Harlequin Presents® are delighted to bring you Lynne Graham’s 100th book!
About Bought For The Greek’s Revenge:
Ella Palmer has neither the money nor the connections to warrant the interest of Nikolai Drakos’s archenemy. Yet the unassuming beauty has done just that—and claiming her will be Nikolai’s ultimate satisfaction!
The ruthless tycoon will use any means necessary to ensure Ella’s compliance, so he buys out her family’s debts. Debts he’ll forgive if Ella becomes his mistress. But when he discovers the true extent of her innocence, Nikolai is forced to consider something new; it appears the indomitable Greek is about to take a bride!
Excerpt:
‘Mistress,’ Nikolai slotted in cool as ice.
Shock had welded Ella’s tongue to the roof of her mouth because he was sexually propositioning her and nothing could have prepared her for that. She wasn’t drop-dead gorgeous… he was! Male heads didn’t swivel when Ella walked down the street because she had neither the length of leg nor the curves usually deemed necessary to attract such attention. Why on earth could he be making her such an offer?
‘But we don’t even know each other,’ she framed dazedly. ‘You’re a stranger…’
‘If you live with me I won’t be a stranger for long,’ Nikolai pointed out with monumental calm.
And the very sound of that inhuman calm and cool forced her to flip round and settle distraught eyes on his lean darkly handsome face.
‘You can’t be serious about this!’
‘I assure you that I am deadly serious. Move in and I’ll forget your family’s debts.’
‘But it’s a crazy idea!’ she gasped.
‘It’s not crazy to me,’ Nikolai asserted. ‘When I want anything, I go after it hard and fast.’
Her lashes dipped. Did he want her like that? Enough to track her down, buy up her father’s debts, and try and buy rights to her and her body along with those debts? The very idea of that made her dizzy and plunged her brain into even greater turmoil. ‘It’s immoral…it’s blackmail.’
‘It’s definitely not blackmail. I’m giving you the benefit of a choice you didn’t have before I came through that door,’ Nikolai Drakos fielded with glittering cool. ‘That choice is yours to make.’
‘Like hell it is!’ Ella fired back. ‘It’s a complete cheat of a supposed offer!’
Nikolai sent her a gleaming sideways glance. ‘No the real cheat was you kissing me the way you did last year and then saying no and acting as if I had grossly insulted you,’ he murmured with lethal quietness.
‘You did insult me!’ Ella flung back, her cheeks hot as fire while she wondered if her refusal that night had started off his whole chain reaction. What else could possibly be driving him?
Nikolai straightened lazily as he opened the door. ‘If you take offence that easily, maybe it’s just as well that the answer is no.’
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Where the magic happens…
Every writer has a different process, but for me one of the most important parts of creating a story is where I do it. I have a room in my house that is solely mine. I fill it with all the things that inspire me. It has hundreds of books, maps, guides to far flung places where I set my romances. But it’s very much a working room.
I start writing at 9.00 am and work on through to 5.00pm. The only members of the family allowed in to my writing room are my three dogs. They curl up underneath my desk and keep me company. Most of the time they behave! Occasionally if I’m stuck on a plot, then I’ll take them for a walk and by the time I’m back in my room, all the kinks are magically resolved.
At Christmas my writing room has its own Christmas tree that is full of bright pink decorations – these are the ones that are full of glitter, sparkle and feathers. (Both me and my husband agree that it’s the best place for them!) I have candles that cover every surface, and fairy lights around the fire place. It’s the coziest, most beautiful room in the house!
It also contains my collections. I like collecting small frog figurines – if they have crowns! I also like stone animal figures. I have to keep an eye on what I collect, because if I don’t they’ll get out of hand and I’d be buried under small animals rather than the beautiful worlds of faraway places, and brooding heroes and innocent heroines.
I also have a house in France. It’s a beautiful rural cottage near Eauze in the Gers region. It’s filled with bookshelves, just like my house in Belfast and is an absolute delight and inspiration to write in.
Q&A with Lynne Graham:
- List two books you’ve read more than three times.
- Arabella and Lord of the Rings. Actually there are quite a lot I reread, so it’s hard to just pick two!
- Is anything in your new release based on real life experiences or purely all imagination?
- That’s a difficult one. In terms of the plot, not necessarily, but all emotions are drawn from life experiences. Love, grief, happiness… probably even the seven deadly sins! They’re all human experiences and find their way into my books in one way or another.
- How much research goes into your books?
- Quite a bit when it comes to countries and locations, culture and names. I have many travel books in my library that are wonderful for the settings.
- You get a brilliant phrase/idea/thought at an inopportune time (while driving, drifting off to sleep/in the shower). What do you do?
- Write it down immediately. I’ve been known to jump out of the shower and find my nearest note book and pen. I always keep these two things with me wherever I go. I’ve had the nasty experience of having what I remember to be a brilliant idea and having forgotten it, so I’m determined never to make the same mistake again!
- What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
- I love cooking. My kitchen is a very special place in my home. I read a lot and enjoy taking my three dogs for a walk. They help me plot!
- Where is one place you want to visit that you haven’t been before?
- I’ve always wanted to visit Lourdes. It has such a rich history, and such beauty. One day I’ll get there!
- What does your family think of your writing?
- My family are very supportive. It’s often easy for family to not quite see writing as a job in the traditional sense because you’re at home. But my husband and children are very supportive. I’m sure the grandchildren will be too, when they’re old enough!
- How do you decide on the setting of your book?
- Most of the time the location will come from the hero’s nationality. But much of the texture and richness comes from my own holidays in France and Europe.
- What question do you wish that someone would ask about your book, but nobody has? Write it out here, then answer it.
- Although I’ve been asked almost every question there is about writing, one that doesn’t come up often is what is it like when it’s not going well.
- And the answer is that it can be very frustrating, and worrying when writing is not going well. I find that I have to stop working until I’ve worked out what the problem is. It can sometimes last for a few days, but if it gets that long, then I call my editor!
- What is your favorite summer read?
- Any of my favourite books!
About the author:
I’m Irish. I’m a Leo born July 30. I learnt to read at the age of 3, haven’t stopped since then. I hated school, enjoyed university. I first met my husband when I was 14 but we had a rocky path to the altar. I wrote my first romance at 15 but couldn’t find a buyer! I have five children, one natural, four adopted from Sri Lanka and Guatemala. I live in the country and have five acres of wild woodland garden.
My favourite colour is green. I’m addicted to kids, books, chocolate, baths in candlelight, log fires and four poster beds. I love exploring historic houses, castles and beautiful gardens. I collect everything from rare trees to rock specimens and old toys. I’m interested in international adoption and post-adoption/ multi-cultural issues.
I am crazy about Christmas. I love being a writer when the book is going well, hate it like poison when it’s not. I read a newspaper every day. I listen to dance music in the car. I don’t like romantic movies with unhappy endings.
Where do I get my ideas? An active imagination and my own life experience. I have to confess that I’m still waiting on a billionaire to whisk me away on his private jet but that doesn’t stop me dreaming! I had an imaginary friend as a child and adored fairy tales. I also have a keen interest in what makes people tick and believe that the good and bad times of even the most ordinary life give a writer the fuel to portray realistic emotions.
Learn more on her website
Thanks for the review and excerpt.