
As part of the celebrations to mark Mills & Boon's centenary year, I was lucky enough to be asked to take part in the Brides of Penhally Bay continuity. This series, set in beautiful north Cornwall, is running one book a month throughout 2008 in Medical Romance and includes titles by some well-loved and respected authors. My books are numbers 8 and 12 in the series and are published in July and November.
First up for me is Virgin Midwife, Playboy Doctor, out now in paperback, which tells the story of the deliciously wicked and lovely new GP, Dr Oliver Fawkner, and dedicated midwife Chloe MacKinnon who has dark secrets in her past. I had some threads to pick up that have run through the previous seven books, including those beautifully set up for me by Melanie Milburne whose Single Dad Seeks A Wife was book 7 and out in June.
Writing is a solitary occupation, leaving you alone with your doubts and uncertainties, not to mention the worry about meeting that deadline that is looming, so it was a novel experience to take part in my first ever continuity series. Still being something of a newbie myself, it was a daunting prospect to face working with authors whose books I had long admired and I was very nervous. I didn't want to let anyone down. I also had no idea how a continuity series worked and it was fascinating to find out.
The editorial team worked incredibly hard to bring the whole series together, planning out how each individual book would fit in with the rest and yet stand alone, and then how the central thread running though each book would unfold as the series went on. I think they did a terrific job and thank them all for making this such a great experience and for asking me to be part of it.
The first unusual thing for me was to be given my characters and the basic plot outline rather than devising them myself. I had never worked in that way before and I did have a moment's pause, wondering if I could pull it off. But as I read through the notes and the outline, all sorts of ideas began to take shape and, more importantly, Oliver and Chloe grew in my mind and became real to me. I loved them! They were fantastic to work with and I swiftly became absorbed in them and their story, finding I was able to make it my own. Then it was getting to grips with weaving the continuity element into the book – the thread relating to the senior partner at the surgery, Dr Nick Tremayne, and his friend and colleague, Kate Althorp.
It was a challenging and enjoyable experience and I learned an awful lot doing it. I also made some good friends amongst my fellow writers who were generous and fun to work with. We exchanged ideas and thrashed out any parts that over-lapped. We also had fun contributing ideas for secondary characters and villagers who would bring the whole Penhally community together and make it come alive.
I very much hope that readers will feel we have succeeded and will enjoy reading all about the folk of Penhally Bay at least as much as we loved writing about them. Oliver and Chloe in Virgin Midwife, Playboy Doctor are particularly close to my heart and I hope you will enjoy the story of how these two special people find love and happiness.
Oliver Fawkner is a dedicated, drop-dead gorgeous GP. Confident, wicked and fun, Oliver also has some surprising insecurities. He needs a special kind of woman, one who will see past the playboy image to the real man inside. I just adore Oliver. I love his compassion and his gentleness. I love his patience with Chloe, his understanding of her. I love his humour and his sexiness and his wicked side! I also love that he's vulnerable, that inside he is not at all the devil-may-care playboy some people expect him to be. True, he loves surfing and jet-skiing, and life has been kind to him not only in looks but in brains and family circumstances. He's not had to struggle for anything – apart from being accepted for the person he really is beyond the outer image.
Devoted to her mums-to-be, midwife Chloe MacKinnon is kind and serene, a popular colleague and a loyal friend. But issues from her past constrain her and she believes there is no place in her life for a man. I love how Chloe has battled to overcome her past, how she's made so much of her life, and how much she has accomplished on her own. And I love how she blossoms under Oliver's care, how she faces the very things she fears the most and opens herself up to things she never believed she could know and then embraces them.
I think Oliver and Chloe are perfect for each other. They complete each other. Alone they are both strong and caring and independent – together they could be so much more. Can Oliver teach Chloe what it means to be a woman in the fullest sense of the word? And is Chloe the one to help Oliver find the love he deserves? You'll have to read the book to find out!
I was also lucky enough to write book 12 in the Brides of Penhally Bay series, Dr Devereux's Proposal, which is out in November. I will come back then and introduce you to charming and sexy French doctor, Gabriel Devereux and the sparks that ignite when he and Penhally's physiotherapist, Lauren Nightingale meet! For now I hand the reins over to Caroline Anderson for her second book in the series, book 9, Their Miracle Baby, out in August.
I hope you will enjoy this special series – we all worked so hard to make it come together and for Penhally Bay to become a place we would all love to visit in real life. I also hope you enjoy the ongoing party atmosphere and special events and releases marking Mills & Boon's 100th year! Here's to another century of the world's favourite romance novels.
Apologies if the covers mislead anyone – they are beautiful and I love them – but they have somehow ended up showing a dark blonde heroine on book 8 and a black-haired heroine on book 12 instead of the other way around. I can reassure you that there has been no wife-swapping happening in Penhally Bay!!
A copy of Virgin Midwife, Playboy Doctor will go to the person whose name is pulled out of the hat from all those who leave comments this week. Thanks so much for visiting.
Love,
Margaret
www.margaretmcdonagh.com
BRIDES OF PENHALLY BAY – book order:-
Christmas Eve Baby – Caroline Anderson
The Italian's New-Year Marriage Wish – Sarah Morgan
The Doctor's Bride By Sunrise – Josie Metcalfe
The Surgeon's Fatherhood Surprise – Jennifer Taylor
The Doctor's Royal Love-Child – Kate Hardy
Nurse Bride, Bayside Wedding – Gill Sanderson
Single Dad Seeks A Wife – Melanie Milburne
Virgin Midwife, Playboy Doctor – Margaret McDonagh
Their Miracle Baby – Caroline Anderson
Sheikh Surgeon Claims His Bride – Josie Metcalfe
A Baby For Eve – Maggie Kingsley
Dr Devereux's Proposal – Margaret McDonagh

Hear Me Roar



It will be the first time some of us have met outside of cyberspace but the sense of connectedness we share through our writing is something special. The conference gives us a forum and an opportunity to celebrate that. 















That and young mums, who do it tough but are on the whole the most brilliant mothers, and often don’t have family who can be there for them, and that’s what I do too. I have some amazing friends.