Sold and Seduced copies

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Sold and Seduced arrived today and I finally was able to see my cover.





It is a lovely seductive cover BUT it has nothing to do with the book. I am not sure why it was chosen.

The heroine's hair colour is wrong and they never kiss in a pond with catkins, but it is a lovely and evocative cover. And I trust my editors to have chosen a cover that will sell the book.

As some of you may know, this book was inspired by a conversation with Kate Walker. She was explaining about her book The Antonakos Marriage and the hamster wheels started turning in my head. At last a really solid reason for a marriage of convenience. I kept nodding my head, as she explained some of her revision problems but only listened with half an ear. I know what I thought she said. I could not get the premise and the idea out of my mind. And I told Kate, and with her permission as there is no copyright on ideas, I started to write.

Kate very kindly sent me a copy of TAM to read while I had my first eye operation. At this point Sold and Seduced was about half done. When I read The Antonakos Marriage (and it is a very good read btw and I have a few copies of TAM that I will be giving away when the UK paperback of Sold and Seduced is published), I realized that I had not heard properly at all. Sold and Seduced is a very different story with a very different plot line. Perhaps I need to have my ears checked!

The one thing it shares in common is the Beauty and the Beast premise -- a woman sacrificing herself for the sake of her father and his position in society.

If you ever get the chance, do go and take a course with Kate. She is a wonderful teacher and mentor. I defy you to go and not have your head come away buzzing with ideas. If not her book -- Kate Walker's 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance is an excellent resource.

Oh and I have just looked at Kate Walker's blog and seen the cover for The Antonakos Marriage in the US. Kate and I share an editor who knows the story of my inspiration. My editor who is a Bad Influence has a wicked sense of humour. I think I now understand the reasoning behind my cover. Very amusing...