Daphne Clair/Laurey Bright

Ten years after sharing a torrid interlude with teenage Rachel Moore, Bryn Donovan's dreams--and his conscience--are still haunted by her. Now she's back in his life. And all grown up. There was an intriguing dislocation between the Rachel he remembered and the Rachel he'd met today. Now and then a glimpse of the ardent, uncomplicated girl peeked through the cool reserve of the woman, arousing in him a capricious desire to probe deeper and find out just how much she had really changed. Click cover for excerpt Published by Harlequin Mills and Boon. Available 3/09, Australia/NZ May.

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A sweeping saga of adventure, history and romance... ...from England and the Arctic whale fishery to the New Worlds - the South Pacific and the wild shores of pre-colonial New Zealand. In this lawless land at the end of the earth, a whaler with a checkered past and an opportunistic vision hews for himself "a place to stand" and forms enduring alliances with Maori chiefs. He strides through the pages of this historical novel larger than life, yet always human, in a restless search to satisfy his lonely soul. Published by HarperCollins NZ. ISBN: 1-86950-301-5. Ask your bookshop or email me.

...a turbulent tale set in a turbulent era; the historical detail is convincing; the drama intense. (Southern Skies)

For New Zealand readers it is not an exotic backdrop but the stuff of present and painful debate...daring indeed.
This book does not let you lose sight of the other side of anything...
The value that emerges strongly is of accommodation, of learning to "translate" the other person (or the other race) and see them whole.(Dominion)

...a truly rousing epic read! (Next Magazine)

Enthralling work...an epic rather than a love story, though a thread of romance is so skilfully woven through the story lovers of love stories will be teased to read on...an inspiring tale. (Northern Advocate)

...this strong [historical] background makes the whole book come to life. (Whangarei Report)

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An invaluable handbook... Hugely successful authors Daphne Clair and Robyn Donald have each more than 70 top-selling books published. This is the product of their experience and courses they have conducted in romance writing. Uniquely combining two very different writers' styles, this book follows the premise that there is no one way to write - rather, that there are many techniques to learn. Useful and knowledgeable advice is given on every aspect of the craft.

Clair and Donald know their stuff; any fiction writer will benefit from their excellent advice. (Times-Age)

Verdict: Good Grounding. (The New Writer)

A superb reference book...(Reader)

Congratulations on a really excellent compilation. It's friendly and chatty, with commonsense easy-to-read-and-apply advice. (Helen Bianchin, best-selling Mills & Boon writer.)

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New Zealand Short Stories Daphne de Jong presents real short stories about real New Zealanders dealing with real life - the ordinary bloke coming face to face with murder, the woman whose quiet tragedy is hardly noticed in the backwater town where she spends her life, the young urban Polynesians whose act of compassion has a bizarre outcome... Beneath the surface of each story seethes the hidden ebb and flow of human emotion, the dilemma between morality and comfort, and the tensions between the muddled mix of the dramatic, the humorous and the tragic.

Daphne de Jong writes from the heart of ordinary things, turning them inside out to present them with a fresh perspective. Her words move between clay and spirit and remind us that both are beautifully at home in us.
- Joy Cowley

A distinctive voice of compassion and integrity...compelling and disconcerting, full of insights but also unnervingly familiar.
- Sue McCauley

It requires a special art to write short stories successfully...Daphne de Jong demonstrates this art to perfection...
...a superb collection that will have wide appeal.
...a treasured possession to be picked up and re-read again and again.
- Pauline Guy, Northern Advocate

It is difficult to remember when I last read a book of short stories as satisfying...
...an absorbing and uplifting collection which might well appeal to even those who profess not to like short stories.
- Ross Lay, Sunday Star-Times

Her simple and compassionate prose is marked by Kiwi openness and psychological scrutiny...what George Eliot called the "right elements" - genuine observation, humour and passion.
- Joy McKenzie, NZ Listener

...adroit handling of power and tenderness across three generations and two continents...sharp without being savage...moments when the everyday becomes numinous...clear, convincing glimpses of the ordinary lives that literature is made from.
- David Hill, Weekend Herald

The stories are irresistible, sometimes charming, occasionally disturbing and even bizarre as they unravel before the reader. But most of all, they leave an extraordinary feeling of enlightenment and privilege to have read them.
- Sarah Burrage, NZ Writers' Website

A GUILTY PASSION

Laurey Bright

Ethan only invited the lovely but shattered Celeste to his island home to give her a chance to regain her strength after the sudden death of her husband, his brother. Yet Celeste turns out to be nothing like the woman his brother described, an uncontrollable temptress with wicked ways. Ethan finds she is a gentle but passionate woman with a healthy respect for desire. Can Ethan let go of his guilt, recognise the love shining in his beloved’s eyes, and use their passion to repair the damage his love for her had created?

Reprinted at e-reads for download in a number of formats