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Guys, I Have Never Been So Ready for a Cardigan!

Honestly, it's been feeling a lot like the summer would never end, and as a Brit who enjoys a good moan, I never thought the heat would be the subject of it, but sweet Lord, it was just too much.

I spent most of this summer lying on the floor of my flat like a dropped scarf, or pointing the weak fan at my poor dog who looked like she was about to give up. Amsterdam is a beautiful city but lemme tell you, it is not designed for a heatwave.

The...

Summer Doesn't Slow Creativity Unless You Let It

Summer may be hotter than the devil's Scotch Bonnet sauce but there are so many reasons to still pick up the laptop, or the notebook and write something down!

New ideas are hiding in gardens buzzing with bees, whispering in train stations packed with profusely-sweaty holidaymakers, dripping ice cream cones, thunderstorms rolling in after weeks of blue skies, and cute conversations between couples, overheard through open windows.

Our job isn't to...

Would I have written over 40 books in my lifetime if I'd had a dog that whole time?

Absolutely not. No chance. No way.

I would have had far less hours with my butt in a chair, head down and focused only on the words pouring out of my fingertips. And way MORE hours abandoning my craft completely to go walk in parks, meadows, and canal paths.

I would have spent far more time staring into her beautiful brown eyes and remembering that smelling the flowers is far more nourishing for the soul than...

It's been 12 and a half years since my second travel memoir, Balilicious: The Bali Diaries was published, and before I trot back to Bali again later this summer, I thought I'd celebrate the milestone by sharing a little excerpt of the book! Time flies, friends, I can't believe it's been that long, but I still look back on that time with a beaming smile, because Bali was... is... such a special place.

Enjoy x

A series of unfortunate encounters

What they don't tell you before you set up camp in...

People sometimes assume romance writers have all the answers when it comes to love. Like, somewhere between chapter twelve's dramatic misunderstanding and the happily-ever-after, we're handed a secret handbook explaining relationships. I wish that were true, I really do... But the truth is, writing love stories hasn't made me an expert. Really it's just made me more curious about what makes people choose each other, lose each other, and somehow find their way back again.

After writing...

You picked up the book innocently enough. Maybe it was the cover. Maybe it was a TikTok recommendation at midnight. Either way, you're three chapters in and something feels... different. There's a flutter in your chest, coupled with dread. You know the little voice in your head is gonna pipe up way before it does: "this one is going to get you."

Here are the five red flags that mean you are absolutely, gloriously doomed my friends!

The Almost-Kiss Happens on Page 80 — and They Don't Actually...

Let's be honest ladies... if a romance novel contains the words fake marriage, most of us diehard romance lovers are clicking "Buy Now" before we've even read the blurb.

Why?

Because fake marriage romance is basically catnip for readers, and I do include myself in this catnipped portion of society.

It Starts With a Terrible Idea

The best fake marriages always begin with a plan that sounds perfectly reasonable at the time.

Need an inheritance?

Want to save a family business?

Trying to fool a meddling...

Let's be honest. Nobody reads billionaire romance because we're interested in sound financial planning.

We're here for the private jets. The penthouses. The yacht vacations. The emotionally unavailable men who somehow become incredibly available after 300 pages of romantic tension (oooh yes!)

Here are ten billionaire romances guaranteed to keep you turning pages long past your bedtime.

1. THE GREEK BILLIONAIRE'S FAKE WIFE by Becky Wicks

Friends to lovers. A fake marriage. A powerful Greek...

If you're craving turquoise water, whitewashed villas, slow-burn chemistry, accidental kisses at sunset, and enough romantic tension to make your iced coffee sweat, these romance books set in Greece belong in your beach bag immediately.

So grab your floppy hat, your SPF, and your willingness to fall in love with fictional men who own yachts.

1. The Greek Billionaire's Fake Wife by Becky Wicks

What starts as a fake marriage quickly becomes something dangerously more... when a powerful Greek...

I've gone back to my romance roots with this one, because my friends, they are so deeply rooted they are tied around my ankles!

Once I had this idea for a cute friends-to-lovers read set in Mykonos, I couldn't stop working on it.

In THE GREEK BILLIONAIRE'S FAKE WIFE, Nikos Petrakis is doing very well for himself... if you count running a multi-billion dollar hotel empire. And if you don't count his love life, which up to this point has been a string of flings that have landed him a bad rap in...

I absolutely adore dogs... anything with four paws, really. I have a cockapoo called Ziggy who I adore with all my soppy heart. And having just become an auntie myself I've gone down a bit of a rabbit hole with finding the best children's books about animals!

I was really excited to get my hands on this cute book full of real life dog stories! There are thirty in here, and each one is told in a unique voice, by the dog who lived the actual experience.

You can read about dogs who've gone to...

I still remember getting caught singing badly and loudly… oh sweet Lord, the shame still haunts me now, and I’m talking about the late 80s here.

I thought I was home alone, so I was standing in the kitchen in my shell suit, belting out the theme tune from a cartoon called 80 Days Around the World. The main character was a lion in a top hat called Willy Fog… and for some reason it resonated.

That’s not the point.

The point is, I was singing, palms pressed to the fridge, then the oven, serenading...

I'm so excited to bring the full Amsterdamaged series to the world. If you're a sucker for paranormal romance and forbidden love in a cool, unique urban setting, this could be your next read.

I got sucked deep into this, my friends. I went down deep into the belly of Amsterdam with all its myths and legends, from witches on the dunes to sirens swimming through the canal system.

Nothing in the Netherlands was safe from the darkness threatening to consume anyone who crossed our villain's path.

...

Fated Mated Forbidden, the final episode: Pre-Order now for 99c

Official Launch: May 15, 2026

From HarperCollins/Harlequin author Becky Wicks...

Lars van der Meer has been watching me for months. I've been investigating his world even longer. We were always going to destroy each other. I just didn't expect to fall in love with him first.

I've spent years documenting the supernatural underbelly of Amsterdam, and my latest podcast is about to expose the van der Meers for who they really are. It’s...

It started as an experiment. A professional exercise, even. I write romance novels for a living, which means I spend a considerable amount of time inside the heads of women who are effortlessly magnetic, instinctively brave, and perpetually on the verge of being backed against a wall by someone with excellent bone structure.

I wanted to know what that felt like in practice (ahem!)

So for one week, I committed to living like a romance heroine. I would be that woman... the one things happen to,...

There is a version of me that the internet knows and it's built entirely from search queries, late-night rabbit holes, and increasingly specific questions that made complete sense in context and would make absolutely no sense to anyone else.

Weird stuff, you know?

If my search history were ever subpoenaed, I would very likely need a very expensive lawyer.

The explanation "I write romance novels" doesn't always help.

Here, in the spirit of transparency and solidarity with every writer who has...

People romanticise the writing process a LOT. They imagine authors at charming desks, gazing thoughtfully out of rain-streaked windows, occasionally sipping exotic tea while the words flow like poetry from their fingertips.

Those people have never written a book.

The truth is that writing a novel is an emotional odyssey that can be accurately tracked through what you are putting in your mouth at any given stage. I have written enough books to confirm this is a universal pattern.

It goes...

Every great love story has an unlikely beginning. I have definitely written my fair share of them.

But moving here from Britain was less of a smooth romantic montage and more of a slow-burn where I spent the first few years bewildered by the language and penchant for raw herring snacks, and the rest of the time bewildered by absolutely everything else.

I am an expat living life in the Netherlands. And here's what that means dealing with.

The Cycling

Let me be clear, I grew up riding bikes. I...

There's a version of my life where I sit down at my desk each morning, coffee brewed and steaming, fingers poised over the keyboard, and write 2,000 words in peaceful, uninterrupted flow.

My cockapoo, Ziggy, has never once allowed that version to exist.

For those who don't know, Ziggy is my fur-baby. She's spoilt rotten and sweet as can be. But she also operates with the singular conviction that any moment I spend not looking at her is a personal insult. She manages to totally dismantle my...

Let's set the scene.

You're standing side of stage. The crowd is deafening. The lights are blinding. And he... all leather jacket, smudged eyeliner, and the kind of cheekbones that should be illegal in several continents... looks across the chaos and finds your eyes like you're the only person in the room.

Fifty thousand people are screaming around you. He sees only you.

Is it realistic? Absolutely not. Do we care? We do not.

But here's the thing about rockstar romance that doesn't get enough...