We caught up with the wonderful Lucy King to find out more about her journey to becoming a published author and her new book, Stranded with My Forbidden Billionaire.

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You write for the Mills and Boon Modern series – these contemporary romances are packed with heat, luxury, and alpha heroes. What’s your favourite thing about writing Modern romances?

There are so many great elements to a Modern romance – the emotional intensity, the glamorous settings, the escapism, among others – and I love all of them. But my favourite would be pitting strong-willed characters against each other and throwing them into situations that make them suffer until they crack and fall head over heels in love.

Can you tell us a bit about how you started writing for Mills & Boon?

In my teens, I was a voracious Mills & Boon reader and always wanted to write one of my own, but that didn’t happen until I was in my late-twenties in the early 2000s when I had some time off work. I dashed off fifty thousand words and sent the manuscript in. Unsurprisingly (because it was terrible) it was summarily rejected and at that point I realised I needed to do some research into the genre and find out how to actually write a book.

A couple of years and several more rejections later, I had what I thought was a brilliant idea and started work on it. At around that time, the M&B Feel the Heat contest was launched so I submitted Chapter One and a synopsis and much to my astonishment, I won. My prize was an editor for a year, who bought the finished book, and the rest is history!

What was the inspiration behind your new book, Stranded with My Forbidden Billionaire?

All my books until this one are told in the third person, from a dual character point of view, and I wanted to try a first person story with a heroine only point of view. That leant itself to an idea, which led to my characters having known (and detested) each other for years, so when the heroine has to ask the hero for his financial help with her £108m lottery win sparks fly!

I set it on an island in the Indian Ocean because I was writing it in winter and I fancied some fictional heat, and then sent a tropical storm their way to keep them there.

Our Modern books often feature the workplace romance, surprise baby and playboy boss tropes. Do you have a favourite trope to read and write?

I will read pretty much any trope, but my favourites, both to read and write, are enemies to lovers and the hero being the heroine’s brother’s best friend. In Stranded with My Forbidden Billionaire, happily I managed to incorporate both.

What does your writing routine typically look like?

My writing routine isn’t so much a routine as periods of whole days when I’m free to write followed by periods of frantically scrabbling around for time. With two kids at school, I’m pretty disciplined during the term, but in the holidays (of which there seem to be a LOT) I have to grab time when and where I can find it.

Besides that, I tend to faff about quite a bit in the beginning while I get to know my characters, and then as the deadline looms I switch up a gear and hit a lot of early mornings before anyone else is up. But I do wish I was more efficient!

Your books often take place in diverse, international settings. Do you have a favourite setting to write about?

Not really. I love finding out about new and interesting places – for one book I discovered some incredible salt flats in Bolivia, for another, it was the gorgeous Greek islands. Having said that, because I spent my twenties in London, I do enjoy setting stories there.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received?

Finish the book and join the RNA.

What are some of your favourite romantic films/tv shows? Any recommendations?

I will always watch any of the Bridget Jones films if they happen to be on. When the first one came out, she and I were of a similar age and background, and we seemed to be going through the same things at the same time.

I’m also a sucker for Hollywood 50s and 60s romcoms like Pillow Talk, How to Marry a Millionaire, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes etc. I keep trying to get my 10yo to watch my all time favourite, Charade, with me (Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant! The dialogue! Clothes by Givenchy!) but bafflingly, she’s not remotely interested.

What’s in your TBR pile at home?

So many books, and they stay there for years because there’s always a new Regency romance to sink into.

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Stranded with My Forbidden Billionaire by Lucy King

By Lauren Gardiner