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Why Every Girl Deserves a Secret Wardrobe
by Ali Harris
In my debut novel Miracle on Regent Street, the main character, Evie Taylor, is a shy, unassuming stockroom girl. And just like Hardy’s, the faded, forgotten old department store in London that she works in, she feels utterly overlooked. But behind her plain clothes and duffel coat she hides a …
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The Inspiration behind ‘An Autumn Crush’
by Milly Johnson
Autumn isn’t a typical month to set a book in, I’ll grant you. I think most people associate it with things dying – which doesn’t make for a good romantic start. However, last autumn, whilst I was writing An Autumn Crush, I saw the season through very different eyes. How …
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How I came to write BAD SISTERS
by Rebecca Chance
Rivalry, catfights, jealousy, stealing each other’s clothes, an unspoken competition that lasts your whole life… how could I not want to write about sisters for one of my bonkbusters? My subject, what I’m really fascinated by, is women – what we do to each other, good and bad, how we …
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Why I’ve decided to leave London
by Paige Toon
I love living in London. Today I went with my family to Westminster Abbey, the place where thirty-eight monarchs have been crowned king or queen in the last thousand years. The history is breathtaking, and this incredible city is surrounded by it.Recently we took the kids to see the dinosaurs …
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What it’s really like to be a published author
by Tara Hyland
As a little girl, I would furtively read Enid Blyton well past my bedtime, hidden under the duvet with a torch, listening out for my parents’ footsteps on the stairs. I loved the magical world that authors created, how it allowed me to escape from my ordinary life, and longed …
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Keep on Running!
by Jane Costello
I was never what you’d call a natural athlete.At school I could take or leave PE; it was an excuse to leave the classroom but certainly not something to get enthused about. I joined clubs and teams because my friends did, but excelled at precisely nothing.When I look back, the …
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An Open Letter to Kate Middleton
by Helen Warner
Dear Kate Congratulations on your forthcoming marriage. How happy you must feel, yet how terrified too. Getting married to a commoner is daunting enough but marrying the future king of England propels you into a whole new stratosphere. Or does it?Marriage is so complex and difficult whoever you are and, …
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The Name Game
by Ali Harris
Being eight months pregnant with my second child I’m currently name-obsessed. You’d think it’d be easier second time round but, once again, I find myself putting aside my much loved chick-lit bedtime reads for an altogether weightier tome. No, not War and Peace (been there, tried it, gave up) but …
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The Essence of a Romantic Meal
by Milly Johnson
For me, there are few things more romantic than a partner cooking for you. Food and sex have always been entwined and a partner who takes care to lovingly prepare a feast for you, well, you just suspect they’re going to be equally as good in the bedroom department. Mind …