Kate's Blog

Winner!!

Today is my daughter Ellen's seventh birthday, so I picked the number seven for my winner--Rose, please email me with your address details and I'll post the books on to you!

Thanks everyone for participating!!

I'm 15,000 words into my next book, which feels pretty good all things (ie, baby) considered. I'll post a short excerpt from it soon, so come back to take a look!

posted by Kate Hewitt at 10:38 AM 1 Comments

The new normal

So life right now is all about sleeping and feeding a certain person and remembering to brush my teeth. Oh, and writing--I have a book due December 1 and I've become very good at typing one handed, so I'm now at 11,000 words--long may it continue! My latest story is set in a fictional Scandinavian country, which is a fun change from the usual Mediterranean climes. And my hero, Leo Christensen, is one I particularly like--sexy and tortured by a secret guilt. The heroine is a feisty American, Phoebe, with children to protect and ten years of bad experience with men to make her cynical and in need of softening! They both need each other even if they don't realize it and that is always fun to write. So hopefully the words will continue to flow...

Thanks everyone for your well wishes on Anna's birth. She is such a little peanut and as this is my last baby (four children are quite enough, thank you!) I'm really enjoying her because I know this is it. To celebrate her birth, I'm offering ANOTHER contest, and this one is for my (so far) complete collection: copies of The Italian's Chosen Wife, The Greek Tycoon's Convenient Bride, Ruthless Boss, Hired Wife, The Italian's Bought Bride, and The Greek Tycoon's Reluctant Bride! That's quite a deal, isn't it?! So leave a comment telling me something--anything--about why you like to read Presents. Easy peasy! I'll draw a winner from the responses.

posted by Kate Hewitt at 6:01 AM 14 Comments

Winners all around

So, first of all, I drew the number 11 and so DINA wins a copy of The Greek Tycoon's Reluctant Bride plus another book of mine of her choosing--check out my booklist page, Dina, and e-mail me at katehewitt@kate-hewitt.com with your choice and address details! Congratulations and thanks to everyone who commented. Lots of things to look forward to, it seems, by people's responses!

The second 'winner' is quite a new one--Anna Dorothy was born yesterday morning at 8:22 am, weighing 8 lbs 15oz! And of course I have to share a few photos:








We're doing well--tired but happy. I had quite an experience at the hospital--the L&D ward was completely full so they had no rooms or even a bed for me. I ended up nearly delivering in the triage unit on a stretcher before being wheeled to a just-empty room minutes before she was born!! Not exactly the experience I'd been hoping for--giving birth at a NYC hospital that is overcrowded and the staff all overworked--but there you are. We made it. And we came home as soon as we could. :)

posted by Kate Hewitt at 6:09 PM 15 Comments

Still here... and to while away the time, a CONTEST...

As in. not busy with babies yet! My due date is Thursday, and I'm hoping to have had this baby by the weekend. Meanwhile, some good news: my novella has gone through and the plot approved for my eighth book, tentatively titled The Playboy Prince's Convenient Wife. I've had this story in my head for nearly a year but the sheikh books took precendence, and I'm so glad to finally be able to get to it! And get to it I must do, for it's due Dec 1 and as you know a few important things (well one important thing, anyway!) is happening between now and then, preferably closer to now...

Anyway, in celebration and anticipation of future happy events, I'm giving away a hardcover copy of my fifth release, The Greek Tycoon's Reluctant Bride.

I really loved this book and absolutely adore the cover, so all you need to do is leave a comment telling me what you're looking forward to in the next month or so and I'll draw a winner. And, to be extra nice, I'll throw in another one of my books--of your own choosing! I'll leave this contest open for a few days, but be mindful that I might not be here to 'close it so enter sooner rather than later!!

posted by Kate Hewitt at 6:40 PM 15 Comments

Please welcome guest blogger Jessica Hart!

I'm so thrilled to welcome Jessica Hart to my blog, as I'm a huge fan of her books. About 13 years ago her romance 'The Right Kind of Man' got me hooked on Mills & Boon romances, and I think I've read nearly all of her fifty books--well, number fifty, Last-Minute Proposal, is on my TBR pile! Congratulations, Jessica, on such a fantastic achivement!!

So, without further ado, here's Jessica...

Kate and I were first in touch a few years ago now when Kate was living in England, so I was delighted when she invited me to make a guest appearance here to mark the release of my 50th book, Last-Minute Proposal, this October. I have to confess that I feel a bit of a fish out of water in the Presents world, though! It's always difficult to explain quite where the difference between Presents and Romance lies. They're both about the emotional tension between the hero and the heroine, and Romance heroes can be just as rich and powerful as their Presents counterparts, but the lines are very different in feel. I myself think the books speak to different kinds of fantasies. Of course, I'd love it if a gorgeous man swept me off somewhere glamorous (Lake Como? I wish!!) but a big part of that fantasy would be the fact that I had somehow been forced into that situation and didn't have any choice in the matter. Women spend so much time feeling and being responsible that the thought of not taking responsibility for once and yet still ending up with a fabulous man and a life of luxury can't fail to appeal!

Harlequin Romances are more about the emotional fantasy of meeting someone who recognizes you for who you really are and who loves you anyway. Like a Presents, a Romance offers the fantasy that you can resolve all your problems and start again with a clean slate where every misunderstanding and difficulty has been sorted out, but the Romance heroine has to work it out herself. Or at least, my heroines do. This might just be my theory! Certainly Tilly, the heroine of Last-Minute Proposal, doesn't get to be swept away anywhere, although like me she would probably love it! Tilly is one of my favourite heroines, perhaps because I could identify so much with her. That's another thing about a Romance heroine. She's not someone you want to be, like a beautiful, slim Presents heroine (or is it just me that longs to be like this?) She ought to be like someone you are, or at the very least, like someone you know--but she gets her gorgeous guy in the end anyway!

If you'd like to find out how Tilly gets her guy, I've got a copy of Last-Minute Proposal and a tote bag to give away. Just read the extract here and then email me to let me know what Tilly is doing in the first scene. I think Kate is busy with babies at the moment, so contact me directly (jessica@jessicahart.co.uk) with your postal address, and I'll pick a winner at the end of the month.



--Jessica

posted by Kate Hewitt at 10:07 AM 8 Comments