I’m late with this. Late Tardy, y’might say 🙂 But February 2023 is a massive month for me. Starting with the publication of Book 100 for M&B on 2 Feb – actually, it was already out in Australia last month, and it’s out in the US at the end of this month, but the wonderful manager of our local Waterstone’s hosted a launch party in exactly the same place as we launched M&B 1, A Baby of Her Own.
Anyway. Book 100. I wanted it to be my favourite trope – the fake fiancé – with a little bit of a twist to it. And I wanted it to be set in Norfolk, my favourite part of the world. And it’s on a farm (I’m married to a farmer!).
What’s the twist? Well, this is the blurb…
A fiancé for the cameras…or for ever?
In Kate Hardy’s 100th book, marketing executive Elle must put her childhood home on the map by helping manager Charlie promote Bluebell Farm as a wedding venue. Ignoring their chemistry isn’t easy—especially when they become the focus of the campaign and everyone is convinced their posed engagement is real! And when the lines blur Elle’s tempted to dream it could be too…
I loved writing this. And I loved being able to celebrate. Hence roping my family in to drop off 24 bottles of pink prosecco to Waterstones/help me organise a ‘raffle’ (no purchase required, just me giving something back) and help put chairs out.
My friend Nicki made me the most amazing cake to go with the bubbles.
My friend Rachel Hore (a Sunday Times bestselling author who writes fabulous books) interviewed me (thank you to Lizzie Lamb for the pic).
And my biggest supporter was there, so I wanted him to help me cut the cake (with the same knife we’d used for our wedding, 30 years ago!)
Thank you to the readers, editors and friends who’ve been there with me on the journey since the very first M&B, 20 years ago. Thank you also to Rowan Mantell of Archant for the fabulous articles in Norfolk Magazine, the EDP and the Evening News, and to Denise Bradley of Archant for taking wonderful photos.
And thank YOU for being part of it.
Today’s publication day for 
Today is the official publication day of my 84th book for Mills & Boon, Finding Mr Right in Florence.
Today is the official publication day of my 82nd book for Mills & Boon, 
Now, my editor knows I love the whole thing about food in history; if I wasn’t a writer, I’d be a food historian or be teaching a course about food in literature. She knew she was going to have to rein me back a bit. But I had SUCH FUN planning a Regency ball. With the dancing (the waltz in Regency times was not the same as it is now), with the food (because the two rooms I always want to see in any country house or museum are the library and the kitchen – I already have facsimiles of early recipe books so I had a lot of fun on the research side) and with the costumes. And the furnishings. And a dog sneaked in. Humphrey the Labrador is actually a very different dog in disguise (see right for a sneak preview of the real thing doing his Undercover Secret Agent thing – if this was video rathe than still, and there was a canine translator, you’d hear ‘Psst, the password is porridge’).
