The Danelle Harmon Newsletter... July 1997

Hard to believe that we're half-way through summer, but as they say, time flies when you're having fun! In my case, time has flown because I've been super-busy; not only have I been hard at work on the first book in an exciting new series, but in December, my husband and I (as well as our dog Roscoe and cat Gemma) moved from England so we could try living in the United States for a while. Needless to say, the past several months have been something of a whirlwind! We did buy a lovely old house that suits us perfectly and helps relieve the sadness of leaving England, if only because it's an English house! That is, it was built when Massachusetts was still a British Colony -- 1746, to be exact! It has original hardwood floors and wainscotting, four romantic old fireplaces, ceilings with exposed beams, and a collection of artifacts including a coin dated 1730, two 18th century shoes, a snuffbox and a sea captain's button, all of which were found beneath fireplaces, floorboards, and hearths when the prior owners restored the property. I wonder who they belonged to? As we live in a port town within sight of the ocean, several sea captains have lived in or owned the house over the past couple of centuries (one of them bearing the name Captain Blood -- I kid you not!). If only walls could talk. Never mind -- I'm still trying to determine whether or not we do indeed have a ghost!

And now on to book news, and my exciting new series featuring the de Montforte brothers -- four of the handsomest men in 18th century England. Sexy, aristocratic, and deliciously virile, they will steal your breath away! Each book will be titled after the nickname borne by its hero, and the debut book in the series, entitled The Wild One, will be out in November -- just in time for Christmas. "The Wild One" is Lord Gareth Francis de Montforte, the charming, irresponsible, black sheep of the family. As leader of a group of rakehells calling themselves the Den of Debauchery, Gareth's actions and reputation cause no small degree of frustration and embarrassment to his autocratic eldest brother Lucien, His Grace the Duke of Blackheath ("The Wicked One"). Not that Gareth cares what either Lucien or his surly, inventor-brother Andrew ("The Defiant One") think. To him, life is a nothing but a lark, until the night he thwarts a stagecoach robbery and finds that the beautiful young woman he has so heroically rescued is none other than Juliet Paige -- the American woman his brother Charles, who'd been killed in the outbreak of fighting in the distant colonies a year past, had been engaged to marry. What's more, Juliet is accompanied by her and Charles's illegitimate baby daughter, Charlotte. Determined to do right by this woman his brother had loved -- and baby his brother fathered -- Gareth impulsively marries Juliet, only to discover that he just might have bitten off more than he can chew... and that RESPONSIBILITY is indeed the worst word in the entire English language.

I can't give away any more than that -- you'll just have to read the book to see how Gareth handles the challenges and demands of marriage and fatherhood! And just in case November is too long to wait, you can meet both Gareth and Juliet elsewhere at this site, where I've uploaded the opening chapters of The Wild One.

In other news, fellow Avon author Julia Quinn and I will be going on a mini-tour in December to promote our new books, both of which will be coming out in November. Julia's new book, Brighter Than The Sun, is a must-read -- as are all of her wonderful, sexy stories about unique heroines and the strong men who love them.

And finally...

For those of you who don't already know, my very dark and dangerous hero from Wicked At Heart has been nominated for Romantic Times' Magazine's KISS Award for 1996 -- an honour that thrills both me and Damon, Lord Morninghall, to no end! Keep your fingers crossed!

That's it for now! I want to wish all of you a very safe, happy, and healthy summer. Happy reading!

Danelle Harmon