No Tricks, Just Treats!

The Argentine’s Price is hitting UK shelves this week (and Kindles!) and it’s also landing in Australia on Mills and Boon Australia’s website!

I’ve talked about this book before. It was my very first reunion story and writing two characters who had a past together, and a lot of living in between that and the start of the story presented its own unique challenges.

It was important to me that their brief connection all those years ago was something that shaped them and their expectations of life profoundly.

There are people who come into our lives, even for brief amounts of time, who can change the way we think. Change the course of where we’re going. They can be people who come in softly with kind and gentle words, or people who burst in with violence. They can be an acquaintance or a dear friend.

I liked a boy in high school (who didn’t) and I liked him for a lot longer than I should have (and who hasn’t been there?) especially considering he didn’t treat me very nicely! (And unlike Edward he wasn’t a vampire or anything so…no excuse.)

Now, this boy and I didn’t have a real relationship or anything, he just caused me a lot of emotional turmoil. But at the end of it all, I had an epiphany: I did not deserve to be treated that way. I didn’t deserve indifference. I didn’t deserve someone who played with my emotions. Who talked to me one day and not the next.

And I changed my standard, then and there. I knew I wanted more. I remembered having that realization and looking at a friend of mine and thinking, now he treated people, everyone, whether they’re nice or not, with true kindness. I need someone like that.

Reader, I married him.

But I digress.

That interaction with that stupid high school boy, gave me a new insight into what I really wanted in someone I was looking to have a relationship with. In a way, he changed my life. (if you’re reading this, boy from the past, you probably know who you are. Don’t grow a big head.)

All that to say I was quite taken with the idea that these two people could meet briefly and have such a powerful effect on each other. For Lazaro, the relationship left him with a broken nose and a resolve to never be at the mercy of anyone ever again. For Vanessa, it marked the moment she chose to stay on the safe path, and not deviate from it. And she’s spent the past twelve years wondering what might have happened if she would have taken a chance.

Now she’s taking antacids just to get through the day as CEO at her family’s failing company. That’s where Lazaro comes in. 😉 He offers to save Vanessa’s business, but it most certainly comes with a high price tag.

Treat: The title of the book comes from a line in the first chapter. 😉

One of the things I really, really enjoyed in the writing of this book was how much pent up longing Lazaro and Vanessa had for each other. They’ve never forgotten each other, and they’ve spent years wondering what might have been had they followed through with the attraction they felt back then.

And that brings me to the Australian cover! I adore the UK cover, but there’s something about the expression on Lazaro’s face on this cover that is just perfection to me. The way his eyes are closed as though he’s savoring touching her. As though he’s thinking ‘finally, after all this time.’ *sigh*

Also, I think he’s dead sexy and that doesn’t hurt either. 😉

The Argentine’s Price will be on UK Kindle and shelves Nov 1st, and on Mills and Boon AUS the same day!