Christina Hollis: A Romantic City for Everyone...

Pic via Pixabay

Valentine's Day should mean spending time with the one you love—but what if you're unattached? If you are intentionally single, or sorry to be alone, February 14th can be a difficult day. It feels like the whole world is part of a couple, except you.

That's not true—and even if you are happily paired, it's not all romantic restaurants and early nights. I've got so much work to do for my university course, I can't take a day off today. I'm looking on the bright side, though. Tomorrow's Saturday, so OH is taking me to out to lunch at our favourite café—as long as I promise to leave all my text books at home!

If you'll be at home this weekend, you could try out some of the cheap and cheerful fixes I wrote about on my blog during the post-holiday slump. I'm unlikely to get a holiday this year as I've got too much studying to do. I won't even be able to make it to the Romantic Novelists' Association's conference, which is the first time I'll have missed it since I started attending, about eight years ago!

I'll have to make do with looking back at the photos we took during our last holiday in Florence. I love the city, and can't wait to go back. There's something for everyone: centuries of history on display, (usually) wonderful weather, friendly people, stunning scenery, and of course the amazing artwork in the Uffizi gallery. 

Florence was the inspiration for my Mills and Boon romance, The Italian's Blushing Gardener, where a career girl meets her match in a new boss. This has just been re-released as the three-romances-in-one collection With Love From Florence, which also includes love stories by Scarlet Wilson and Heidi Rice. 

If you need cheering up, why not visit my blog today for a chance to win a copy of With Love From Florence?

Christina Hollis writes contemporary fiction starring complex men and independent women. She has written more than twenty novels, sold nearly three million books, and her work has been translated into twenty different languages. When she isn’t writing, Christina is cooking, walking her dog, or gardening.

You can catch up with her at https://christinahollisbooks.online, on Twitter, Facebook, and see a full list of her published books at christinahollis.com

Warm and Wonderful - Christina Hollis

Autumn is really closing in. It doesn't get light here until after breakfast, and it's dark by teatime. The advantage is the wonderful autumn colours we've enjoyed this year, and when the wind blows the clouds away, extravagantly starry nights. If you're lucky you might see a shooting star, or even Comet Hartley  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/103P/Hartley, but there are lots of distractions, including firework parties!  When you come in from the cold, it's great to curl up in front of the fire with something comforting. My favourite roast pumpkin soup recipe is really easy. Splash chunks of pumpkin (no need to peel, but discard the seeds and tough fibres), crushed garlic cloves and a thinly sliced onion with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast at 180C for about 40 minutes or until soft, then (taking care not to burn your fingers) scrape the flesh into a saucepan. Add enough vegetable or chicken stock to produce soup with a good consistency then  mash or blitz until smooth. A pinch of smoked paprika is a good addition. Heat the soup through, then serve with cheese topped rolls.
That's great for nights when you've been out getting chilly, but sometimes it's lovely to just snuggle down with a book and something chocolatey. Grannie's Gateau (crushed cookies stirred into a melted mixture of butter, syrup and cocoa and chilled until set) is a real treat, but so rich it's only for special occasions - especially when given a chocolate topping!
What's your favourite fireside snack at this time of year?

Christina Hollis writes for Harlequin Mills and Boon's Modern Romance/Presents Extra. Her latest UK release, The Italian's Blushing Gardener, will be released in the US in January 2011 under the title The Master of Bella Terra. Visit her website at Http://www.christinahollis.com for details of her Christmas Holiday Competition!

There Goes The Neighbourhood... - Christina Hollis

As a teen I lived on the wrong side of town, in a flat above a laundry. It was a great community on the outside, but the walls of our maisonettes were paper thin.  I soon knew all about the things Charlie Rich didn’t explain about what goes on ‘Behind Closed Doors’!  

I lived in Flat 71. Next door, in Number 72, a respectable shopkeeper made his family’s life misery - but only after hours. The whole place shook with his rages, and you could hear every word. One night, he threw his family out, locked up and went to bed.  It was during a very hot summer, so all the windows were wide open. We took the family in until they could hear their father snoring, then the youngest son climbed out of our window, crept along a narrow ledge twenty feet above the ground, clambered into their own flat and  unlocked the door from the inside. 

The nice twentysomethings living on our other side in Flat 70 worked from home. They kept themselves to themselves, and the only thing anybody knew for sure was that they must feel the cold really badly. Why else would our party wall be warm to the touch all year round? That was in the days before the police got thermal imaging cameras. It wasn’t until that lovely couple did a moonlit flit leaving behind an enormous unpaid electricity bill that we all found out what their cottage industry was - growing tropical plants of the smokable kind.

In my latest book The Italian’s Blushing Gardener, Kira has escaped a disastrous affair and has found her perfect home - a tiny cottage in the beautiful Italian countryside. The last thing she wants is rich, self-made Stefano moving into the neighbouring villa. He promises to be the neighbour from hell - but there are surprises in store for both Kira and Stefano.

The Italian’s Blushing Gardener is a November Modern Romance for Harlequin Mills and Boon.  It will be released in the USA after Christmas, as a Harlequin Presents Extra called  The Master of Bella Terra, but if you visit  my website, http://www.christinahollis.com right now I’m running a competition with signed copies and other goodies as prizes. Click on the ‘My Books’ link and you can get a sneak preview of the book and its lovely new style cover, too.

Have you ever had trouble with the people next door?

Christina Hollis writes Modern Romance/Presents Extra for Harlequin Mills and Boon. Since moving out of town her human neighbours are all from heaven, but the squirrel, deer and wild boar  in the surrounding forest can be demons if they break into her garden! You can follow her on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/christinabooks and Facebook at http://bit.ly/9ry4df