Calling Dutch & Portuguese readers...

OMG! I've gone Goodreads Giveaways crazy today...

I have two new giveaways one for Portuguese readers of my Hollywood romance Public Affair, Secretly Expecting...

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Esperanzas Ocultas

by Heidi Rice

Giveaway ends October 05, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

And one for Dutch readers of a great new 2-in-1 featuring One Night So Pregnant and Aimee Carson's fabulous The Best Mistake of Her Life... [which should be approved in a couple of days!]

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Bouquet in the City

by Heidi Rice, Aimee Carson

Giveaway ends September 21, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

So go get 'em folks, and don't say I never give you nothing!

How do you say "yum" in Italian!!

After a tip off from fellow Modern Heat author Nicola Marsh I discovered this gorgeous Italian cover for my book Public Affair, Secretly Expecting... It's in a two-in-one this July with Lucy King but I'm claiming dibs on that hunk on the cover, Lucy!!

Story is apparently called "Guide to Passion" or something like that according to my terrible Italian. You can check out the whole story here. But wow, that cover is seriously Yummy!

Heidi Rice... USA Today Bestseller!!

Woohoo!! There's snoopy dances galore in North London today with the release of the latest USA Today bestseller list and the news that Public Affair, Secretly Expecting has hit the top 100 (at 100, but who's counting right??).

Can not believe it. I'm so excited and feeling ever so slightly smug. Who said you can't do movie star heroes in category romance? All you have to do is make them Irish and super-sexy and all moody and intense and articulate like Colin Farrell and you're all set (cheers Colin, what a great muse you turned out to be). All right, I'll shut up now before my head gets so enormous it starts lolling onto the keyboard.

Am also sending my Modern Heat stable mate Kelly Hunter a high-five who's RT top pick book Exposed: Misbehaving with the Magnate also made the list. Yay Kelly! And here's another high-five to Kate Hardy whose latest Good Girl or Gold-Digger? got a coveted 5-star review from Cataromance.

It's official: Modern Heat Rocks!

I Heart Presents... On how Heidi found her mean streak!

Am blogging over at I Heart Presents later today on how much fun it can be to be really mean to your characters.... Especially if you know what's good for them and they don't!! And how I discovered this, and a mean streak I didn't even know I had, while writing my latest Presents release Public Affair, Secretly Expecting.

There's also a little bit in there about where my ideas come from... But don't expect a straight answer on that one cos I'm not even sure myself.

Hope a few of you find time to pop over and post a comment - so I look extremely popular.

Okay, shameless pleading over. Am currently closing in on finishing the rough draft of my latest WIP. I know I thought I'd finished it already but there was still more conflicts to resolve. With only a week to go before deadline I am getting a little concerned about how long it now is. And it just keeps getting longer.

Actually, I think I may be writing War and Peace (with sexy bits)!!

Public Affair gets Four Stars from RT

Am currently doing the snoopy dance after reading my four star review in the March edition of Romantic Times for Public Affair, Secretly Expecting! Here's the review which had my head swelling to impossible proportions:

PUBLIC AFFAIR, SECRETLY EXPECTING (4) by Heidi Rice: Juno Delamare is determined to get her friend's estranged brother, Hollywood actor Mac Brody, to his wedding, even if she has to meet the plane he's on at Heathrow to hand him the invitation. She hadn't planned on kissing him at the same time. Mac had no plans to go to the wedding, but he can't get Juno off his mind. What they agree will be a short-and-steamy fling turns serious when Juno finds out she's pregnant. Rice has a knack for setting up story openings that immediately catch your attention. Here she starts with the fun and flirty, gradually leading into a heartfelt, emotional tale. 


And to add to the kudos my Modern Heat buddy Kelly Hunter went one better with her March release Exposed: Magnate's Misbehaving Mistress and got a Top Pick. So congrats to Kelly too!


And anyone who has the sneaking suspicion that I am using my excitement to avoid my current WIP would be entirely incorrect. Of course.


BTW, I have just signed up again for Brenda Novak's Auction which they are putting together as we speak and goes online in May. I'll be offering a critique of a first chapter and synopsis aimed at Harlequin Presents or Presents Extra, plus two signed books... So will keep you posted on that one.

Hello 2010!

Popping in a couple of days late to wish everyone who reads this blog (or better yet reads my books!) a fabulous 2010! (what the heck happened to 2009 - I feel like I blinked and it flashed past in a nano-second). Have to say I just heard a great story on the news about a group of revellers who went to Britain's highest pub in the Yorkshire Dales to ring in the New Year and have now been snowed in there for three days.... According to one of them who was interviewed on the radio they're 'keeping their spirits up'! I'll bet... Sounds like a great story to kick off a romance.

Anyway, back to business:

Things to look forward to this year:

Public Affair, Secretly Expecting is due out in Australia and New Zealand this month as a Sexy Sensation, and the US as a Harlequin Presents in March.

And my seventh Modern Heat novel, Unfinished Business with the Duke will be hitting the shelves in the UK and Ireland come June. As we sadly no longer have a Borders in  my neck of the woods I'll be popping into the West End to see it on the shelves (which never gets old let me tell you). And posting a sneak peek from the opening chapter on my website shortly.

New Year's Resolution:

To finish my next MH by the end of February. Which seeing as I've barely even started it is a pretty tall order... (oh, and to loose ten pounds of course, but that's a rolling resolution thats been on the go for three years!!). So if I'm  not blogging much in the months ahead my mad typing frenzy might have something to do with it. Still will try and pop back every so often and keep you informed about how Rye and Maddy's story is going. At the moment I've got a cracking opening chapter... Plus I know the heroine has a battered Fiat Panda called Scarlet, the hero lives in a gothic mansion on a Cornish cliff and they get stuck over night there in a blackout. And that's about it! No conflict, and no plot to speak of yet so I better stop waffling about Yorkshire revellers and get to it.

Up, Up and Away

...In my beautiful balloon. Which is what I'd like to do right now after cycling to work today through a rainstorm only to discover all the computers were down. Could this be Friday 13th I ask myself?

Well, to brighten things up I'm blogging over on the Pink Heart Society today on the wonder that is Disney/Pixar's new movie Up. I absolutely fell in love with this film, you can find out why over there. All I'm saying is that animated movies aren't just for kids anymore, especially not Pixar's ones.

I'm also due to be blogging on The Writing Playground on Monday 16th, and I'm giving away a copy of my latest book Public Affair, Secretly Expecting to one lucky commentator so you won't want to miss it. What's the blog about? My sad obsession with jigsaw puzzles!! No really. To find out how I've managed to connect that with writing category romance by way of a particularly ingenius (and somewhat strenuous) analogy you'll have to go play over there.

And last but by no means least, I've been answering questions as diverse as 'When does winter start for you?' to 'What do you wish you'd known about publishing before you got published' over at the M&B community. Here's the link for that one if you want to read my carefully considered answers. 'Carefuly considered' as in extreme long and waffly answers!

Okay, nuff publicity for now, back to crafting the final scene in my latest book... Now, where did I leave that sexual tension again?

Win a Copy of Mac and Juno's Story

Whoo-Hoo, my author copies of Public Affair, Secretly Expecting est arrive!!

So to celebrate the fact that I now have a box full of brand new books sitting on my desk (with a seriously hunky guy on the cover), I'm going to give away a free copy to one of you guys.

Just to recap, if you've read Hot-Shot Tycoon Indecent Proposal with Connor and Daisy's story, this is a linked book in which Daisy's quite, thoughtful and ever-so-slightly mousy friend Juno Delamare discovers her wild side when she encounters Connor's bad-boy movie star brother Mac Brody. 

It's out in November in the UK and not till March in the US, so if you wanna win a copy all you have to do is email me on heidi@heidi-rice.com with the answer to this easy-peasy question:

Mac and Connor hale from which fair country?

I'll be picking the winner out of a hat (assuming I get more than one entry!!) and will announce the winner on this very blog on Saturday morning. And if you don't luck out, don't forget you can always buy a copy instead (it's worth the price, honest!!). 

Happy Birthday PHS

Pop on over to the Pink Heart Society today where they're celebrating their 3rd Birthday, and don't forget to post a comment.

There's a fantastic bag of books for the winner including ones by Nic Marsh, Kate Walker, Fiona Harper and even little ole me.

Although I still haven't got my author copies of Public Affair, Secretly Expecting yet, so you may be waiting awhile for my prize. Still that gives you lots of time to read all the others right!

It's all good.

Your chance to join an M&B Bookclub

Just a quickie to say I'm blogging on the PHS today about the new(ish) Sandra Bullock rom-com The Proposal, mostly about Sandra and how likeable she is (even when she's playing a bitch!) but also a little bit about Ryan Reynolds and his very nice naked bod...

Also, for anyone living in and around London who fancies joining a Mills and Boon bookclub. Check this link out. 

I've been asked to come talk about my November novel Public Affair, Secretly Expecting for the inaugural event on the evening of September 8th at the delightful Yumchaa Teahouse in London's Soho. There's a free copy of the book for participants. And let's face it, coffee shops are so last year... Tea and cakes is much more M&B don't ya think?

Anyway, more about that later.

Sneak Peek Ahoy!

The sneak peek of Public Affair has been posted on my website for anyone who's interested.

Let me know if it whetted your whistle for more of the delicious Mac Brody?

(Can you tell I'm busy avoiding my current ms at the mo...?)

Feeling Hot! Hot! Hot!

Check out the cover for my November book Public Affair, Secretly Expecting which has just gone up on Amazon!! I'm fanning myself here, ladies. That guy is seriously BUFF! And they've even got the Hollywood sign in the background.... Because if you don't already know my hero Mac Brody is a movie star.... And my heroine Juno does actually wear a slinky red dress at one point, although not for long, I have to admit.

Big congrats to the marketing department at M&B who have done an amazing job.

And now I've got the cover pic, it must be time to stick up a sneak peak on my website. What d'ya reckon??

Come Back Col, All Is Forgiven

Ha, got a very nice email from my lovely ed this morning to say that she'll be recommending my sixth book for acquisition under the title Public Affair, Secretly Expecting! Fingers crossed it should be out this November in the UK.

Can't tell you what a relief it is to have this book done and dusted... And to know that in the final analysis all the pain was worth it. Although, having said that, I'd still like a lot less pain the next time thank you very much.

So anyway, enough about the pain and onto the pleasure. As I'm currently feeling so magnanimous - and have a great big silly grin on my face to prove it - I'm posting a pic of a gorgeously young and sexy Paul Newman in one of my favourite films, The Long Hot Summer, which I'm blogging on tomorrow at the PHS. And I'm even going to forgive Colin Farrell for mucking me about as my muse...

Wishing everyone a happy Easter with lots and lots of chocolate...