Step Into The Story

As a result of the current contest on my website , I've had a number of enquiries from readers about the fountain that features in my book, Unmasked . What did it look like, how deep was it and is it really possible to swim in a fountain? Karen B referenced the wonderful water gardens at Alnwick Castle (pictured) and asked me if that was my inspiration. It wasn't, but now that I've seen them I am very keen to re-visit Alnwick. It looks wonderful. The inspiration for the fountain in Unmasked comes from Stanway , a beautiful Jacobean manor house in the Cotswolds. I visited Stanway a few years ago and fell in love with it as soon as I saw it. Not only is it stunningly beautiful from the outside, all rich yellow stone and extravagant design, but it has a lived in feel to it, packed full of ancient furniture including a wonderful shuffleboard table dating from the reign of Charles I. And it is the only historic house I've visited where they allow you to take your dog insi...

My website is out of action at the moment, suffering from a fault that means that I can't update it. So whilst the engineers try to fix it for me I have decided that I will post up the contest details here because it is such a lovely prize this month that I don't want anyone to miss the chance to enter. Here are the details: This month I am offering a trio of books as the website contest prize. First up is a copy of Tempt the Devil by incomparable historical author Anna Campbell . Next is a copy of To Sin with a Scoundrel, the sizzling debut historical from fabulous author Cara Elliott . And finally there is a copy of my own award-winning book, Unmasked. To enter the contest email the answer to me at ncornick@madasafish.com Here's the question: In the extract from Unmasked on my website, where has Nick caught Mari swimming? The answer's here ! Good luck and thank you for entering the contest!

I can't believe that it is almost July! Where has the time gone? Probably on my last ditch, desperate attempts to complete my draft manuscript which is due in on 30th June! After that I'll be getting ready for the RWA Conference in Washington which I'm looking forward to very much indeed! I can't wait to meet old friends and make some new ones. I'll be offering a special conference giveaway for all readers who are going to be there and a special website contest for all readers who can't make it, so no one gets left out. Details will be coming out in my July newsletter! So it's an exciting month. July sees the publication of Book 2 in my Brides of Fortune trilogy, The Scandals of an Innocent. Scandals is Alice and Miles' story. What happens when a ruthless rake tries to blackmail a housemaid-turned-heiress into marriage? He gets a great deal more than he bargains for! I love this story because Miles really is very, very bad - he's a real rake, not a f...

The last couple of weeks have been a blitz of preparation for the launch of my new Brides of Fortune series so I thought I would stop, draw breath, and post all the exciting developments here! So first to reviews and a really, really lovely surprise! There was a wonderful review of Unmasked on The Good, The Bad and The Unread which made my day! Those of you who have read my books before will know that Unmasked is a prequel to the Brides of Fortune series and features some of the same characters. Sandy at TGTBTU said: "Nicola Cornick is a new author for me. And after this book, I'm going to definitely be reading more of her books. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Loved the characters, the story, the emotion, everything about it." You can't get a review nicer than that! Meanwhile, The Confessions of a Duchess has been garnering some very nice reviews of its own which are on my website . Chris at RomanceJunkies said: "Nicola Cornick gives stellar pen with the first i...

Happy February! As I write it's frosty and cold here in the UK with a wind that is apparently straight from Siberia! So here is some hot-off-the press book news which I hope will warm us all up! Firstly the UK edition of Unmasked is in the shops this month. Isn't the cover gorgeous (although I did have to look twice to see what the heroine has in her hand - I thought it was a banana rather than a mirror!) I love the covers they are giving my books in both the UK and US! This edition has lots of extra pages giving some historical information about the background and setting, including some fascinating facts about nineteenth century highwaymen - and women! To celebrate the UK publication of Unmasked and the US publication in March of my new book Kidnapped: His Innocent Mistress (more on that later in the month!) I have a special contest on my website. I'm running it jointly with the very lovely and talented Amanda McCabe whose book To Deceive a Duke is currently in the UK...

Welcome to my new blog and very best wishes for 2009! 2008 was a wonderful year for me writing-wise and I am very excited about the opportunities that this new year will bring. Last year was a double celebration for me work-wise: It was Harlequin Mills & Boon's centenary and I wrote a special Edwardian set historical for the occasion, The Last Rake in London. Last Rake was also my 25th book in 10 years. (Mind you, it took me 12 years to get published in the first place!) Unmasked, my third Regency single title historical for HQN books was published in the US. It was so exciting to learn that Unmasked had been chosen to launch Harlequin's Enriched Editons, a new interactive e-book programme. Seeing the book cover on a billboard in Times Square was a career highlight! I also had a video made for Unmasked by the wonderful people at Book Candy Studios, which was intriguing and very sexy! I spoke at the Oxford Literary Festival in the distinguished company of Daisy Goodwin, Mat...