by Meg Lewis, Assistant Editor of Harlequin Romance and Cara Colter, author of Rescued in a Wedding Dress.

He’s bending down on one knee, looking into your eyes and taking a gorgeous little box from his jacket pocket….

It could only mean one thing! That moment you’ve been waiting for—he’s going to propose! Most of us girls have imagined our perfect ‘proposal scene’ at some point…

Well last February, we on the Harlequin Romance team launched a competition where the prize was not only a diamond necklace but also the opportunity to see their ultimate proposal come to life… in the pages of a Harlequin Romance story! The contest was part of our celebrations for Harlequin’s 60th anniversary. We also published a special collection of books that month: Diamond Brides. Every story featured some of those beautiful, sparking gems we all love! Read about the stunning collection here.

The competition generated much excitement and we were flooded with wonderful ideas. Our readers really are a romantic and imaginative bunch and it was a pleasure to read all your entries!

The winning idea really stood out to the judges because it was highly romantic, special and creative, and featured a beautiful setting. What was it? Well, to find out you’ll just have to read the fantastic Rescued in a Wedding Dress by Cara Colter—out this month!  (There may be a hint on the cover, though!)

And now over to Cara Colter, who’s going to share her experience of including the winning proposal idea in her story, Rescued in a Wedding Dress:
Read the rest of this entry

by Robyn Carr author of the Virgin River series from MIRA books.

I’ve received thousands of letters over the past couple of years from readers who ask me, Where is the real Virgin River? Readers want to go there, move there, because the people in this little town are supportive of each other.  It disappoints me to  have to explain that Virgin River exists only in our hearts and minds.  I know some of the reasons my readers love it there—most of the characters have such integrity and honor; they’re stand-up folks who aren’t afraid to get involved when help is needed.  But it’s a fictional town nestled into a factual setting; the people are only real when we make them so by our own intentions and deeds.

Of course I get to live there every day; I’m working on the 12th, 13th & 14th Virgin River novels right now, scheduled to be released in January, February and March of 2010, with more to follow.  I’ve come to know the kind of person the readers love and want to be close to, the characters who will be drawn to Virgin River.  I have learned what kind of character will be drawn to the little town and want to make a home there.

I usually have to tell my readers to unpack those boxes, they’ll never find the place—it’s buried deep in my imagination.

Not this time.  Now it’s time to offer my readers a chance to live in Virgin River!  Harlequin has created a contest in which the grand prize is becoming a character in one of the 2011 Virgin River novels!  So—pack your bags!  All you have to do is tell us why you should live there.

Head to BeInVirginRiver.com to enter the contest to become a character in Robyn’s next Virgin River novel! You can also read the first chapter of Robyn’s latest novel in the series, Forbidden Falls.

by Deanna Raybourn, author of the Lady Julia Grey series and the upcoming The Dead Travel Fast.

One of the great pleasures in having books brought out electronically is the chance to write enriched content. This is usually an assignment I get months—sometimes years!—after the book was first written, and I adore getting to revisit my favorite characters. When I write a book, I have maps and family trees and backstory anecdotes that may never find their way into the novel itself, but enriched content offers me a chance to share those juicy little morsels with readers. I love to include mentions of food in my books, and the enriched content often includes actual recipes so readers can create the same foods my characters are eating and munch along as they read.

Another favorite bit of enriched content are the letters I write between characters. There might be an occasional note in a book, but the letters I create for the ebooks are special. They are much more detailed, and often they give a much fuller picture of the relationship between characters. In the enhanced ebook edition of Silent in the Grave, there is a letter from the main character, Lady Julia Grey, to her sister, Portia, years before the main action of the novel opens. But it sets up that action, even foreshadowing a few events that did not unfold for my characters for several years and giving readers a little peek at what is yet to come.

As the first in the series, Silent in the Grave lent itself particularly well to enriched content. Due to the vagaries of publishing, I had actually written the extra material for the second and third books in the series before I tackled the first! But writing that additional material for those novels made me all the more eager to contribute to the ebook of the first. For me, every book I write has something I wanted to explore further but had to leave out for reasons of space or time. Enriched content is the perfect place to bring those treasures out to play!

Editor’s note: to thank Deanna for writing us a great post, we’re rewarding you, our readers! Let us know if you’ve ever bought an enriched ebook edition in the comments by midnight EST January 25th and we’ll send you a real book: an advanced reader copy of Deanna’s upcoming The Dead Travel Fast. That is, when we get a copy of it! Contest only open to residents of the US and Canada. Full contest details here.

by Olga Kwak, blogger & keeper of the Wordpress themes.

Well, I hear tell of snow out in the wide world, but we’re getting more rain and slush than big fat snowflakes in Toronto. To get us into the proper mood I’m switching the Harlequin blog over to the winter theme.

If you’re receiving this in an RSS reader, thank you for subscribing to our feed, but you won’t be able to see the lovely winter background. Might I suggest you click here.

Now that it’s up, I’m finally in the mood to buy presents.  I know, I’m a little behind, but malls kind of scare me.  I really am more of the shopping-online kind of gal.  Do you have a gift on your wish list that you’ll be thrilled to find underneath your Christmas tree?  Maybe a new eBook reader perhaps?  I know that’s definitely on MY list!

Speaking of lists, I’ve gone through our comments for the Take a Cowboy (T-Shirt) Home contest and through a careful scientific (i.e. our awesome random number generator), we’ve selected Emily R. as our winner!  Congratulations to you!

By Olga Kwak, eHarlequin.com site admin

Last Friday we launched the new Linda Lael Miller Take a Cowboy Home sweepstakes, and to celebrate we got swag!  Of course, to earn our swag, we had to wear it.  And take pictures!

Check us out:

The whole Harlequin team that worked on the campaign

The Harlequin Internet and Digital team

The McKettrick boys would be proud. We’re a handsome bunch.

Now to keep the celebration going, we’d like to offer YOU a FREE Take a Cowboy Home t-shirt! We have one ladies size medium t-shirt to give away. Just leave a comment on the blog telling us what your favourite real life or imaginary cowboy is and we’ll pick a name out of a (cowboy) hat on Monday, December 14. The deadline to enter is midnight on December 13! Only one entry per person and only US and Canadian residents are eligible to win, terribly sorry! Please see our full contest rules here.

by Marianna Ricciuto, Assistant Product Manager, Retail Marketing Single Titles

Calling all cowboy enthusiasts everywhere!

Picture this: A lavish, all-expenses-paid trip to Texas complete with a spa, dude ranch and a five-star culinary experience.

If that doesn’t cut it, how does travelling across the country to watch your favorite rodeo stars in action sound?

Or, better still, how about a combination of both of these awe-inspiring getaways?

Intrigued yet? Now, what if I told you that rather than just picturing your dream getaway, you can actually be starring in it by winning a whopping $10,000 in a terrific new sweepstakes inspired by none other than the First Lady of the West herself, Linda Lael Miller, and her upcoming trilogy featuring the brooding McKettrick cowboys?

All you need to do is visit Linda’s fabulous new site, www.TakeACowboyHome.com, to enter the $10,000 draw, and if you happen to be the lucky winner, how you choose to spend the money is entirely up to you. I’m sure you can all guess what I would do with the loot: hightail it to a Western ranch in search of a cowboy or two. (What can I say, I’m a country girl at heart with an appreciation for the good old-fashioned American cowboy!) But luckily for you (and not so luckily for me) this sweepstakes isn’t about fulfilling my fantasies, it’s about living out yours, and with an extra $10,000 in your pocket, we are bringing you one step closer to doing that.

What makes this sweepstakes even more spectacular is that you can enter the draw every day until the sweepstakes closes on March 5, 2010. Plus, we’ll be giving away Linda swag, ranging from autographed copies of her titles to comfy sleep T-shirts, to daily winners during the run of the sweepstakes.

Oh, and I almost forgot one tiny detail…by entering the sweepstakes, you will also automatically be entered to win a 2-night stay at the dazzling Paris Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. What can I say, it’s the holidays and we’re in a giving mood!

And, if you can believe it…we’ll have more surprises in store for you as we gear up for the launch of Linda Lael Miller’s MCKETTRICKS OF TEXAS: TATE in February 2010. Be sure to check out www.TakeACowboyHome.com often, not only to enter the sweepstakes, but also to stay up to date on the latest in the McKettricks of Texas trilogy and on any other surprises that may creep up.

Good luck with the sweeps everyone!

by Amy Wilkins, Assistant Manager Digital Content and Social Media

I confess: I am a dork. A book dork. A big one.

That shouldn’t be surprising considering I chose to work in publishing, but sometimes even I am shocked by my own nerdiness. For example, just the fact that I work on the fourth floor at Harlequin HQ fills me with happiness. Why? Because that’s where the employee books are delivered once a month to our back hallway.

As you can imagine, there are books all over the Harlequin offices: lining cubicle shelves, displayed in meeting rooms, in racks in the hallway. But even though we’re surrounded by novels, the monthly delivery of new titles still causes quite the stir. Just take a look at the photo below—a crush for books to rival any Black Friday sale!

(I’m the blond in purple, by the way)

But working on the fourth floor means sometimes we get lucky. Lucky enough to spot the books being delivered before anyone else in company. And lucky enough to get first dibs on the new arrivals (insert maniacal laughter here)! (Don’t worry, there is plenty for everyone…even after I’ve had a crack at them )

But like I said, sometimes my own dorkiness over books takes even me by surprise. Like what happened last week…

I visited the back hall looking for a particular November book, but instead of the usual mostly-empty boxes, there were freshly opened boxes…where the MIRA and HQNs go…which are usually picked clean in a couple days. In fact, the first set of boxes was stacked three high and were filled right to the top. What was going on? It was too early for the December books to come in…

I tentatively reached out and turned over the top book. It was VEIL OF SHADOWS, the third book in Jennifer Armintrout’s Lightworld/Darkworld trilogy, a series I am loving…but book three doesn’t come out until December. It was true! December books were in! And it was still cold! Fresh off the truck! My dorky heart was filled with glee—I had gotten to the December books first!

I rushed back to my desk to share the news (including the fact they were still cold and fresh) with my coworkers, thereby revealing the extent of my dorkiness to all. (Not that I cared. Books!!!!)

And that night, I stayed late at work on purpose so I could see what other books came in. Being on time to dinner with my parents vs. new books? Well, you can guess what was sacrificed there… (Sorry Mom and Dad!)

So there you have it. The confession of a book dork.

To give you a little taste of our fourth floor goodies, I have picked two goodie bags of books from our hallway. Leave a comment by midnight on Sunday Nov. 29 telling me what the dorkiest thing you have done—or would do—for free books! A random commenter will be chosen to win one of two selections of December (and one November) books. One entry per person (so if you comment twice, your name is still entered one) and only US and Canada residents are eligible to win, sorry. Please see our full contest rules here.

Please indicate in your comment which batch of books you’d like to receive:

Feeling Nice
- Fairy Tale Weddings by Debbie Macomber
- His Christmas Bride by Dana Corbit
- A Nanny Under the Mistletoe by Teresa Southwick
- A Christmas Wish by Betty Neels

A Little Bit Naughty
- At the Boss’s Beck and Call by Anna Cleary
- Christmas Male by Cara Summers
- Holiday with a Vampire III by Linda Winstead Jones, Lisa Childs, and Bonnie Vanak
- The Cavanaugh Code by Marie Ferrarella

Dressing up for Halloween? Want to win an eBook reader and other prizes? Here’s a reminder on how you can do both with this Costume Contest—but time is running out to enter!

eBook retailer Omnilit and Sony are co-sponsoring an online Halloween Costume Contest with Harlequin — with a grand prize of a silver Sony Pocket Edition Reader (one of their new eBook reader designs, worth $199!). Other prizes include Omnilit $50 gift certificates for the Prettiest, Scariest, and Sexiest costumes!

To enter, take a photo of yourself in your Halloween best; then, become a fan of Omnilit’s Facebook page to post the picture on their “wall.” Your friends on Facebook can “vote” for you by clicking on your picture and posting a comment. No purchase necessary to win!

Deadline for photos and votes is midnight Pacific Time, October 31st, 2009. For full official rules, visit Omnilit’s Contest Page.

Good luck and Happy Halloween!

By Joanne Grant, Harlequin Presents editor

Back in early July, I announced our third writing competition on I Heart Presents. To enter the competition you need to submit a compelling first chapter of a Harlequin Presents or Modern Heat style story, with a short synopsis, and if your entry captures our imagination—you could win an editor for a year!

But do not worry if this is the first you have heard of it, because the competition is still open, in fact you have until November 2nd to enter! To date, we have had over 60 entries, but from past experience we know to expect the entries to come flooding in that final week, and that those 60 will turn into hundreds!

Maybe this is all news to you, or maybe you have been contemplating entering the competition but just haven’t yet got up the courage to press that ’send’ button yet. Well, here is some information to get you motivated!

Our previous contests Instant Seduction and Feel the Heat, had a high calibre of entries. So high in fact, that we have since bought our two winners: Lynn Raye Harris and Lucy King!

Lynn won the Instant Seduction competition and her winning entry, and debut novel, Spanish Magnate, Red-Hot Revenge was published in Harlequin Presents, August 2009.

Lucy King won our second competition Feel the Heat, aimed at Modern Heat editorial. Her winning entry and debut novel Bought: Damsel in Distress will be available from Harlequin Presents in January 2010.

But the successes do not stop there! Earlier this year, we were thrilled to buy another talented new author, Tina Duncan, who first caught our eye when she entered the Instant Seduction competition in 2008. Although she didn’t win, or even place as a runner-up, Editorial saw her potential and kept working with her until we finally bought her book, Da Silva’s Mistress, which will be available in Presents Extra in January 2010.

So, could you be our next competition winner or catch our editors’ eyes as a potential new writer?

More details can be found at www.iheartpresents.com and writing guidelines are available on eHarlequin.com, but in brief: