I’m Christina Hollis, and I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. While I was born a writer, I’m a cook and gardener by inclination so my hobbies often feature in my work. The greatest love of my life is my family, of course, and we live in the wilds of rural Gloucestershire, England, with a cat and varying amounts of livestock.

Here on my website you’ll find details of my current book releases and my backlist, together with links to my pages on Blogger, Twitter and Facebook. I’d love to hear from you - you can mail me direct by clicking here.

If you’d like to subscribe to my occasional newsletter, you can do it by clicking here. Don’t worry - I will never pass your name on to any third party. You may unsubscribe by clicking here.

OBITUARY

With the passing of Penny Jordan, we have lost one of the greatest figures in contemporary Romance. I have always loved Penny’s stories, and her work ethic was a great inspiration. The world won’t be the same without her grace, charm and wonderful books.

Happy New Year! A warm welcome to new friends and old as we head into 2012. I hope the coming twelve months will bring you happiness, peace and prosperity. Plenty of books to read, fine weather and good friends to enjoy it with are the major ingredients for my perfect year. What are yours?

I hope you enjoyed my Big Blog Tour - I certainly did! It was great to visit so many interesting sites, and ’chat’ with you all. The tour finished with a Grand Christmas Draw, and I’ve announced the winner of that on my Blogger page. The lucky person will be receiving a Christmas Stocking filled with Weight of the Crown themed gifts. Congratulations!

September saw the start of my blog tour to celebrate the release of Weight of the Crown, my latest Modern Romance for Harlequin Mills and Boon. I hope you’ll visit all the sites that have been kind enough to play host to me between now and the tour’s end on 15th December. There will be regular giveaways, and as an added incentive to follow Lysander and Alyssa’s royal progress around the Internet, the names of all the people who comment on every single one of the blogs will be entered in a grand draw to be made on the day of my wrap-up party, 15th December. The prize is a Christmas stocking full of Weight of the Crown themed items!

Weight of the Crown is the story of Lysander, whose playboy lifestyle ended when his brother the king was killed. Now Lysander has to rule the desert country of Rosara until his little orphaned nephew is old enough to take on the task. Assuming control is second nature to Lysander, but he’s only too happy to delegate childcare to an expert. That’s where super nanny Alyssa steps in - but it isn't long before these two driven, dedicated individuals discover there’s more to life than duty…

I’ve just got back from a week’s holiday in England’s beautiful Peak District. The people are warm and wonderful and the scenery is stunning - though I’m glad we were there in summer rather than winter. As we crested one bleak ridge after another and saw miles of windswept countryside spread out before us, I couldn’t help remembering the winter snows that kept this soft southerner snowed in for three weeks back in February.

There was a lovely surprise waiting for me when I got home. The author copies of my next Modern Romance for Harlequin Mills and Boon Ltd, Weight of the Crown, were waiting for me. What do you think of the cover? It’s a bit different from The Italian’s Blushing Gardener, isn’t it? That’s quite fitting as Weight of the Crown has a different setting from the Mediterranean I love so much. This book is set in the fictional kingdom of Rosara, where playboy Lysander has been catapulted into the top job by the death of his brother…

To celebrate the launch of Weight of the Crown, two very special things are happening. Firstly, I’m launching an occasional newsletter which will keep you up to date with all my latest releases. I’m planning exclusive competitions and extracts for subscribers, and you can add your name to the list by clicking on the link below my ’welcome’ post above. Everyone who subscribes will get an email copy of my Five Top Tips for Writing Success with their first edition of the newsletter.

Secondly, I’m going on a blog tour. The latest details are available here and the names of everyone who tracks my progress keenly enough to comment on every site will be put into a draw when the tour finishes on December 15th for the chance to win a Grand Finale prize.

Stop Press: congratulations to Suzanne, Ju, Elaine and Julie N - who were the first names drawn from among the lovely readers who commented on Nas Dean’s Romance Book Paradise - and to Shadow Kohler, who won my Summer Competition below.

To celebrate the July release of my latest Harlequin Presents Extra title, The Count’s Challenge, I’m running a competition with a signed copy of The Count’s Challenge for the winner, together with a little book of recipes, as heroine Gwen loves to cook. For a chance to win, all you have to do is to read this extract…

Gwen had always dreamed of becoming the chef in a top-class restaurant. She had managed it in record time by going into partnership with her best friend from catering college. Carys had supplied the glamour and business sense. Gwen had done the cooking, and kept her head down. Their system had worked perfectly, until her partner’s romantic adventures had thrown the business into chaos. Carys had vanished, leaving Gwen high and dry. Unable to find another partner, Gwen had been faced with a stark choice. She could sell up and go home. That would mean admitting to her parents that ’The Le Rossignol Affair’, as they called it, was a big mistake. Or she could mortgage herself to the hilt and make her new life work, alone. One path led back to the safety of the village shop where she had been born. The other route disappeared into an unknown future, but at least it was her own. She would be independent, without the need to rely on other people.

…and answer the simple question - What is the name of Gwen’s runaway best friend? Send your answer in an email to me, at christinahollis@hotmail.co.uk with the words ’Summer Competition’ in the subject line. The winner will be the first name pulled out of my best beekeeping hat on Sunday, August 21st. Good luck!

Christina x

Extract © Harlequin Mills and Boon Ltd, 2011

"A spectacularly vivid, highly passionate and wonderfully exotic romantic tale, The Italian’s Blushing Gardener [released in the US as Master of Bella Terra] is a fantastic Modern Romance from the talented pen of best-selling author Christina Hollis!

"Sensuous, powerfully told and impossible to put down, [it] is another keeper by this fabulous storyteller!"

Review by The Pink Heart Society