Hi everyone,
I don't know about you but this time of year makes me jittery. I always feel I have too much to do in too little time. I think it's worse in Australia as the festive season is not just Christmas and New Year, but summer holidays and the end of the academic year as well. There are numerous drinks parties or end of year celebrations to attend as well as your own arrangements for Christmas and holidays. Arggghh!
I am happy to say however the cake and the pudding is done and I am well ahead of my writing deadlines. Don't ask me how, even I think it's a miracle!
I am pleased to announce the release of The Doctor's Rebel Knight in January in the UK and February in Australia and New Zealand. This book is really special to me (well of course they all are really) but this one was written as part of the silent auction for The National Heart Foundation in Hobart. I love being able to give something back to the community and this wonderful charity does so much in terms of education, research and raising awareness of the dangers of heart disease.
Now love could be described as that! Certainly my hero and heroine in The Doctor's Rebel Knight find out all about that. Fran is recovering (or trying to)from a terrifying incident in the Accident and Emergency department by staying for a month or two with her pregnant sister in a quiet coastal town. Fran is seriously considering walking away from medicine. She loved her job but what happened to her has made her wary of becoming vulnerable again, especially in A&E where emotions run high.
Jacob Hawke is the local cop. You know the type: authoritative, in command and at times uncompromising and all the time gorgeous. Yum! Fran locks heads with him as he wants her to fill in at the clinic while the town of Pelican Bay wait for a new locum. Fran doesn't tell him why she won't do it, which makes him think she is one of those shallow types who just wants to lie about on the beach working on her tan.
I loved the chemistry between these two right from the moment they met. It was one of those books that more or less wrote itself. They don't always do that by the way, if only!
So once the pressure of the silly season is over, I hope you get the chance to settle down into some holiday reading. I hope you enjoy Jacob and Fran's story of her recovery and his rescue of her and of course the winning of her heart.
By the way, it is my birthday today so anyone who is sharing it with me: many happy returns! It's not a great time for a birthday being so close to Christmas but one of my son's is worse off with Boxing Day. Poor darling!
Best wishes for the festive season which is 24 sleeps away!
Melanie Milburne











