What did you enjoy about writing about the Royal House of Karedes?
What I enjoyed most about writing about the Royal House of Karedes was the sense that here was a real place, with a real community. The rival factions, the disputes over land and position and the long-simmering tensions and jealousies are exactly the same as those that most of us will experience at some point in our lives. And dominating all these is the age-old search for love, which is the most tantalizing and irresistible of all…
How did you find writing part of a continuity?
Writing as a community seemed no different to writing as a lone author… you’re still locked away in your humble garret while the story (hopefully) grows and grows! There was a bit of communication between the authors—when I wanted to introduce a couple of heroes from the other books, I made sure I checked with their creators that I wasn’t misrepresenting them!
When you are writing, what is your typical day?
My typical day is never really typical—because one of the nicest things about being a writer is the flexibility it affords. Having said that, I write best in the mornings, when the world is quiet and not quite awake. I like to watch the rising sunlight filter over the treetops, and from where I’m sitting now, the autumn leaves look as if someone has stuck shiny golden toffees to the branches! I try to do some form of exercise—I like running, and also a class that mixes yoga, Pilates and Tai Chi (I find a whole hour of yoga too boring). It’s good from the physical side, but it also gives me lots of ideas and inspiration. I also go into central London one day a week—to see a foreign film, or to visit an exhibition—also to get inspiration. Apart from that, I just try to avoid distractions and lose myself in the current story.
Where do you get your inspiration for the characters you write?
I get inspiration for the characters I write from films (see above) and portraits of people who lived long ago (see above). Also from newspapers (which I cross-read) and from the amazing and charismatic people you occasionally run across.
What did you like most about your hero and heroine in this continuity?
What I liked best about my heroine was her pure heart and her courage—and what I liked best about my hero was his fierce pride, and the fact that he allowed Elina to help him heal, and to dare to love.
What would be the best—and worst—things about being part of a royal dynasty?
The best thing about being part of a royal dynasty would be having servants and the ability to be able to travel anywhere in the world—and the worst thing would be the total lack of freedom and the sense of being watched wherever you were.
Are diamonds really a girl’s best friend?
Cold and glittering, with a million rainbows at their depths… are diamonds really a girl’s best friend? Of course not—but they’re a pretty fabulous consolation if she’s feeling miserable!
MARION LENNOX is a country girl, born on an Australian dairy farm. She moved on—mostly because the cows just weren’t interested in her stories! Married to a ‘very special doctor’, Marion wrote for Mills & Boon® under a different name for each category for a while—if you’re looking for her past romances search for author Trisha David as well.) She’s now had well over ninety novels accepted for publication.
In her non-writing life Marion cares for kids, cats, dogs, chickens and goldfish. She travels, she fights her rampant garden (she’s losing) and her house dust (she’s lost). Having spun in circles for the first part of her life, she’s now stepped back from her ‘other’ career, which was teaching statistics at her local university. Finally she’s reprioritised her life, figured out what’s important, and discovered the joys of deep baths, romance and chocolate. Preferably all at the same time!
With thanks to my fabulous coauthors, whose writing has made this series sizzle.
‘SHE was only seventeen?’
‘We’re talking ten years ago. I was barely out of my teens myself.’
‘Does that make a difference?’ The uncrowned king of Aristo stared across his massive desk at his brother, his aquiline face dark with fury. ‘Have we not had enough scandal?’
‘Not of my making.’ Prince Andreas Christos Karedes, third in line to the Crown of Aristo, stood his ground against his older brother with the disdain he always used in this family of testosterone-driven males. His brothers might be acknowledged womanizers, but Andreas made sure his affairs were discreet.
‘Until now,’ Sebastian said. ‘Not counting your singularly spectacular divorce, which had a massive impact. But this is worse. You need to sort it before it explodes over all of us.’
‘How the hell can I sort it?’
‘Get rid of her.’
‘You’re not saying…’
Sebastian shook his head, obviously rejecting the idea—though a tinge of regret in his voice said the option wasn’t altogether unattractive.
And Andreas even sympathized. Since their father’s death, all three brothers had been dragged through the mire of the media spotlight, and the political unrest was threatening to destroy them. In their thirties, impossibly handsome, wealthy beyond belief, indulged and fêted, the brothers were now facing realities they had no idea what to do with.
‘Though if I was our father…’ Sebastian added and Andreas shuddered. Who knew what the old king would have done if he’d discovered Holly’s secret? Thank God he’d never found out. Not that King Aegeus could have taken the moral high ground. His father’s past actions had got them into this mess.
‘You’ll make a better king than our father ever was,’ Andreas said softly. ‘What filthy dealing made him dispose of the royal diamond?’
‘That’s my concern,’ Sebastian said. There could be no royal coronation until the diamond was found—they all knew that—but the way the media was baying for blood there might not be a coronation even then. Without the diamond the rules had changed. If any more scandals broke… ‘This girl…’
‘Holly.’
‘You remember her?’
‘Of course I remember her.’
‘Then she’ll be easy to find. We’ll buy her off—do whatever it takes, but she mustn’t talk to anyone.’
‘If she wanted to make a scandal she could have done it years ago.’
‘So it’s been simmering in the wings for years. To have it surface now…’ Sebastian rose and fixed Andreas with a look that was almost as deadly as the one used by the old king. ‘It can’t happen, brother. We have to make sure she’s not in a position to bring us down.’
‘I’ll contact her.’
‘You’ll go nowhere near her until we’re sure of her reaction. Not even a phone call. For all we know her phones are already tapped. I’ll have her brought here.’
‘I can arrange…’
‘You stay right out of it until she’s on our soil. You’re heading the corruption inquiry. With Alex still on his honeymoon—of all the times for our brother to demand to marry, this must