Right, now I have your attention 🙂 , my guest today is emerging author and fellow Escape Artist, Charlotte Marigold. Charlotte writes sexy contemporary romance for Escape Publishing (Harlequin Australia). According to her bio, in her passionate stories, set in glamorous locations, hot romance and seduction always lead to love. How gorgeous is that cover? Want to know more about Charlotte? Visit her website. Here she is to tell you more about her latest release, Only For Show.
Thanks Juanita for inviting me to contribute a guest post for your blog!
I’m often asked why I choose to write romance. Like many young women, my romance education began with Mills and Boon, chosen for the promise of steamy passion! They were thrilling, spicy and exotic. While fantasizing about hot lovers in glamorous locations, I also dreamed of one day becoming a romance writer. We all know the destination in romance is satisfyingly predictable; it was the idea of creating the unexpected journey of interesting characters that excited me…
Skip forward a couple of decades or so, and my time had come. Maternity leave. That blissful period in life when you have limitless free time to pursue your dreams. Right? No. But eventually, after adjusting to life with a newborn and then toddler, then newborn again, I decided if I didn’t do it then, I never would.
So, inspired by my greatest loves – romance, chocolate and Italy – I started writing. It was a stop start process but I got there in the end and nervously pitched my first manuscript (Only for Pretend, book 1 in my Only You series) at the Melbourne RWA conference. After a nail biting few weeks of waiting, I was offered a contract with Escape Publishing (Harlequin Australia). Woohoo!! Many a champagne cork was popped and I basked in the moment of achieving my dream of becoming a published author.
Of course that was just the beginning. Not surprisingly, forging a career as a writer is really hard work. But nothing compares with the thrill of creating relatable, flawed characters and giving them the happily ever afters they deserve. And when I start a new book by scouring the internet for inspiration for my next gorgeous hero and exotic location or spend a day taste testing delectable chocolate, I know, this really is the best job in the world!
Book two in my Only You series, Only for Show, has just been released and features spirited Sofia and playboy Roberto as enemies to chocolate lovers. They must work together, overcome their family rivalry and resist their scorching chemistry to present the world’s finest chocolate at an exclusive Valentine’s Day gala in Florence…
Only for Show (Book 2, Only You series)
Enemies to chocolate lovers.
Sofia Beaumont and Roberto Conti’s relationship is only for show – a twisted fairytale manufactured for the Italian tabloids. But when the reclusive chocolatier unites with her family’s CEO playboy nemesis their sizzling chemistry is blatantly real. To Sofia’s alarm, her faux boyfriend is a seductive wolf in smoking hot sheep’s clothing; in Roberto’s embrace she’s in danger of losing all her senses.
Neither Roberto nor Sofia are prepared for the intense sexual awakening and emotional roller coaster as family loyalty collides with personal desire. Bound by their messy past, love of chocolate and forbidden attraction, the lines between fantasy and reality blur. But as the power of sensory memory unlocks devastating secrets to the past, will their chance at love be forsaken?
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