The Mills & Boon family were extremely sad this weekend to learn of the death of a true legend and friend, Jackie Collins. Her words, plus notorious friendliness and down to earth nature, have helped to inspire many of the UK’s favourite writers over the years.

We have a very special memory of Jackie. In 2013, Mills & Boon’s Racy Reads competition, run by ITV’s Lorraine show, saw Jackie Collins as one of the guest judges.  Author Anouska Knight won a publishing contract with Mills & Boon and a trip to L.A. to meet Jackie Collins herself.  Anouska was bowled over by meeting her and Jackie subsequently loved Anouska’s debut novel Since You’ve Been Gone.

‘A thrilling debut from an exciting young author’ — Jackie Collins

Some writers, including Anouska, who’ve been lucky enough to meet Jackie Collins in the past left touching messages over the weekend:

Rosie also tells us:

“I feel extremely lucky to have spent some time with Jackie Collins just a few weeks ago when I interviewed her for HELLO! magazine at her sumptuous home in Beverly Hills. Little did I realise then, just how poignant that interview would be. Jackie was full of energy, laughter and captivating stories and she promoted her latest book with great passion and enthusiasm. She has always been a hero of mine – and she absolutely lived up to my hopes. When we discussed losing her two husbands to cancer and her coping mechanism, she said: ‘I think you should celebrate people’s lives, because we’re all going to go sometime.’ That’s exactly what I’ll be doing.”

We’ll be re-reading all our Jackie Collins novels with even fonder memories from now on, and feeling Lucky to have known her.

Please do pop onto our Twitter feed to share some Jackie Collins love.

By The Mills & Boon team