Author's Note - The Royal Marriage Arrangement
By Rebecca Winters
Dear Reader,
Years ago a Londoner named Jule Styne wrote the song “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.” Marilyn Monroe, the legendary Hollywood film star, sang it and made it so famous that today the American Film Institute has named it one of the ten most notable songs in history.
When Harlequin asked me to write a story for its Diamond Jubilee, this song kept running through my mind. Pretty soon I could picture a famous film star who suddenly dies with a lot of bills owing. Luckily she has a fortune in diamond necklaces and bracelets given to her by her former husbands, be they sheikhs or royals. Her only daughter, Alexandra, has the responsibility of clearing those debts, and travels to New York to sell the diamonds at the House of Savoy, where the world-famous Ligurian heart-shaped green diamond of Castlemare is on display. Her unexpected brush with security leads from one astounding surprise to another, changing her life.
I don’t want to give away the secrets of The Royal Marriage Arrangement, except to tell you that in the end, diamonds really do turn out to be a girl’s best friend. Alexandra’s story is living proof.
Enjoy!
Rebecca Winters