At Mills & Boon, we understand how important romance books are to readers. They provide an hour or two of much needed escape from reality and immerse readers into exotic and lavish new worlds. They also showcase strong female characters who go out and get what they want in life. Which is exactly what Amy, a fierce PR Specialist does in Ways to Ruin a Royal Reputation by Dani Collins. Read more in Dani’s letter to readers as she talks about the power of romance…

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When I began dreaming of a career as a romance author, I was simply drawn to writing romance. I adored sexy, passionate, emotional roller–coaster stories about couples stumbling into love and living happily ever after. I wanted to write them myself. 

I didn’t realise I would be starting my own business, but along with writing several hours a day, I have to do my accounting and pay taxes and research and study craft. I plan production schedules and update my website and look for marketing opportunities (like blog posts. Hi!)  

I’ve had to learn new skills and make some hard decisions and I have to accept all the responsibility when those decisions don’t turn out the way I hoped.  

The upside is how empowered I’ve felt as I’ve developed my career. I have a voice in a global platform and it’s quite heady when I think about how many people my stories reach.  

That’s humbling, too. And it impresses on me another level of responsibility. What I say in the pages of my books matters.  

Romance is often dismissed as fluff, but as a reader, these stories have always had a profound effect on me. I didn’t consciously realise it, but the consistent message that a woman could dream a dream, overcome adversity and achieve her goal gave me the guts to believe I could become a writer. It gave me the strength to persevere through mountains of rejections, trusting I could one day publish. And I did! (Thank you, Mills & Boon!) 

Romance has empowered me in countless ways. I hope that in some small way, my stories are inspiring the next generation to dream big and believe they can achieve anything they want.  

Being willing to dream big is how my heroine, Amy, in Ways to Ruin a Royal Reputation winds up in London Connection, a P.R. firm she starts with her friends, Bea and Clare. Amy has had a rough go and essentially started from nothing, but now she’s solving problems for celebrities, rock stars, and royalty.  

While she has the power to lift almost anyone out of scandal, King Luca has an odd request. Can she reverse the build and tear him down, just long enough to abdicate and give the crown to his sister?  

Amy takes the job because it’s the sort of commission her business can’t afford to turn down. Like all my favorite romances, she’s busy trying to achieve her best life when the most infuriatingly sexy man forces her to consider whether she will give up on her aspirations for him. Is it ever possible to have it all?  

Amy succeeds a little too well in her task. Along with ruining Luca’s reputation, she destroys her own good name. But, like all resilient women, she finds a way to bounce back. I hope you’ll enjoy how she pushes past adversity and not only repairs her career, but finds Happily Ever After with the man she loves.  

Do you love reading about powerful women? Be sure to check out the rest of the Signed, Sealed…Seduced trilogy by two of my favorite and fabulous fellow authors, Cinderella’s Night in Venice, by Clare Connelly and The Playboy’s “I Do” Deal, by Tara Pammi.  

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Ways to Ruin a Royal Reputation by Dani Collins is out now!

By Lauren Gardiner