It’s been a busy week in the MACKENZIE household.

Like everyone else we’re shocked that it’s only four short weeks until the fat man in the red suit slides down the chimney. Where did autumn go?

For once I’m ahead of the game with my book releases, she says.

The first book of the Ludlow Hall off-shoot series, Ludlow Nights - HIS RULES, is gathering amazing reviews.

“I loved Anastacia and Olivier. Like all of CC’s heroines she had spunk! Olivier reminded me soo much of Nico sometimes I must admit I wanted to reach into the book and smack some sense into him, but through it all you just know his hearts in the right place, his machismo just gets in his way sometimes. I laughed each time she put him in his place as I pictured a puzzled expression on his face while he tried to figure out what he’d said wrong this time!

Anastacia faced some very difficult times growing up and it’s made her a very strong woman. There were a couple of scenes that brought me to tears as she came face to face with her past, I don’t want to give away any spoilers so I’ll leave it at that.

I can’t wait for the next book to come out!”

Readers are loving more Nico and Bronte (Nico is a gift as a character and a joy to write) and they’ve fallen hard for Olivier and Anastacia. Their journey to the land of happy-ever-after is proving to be a rocky one.

And their story continues in HER RULES. It’s full of laughs and many challenges as they move the advertising shoot to Paris. Unfortunately, everything that can go wrong does go wrong. Mix a professional disaster with a personal crisis and Anastacia is ready to swing for a certain someone.

Daniella Pebbles is with her best pal in Paris, too, covering fashion week. She meets her Waterloo (pardon the pun) in the city of love when one Pascale Wolfe decides that she belongs to him. Unfortunately for Pascale, Dani’s having none of it, and so the fun begins.

And T.C.’s in Paris, too. Will she finally meet the one? Or will she find herself in very hot water? Read the story and see.

Here’s the blurb:

Style guru Danni Pebbles is in the stunning city of Paris for fashion week and discovers that the powerful and wealthy Pascale Wolfe has more on his mind than business - but, given her past, that makes Danni even more determined to keep him at arms length.

One woman stood out, a fragile rose, among hot-house blooms at the show in Paris fashion week. Imaginative, innovative and shy - Daniela Pebbles is nothing like any woman wealthy designer Pascale Wolfe has ever known. The cynical Frenchman was determined to discover why Daniela wanted to keep him at arm’s length. But, given her past, could Pascale really convince Daniela that their night of passion could become a lifetime together?

EXCLUSIVE excerpt HER RULES

 

Anastacia rose and moved to the window to stare down at the busy river Seine flowing through Paris. Oh, it stuck in her craw that her boss had had to clean up her mess. It was the first time she’d failed so spectacularly, and she had no intention of ever repeating the incredibly humbling experience.

“Ana…” Olivier took a step towards her. Anastacia hardened herself, and her stupid emotions, against what she knew was coming.

“I can’t do this with you.” She faced him, took the hit to the heart, but for once in her pitiful life listened to her head. “In fact I won’t do it. Let’s just keep our relationship professional. Get the job done. Go our own way.”

He stood utterly still.

Any flicker of warmth in his eyes for her now gone.

“If that is what you want.”

“It is what I want.”

She told herself to just hold it together.

She could do this.

“Ana…”

When he shifted to take another step toward her, she held up her hand in the universal signal to halt.

He stopped dead.

Logic in total control now, she spoke,

“I want my life back. I want me back. I want the life I had before you were in it. I was happy then. I’m not happy now. I want a life where I’m not abused on social media. I want a life where people don’t care if I’m too fat or too thin, too tall, too short. Where people don’t care about my hair or whether my breasts are my own. Where I am not measured by what my boyfriend does for a living.” Her steps were jerky as she stalked to the window and back again. Her hands thrust through her curls to her scalp, gripped and pulled. “Jesus, all this nonsense, all this hassle because of football. It’s crazy!”

She took a deep and cleansing breath, desperately trying to ignore how grave, how devastated and how shocked he looked.

Her eyes found his and held firm as she said, “So… I’m stepping off the crazy.”

“I did not handle today well,” he said, his deep voice a rumble in his chest. And she could see by his face how much that admission had cost him. But she refused to listen to the clarion call of her heart. A heart begging her to forgive and to forget. Eyes fixed on her face, he continued, “I did not realize how much the negative attention of my fans has affected you…”

Her double hand-swipe through the air had him stop again in his tracks.

Was he serious?

“Yes, you did know, because I told you time and time again. But you just shrugged it off as part of the circus that is your life. That circus is not my life, Olivier. I knew it going in. I knew it was a mistake to get involved with you while trying to work together. I knew it and I did it anyway.”

All of it, every single part of the mess they were in, was all her own damned fault.

She refused to acknowledge how sad, how pale, he looked.

His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat. “So, this is it?”

“Earlier this evening you dumped me. You made your feelings crystal clear,” she reminded him with a bite to her tone.

He nodded. “I was upset…”

“Yeah, well, we’re both upset. Let’s for once be adults about this.”

A wave of exhaustion swept over her and washed away all the conflict, all the anger, leaving her feeling nothing but empty.

His dark eyes burned into hers and she thought, Here we go, he’s going to fight.

“I will not give you up.”

She merely raised her brows.

“You do not get to choose my future. I do.”

*****

PRE-ORDER LINKS - RELEASE ON 15TH DECEMBER 2015

iBOOKS AMAZON KOBO BARNES & NOBLE

And if you missed HIS RULES - here are the links:

iBOOKS AMAZON KOBO BARNES & NOBLE

I’ve already begun BREAK THE RULES, which is out early 2016 so stay tuned.

And I know you’re all waiting for the next Ludlow Hall story, A Daddy For Daisy - I can confirm that I’m writing the story right now, and it’s rocking! Do I hear a YAY? So glad I waited until my head was in the right place for Janine and Josh’s tale. There is no way I could ever release a book unless it was the very best work I can do. I can confirm that I’ll be sharing an exclusive cover reveal with you guys along with the blurb very soon.

AND I’ll have some Vampyre news, too.

Right, back to the grindstone.

Love and Hugs,

Christine XX