New Year is a time for new beginnings, a time to put the past behind you and
move forward with renewed determination. A year ago, I began writing a new book
and I wanted to use New Yearβs Eve and the celebrations people enjoy as a
setting for a romance. As Tilly and Xavier came to my mind, bringing with them
all their problems and hurts from the past, I looked out of my writing room
window to see big fat flakes of snow swirling to the ground and I had the
perfect setting for their romance. Not only that, but they wouldnβt be able to
get away from each other, theyβd have to face the attraction they felt for each
other and their problems head on.
The story opens on New Yearβs Eve and Tilly and Xavier find are forced to spend
not only New Yearβs Eve, snowbound and alone in an English country manor house,
but several days. Xavier feels guilty celebrating Christmas after tragic events
in his past, which ended his motorcycle racing career and Tilly is recovering
from the shock and shame of being left standing at the altar last New Yearβs Eve.
Locked away from the world by a blanket of snow they learn so much about each
other as well as themselves. They allow the intense attraction between them to
develop during a passionate encounter, but are either of them ready to face up
to the desire that has been unleashed?
I hope you enjoy being snowbound with Xavier and Tilly as much as I enjoyed
writing their story.
Rachael Thomas grew up in the Midlands in England, but when she moved to
Wales, over twenty years ago, she found a place to finally put down roots. She
married into a farming family and embarked on a massive learning curve which
also saw her learning Welsh when her two children were small.
Writing is something she has always wanted to do and she can still remember the
thrill of one of her short stories being held up as an example to the class when
she was about nine. It wasnβt until her own children were in school that she
seriously started to pursue her dream. She joined a local writing group which
met every Monday afternoon and being with like-minded people was the boost she
needed.
Reading romance had always been her first love, and just about
every short story she wrote was romance, so she decided to write her first book.
During that process she also attended her first weekend writing course with Kate
Walker and joined the RNAβs fabulous New Writersβ Scheme. A short time later she
joined Romance Writers of Australia and learnt a lot from entering their
competitions. She sought out courses and you can imagine her joy when she
discovered Sharon Kendrickβs course in beautiful Tuscany.
Behind the
Scandalous Façade, her SO YOU THINK YOU CAN WRITE entry, is her thirteenth book
and although only eight have those magic words βthe endβ written on them, the
others are definitely part of the learning process she has enjoyed over the last
six years.
She loves to escape to distant shores with her characters,
entering their glamorous world and feeling all the emotions they experience as
they discover their love for one another. A love so strong it will overcome all
obstacles eventually, leading to that promised happy ever after.
Moretti's by midnight
Jilted bride Tilly Rogers hopes her luck
is changing when she's offered a prestigious catering contract for billionaire
businessman Xavier Moretti's New Year's Eve party. But then she ends up
snowbound alone with her boss and at his bidding!
It's the end of the year
and the end of Tilly's contract, which leaves Xavier free to seduce her at his
will. Hardly shy of a challenge, this notorious playboy makes it his resolution
to have virgin Tilly crumbling by his experienced touch.
Before the snow
settles, Xavier is determined to have Tilly under a brand-new set of tantalizing
terms!
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