue to do so while I still want to write and people still want to buy my books.

So, last month, I received a box full of my newest book – Olivero’s  Outrageous Proposal – and if you’re one of the ones who gets hold of a copy early through the Book Club you’ll have seen that it has a very special dedication to a very special friend of mine.  My dear friend Pat who  had been a vital part of my life for 35 years lost her battle with cancer last year.  She left a huge gap – one that I will never truly fill.  Pat was one  of the very few people who knew that I was writing when I was just aiming for publication - so she and another long-term friend Noelle  have very special

places in my heart both as a writer and  a woman. But  this made me think about other friends being a writer -  friends who are an unexpected bonus  as a result of this writing life.

Because romance books are so well known all over the world,  one of the surprises that writing for Harlequin brought me was meeting up with people who read my books –and/or wrote their own – from  so many different countries.  For example - he reason I’m on this blog is because of one of those  readers. Lee Hyat came to visit my brand new web site and told me how much she enjoyed my books –  that’s always a great start!  I think she wrote first because of Constantine's Revenge  - We’ve been friends ever since.  And now here I am writing on Lee’s web site!

Regular readers of my blog will know that Michelle Reid and Anne McAllister are  writer friends pf mine – writers whose books I’ve enjoyed and then met the authors and enjoyed being with them too.   Well, actually the list of authors I now count as friends has grown too long for me to list  here – I’d only forget someone. But I do have to  mention my ‘twins’ – Holly Jacobs and Donna Alward.  We didn’t know we were twins until we met at a RWA conference. (What do you mean you can’t have 3 twins – we can!)

There’s a special place in my friends list for people who have come to my courses to learn about writing romance. Some of them  I’ve met on line – Julie Cohen, Anna Louise Lucia  and Abby Green  were all people I’d chatted with in forums or on line writers classes and  Abby came to my course at Writers’ Holiday. Now they’re all published authors with thriving writing careers behind them.

And that’s another reason why friends have been on my mind, Tomorrow   I’ll be heading to Weetwood Hall  in Leeds (UK)  to run another course – this year’s Writing Retreat.  I’ll meet up with a bunch of people who were originally students but now are affectionately known as my ‘Stalkers’!  I’ve had the great thrill and privilege  to see some of my students progress from studying writing to being successful at it – the latest student to be published had been Rachael Thomas, brand new Harlequin  Presents author. She is the 14^th of my students who has gone on to be a published writer. 

So now I’m hoping  to see another one – perhaps one of this group in Leeds – become the 15^th!  There are a couple of people I have hopes may well make it soon (fingers crossed) and that being so I’ll be delighted to in traduced them to you over on my blog.  But in the meantime I’m looking forward to spending this weekend with them – and  meeting up with some I know as friends

already and getting to know newer friends better as the weekend progresses.

Friends are important. I knew that with my dear Pat and I lost her way too soon. So I’m grateful for all the other friends – writers, readers, students . . .  I’ve made as  a result of  this writing game!  So that’s why Olivero’s Outrageous Proposal is dedicated to Pat. 

Thank you to all my friends – and to the readers out there  - too many to list – who write to me and tell me you enjoy my books.  You’re an important part of my life even if we’ve never met. And I’m so glad you’re there.

What about you? Do you have one special friend or a gang of friends?  Are your friends all close to you – or, like mine, spread out all over the country – the world. Tell me about a special friend and I’ll get my furry friend – Charlie the Maine Coon  - to pick out one comment so that you can give your friend a present of a  Kate Walker backlist book.

The 63rd book of mine  Olivero's Outrageous Proposal will be out at the end of March /early April.

And the 12 Point Guide To Writing Romance is now available on Kindle. (I hope to have some extra news about that 12 Point Guide - for people who prefer print books - very soon. Watch my blog for that.)

You can catch up with all of Kate's news on her website  or on her blog.  You can also find her on her author page on Facebook.