Rachel Dove talks us through her first week of being a published author.

On Thursday 21st April, I woke up and got the kids ready as normal, driving them to school and going to do the weekly shop. The difference was that this week, perusing the book aisle as I always did, I would find my own book, on the top shelf with the other new releases. That kicked off a week that I will never forgot, on top of an unbelievable year.

Since winning the Prima Flirty Fiction competition to be the next Mills & Boon author, my feet haven’t touched the ground. In publication week I was in the local and national media in newspapers and on the radio; social media, bloggers and the public were out in force, reading, buying, reviewing and congratulating me on the book, and I came home from the school run to bunches of flowers, cards, and bottles of fizz.

Strangers congratulated me on the internet and even in person. My mother cried a lot and my children were slightly amused by the whole experience. My husband arranged a surprise night out with my family, and even had a cake made that looked like a stack of The Chic Boutique!

People were even asking me about my next book, and when and where they could buy it! I will never forget how I felt seeing my book on the shelves in ASDA and WhSmith, how amazing it was to be on the radio and how lovely it is when someone contacts you to tell you how much they enjoyed your book.

People really loved the story, and is the best part of all. I am so grateful to Prima magazine for running this competition, for giving wannabe authors like me the chance to make our dreams come true. I have read Mills & Boon since I was probably too young to read them (!) and to write a book for them is beyond thrilling. They have been amazing from start to finish and Anna Baggaley was a pleasure to work with.

Publication week is over now, and the book is out there in the world, but I haven’t come back to earth yet and I can’t see it happening any time soon! Thank you to everyone for making this journey so magical. I just can’t wait to see what happens next. 

The Chic Boutique on Baker Street is available now! Be sure to follow Rachel on Twitter, Facebook, and her website. 

By The Mills & Boon team