by Melanie Milburne, author of The Marcolini Blackmail Marriage
Hey guess what? I have just turned thirty! Well…I wish. 
Not in age but in the number of books I have had published. The Marcolini Blackmail Marriage is the big 30 and I am particularly thrilled that it has received the interest it has so far. Firstly it got a 5 out of 5 review from cataromance.com and several readers who buy on line have already contacted me and given me lovely feedback.
This book was a little move away (only slight, mind you) from my usual Italian tycoons and billionaires. At my lovely editor’s suggestion (Hi Jenny!) we decided Antonio Marcolini would be a gifted surgeon. You know how people always tell writers to write “what you know” well, this is something I know all about being married to one! But I promise you no heavy medical scenes, no blood and gore.
This story is about a relationship that started rockily and ended up at the base of the cliff of tragedy. It is now five years on and Antonio feels it is time to move on with his life. Claire, who for the last five years has nursed her wounds back home in Australia has already moved on, or at least as far as anyone can after the heartbreak she has faced. When Antonio comes back into her life insisting on revisiting their past she is daunted not just by the feelings she knows he will unearth from the depths of her being, but also she knows he will make her confront what brought them together in the first place and the heart-wrenching blow that tore them apart.
Writing for Presents gives me enormous scope to explore human emotion. To be able to write convincingly about things that I might not have experienced for myself requires me to delve deeply into my imagination or to do research. For this book I did both. I would like to thank a very courageous young lady called Alex who shared with me her own personal heartache. It was truly touching that she trusted me enough to open her heart in such a way. And guess what? Although she– like Claire and Antonio–will always have to live with her past, she too got her happy ending.
With best wishes,
Hi Melanie,
Congratulations on book #30! It must be very satisfying to have published so many books. Having just sold this year I can’t even begin to imagine what that feels like-I’m still waiting to see my first cover.
Tina
Wow!! I remember your first book and how excited I was that there was an author from The Apple Isle!! Congratulations Melanie!!!
Thirty books is an incredible milestone, Melanie, and The Marcolini Blackmail Marriage sounds a real winner!
Best wishes
Christina
Wow, 30 books is amazing! And I have read (devoured, really) The Marcolini Blackmail Marriage — it was fabulous! You handled a sensitive subject so beautifully. My heart ached for them both. Many thanks to Alex for sharing her story with you; you did her emotions justice.
Love your books. I hope you write many, many more.
Linda Henderson
The new story sounds amazing. And of course, we never thought it was thirty years of age- cos you’re only twenty-nine, right?
Congratulations Melanie! What a fabulous milestone.
Melanie, that’s fantastic news. You really are a dynamo. Congratulations!
Thanks all of you for your lovely comments. It is a milestone that sort of crept up on me. The thing I’ve noticed since being published is time passes very quickly!
Cheers,
Melanie
Congratulations, Melanie! Thirty books is an awesome accomplishment. Here’s to thirty more!
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