home   |   books   |   bio   |   ireland  |   tips   |   blog   |  forum  |   links   |   Press Info   |  contact

"Manhattan Cinderella"

For books like this story go to my Harlequin Romance page

“All your boyfriends get this welcome?”

She grimaced, “Look – Mister Van Rothstein  -“

“Nate.” When she hesitated he smiled lazily, “It’s my name.”

 “I’m sorry you walked into this, but –“

“Is there a boyfriend?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Is now.”

“Why is it?”

Nate watched as she damped her lips the way she had before he kissed her; the memory of it causing the same visceral reaction it had when she’d kissed him back, “There are lines I don’t cross.”

She glanced around the room, and mumbled; “No boyfriend.”

“Your family thinks there is…”

“Because the only way to stop my family finding one for me, was to tell them I already have one. They think I’ll end up like Great Aunt Carlotta.” She aimed a pained expression at a random point over his shoulder, “She had cats.”

 “You don’t like cats?”

“I have nothing against cats.”

“Carlotta must be scary then…”

Long lashes flickered as she searched his eyes with the same emotive gaze she’d had when they’d danced. Without artificial polish, the soft sheen of her midnight hair and the natural prettiness of  her features made her look like a different woman. Less ethereal possibly?  More real? There was just something about her…

Nate was determined to discover what it was. Among other things.

She asked the obvious; “Why are you here?”

He dug into the pocket of his jacket and pushed a cell-phone across the table, “You left this behind. I’d never have found you without it. New York is a big place.”

“Why would you want to find me?”

Reaching for a fork, he loaded it with pasta in a rich, creamy sauce before calmly informing her; “To finish what we started.”

Back to books

Manhattan Cinderella is the first short story I've been asked to write for Eharlequin's website and honestly? I'm stupidly excited about this one!

For anyone who doesn't know, Harlequin celebrates it's Diamond Anniversary in 2009 and each month one of the category/series romance lines will be spot-lighted as part of the celebrations. In February, the month of romance with St. Valentine's Day being celebrated around the world, the Romance line is under the spotlight. And I'm lucky enough to be one of those books with Manhattan Boss, Diamond Proposal. So I went back to the book and took one of my secondary characters for this story...

I had plenty to choose from thankfully. Guess the writing god's were thinking ahead, huh? And I'm a sucker for linked stories! For this story Erin was calling out to me. I love this heroine! She's a gloriously fun character. With the group of close-knot friends from Manhattan Boss, Diamond Proposal, a wonderfully interfering Irish-Italian family and a talent for making little designer cupcakes, Erin was fun to write from the get-go. And in the month of romance, while celebrating sixty years of a romance legacy I guess I'm now a part of, why not go to town on a little modern day fantasy I asked myself... So I did.

With the first ever title of my own I've got to keep (yay!) Manhattan Cinderella tells the story of Brooklyn girl Erin and one fantasy night with a Manhattan Billionaire that leads to love. There are lots of little allusions to the fairy tale that I'll let you discover on your own, an aptly named diamond pendant with a romantic history all of it's own and a dance, a wonderfully romantic, wordless dance that leads to a kiss between strangers...

Do you believe in love at first sight? In this story, Erin and Nate don't. At least not in the beginning...

The story will be online in instalments in February 2009 and is absolutely free! So I hope you'll drop by and read it on the Eharlequin Site, and as soon as I have links I'll add them to this page and my Romance page so it's easy to find.

Locations in this book:

Yes. We're going back to the city I fell head over heels in love with in the summer of 2007.

Now being a short story we maybe don't get as much of a 'flavour' of the city as we do (or I hope we do) in Manhattan Boss, Diamond Proposal, but the very fact the editor I worked with could see Brooklyn and Manhattan in her head while reading is a good sign I feel...

One of the keys to this story is the river between Brooklyn and Manhattan - the thing that Erin sees as a symbolic divide between her world and Nate's. There's a magical quality to Manhattan from Brooklyn, at least that's how it felt to me when I took my first ever night tour and saw it lit up against the sky. It's an image I will never forget as long as I live. So there's a scene where Erin looks out on the same view and then there's a scene in a little restaurant under the Brooklyn Bridge where Nate thinks about sweeping Gershwin melodies and the Manhattan skyline... Hmmm, maybe there's more of New York in this story than I'd realised!

So in Manhattan we have Nate's world; mansions and penthouses and diamonds and incredibly expensive sports cars. In Erin's world we have her families Italian restaurant in Brooklyn, the little bakery she's been saving up for and an assortment of magical little designer cupcakes her Godmother taught her how to make as a child. (Recipes for which I'm planning on Blogging on Eharlequin throughout February if anyone is interested in them) 

All in all it's my attempt at a modern day fairy story in one of the most iconic cities in the world. And it was incredibly fun to do. I doubt very much it will be the last time I visit New York either in real life or fiction, and after all... I still have three characters left in Manhattan Boss, Diamond Proposal whose stories have yet to be told. So who knows what I might come up with next...

Soundtrack playing: 

For Manhattan Cinderella I pretty much played the one album the whole way through, with the addition of one track to get me going. So in this case it was the Michael Buble album Call Me Irresponsible.

The one track I'm going to single out for special mention? Well it really doesn't get any more romantic than this one. And the story kinda called for it. So this time out it's the classic 'Always On My Mind'.

Take a hero who doesn't believe in love at first sight, add the problem he has when he kisses a girl and she disappears to the way she feels she'll never fit in to his world and we get:

"Maybe I didn't hold you, all those lonely, lonely times. And I guess I never told you I'm so happy that you're mine. If I made you feel second best, girl, I'm sorry I was blind. You were always on my mind, you were always on my mind..."

You can order a copy of the album here or simply close your eyes, think of the Manhattan skyline and listen:

*All Photographs are used to give a visible representation of the Authors 'view' and are in no way representative of the people or places in real life beyond the realms of the Authors imagination.

home   |   books   |   bio   |   ireland  |   tips   |    blog   |  forum  |   links   |   Press Info   |  contact