Spotlight & Giveaway: The Venice Reunion Arrangement by Michelle Douglas

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Michelle Douglas to HJ!

Hi Michelle and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Venice Reunion Arrangement!

 
Thanks so much! It’s fabulous to be here.
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Hallie is shocked when ex-fiancé Lucas approaches her to request she paint his family’s portrait. Seven years ago she broke his heart and she knows he’ll never forgive her. Seeing him again after so long hurtles her back to the past, churning up unresolved emotions. But spending time with Lucas might be exactly what she needs to finally lay the past to rest and convince her she made the right decision all of those years ago.

Lucas never wanted to see Hallie again. But when his dying grandfather begs Lucas to convince Hallie to paint their family’s portrait, he has no choice but to ask her to come to Venice. Even though he knows his grandfather has matchmaking on his mind. He and Hallie don’t have a future together. If only their chemistry had died along with their engagement seven years ago!
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

I found this scene both dramatic and heartwarming (as this snippet shows):

‘Your timing is perfect.’ He’d always been lucky like that. ‘Those two weeks are supposed to be the annual leave I finally ordered myself to take this year for the first time in forever.’
‘Your…’
‘I’ve deliberately kept my workload light in the weeks leading up to it.’ She turned the page to display the following month. ‘As you can see, that’s more than made up for in June.’
He muttered something in Italian that sounded like a curse. One long finger tapped against the wooden tabletop. She’d always teased him about his hands, had told him they were the hands of an artist not a businessman. He’d always shot back with, Business is an artform.
‘You’d give up your holiday for…?’
Him? She shook her head. ‘Enrico is the dearest man alive. He was always very kind to me.’ She’d do it for Enrico.
His gaze snapped away to stare out the window at the plane tree plush with summer green. ‘He adored you.’
It had been mutual. It’d be good to see him again.
Lucas muttered another imprecation that had her eyebrows lifting.
‘I need to warn you that there’s more. He is…’
She leaned towards him, trying to decipher what lay behind the twist of his lips and the dark shadows that gathered in his eyes. Her fingers curled into her palms. Did Lucas mean that Enrico was emaciated? That he looked terribly ill and frail…was wasting away?
She rubbed a hand across her chest. Enrico was dying. He must be all of those things. ‘Lucas?’
‘He’s playing matchmaker. That’s what’s behind this scheme of his to have you paint the family portrait. He’ll say it’s because he holds you in great esteem, that he believes you’re the reason I found the family.’
Not to toot her own horn, but she was.
‘But what he really wants is for you and me to reunite.’
Two opposing desires gripped her. The first was to laugh. Oh, Enrico… The idea was absurd. Oddly sweet and horribly naive, but utterly absurd. Lucas loathed her and she was never giving him that kind of power over her again.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• I took a little bit of poetic license in the telling of the story… At one point Hallie and Lucas play water polo. Venice doesn’t have a water polo team in the national Italian water polo league—not in real life—but they do in my book, LOL.
• Originally Hallie’s name was Casey. I love the name Casey (and I will use it one day), but it just never rang true for this heroine. Hallie, however, was perfect.
• The setting of Venice was the very first narrative element I settled on for this story. I’d always wanted to set a book there and after watching Francesco da Mosto’s Francesco’s Venice (and then his Italy Top to Toe, and Mediterranean Voyage) I was determined that my very next book would be set in Venice.
• The songs I listened to the most while I was writing this book was Taylor Swift’s We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together and Cher’s If I Could Turn Back Time and they became anthems for the story.

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

Lucas is shocked by how physically aware he still is of Hallie—he finds everything about her physically desirable. On another level, though, he’s also attracted to her self-sufficiency and how she stands up to him.

For Hallie, it’s Lucas’s voice that initial has her melting, and then the combination of his vulnerability and his love for his family. He would do anything for the people he loves.

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

The dance scene was a lot of fun to write and certainly had me fanning my face:

The music had finished, but Lucas kept whirling her around as if trying to wrong-foot her. As if the dance had become a battle. She gritted her teeth. He’d need to try harder. A new song started. Sparks flew from their eyes, and she imagined that they flew from their feet as well.
‘Your teacher was a good one.’
She could barely keep up with him, but he was also a very good partner. He wanted to put her through her paces, punish her for starting this, perhaps, but he wouldn’t let her come to any harm.
His chin took on an arrogant tilt that had her mouth drying. It shouldn’t be sexy. It shouldn’t be.
‘But I’m a better one.’ And then he transitioned them into a slow and sultry rumba to suit the slower pop song—a love song.
Her every instinct told her to wrest herself out of his arms and run. She didn’t want to dance this dance with him. It was too provocative. But to flee now would be to admit defeat. And that was out of the question.
So when he moved with a flagrant masculine possessiveness, she angled her hips and chest towards him and mirrored his movements, undulating her hips with an equally flagrant feminine sensuality. She gasped when one strong thigh slipped between her legs, nudging her in places. That move hadn’t been in any of the lessons she’d taken!
Fine, if he could improvise and make moves up…
She arched her breasts and throat in a silent invitation that made his eyes darken. The dance was a dark, teasing temptation that made her ache and unleashed a deep craving in her blood.
And despite the derision he could inject into his voice, and the scorn he could fire at her from his eyes, she could see that he wanted her, too. With the same hunger he always had. The fire between them when they were younger had been exciting, a revelation, a delight.
Now, though, it was all anger, antipathy, grief. It could bring neither of them anything but pain.
And pleasure, a little voice whispered through her. So much pleasure.
The movement of the dance brought their bodies close; their hips touched, and they stuttered to a halt. The music flowed all around them, their chests rising and falling from their exertions, their eyes locked.

Readers should read this book….

If they love intense and emotional reads, and enjoy second-chance and soulmate tropes.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

My next release is Tempted By Her Best Friend Billionaire on 29 July. And I’ve just finished the first draft of my latest book, which is due on my editor’s desk halfway through May (it has a working title of Cinderella’s Grumpy Billionaire).
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: The winner will receive a signed paperback copy of The Venetian Reunion Arrangement (open internationally).

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Which do you prefer–romances where the hero and heroine already know each other, or where they’re complete strangers at the beginning of the story?

 
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Excerpt from The Venice Reunion Arrangement:

Lucas has just successfully bid on a two-hour portrait sketch of Hallie at a charity auction. They’ve not seen each other in seven years—this is their first meeting.

The refrain Lucas is here, Lucas is here, Lucas is here, went round and round in her mind.
What was he doing in Sydney? Bidding on a sketch? From her? For a hundred thousand dollars!
Recalling the look on his face the last time she’d seen him, she had to suppress a shiver. He’d said he’d hoped to never clap eyes on her again. And he’d meant it.
He wasn’t here to make peace; of that she was certain. He’d never forgive her for walking away from him. When she’d walked away, he’d have excised her from his heart and mind with the same brutal efficiency he was known for in business circles. A hard ball lodged in her stomach. He’d always had more important things on his mind than her.
So what was he doing at a charity ball? Bidding on a two-hour portrait sketch from her?
The question plagued her, but as the emcee introduced the next item up for auction—a pretty diamond bracelet—and the bidding began, she couldn’t very well leave her table to go and ask him. What were the protocols once the auction was over? Should she approach him and thank him for his support, or should she wait for him to approach her?
Good Lord, what was she thinking? Neither of those things would eventuate. Lucas would leave when the official part of the evening was over and the dancing began. He’d leave her hanging like he always had. It had been his MO seven years ago, and she couldn’t see that having changed in the intervening years.
That realisation made her pulse slow even as her heart gave a sick kick of recognition. Her questions wouldn’t be answered this evening. Lucas would make an appointment for the sitting when he was ready. She’d find out what this was all about then. Not a moment sooner.
So when the official part of the evening drew to a close, she refused to so much as glance towards Lucas’s table; refused to watch her expectations be fulfilled as he stalked from the room. Not that she had much opportunity to glance anywhere. She was swamped with well-wishers congratulating her on receiving such a high sum for her sketch. The charity organisers, utterly delighted, attempted to get her to sign on the dotted line for next year’s auction while euphoria ran hot in her veins—if only they knew the truth!—and the gossips wanted to see if they could squirrel some tasty tidbit from her.
Did she know that Lucas Quinn was ridiculously wealthy, that he’d built a financial empire through innovations in nanotechnology, that he lived in a palazzo in Venice, that he was insanely good-looking?
Yes, she did, thank you. Not that she said as much, just smiled and nodded and made the appropriate noises at the appropriate intervals. She blew out a long breath when the crowd around her finally thinned, and she surreptitiously glanced at her watch.
‘I’m afraid it’s a little early to be racing off home and curling up with a good book. Especially when you’re one of the stars of the evening.’
The voice came from directly behind her and all the fine hairs at her nape lifted. Her breasts prickled with a sudden surge of awareness.
Behave like an adult.
Pasting on a smile, she turned. ‘Hello, Lucas.’ She wondered if she should add, ‘It’s nice to see you.’ He’d see through that, though. But for form’s sake… The man had just forked over a hundred thousand dollars to charity.
For a portrait sketch. For two hours of her time. It made no sense.
‘You’re surprised to see me. Shocked even.’
His voice held a hint of an Italian accent that hadn’t been there when they’d been engaged. In the same way, she supposed, her Australian accent had lost the hint of English brogue it had once had. ‘To the core,’ she agreed, and had to suppress a shiver at the savage satisfaction that briefly lit those dark eyes.
He didn’t say Good, but it was written there for her to see, and she read the subtext. Because he wanted her to. He wasn’t here to reignite their old romance.
Did he really think her guilty of harbouring such hopes?
‘It would be polite of me to ask you to dance, but…’
She raised an eyebrow.
He shrugged. ‘You never could dance.’
Some sixth sense told her he wasn’t trying to be offensive, but it was clear he was finding politeness difficult to achieve. For some reason, that gave her heart. ‘And clearly, dancing with me is the last thing you want to do.’
‘The very last,’ he agreed and then frowned, chagrin chasing through his eyes, and it almost made her laugh.
Lucas had always held himself to impossibly high standards. He might want her to know that he took no joy in seeing her. He might want her to know he had no interest in her whatsoever. But he wouldn’t want to lose his cool. He wouldn’t want to look anything but calm and collected.
And she would act like an adult if it killed her. ‘Thank you for your very generous support of tonight’s charity. The organisers are thrilled.’
Firm lips pursed. ‘Suicide prevention was always a cause close to your heart.’
She’d confided to him her doubts surrounding her mother’s death. Her mother had been smart in so many ways, but not when it had come to her love life. Hallie had no intention of making the same mistake.
Lucas didn’t move away. Something throbbed behind the darkness of his eyes. He had something he wanted to say, and she wanted a drink. ‘If you don’t want to dance then perhaps you’d like a drink?’ She gestured towards the bar.
He swept an arm out in front of him. ‘Lead the way.’
It took every ounce of poise she had to keep her movements smooth. But she was aware of the way the silk of her dress slid against her skin as she walked, an enticing warmth spreading from the centre of her belly and radiating outwards.
They reached the bar and she had to lock her knees to stop them from shaking when the smoky spice of his aftershave wrapped around her. She ordered a glass of champagne. He requested a whiskey sour. In the old days they’d have ordered pints of bitter.
He stared into his glass with lowered brows. She burned to know why he was here, but refused to ask. Instead, she lifted her glass in his direction. ‘I believe congratulations are in order.’
An eyebrow rose. ‘Because I won your portrait sitting?’
‘No, Lucas,’ she said gently. ‘It’s been seven years since I saw you, but in that time you’ve achieved everything you set out to—beyond even your wildest imaginings. I know how hard you’ve worked. Congratulations on your success.’
She couldn’t read his expression. Very slowly, he lifted his glass and touched it to hers. ‘Do your insides now burn with regrets?’
Said insides scrunched up tight. ‘For?’
‘Knowing that if you’d had the patience and fortitude all of it could have been yours, too?’
Fortitude? For a moment she gaped at him. She’d had a miscarriage for God’s sake! Had he really expected to snap his fingers and make all her grief just disappear? A grief he’d never shared, though he’d been careful to hide that fact.
In that moment, she found some of the closure she needed to put this man behind her forever. She knew exactly what she was going to do. She was going to start a list. She’d record all the reasons why walking away had been a good idea seven years ago. She’d keep it somewhere handy where she’d see it every day. And the first item on that list was going to be Lucas considered my miscarriage a blessing in disguise. Second item would be his bitterness.
It was seven years ago. Let it go, bro!
And it was time to take her own advice.
Face it, woman. When it came to Lucas, you dodged a bullet.
She started to laugh with the relief of it. ‘Oh, but of course, Lucas,’ she said with a mocking tilt of her head. ‘Every single day. When I wake in the morning it’s my first thought, and my last thought when I turn in again at night. I’ve not had a moment’s peace.’
Shaking her head and still chuckling quietly, she waved her fingers at him and turned to leave.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

A DIAMOND DEAL WITH THE ITALIAN

When artist Hallie is hired by her ex, millionaire Lucas, to paint a family portrait, she’s determined not to mix business with pleasure. But she’s unable to ignore Lucas in the confines of his luxurious Venetian palazzo, and their still-sizzling attraction threatens to resurface… So when Lucas changes the terms of their arrangement, asking Hallie to be his fake fiancée in order to fulfill his grandfather’s dying wish, she can’t say no. But while Hallie can’t erase the heartbreak of their past, can Lucas tempt her with a new future together—one that isn’t just for show?
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Meet the Author:

Michelle Douglas is a is an award-winning author who has been writing for iconic romance publisher Mills & Boon since 2007, and believes she has the best job in the world. In 2019 she completed a Creative Writing PhD in Popular Romance and Feminism. She’s a sucker for happy endings, heroines who have a secret stash of chocolate, and heroes who know how to laugh. She lives in a leafy suburb of Newcastle on Australia’s east coast with her own romantic hero, a house full of dust and books, and an eclectic collection of 60s and 70s vinyl.
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