I have a thing for views. Three nights in a Lighthouse keeper’s cottage with two like-minded souls at Smoky Cape passed in a blur of writing, beams of light, and perhaps a few glasses of wine. But what about the view?

There with my writing friends, from rt. Amy Andrews, HMB Medicals Romance; Kelly Hunter, Harlequin Modern Extra; and me. You can just see Hat Head in the distance but what a beach. Can you see the chair to the left? Think sunset and a glass of bubbles.

The most amazing thing was at night we sat directly under the lighthouse above the sea and the beams swung out over the waves. When you leaned back and looked up, the lighthouse roof looked like a space ship with rotating beams, three beams, 3 seconds, three beams, 3 seconds, you get the picture.

We’re all dressed up here because my husband has dropped in to take us out to dinner at Geppy’s, an Italian restaurant that overlooks the beach and boulders at South West Rocks. A fabulous evening with fabulous food. Then he dropped us home again and left us to it. What a hero!

The B&B is decked out with beautiful four poster beds and authentic furnishings as well as lots of lighthouse memorabillia. And the home cooked breakfast, with tropical fruit and yoghurt is to die for. Sound like an advertisement. I can’t help myself. They have about forty weddings a year here and I can see why. It’s already in one book but I can see more lighthouses to come.

And to finish off I’ve added a piccie from Valentine’s Day at Port Macquarie. This photo taken my my husband, Ian, from the balcony of our room. It was such a romantic place to be on Valentine’s. We made up a lovely platter of cold meat and cheese and lots of fresh fruit and just enjoyed it from our room.

That’s all for this week. It’s turned chilly today, the second day of autumn down-under, and I’ve the first cardigan of the year on. So keep warm, keep dry and if in doubt snuggle up with a book. By the way, MIDWIFE IN A  MILLION, is out now. The first of my Kimberleys of Western Australia, books, and I can’t wait to hear what you think. Warmest regards and happy reading

xx Fi

I’m very excited about my first Non-Fiction book, THE LAST MINUTE GUIDE TO BIRTH.

A midwife for twenty five years, I’ve always been passionate about sharing the insights I’ve gained about birth with women and their families.

When a mother-to-be walks into an antenatal class she has some questions she wants to ask first. One of them is “How will I know if I’m in labour?”and there’s heaps of answers after that. This book starts there. If you want an easy to read, last minute guide to those burning questions, I can’t wait to share.

wishing you a wonderful birth

Fiona

I received a lovely early Valentines Day pressy this morning, and it’s even red. My first lovely cataromance reviewers Award for The Midwife’s New-Found Family. The award goes to Misty and Ben’s story from my Lyrebird Lake series of books. Thank you so much to Cataromance for the honour.

And tomorrow my handsome Valentine and I are going to stay in a swish hotel, overlooking the river, with bubbles and chocolates to celebrate. Considering its been a hectic week at work with the joy of catching three babies in the last week as well as some classic moments of unusual interest, the late checkout is appreciated. We don’t give gifts for valentine’s but I have written him a love poem. What are you doing for Valentine’s Day? Whatever you do, smile, and the world smiles with you. I wish you much fun and frivolity and a lotta love. Watch this space because my new webpage is coming (excuse the teething but it will be worth it) and there’ll be plenty to celebrate.

Warm and fuzzies and Happy Valentines from me

xx Fiona

To save a baby -Their gruelling race against time across the rugged Outback to save a patient’s unborn child challenges Kate and Rory physically and emotionally –                                    

So followed a glorious week in the top end of Australia driving in an all-terrain vehicle across rock-strewn rivers, past magnificent escarpments and into the purple sunsets of the Kimberleys. Such fabulous land and fabulous people—that’s where Rory and Kate from ‘Midwife in a Million’ grew up.

Rory had always been Kate’s hero, the one who’d stood up for her in school, the only person who knew the real Kate—not the Outback royalty one. He was there for Kate at her most desperate times…except for the one time she didn’t tell him she needed him. And for the past ten years that secret was enough to destroy what they’d had.

In this book, Kate needs to transfer a young pregnant woman to Perth, through floods and storms and terrible roads, and it’s Rory who arrives to help. This is their journey. I hope you grow to love Kate and Rory as much as I did. They epitomize the strength, determination and humor of the people who live “top end.” I hope, too, that within the following pages you can glimpse the incredible beauty of the Kimberleys that thrilled me.

I wish you happy reading!

Fiona McArthur

by Fiona McArthur

Ten years ago paramedic Rory McIver left home, promising childhood sweetheart Kate Onslow he’d return to make her his bride. But Kate abruptly called off their engagement, and Rory, devastated, stayed away. Now he’s back to ask the woman who broke his heart one simple question—why?

When a medical emergency forces them together, the passion between the old flames reignites! Their grueling race against time across the rugged Outback to save a patient’s unborn child challenges Kate and Rory physically and emotionally. Now is the time for them to confront their past—their future together depends upon it!

EXCERPT

Rory McIver stepped thankfully from the RFDS aircraft he’d hitched a ride with. It hadn’t been one of the smoothest flights he’d ever been on. Maybe he should have driven from Perth but it had been such a hectic couple of weeks that the idea of driving three thousand kilometres on a whim didn’t do it for him.

He bent to scoop a little of the red earth he’d watched pass below his window for hours, let it run through his fingers, then allowed the wind to blow the soil from his palm. He looked around. He never thought he’d return.

Even early in the morning on the airstrip the hot wind wrapped around him like an electric blanket on high, that all enveloping heat that only Western Australia’s Kimberley could offer, a heat he hadn’t felt for ten years and savoured now.

He touched his shirt pocket and gripped the bulkiness of his wallet in that habit he’d acquired since she’d sent the damn letter all that time ago. Enough!

As the plane bumped away on the dirt strip a cattle dog barked and the dog’s lanky owner tipped his finger under his hat in greeting. ‘G’day, Rory. Long time, no see.’

Here was a person who hadn’t changed. ‘Smiley.’ Rory nodded to the cowboy leaning against the battered truck. ‘Good of you to meet me.’ They shook hands and Rory threw his swag in the back where a cloud of red soil smothered it as it landed. He smiled wryly and opened the passenger door against the wind. When the spinning top of a whirly wind tried to climb in with him he wondered about the implications of the strong breeze.

Smiley pushed himself off the truck and slid behind the wheel to start the engine. ‘I wondered how long it would take you after Kate turned up,’ Smiley drawled in that remembered way and drew a smile from Rory until the words sank in.

Rory grimaced. Well, apparently not long. ‘I read in the newspaper that her father’s sick. So she’s been gone a long time, too?’

‘Hmm. Left the same year as you. Went to school in Perth.’ Smiley grunted and let off the handbrake. ‘She’s back to spend time with him but flies down to the station township a few days a week to relieve Sophie.’

Smiley glanced at a small four-wheel drive vehicle under a lean-to in the corner of the paddock and Rory gathered it was Kate’s. ‘She works at the clinic, and delivers the babies that drop in from the camps, as well as emergencies.’ Smiley shook his head. ‘I hear the old man isn’t happy she’s working here at all.’

Seems Lyle Onslow hadn’t changed then. Malignant old sod.

‘Her father was never happy.’

‘He’s dying.’ Smiley turned to look at him and they both thought about that. Lyle was a hard man, and not always fair, but no doubt Saint Peter would sort that one out shortly.

Smiley shrugged the old man’s problems away and slipped another matchstick into his mouth to chew. His lips barely moved but the matchstick danced at the edge of his lips in a skill passed down from Smiley’s father. It brought back the good memories for Rory and there’d been many of those.

‘So you told her you’re coming?’ Smiley said around the match.

No, Rory thought. He closed his eyes and the sleepless night he’d spent trying to work out how to do that hung heavily behind his lids. ‘Try and keep a damper on that news, mate, until I get a chance.’

Smiley snorted, the closest he came to a laugh. ‘Keep a damper on it? Here?’ Smiley took the match-stick out and pointed it at Rory. ‘The airwaves’ve been hummin’ since your plane left Perth.’

Rory supposed he’d known that—just blocked it out—and he’d have to deal with the fact that he’d broken his promise when he saw her.

When he saw her. He didn’t know how he felt about seeing the woman who’d dumped him after promising to wait. Had never answered his letters. Had apparently been the cause of heartbreak and suffering for his parents, who had shown her nothing but kindness when her mother died.

He needed more time, or would there never be enough time between them? Now he’d almost achieved his life’s goal he’d finally realised he couldn’t move on until he’d settled the past.

‘How’s Sophie?’

Smiley’s sister was the antithesis of her brother. Bubbly and extrovert, she bossed Smiley mercilessly and her dour brother just shrugged. There’d been a time the four of them had done everything together out on the sprawling million acres of Jabiru Station— another thing Kate’s father hadn’t liked, his daughter knocking about with the hired help.

‘Nagging as usual,’ Smiley said but there was pride in his voice and he elaborated, unusual for him, as if he sensed Rory’s need for a change of subject. ‘Now she’s working at the clinic with…’ He shot him a quick glance.

… with Kate, Rory completed in his mind.

‘Anyway, having help means Sophie gets some time off for a change,’ Smiley went on. ‘So she’s good. She’s getting tips on baby-catching, she calls it, and thinkin’ of doing her midwifery.’ He looked back at the road. ‘When do you go back?’

Kate the teacher for Sophie? Of course she’d changed. What did he expect? That she’d still think he, Rory, held the answers to the universe?

‘I’ve a week off. I’ll stay over at the Hilton until RFDS can pick me up in a couple of days.’

The Hilton was the town’s tongue-in-cheek name for the extremely run down boarding house presided over by a tough ex-army nurse, Betty Shultz. Shultzie swore she’d never leave Jabiru Township, then again, Shultzie swore, loudly and often, all the time.

Her Hilton was nothing like the chain of exclusive hotels of the same name; her establishment was bare minimum and held together by pieces of wood nailed over the top of other pieces of wood.

‘How was Charlie’s retirement party?’

‘Good food,’ Smiley said. ‘Don’t suppose you’d want his job?’

After flogging himself to higher and higher levels until last month’s appointment? Volunteer ambulance in the bush instead of Deputy Commissioner of the entire state? Actually, it held some attraction. Back on the road instead of budget meetings and troubleshooting.

‘No. Afraid not.’

They didn’t speak again until they drove past the huge cattle yards on the outskirts and pulled up opposite the rundown hotel in the main street of Jabiru Township, population a hundred and fifty through the week, three hundred—mostly ringers and cowboys—on the weekend. Town, sweet town.

He looked around. A big change from Perth city.

Another whirly wind scooted past Rory as he lifted his swag out of the back and he glanced at the pale sky for the first streaks of cloud. Not yet.

He thumped the roof and Smiley lifted his hand and drove away. Rory watched the truck until it disappeared in a ball of dust and wondered if he could change his mind and ride it back out to the airstrip.

He’d never run from a challenge before. Funny how attractive that thought was right now, but only for a moment.

Well, he’d arrived. He needed to stop making such a big deal of a visit home. It wasn’t as if he had family here any more. He squashed that bitterness away too. The rest—meaning his reaction to Kate— would have to take care of itself.

He looked at the mostly boarded shops in the deserted street. It wasn’t like Kate’s father’s homestead and the home station where he’d grown up, but in the years since he’d been to the commercial part of Jabiru not much had changed.

Except the collateral damage he’d caused to his family by his liaison with Kate.

Kate Onslow was born into the pilot’s seat of an aeroplane; luckily, because it made the distance she needed to cover so ridiculously easy.

The two-hour drive between Jabiru Homestead and Jabiru Township was dust all the way and to fly cut the distance down to twenty minutes. Her greatgrandfather had settled on the station a hundred years ago and when the township had grown exponentially her grandfather had built a new homestead away from the madding crowds. Though a hundred people didn’t seem ‘madding’ to Kate, she could understand the improvement in position for the family headquarters.

The new Jabiru Homestead, many-gabled, encircled by verandas and sprawled over an acre, nestled below a range of ochre mountains that bordered the Timor Sea; the peaks gave water and provided glorious waterholes and a lush rainforest pocket, and all only a short distance from the sparseness around the house.

The old homestead at Jabiru Township that she could see in the distance now from the air, held the hospital clinic, the pharmacy, the one-roomed library of donated books and the garage for the town’s only four-wheel drive ambulance truck.

As she closed in on her destination Kate saw the Royal Flying Doctor plane take off from the town strip and her heart rate dropped in a swoop as if she’d flown through a sudden wind shift, something her aircraft had been doing all flight, but this internal up-draught made her sick to the stomach.

She’d had three radio calls already to tell her Rory McIver was coming to town to see her.

Last month it had been hard enough to come back and face her belligerent father and the reality of his illness but that paled in comparison with Rory’s unexpected visit.

She’d been able to face the idea of coming home because she’d known her father would never change her mind about anything again. But Rory? Once he’d been the world to her.

She would just have to survive this too. Her independence would help her survive it. The sudden sting of threatening tears she ignored—they never came to anything. She hadn’t cried since all that had happened ten years ago and the lies. But the emotional turbulence had started and she hadn’t even seen him. She was a big girl now and not some needy teenager with an adolescent crush on the manager’s son.

Kate took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. Too many years she’d spent telling herself she needed to stand on her own, rely on herself, be strong, and that determination would not be undermined by a man who had been out of her life for a long time. What did he want to see her for now, anyway?

Kate stripped Rory’s intrusion from her mind and concentrated on her descent because that was her strength. Single-minded concentration on what needed to be done. But, as soon as the plane grounded, as soon as room for distraction arrived, the thoughts returned to stick like the plane’s wheels to the ruts on the strip.

She gritted her teeth and secured her aircraft but the worry nagged at her all the way to town in her vehicle. Nagged her through the first half hour at work, right up until sixteen-year-old Lucy Bolton presented with the worst case of indigestion she’d had in her life.

Jabiru Township Clinic serviced the small town set in the baked earth at the edge of the station’s southern mountain ranges, a place that hid lush waterholes and settlements, plus far-flung aboriginal communities and out camps for the station. If the situation was dire, the doctor might be able to fly in once a week—unfortunately he’d been in yesterday.

Kate took one look at Lucy and put her to bed in the four bed ward. ‘Under those covers, young lady. No arguments. Where’s your mother?’

Lucy was a big-boned, hardworking girl whose mother leased one of the four pubs in town from Kate’s father. Usually happy-go-lucky and fun, Kate knew Lucy wasn’t one to complain. They bred them tough out here—had to—it was a long way to twentieth century medicine.

‘Mum’s tired.’ Lucy sat gingerly on the edge of the bed and kicked off her shoes. ‘There was a big outfit in town yesterday and I didn’t want to wake her.’ Lucy sighed as she rested her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes. ‘The queer thing is, Kate,’ she whispered, ‘I haven’t eaten a thing ’cause I feel so rotten, so how can I have indigestion?’

‘That’s not good.’ Kate stared down at the young girl and in a swirl of memories saw herself. ‘Poor you.’ She stroked her hair. She saw the slight puffi-ness around the eyes, the tiredness, that protective maternal hand that crept over her stomach. Her voice dropped. ‘Any chance you’re pregnant, Luce?’

Lucy’s eyes flew open and the sudden fear in the young girl’s face was enough confirmation. Kate sighed under her breath for the loss of youth coming Lucy’s way and a smidgen for the prick of envy. She wished she’d had the sense to ask for help like Lucy had.

Though in Kate’s day Mrs Schulz mightn’t have been as easy to approach as Kate or Sophie would be, even if Kate had been able to get all the way to the township from the home station.

She stroked Lucy’s shoulder. ‘Everything will be fine. I’ll just take your blood pressure, poppet. You don’t look well to me either.’

By the time Kate had done a full physical assessment the window shutters were banging against the walls outside and the howl of the wind was clearly audible. Kate barely noticed it as her concern grew for the young woman in front of her.

The flying doctor would have to come back and pick her up because there was no way she could manage Lucy here. And there was no way she wanted to because she knew what it could cost.

This is my first Western Australia Book set in the Kimberley Ranges and holds a special place for me.

I had the best fun exploring the Kimberleys for research. My eldest and middle sons and I hired a four wheel drive vehicle and covered some dusty and spectacular miles. Just like Kate and Rory did when they raced their patient to help in Midwife In  A Million. North Western Australia is certainly an inspiring place. I’d love to hear any thoughts you have when you read it.

Happy New Year and Happy New Decade but lets talk about the old for a moment.

What an amazing last ten years it’s been. Full of tragedies and triumphs in the world and we’ve all been impacted like never before by distant events to our own tiny circles thanks to digital technology. The fact that it was a new decade escaped me until the last moment and suddenly I was looking back. What about you? Did you look back at the last ten years and say, ‘WOW! Where did that go?’

On a personal level, ten years ago I had a five year old son and four young teenage boys, we hadn’t even started the learner driver scene. And both my parents were there to hug. My husband and I were consolidating, working hard, juggling the boy’s school and sport on each other’s days off,  like millions of people do every day as they bring up their kids. Just goes to show you have to be thankful and enjoy every minute ’cause those memories are digital now, too.

In 2000 I sold my first book after a previous decade of never finishing one, and since then have written twenty medical romance novels for Harlequin Mills and Boon and even had my first Romantic Book Of  The Year nomination from RWAus. Juggling harder, my life took off in a whole other world of  writing, conferences, and travel that I’d only dreamed was possible, but the most amazing and fabulous thing about this journey is the friendships formed along the way.

Generous advice and support from other writers, wonderful feedback from readers, editorial guidance, unexpected bookstore friendships and support from librarians (Hi Lynne from Wellington, Ohio, and the amazing contact with people I’ve met at conferences and on loops and chats. Technology is certainly amazing and while I’m no whizz I do love the ease of contact in this decade and can’t wait to see what’s next.

One of life's precious moments.

With the older boys gone onto their own lives, this decade I get to savour my time with the youngest, revel in my two granddaughters like I was blessed to on Christmas Eve, and enjoy the fact I don’t have to rise at 5am to get my words down. Darn shame I keep waking up early, though.

But somethings haven’t changed. The warmth from holding hands and sharing a sunset with the man you love, the delight as you see your new book for the first time in real life, the deep inhalation of a fragrant rose or the feel of a friend’s incredible quilt she’s fashioned from tiny threads. Or from my other life as a midwife the joy of sharing birth with a woman and her family, we had a ten pound five boy the other night near midnight, did I mention I think women are awesome?  In fact LIFE is amazing. And I’m thankful.

So I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all the pleasures and the joy and lots of love in 2010 and the future.

xx Fiona

I love the smiles of Christmas

On the Christmas Theme because I love it.

Have just sent off my twentieth book to my editor, and a big sigh as I drop my shoulders. The house is a mess, the Christmas shopping is looking pretty thin, and the wasps have built a heap of nests I’d love to shift before Christmas. But the granddaughters have put up the decorations, crooked and clumpy, and I love it.

I’m on holidays and I’ve just finished my first Italian hero so that’s a fab thing.  Gianni’s  a fish out of water in Lyrebird Lake and it’s been fun. And I’m learning Italian which I’m absolutely loving. I play the audio tapes from the library in my car on the way to work every morning and despite my atrocious accent I can understand enough to be able to add, subtract, and ask your name – all in Italian. What a great language. When I get really good I’m going to try and read one of my own copies in the Italian translation (‘cause at least I can guess a bit) and then I’ll be hunting down my friends books. Can anyone read Italian? I’m giving away an Italian copy of one of my books as well as the competition.  Just send a contact Fiona form from my webpage and mention this blog at fionamcarthur.com

Tomorrow I’m off to Brisbane (485 kms Google maps tells me) early tomorrow morning to see the gorgeous KEITH URBAN in concert with my youngest son tomorrow night. I’m so excited. Has anybody seen him in concert?

Then picking up my lovely mother-in-law the next day to come home. May turned eighty-five and just laughs at the mess in my house and the troops that pass through it. After Christmas I’m camping with my fifteen-year old and my two little granddaughters so that will be fun. If 2010 turns out to be half as good as 2009 for me then I can’t wait.

My other good news is I’ve sold my first non-fiction Last Minute Little Birth Book to Penguin Australia. To come out late next year it’s a very simple, very quick guide for those who left it too late for heavy study before labour and my friends tell me it sounds just like me talking to my young mums in antenatal classes. I absolutely LOVED writing it so wish me luck for that one. I’m very excited about it.

That’s it from me, have to rush off like a chook with my head cut off, and try and make order out of chaos. Excuse the copy of this on eharl as haven’t time for webpage fixing. Keep well, keep reading and most of all keep happy for Christmas and 2010

Best wishes for the festive season to all

Love Fi

There’s a cute real event behind this story – I met a lovely mum in maternity one night who’s 4 year old son tripped around two streets home from his aunty’s  in the middle of the night. His mum was booked to have her labour induced early the next morning but hadn’t left for the hospital when she heard the gate open. Can’t imagine how scared the little boy was.

For those readers I’ve re-posted the info on how to find the free downloads if you scroll to the bottom of the page.

MIDWIFE IN A MILLION, my first outback Australia book set in the KIMBERLEY’S of Western Australia hits the shelves in the UK on the 5th February and Australia and North America in March. I’m so excited about this book, the first of my two Kimberley books because the landscape and the people grabbed my heart when I visited in May this year.

Well, my husband and I went to ther MELBOURNE CUP horse race this year.

Dressed for the Cup. Check out the Fascinator!

This is something we’ve wanted to do for a long time and finally made it. Of course the incentive was our anniversary and a BIG birthday for me this month.

The seats at the racecourse were up in the sky but WHAT A VIEW!

To make it all even more exciting we actually travelled to Melbourne on a 6 night cruise. Here’s the view as we left Sydney.

Pretty Cool, I thought. Actually it became a tad chilly but Oh so worth standing on the bow of Pacific Dawn to watch the harbour glide by. I forgot to do the TITANIC pose that Carol Marinelli asked for.

CONGRATULATIONS to CATHY B. who won the first three Lyrebird Lake books in our HAPPY WEDDING ANNIVERSARY draw.

It’s been fun but that’s all for this month. I’m hard at it finishing Emma’s Story in Lyrebird Lake. I’m afraid Emma’s found a man who certainly needs some healing by the mystical Lyrebird. And its’ back to work tomorrow night. Hoping for lots of lovely babies to come in for me to catch. Follow me at FiCatchesBabies on Twitter.

Happy reading and have a great month

love Fiona

Great news. Download my free eBook today, The Midwife’s Little Miracle. I love this book. There’s another nine books from other authors to download if you have fun. And it’s all free for a year.

Mills and Boon’s eBook sales arm in the UK are celebrating their first birthday of eBooks. While for some they’ll never replace the feel of a book in your hand, the idea of a backlit small screen where I can choose the size of the font, have no light needed to annoy my husband, and holds a big fistful of novels in my bed – isn’t too scary.

To try the feel of an eBook (excuse the pun), you can easily download to your computer.

To read eBooks on your computer you need a program like:

• Adobe – Digital Editions (Runs on Windows and Mac OSX, and can open .epub files)
  OR
• Calibre eBook Management (Runs on Windows, Mac OSX and Linux and can open .epub and .mobi files)

The Midwife’s Little Miracle.epub (you will need Adobe Digital Editions or Calibre eBook Management or a similar program that can read .epub eBook files)

The Midwife’s Little Miracle.mobi (you will need Calibre eBook Management or a similar program that can read .mobi eBook files)

The eBook is on a special site set up by Mills and Boon for the ten books they are offering. One from each line of romance and of course mine is from the Medical Romance Line. So enjoy.

everyonesreading.com

There’s an interesting discussion on ebooks and e-readers at http://community.eharlequin.com/content/medical-authors-group-blog – look for the photo of my colourful scarf in New Zealand

Mills and Boon’s eBook sales arm in the UK are celebrating their first birthday of eBooks. While for some they’ll never replace the feel of a book in your hand, the idea of a backlit small screen where I can choose the size of the font, have no light needed to annoy my husband, and holds a big fistful of novels in my bed – isn’t too scary.

To try the feel of an eBook (excuse the pun), you can easily download to your computer.

To read eBooks on your computer you need a program like:

• Adobe – Digital Editions (Runs on Windows and Mac OSX, and can open .epub files)
  OR
• Calibre eBook Management (Runs on Windows, Mac OSX and Linux and can open .epub and .mobi files)

The Midwife’s Little Miracle.epub (you will need Adobe Digital Editions or Calibre eBook Management or a similar program that can read .epub eBook files)

The Midwife’s Little Miracle.mobi (you will need Calibre eBook Management or a similar program that can read .mobi eBook files)

The eBook is on a special site set up by Mills and Boon for the ten books they are offering. One from each line of romance and of course mine is from the Medical Romance Line. So enjoy.

everyonesreading.com

There’s an interesting discussion on ebooks and e-readers at http://community.eharlequin.com/content/medical-authors-group-blog – look for the photo of my colourful scarf in New Zealand

Fellow Medical author Alison Roberts

(Hot shot Surgeon, Cinderella Bride, HMB Medical Aug 09) home country of New Zealand. Such a heartwrenchingly beautiful country – no wonder she writes such gorgeous books.

We drove down to Akaroa Harbour and I loved the little waterside township of Akaroa with all its French influences and scenery.

On the road scenery

Tiny bays, larger bays, and always soaring peaks and rocky outcrops. And sheep.

Alison’s dog, Molly, loves riding in the car. She’s a wind-in-her-hair kinda girl.  We drove west over gorgeous farm land and back over the mountains  to the spectacular view over Christchurch. As a person who lives in a very temperate zone, 15 -25 degrees celsius most of the time, it was very exciting to see snow on the far Alps.  Short trips are great,  and then again it was lovely to be back with my DH in my own bed and back into my writing. But now I have to slip off to work, Well Women’s Clinic today, so take care, keep well

and look after you

 warmest wishes

Fi

Now, this morning, under a deepening blue sky I can see a fluffyblack baby water turkey hop across the tops of waterlillies to follow his mum and dad. Babies everywhere. And you all know how much I love babies.

Yep. Love Spring. New beginnings, new life, new people to meet, friendships to make, and for me a new book to start. Emma’s Story. For those who’ve read any of my Lyrebird Lake maternity books – there’s one out this month, Pregnant Midwife Father Needed- fabulous little Emma has been in them all.

It’s Emma’s time to shine and show us the amazing woman I know she is. And she’s got a lot on her plate. Her mum’s disease is progressing, and she’s returned home to Lyrebird Lake. Now her daughter is asking why can’t she have a dad like all the kids at school as Emma carries the secret she believes no man can love.  But I need to get to page one, chapter one and start listening to what she has to say. But before I go…

Congratulations to Margaret Lawson of Canada who’s won a copy of  Pregnant Midwife Father Needed. I really hope you enjoy Mia’s story, Margaret.

In celebration of spring, I have a new competition starting today that will run until the 25th October. That’s my wedding anniversay and the prize is all three of my published Lyrebird Lake books in a romance pack to mark that important day in my life.

My hero and I have been married for 29 years this year and he still makes my heart skip a beat and feel warm inside when I catch sight of him unexpectedly. Like magic. Can you tell I watched Sleepless In Seattle with him last night?

Wishing a wonderful spring to all the lovers and the lovers of romance out there at this beautiful time of the year.

warmest wishes

Fiona

Lyrebird Lake Maternity
Every day brings a miracle…

Release dates

UK – August 2009. Buy PREGNANT MIDWIFE: FATHER NEEDED on MillsandBoon.co.uk now
Australia – September 2009.

Single and pregnant –
she’s about to be rescued!
Rescue medic Angus Campbell never fails to meet difficult situations head on. But bonding with his
new-found son needs more than professional training – it needs his heart and his time. His childhood home, Lyrebird Lake, is the best place to find both of those things…
Pregnant midwife Mia is expecting a new arrival – but not this six-foot sex god and his son! Mia does her best not to get involved, but Angus can’t stop thinking that, with Mia as his wife, his son and her baby would have the perfect family.

Excerpt

‘Is this the right place, Dad?’

Angus Campbell looked at the son he still couldn’t believe was his and patted Simon’s shoulder awkwardly. ‘Yes, mate.’ How did one learn to be a ‘dad’ in one weekend? Angus pushed the thought away, raised his hand, and knocked on his own father’s door. ‘I just needed a minute to get my head together.’

He was talking to a closed door and the lack of response was unexpected. Angus strode to the window and peered in.

The house was quiet, something he couldn’t remember it ever being. When you were brought up in a country doctor’s residence there was always someone coming or going. At the very least the housekeeper, Louisa, was usually there.

That would be the Louisa his father was going to marry. Another idea he had to get used to.

He turned the handle of the front door and, sure enough, it swung open. They’d never locked the front in his time either.

He looked at Simon and then peered down the central hallway again. ‘Doesn’t look like anyone is home.’

His words fell away as the door to the bathroom opened and out of a cloud of billowing steam, framed by the door, stepped a very pink—and delightfully curved in all the right places—woman. And she was only just wrapped in a leaf-green towel, putting him in mind of a rose on a dew-laden morning.

Angus learned his new son was a gentleman when Simon spun on his heel and faced the other way, unlike his father.

He should really do that too. Instead, Angus met the steady green eyes assessing his arrival and unashamedly enjoyed the spectacular view. ‘Sorry.’

‘So I see.’ Her voice was level and delightfully throaty, and she could have been dressed in a three-piece business suit given her composure. She held his gaze and he lost sight of the rest. ‘Can I help you?’ she finally asked.

Impressed, Angus did avert his eyes for a moment. ‘I’m looking for Ned.’ He looked back. Yep. Dewy rose. ‘Does he still live here?’

‘Ah.’ She nodded as if something had been confirmed. ‘The prodigal son! We heard you were coming. They’ve all left for the hospital to see the new baby. Give me a minute and I’ll be right out.’

She slipped into a room two doors down and shut the door firmly.

Angus blinked and stepped back.

‘She can handle you, Dad. Watch out.’ Angus turned to look at this young man he barely knew, his son, and tilted his head.

‘Really? On what knowledge do you base that assumption?’

Simon grinned. ‘On my knowledge of women.’

So that explained it? The kid wasn’t even twenty. ‘How can you have such knowledge of women at your tender age?’

Simon flashed him a cheeky smile and Angus felt that pang again that he’d missed seeing this amazing young being grow up. No doubt he himself would have been a different man if he’d known he’d had a son. Angus felt the anger rise again and he damped it down ruthlessly. It was okay. He knew now.

Simon went on. ‘Because I have four sisters and you’ve been working eighty hours a week all over the world since I was born.’

Angus thought of the extremely desirable women he’d dated for short periods in far-off places over the years and decided his son didn’t need to know his father had more than a little experience himself. ‘So you know about me and not the other way around?’

‘Mum filled me in.’

Angus swallowed the bile in his throat. That would be the woman who had told Angus she’d miscarried this boy-man twenty years ago. The one woman he’d loved and wanted to marry who had married someone else.

His son went on. ‘She said she had to in case something happened to her.’

Angus drew a discreet breath to remove the overtones from his voice. ‘Well, I wish she’d told me about you earlier.’

Grey eyes met grey and he saw a little of his own anger in Simon’s usual good nature. ‘So do I.’

Mia Storm, oblivious to the amusement she’d left in her wake, shut the door firmly and leant against it. Hunk alert.

There was something about that big, craggy man at the door that sucked the breath from her lungs and accelerated her heart rate in a totally unwanted response, but it was okay. She knew it was a hormonal reaction that she could control. Would control! She was coping with pregnancy hormones, wasn’t she?

She’d come to Lyrebird Lake to start anew, build a good life for her unborn child and herself, fresh and immune to the destructive hold men like him seemed to have over her.

Not precisely him, because she didn’t know him from Adam, but there was that look in his eye that said he’d like to take half a dozen steps forward and carry her back into the bathroom and kick the door shut.

Her arms broke out in goose-bumps. Where the heck had that come from? She could feel the heat in her cheeks and she stepped away from the door as if there was a blowtorch on the other side.

He was Ned’s son, for crikey’s sake. A man that had walked out of his father’s country doctor’s residence twenty years ago and not bothered once to see if dear, sweet Ned was still alive, or so her friend, Misty, said.

No doubt after he’d had his way with her in the bathroom he’d be gone from her life just as quickly as the man who’d run from the child growing inside her.

Stop it!

Nobody was having their way with anybody in the bathroom and she needed to take control. She was good at that.

Mia ripped off her towel and pulled on her briefs. Now that she came to think about it there had been two people at the door, but she couldn’t remember anything about the other one except that he’d turned around, as he should, when confronted by a person undressed in their own house.

Not like… Angus. That was his name. She clipped her bra and spun it to the front. The big A, more likely. Mia stepped into her green shorts and yanked her ‘Fight Breast Cancer’ T-shirt over her head and glanced in the mirror.

Her hair bounced red ringlets all over her head like a frenzied mattress and she squeezed and rolled the coils so they flattened onto her head until most were confined by the elastic band in the middle. She hated the unruliness of her hair as the one thing she couldn’t control.

He’d been tall so she pushed her feet into her high-heeled sandals and straightened her shirt over her slightly rounded waist. She didn’t look pregnant yet.

Right, then.

She was back. He and Simon had retreated to the veranda and he’d considered going over to the hospital to look for his father because he’d behaved badly in there. He should have backed out of the door and knocked again, but his usual ease with women had been poleaxed by the vision in the hallway.

The vision looked him up and down and he saw that she was actually quite ordinary. Well, ordinary in an extraordinary way. Actually rounded and somehow… lush. Not really ordinary at all.

‘I’m Mia Storm. One of the midwives. I board here. I gather you’re Angus.’

She was a summer storm all right. Still in pink and green, hot as all get out one minute then drenching him with a cold shower of disdain, then blowing information at him like a gust of leaves. She looked like a militant hybrid with a rosebud mouth. She was hot!

He couldn’t think of a thing to say and he had to be saved by a nineteen-year-old Lothario. It was embarrassing. And ridiculously backed up his son’s impression of his father’s lack of experience. If it weren’t so mortifying, it would be amusing.

Simon stepped forward and held out his hand. ‘I’m Simon, the son he didn’t know about, and I’ve dragged him here to see the grandfather I’ve never met. You’ll have to forgive him. He’s still adjusting his horizons.’

Mia looked from Simon to Angus and her face softened. Simon had certainly taken the gust out of her storm and Angus could only watch in admiration. She smiled at both of them, the sun came out, and now he wouldn’t be able to speak for another ten seconds. What the heck had happened to him?

‘Hello, Simon.’ She chuckled delightfully, Angus thought fuzzily, at Simon’s ingenious explanations, and then Simon leant forward and kissed her cheek.

Angus frowned. The little upstart. As if it was the most natural thing in the world. Maybe he really had missed the boat on social behaviour.

‘And does your father have your winning ways?’ She tilted her head at him and somehow Angus knew she’d forgiven his faux pas in the hallway and even might feel sorry for his lack of social graces compared to his son’s.

He cleared his throat. ‘My apologies, Mia. I shouldn’t have opened the door. I thought the house was empty.’

Simon butted in. ‘Apparently Dad hasn’t socialised much in the last twenty years, but he’s really good at disasters.’

Thanks, son. That made him sound so promising. ‘Okay, Simon. Mia doesn’t want to know about me.’ Angus’s eyes were drawn back to hers. ‘You said my father was over at the hospital with the new baby.’ A thought tickled his sense of the ridiculous and he glanced at Simon. ‘Not a new uncle or aunt for Simon perchance?’ Serve him right. Let the upstart work out the odds for that.

This time she smiled for him. And again it was worth waiting for. ‘No. Ned’s a bit past having babies I think. One of the doctors here, Ben—his daughter had a child. Ned’s gone over to pass a silver coin across the baby’s palm.’

It was strange how nostalgic that unexpected reminder of all his father’s superstitions made Angus feel. How had twenty years gone without returning to at least make peace with him?

Angus had been going to, or he’d thought of it, but there’d never seemed to be time between flights and international health disasters to get up this way. He’d been ashamed of his behaviour all those years ago and hadn’t wanted a rushed trip. And after he and Simon’s mother had ‘lost’ the baby it had been too heart-wrenching to come back in the early years.

Later it had always been the too-short breaks between missions he’d blamed. But that stood up poorly now. His father must have aged so much since he’d last seen him. ‘How’s Dad’s health?’

‘Apart from his eyesight and a stiff hip, Ned’s well.’ She looked into his face to gauge his reaction. ‘He’s well enough to marry Louisa and dance at his own wedding.’

‘I’m glad. It seems I’ve been fortunate that it’s not too late to catch up.’

She looked him up and down like a schoolmarm and he felt the dusting of disapproval for his negligence. ‘Very fortunate.’ Then she glanced into the house. ‘Do you want to come in and wait here, or do you want to look for him over at the hospital?’

Angus needed to get over his response to this woman before he met his father and opened up a whole new bag of angst.

He didn’t do sentiment, hadn’t for years, but right at this minute he felt emotionally laden and he needed to shake the excess from his mind first.

This morning’s first meeting with Simon, finding his son looked like a younger version of himself with better people skills and the realisation of all he’d missed out on. With its accompanying well of bitterness at Simon’s mother’s betrayal, which he’d had to hide from her son, and now he’d been knocked for six by the rose.

Angus lifted his kit. ‘We’ll put our gear inside. Then I think I’ll go for a walk.’

‘I’ll stay here and look around,’ Simon said, and grinned at Mia.

No doubt flirting, Angus thought. ‘As long as you’re not too shy,’ he murmured dryly to himself, as he followed his son and Mia into the house.

The room she showed Simon was positioned two doors along the central hallway from Angus’s. Mia was in the middle—so next door to him. He liked that and his belly kicked as if to let him in on the reason. Okay. So maybe he did know why.

He glanced up at the high ceiling in the central hallway and memories rushed in.

He glanced into Simon’s room, the one with the French doors that led out to the wide verandas. You could slip in unnoticed when needed, as he recalled nostalgically.

He remembered at least eight bedrooms at this end and the four larger rooms at his father’s end where his old room was and the day clinics were held.

There’d always been other staff staying here then as well, so this end had been technically out of bounds to him as a child.

He’d stolen kisses in one of these empty rooms with Simon’s mother twenty years ago. His father had been right to say that a kiss led to a lot more. He glanced at the boy beside him and thought again of all he’d missed.

‘Did you want to see your room?’ Mia spoke from his shoulder and he snapped back to the present day.

‘Thank you, yes.’

He left Simon and followed her. Actually, he spent the two seconds observing the way her little backside wriggled delightfully, and his body just came along for the ride. Good grief. He was having an adolescent crisis. No doubt because of the memories that were crowding in from the time years ago when he’d been a raging mass of testosterone. He had to snap out of it.

Suddenly he realised the back of her lovely neck was pinker than it had been and a slow smile tugged at his lips. So she’d noticed him too. She was really going to be cross with him now.

‘This is it.’ She stopped, but didn’t turn around, and again his mouth twitched. He had an idea she didn’t want him to see her blush and he was determined he would.

‘Thanks, Mia.’ He didn’t move to open the door and though she turned back she averted her face as she looked at a point over his left shoulder. Her cheeks were delightfully dusted with pink.

He waited, but she didn’t say anything so he let her off the hook. ‘I’ll put the bags in and have a wander, then.’

‘You do that,’ she said to the wall behind him.

Review

From Sheryl at Cataromance

Angus Campbell is a man who faces anything head on, especially after all the difficult situations he’s faced in his career as a rescue medic but he never thought that he would find himself confronting the past he left behind or the son he never knew about. Now it’s time for him to go home and Lyrebird Lake is exactly where he must confront his demons. Mia Storm knew that moving to Lyrebird Lake was the best decision she has ever made now that she’s expecting her own child but what she didn’t count on was finding herself attracted to Angus, a man who could leave her just as the father of her child did. But will they be able to find common ground? Or will Angus’ career take him away from the life that could be his?

Pregnant Midwife: Father Needed by Fiona McArthur is the third book in the Lyrebird Lake Maternity series and just as enthralling as the previous two. I loved how Mia and Angus first meet, the moment when Angus’ son shows him how to act like a gentleman, that is but one of my fondest recollections from the book. Pregnant Midwife: Father Needed is not only about awaiting a new arrival but also about beginning and reconnecting with loved ones that you never anticipated seeing again. Angus and Mia may be the hero and heroine but every other character makes an appearance and they leave an indelible presence too. Ms McArthur has created a series that is powerfully moving yet filled with characters that could be any other member of your family because they’re down-to-earth people who are just human like everyone else. Thank you Ms McArthur for a thoroughly enjoyable time spent in your world of Lyrebird Lake and I can’t wait to read of your many more delightful characters too.

RWA conference has been and gone but  it lived up to all expectations. Huge kudos have to go to the fab Amy Andrews and her hardworking team. Caught up with old friends and new and learnt new and fabulous tips for writing and publishing. This is my favourite time of the year.

I LOVE Brisbane, and the fabulous staff at the Sebel King George Square Hotel. It’s so easy to drive, park, find things and such a laidback capital with everything a major city needs without the hassle. And then there’s the conference; a smorgasboard of fab authors, agents, editors, readers and writers of romance and women’s fiction. And my friends. Blissful sigh. Will post pics of the fab Arabian Nights Cocktail party soon. And of course there’s the R*BY Awards where the fabulous Anne Gracie (Historical) and Trish Morey (Short Sexy) also won their categories to huge applause.

 THE MIDWIFE’S LITTLE MIRACLE free eBook download is still coming. I’ve spoken to my editor and I hear the new site, filled with goodies will be up soon. Will let you know as soon as I hear. My book will also be available for download from my webpage once its up. So watch for that.

I’m really thrilled because THE MIDWIFES LITTLE MIRACLE  is the first of my Lyrebird Lake Series and those who missed out can catch up with Montana’s story. Montana is one of my very favourite heroines and it’s lovely to see her getting out more. <G>.

The new competition is still running  ’till first day of September. See the competitions page for details.

 My next book out is PREGNANT MIDWIFE-FATHER NEEDED,   in September in the UKand North America. I see there are still copies in the backlist on eharlequin.com for the first two books of the linked Lyrebird Lake Series.

While all the books are stand alone, the linking makes it possible to see what’s happening in the lives of previous characters, something I know I always enjoy, but you don’t have to read the others to enjoy the last.

And further to Lyrebird LakeI’m just about to start on Emma’s book which is calling so strongly I’ll have to let her speak. She’s had to wait for my two Western Australian Kimberley books. But now, the second book set in the rugged Kimberleys of  Western Australia has gone, and I have had such fun with those two books and so look forward to sharing them with you next year.

It’s time for Emma.

And time for me to write

keep well and happy

with love

Fiona

I’m really thrilled because THE MIDWIFES LITTLE MIRACLE  is the first of my Lyrebird Lake Series and those who missed out can catch up with Montana’s story. Montana is one of my very favourite heroines and it’s lovely to see her getting out more. <G>.

I’ll let you know when and where as soon as it comes up. Should be sometime this month.

New competition starts today ’till first day of September. See the competitions page for details.

Five weeks  ’till RWAus Conference

I’m so looking forward to the Brisbane conference of Romance Writers of Australia (romanceaustralia.com) on the 14th, 15th and 16th August. I LOVE Brisbane, so easy to drive, park, find things and such a laidback capital with everything a major city needs without the hassle. And then there’s the conference; a smorgasboard of fab authors, agents, editors, readers and writers of romance and women’s fiction. And my friends. Blissful sigh.

Then there’s the idea of actually taking home new tricks and strategies, insight and enthusiam that conference always leaves me with. And to top it off, there’s the excitment of being a finalist in my first  R*BY nomination for THE MIDWIFE’S BABY. 

I’ve just been away at  an ALSO conference and would love to say ‘Hi’ to all the wonderful people I met for the first time as well as fellow instructors from previous courses. ALSO is always such a positive experience.

What is ALSO in Australia? (also.net.au)

Advanced Life Support Obstetrics. ALSO in Oz is a far flung group of doctors and midwives who believe teamwork increases safety for women in maternity care. ALSO brings midwives, general practitioners who practice obstetrics, obstetricians, and the obstetricians of the future all together over a weekend of intense workstations in management of unexpected crisis surrounding birth. Born in the United States, and now worldwide, ALSO’s teaching model is facilitated by volunteer instructors who believe passionately in keeping birthing women safe.

 I’m proud to be a tiny part of the concept and be privileged to spent a wonderful weekend in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales sharing knowledge with like-minded souls. Shame there wasn’t much time to sample the wineries but maybe next time…

What I did get to sample was the amazing lives of these real heroes and heroines of medicine and their knowledge and empathy with the families they care for. All fabulous inspiration for my novels.

My next book out is PREGNANT MIDWIFE-FATHER NEEDED,  out in September in the UKand North America. I see there are still copies in the backlist on eharlequin.com for the first two books of the linked Lyrebird Lake Series. While all the books are stand alone, the linking makesit possible to see what’s happening in the lives of previous characters, something I know I always enjoy.

I’ve almost finished the second book set in the rugged KImberleys of  Western Australia. I have had such fun with those two books and look forward to sharing them with you next year.

That’s all for now.

keep well and happy

with love

Fiona

I’m absolutely thrilled! THE MIDWIFE’S BABY has finalled in the Short Sweet category of the prestigious Romantic Book Of The Year,  R*BY, awards held at the Romance Writers of Australia Conference in Brisbane in August. This book  came out last year in Australia and was a lot of fun to write. I’ve been attending RWAustralia conferences since they were first  held eighteen years ago (that would be why a big birthday is coming up  for me) and have watched with awe as finalists each year have produced such wonderful books.

To think that the reader judges have included me in this elite makes me  very grateful for all the help and support I’ve received from Romance Writers of Australia over the years.

I can’t recommend joining the organisation  more highly if you are an aspiring or published author.

Congratulations to the other finalists and I look forward to a fabulous night with my writer friends and my family around me.

As promised, I’ve included an extra Kimberley photo and the first of my two Kimberley books now has a title, MIDWIFE IN A MILLION and is due for release early 2010.

I’m deep into the next book  set in the Kimberley region, and I’m loving this book. In the  north of Western Australia, helicopter crashed, a midwife walking away from a pregnant woman, hoping she doesn’t birth before she can get to help… and the hero to die for

sigh

its a hard life living these dreams. I don’t think so.

xx Fi

PS I’m off to see Simon and Garfunkle in Brisbane with a dear friend on Thursday. More on that later

keep well and happy

warmest regards

xx Fiona

I’ve been awarded my first five star review from Sheryl at Cataromance, for my new Lyrebird Lake book, The Midwife’s New-Found Family which I have to quote here, <G> but I will give you the link. http://cataromance.com/?p=1983

A powerfully moving tale of human fallacy.

The Midwife’s New-Found Family by Fiona McArthur is a fascinating contemporary that draws the reader in and then delivers a powerfully moving tale of human fallacy. I enjoyed perusing this book because it had a feel-good attitude to it and I thoroughly loved reading about all of the characters in it. Ms. McArthur is a fairly new author for me and she has also become one of my favorites. Her characters are determined to succeed in their chosen fields but they also have a frailty to them that makes them appear human and down-to-earth while also struggling to fix problems and discover what destiny has in store for them. This book should definitely be on anyone’s list as a story to read.

Such a lovely surprise when I made it back to computer access after my fab time in the Kimberleys of Western Australia, home of Baz Luhrmann’s movie, AUSTRALIA. The sky, the sunsets, the walls of the canyons. Darn shame the rivers have crocodiles but oh so beautiful.

But floating around in hot rainforest springs wasn’t all I was there for. Have just finished the proofs for my first Kimberley book or two, A MIDWIFE IN A MILLION which is set along the Gibb River Road, and have a heap of new ideas for the second. I even took a helicopter flight over the Bungle Bungles for a scene I can’t wait to write. I needed to talk to that helicopter pilot. More on that as the photos appear over the next few weeks.

Keep well, keep happy, and never lose sight of your dreams.

warm regards

Fiona

Lyrebird Lake Maternity
Every day brings a miracle…

Release dates
UK – April 2009. Buy The Midwife’s New-Found Family on MillsandBoon.co.uk now
Australia – May 2009. Buy on eHarlequin.com.au

The single dad’s midwife bride.

When Misty saved the life of Dr Ben Moore she knew she would never forget the brooding single dad and the moment of tenderness they shared.

So the midwife locks their brief encounter away in her daydreams and sets off for a new life in Lyrebird Lake, where she meets the new locum…and looks into familiar blue eyes!

Struggling to cope with his daughter alone, Ben has also moved to Lyrebird for a fresh start. In this magical setting Misty and Ben rekindle that brief special moment they once had – something they wish they could hold on to for ever… And together they make Ben’s family complete.

Excerpt

Out of the mist she saw a man and a circle of shells.

Misty Buchanan knew it was the future and not a dream because she’d come to recognise the difference over the years. She hadn’t expected a premonition while beach fishing on this deserted coastline because she’d been so caught up in the pleasure of the salty breeze in her face.

Her sight shimmered and dimmed and she accepted she had no choice but to watch as she closed her eyes…

He balanced on a jumbled spit of rocks beside some seagulls, and even in the haze of time his torso looked spectacular against the backdrop of the ocean as he cradled the bird against him to unwind the twine. She couldn’t see his face but there was something about his concern for the tangled gull that felt familiar on a different level.

When Misty had been younger it had frightened her to see people and situations with such clarity with her eyes shut, but now she accepted it as part of her life, albeit a small part, for only rarely did the future affect her present.

Though this gift brought responsibility with it and her heart thumped with the double-edged sword of what could be revealed.

The bird in his hand was suddenly free and he stepped back out of the way.

Misty frowned as she lost the sight and then the mists cleared again. She drew her breath in sharply.

His head smashed against the rocks as he fell and then his body rolled into a green wave to float without direction away from the rocks.

The vision dissipated and she knew it was useless to attempt to retrieve it. She had been shown all she would be.

Misty spun and her fingers clenched on her beach rod and bucket as she raced towards her Jeep. Once there she tossed them into the back haphazardly as her gaze scanned the distance for clues.

The Southern Queensland beach stretched for miles both ways and each ended with a rocky outcrop into the ocean.

In the distance a flock of gulls soared above a tall white lighthouse that overlooked the water like a guardian.

The visions never came without the opportunity to somehow influence the course of events so she’d have to trust to instinct as she slewed the vehicle with reckless speed through the sand towards the lighthouse.

Misty’s vehicle slid to a halt and she threw open her door. She grabbed the boogie board she kept for belly surfing and the hot sand squeaked in protest as she tore across the beach and onto the grainy boulders of the outcrop. All she could do was pray this was the correct headland.

Her stomach plummeted as she gazed into the choppy green water between the swells. Nothing. It had to be the wrong headland!

As she turned to race back to the car her final glance caught the roll of a long brown arm and then she saw his lifeless body as he slid face down along the back of a wave.

‘Help,’ she muttered unhappily as she looked at the rocks that broke the swells as they drove in.

‘Big breath,’ she encouraged herself out loud, then scrambled inelegantly to the water’s edge and dived into the next wave with the board under her. Her breath sucked in as the cold water splashed around her and dormant resuscitation drills pounded into her mind as she paddled furiously towards her target.

The occasional swell washed over her face and she spat out salty water as she tried to calculate how long he would have been unconscious.

That first touch when she grasped his arm gave her a rush of relief that at least she’d made it out to him. His skin was warm even in the water and she heaved his arm and shoulder over until he rolled half over the board and she could tread water beside him. By default his head rose from the water. She sank below the surface to push his other armpit onto the boogie board and his weight came off her so she could rest.

‘Hello. Wake up. Open your eyes.’ But there was no response when she shook his arm. Twice she blew into his cold lips and twice he didn’t respond.

Another wave washed over both of them, She needed to get him to shore. ‘Stay with me, friend,’ she urged into his ear as she dragged the board around to face the beach. She steered him sideways away from the rocks as the desperate urgency of his condition propelled her through the water faster than she would have dreamed possible.

Twice more she blew into his mouth between swells and then a larger swell closed in on them and she angled the board so that they were lifted swiftly towards the beach. Another big swell carried them until a sudden wave swept them forward and tumbled them in an ungainly pile in the shallow water. She spat out seawater as she twisted on her side to hang onto him.

The wave that had been powerful enough to throw them there seemed intent on proving it could pull them back. He began to slip and she knew she didn’t have the strength to return to the water after him.

‘Come on,’ she gritted out between her teeth, and she yanked him towards her with a desperate heave and he slid across the sand. The wave receded and it was then she noticed the tiny rivulets of his blood that went with it.

Her heart pounded noisily in her ears as she dragged in welcome air before she rolled him over and pulled him an extra foot away from the reach of the next wave.

His eyes were open, blue like his lips, and his white face was as unmoving as his chest as the water drained away from around him.

It was too late!

She bent to lay her ear against his battered chest. Thump… Thump… Thump… She could hear it. He had a heartbeat. It was slow, less than forty beats a minute probably, but so much better than no heartbeat at all.

She pushed him until he rolled onto his side and water trickled from his mouth, but he didn’t move.

She shook him and he rolled back onto his back. ‘Hey. Wake up, you!’ Misty tilted his head and after a quick glance to check his airway was clear she breathed another two quick breaths into his lungs as she watched his chest rise. Yes. Out of the water now she could tell there was chest movement.

She pushed rhythmically on the lower third of his sternum to compress his ribcage and prayed cardiac massage would speed his sluggish heart. Thirty quick depressions, then Misty pinched his nose and blew into his mouth again.

After several desperate cycles he twitched and finally stirred, his chest moved of its own volition, and he gurgled a bubbling stream of sea water as he instinctively rolled onto his side.

Misty sat back and drew deep panting breaths of her own as the stranger coughed and wheezed his way to life.

Her shoulders began to shake in earnest and she wrapped her arms around her chest in comfort as she stared down at him. Hot tears trickled unchecked down her cheeks along with a strangled sob of mixed euphoria and horror. She sucked in a big breath to calm herself and squeezed her arms around her body harder.

Focus. Don’t fall to pieces yet. She could hardly believe it.

He was alive.

She glanced out at the ocean in incredulity and her pretty pink boogie board bobbed merrily in the swells as it drifted out to sea.

She’d done it.

She glanced down at the broken strap on her wrist and strained to remember when it had sheared.

Who cared? Someone would enjoy the board.

Ben Moore hovered in a beam of light and stared down at his body as it floated in the water. He dreamed in flashes that defined his life.

Each flash contained an ocean of memories. His daughter’s birth, his wife’s death, a patient’s family hugging him, a baby’s first breath, a mermaid with long auburn hair and green eyes holding out her hand.

He smiled at her beauty. He was definitely dying. Something jolted him and he felt himself fall.

The other pictures faded away until only her vivid emerald eyes remained, and they came closer as she kissed him. Then he was coughing and retching and reality crashed in on him along with the fire in his lungs and the pain in his pounding head.

When the fit settled he took another tearing breath and hoped to avoid the painful mix of seawater and air, but it was not to be. When that convulsion died down he eased his shoulders from the gritty sand on which he was lying and ran his hands over his lacerated chest.

The surging waves lapped his feet and above him knelt the mermaid in person—except she had the most beautiful thighs in tattered denim shorts and long gorgeous legs—definitely not a mermaid, he thought fuzzily.

He glanced at her fine boned arms and the slender frame that was clearly outlined in the singlet top plastered to her skin. How on earth had she dragged him above the level of the waves?

As if she knew what he was thinking her voice washed over him, warm and reassuring, and the fact that he could hear the sound from her lips meant he really had survived.

‘We rode a wave in and I pulled you the rest of the way,’ she said. ‘You’ve hit your head and torn your skin on the rocks.’

Her long red hair was tied in a limp ponytail that dripped silver rivulets of seawater between her breasts and she flipped it over to her back, which helped the thin singlet to plaster itself to her breasts even more.

He sucked his breath in with disastrous results and, when that spasm passed, the air in his lungs finally began to feel less like lava and more like the cooler gravel he needed to survive. ‘Thank you.’ His cracked words finally emerged.

He inhaled gingerly again. ‘What happened?’ Amazing how much energy just a few words took.

‘Don’t talk yet.’ She winced at his obvious discomfort and her hand slid down over his wrist, smooth and cool and very practised as she palpated his pulse. ‘I guess you fell into the water and hit your head. You nearly drowned.’

She was looking at him as if he might not understand but he understood all right. She’d saved his life and put her own very much at risk to do it.

He just couldn’t think of anything to say at that moment.

She went on and he closed his eyes as he listened to her talk more to herself than to him. ‘I need to get you to a hospital for observation. Salt water can cause delayed pulmonary oedema in your lungs.’

He’d have to move or she’d think he couldn’t and he didn’t want her having to spend more energy than she already had on him. He eased himself into a sitting position but even that hurt.

Ben rocked his head gently and couldn’t help the tiny groan that escaped at the pain from his skull. It hurt like hell but he didn’t need a hospital. He needed his bed.

‘Thank you.’ He paused for breath. ‘Just my shack.’ He paused again. ‘I’ll be fine.’

He watched her roll her eyes and it amused him in a ridiculous, semi-hysterical way. No doubt it was the euphoria of having been snatched from the jaws of death.

‘You need a good check-up,’ she said. ‘Does your head swim?’

He put his hand up for her to grasp so he could stand. ‘Better than my body does when I’m knocked out, apparently.’

‘A joker,’ she muttered. ‘Just what I need.’ Misty took his hand and shared his weight as he rose, but still he swayed against her before he could steady himself, and she knew he was hanging on to his balance by sheer willpower.

The feel of his strong hand left hers bizarrely energised and she looked down at his fingers curled around her own. She frowned at the strangeness of a connection that shouldn’t even have registered then shrugged the thought away. At this moment she needed to help him stagger to her vehicle and that was enough to contend with.

When at last she had him there she didn’t like the way his head lolled against the seat as if he could barely support its weight.

‘You OK?’ she asked as she reached across and buckled his seat belt.

He mumbled something she didn’t catch and Misty stared anxiously into his shadowed face as she leaned back into her own seat. The strong line of his jaw and angled cheeks were softened by the fact he hadn’t shaved that day. Funny how that darkened stubble in no way detracted from his rugged good looks. He’d become even more attractive with the passing of time. Even more attractive? Ouch! Mind on job, she admonished herself silently.

That was if he survived. ‘Hello? Wake up.’ She rested her hand on his damp shoulder. ‘I need directions if you want me to take you home.’

She was definitely having second thoughts about leaving him alone in a beach house to die. If he started to look worse than he did now she’d ring her brother at Lyrebird Lake and ask what to do, even though Andy’s hospital was hours away, his advice would help.

‘I’m sorry.’ He didn’t open his eyes but his apology emerged clearly this time and she felt the building tension ease from the tautness in her neck.

He paused as if it hurt to talk, and she realised it probably did.

‘Name’s Ben Moore. My beach house.’ He paused again. ‘There’s a side road past the camping ground on the left.’

Copyright © 2000-2009 Harlequin Enterprises Limited.
All rights reserved.

Review

5 STAR Review: The Midwife’s New-Found Family by Fiona McArthur
by Sheryl from Cataromance

A powerfully moving tale of human fallacy.

Misty Buchanan had saved the life of Ben Moore and for one moment in time it seemed as if destiny had brought them together but then reality surfaced and Misty knew that she needed to start her new life, one she never expected Ben to enter. But when he does she knows that theirlives are connected in more than one way. Ben is trying to cope with his daughter and all the problems in being a single father as well as his own insecurities, so will Lyrebird Lake and Misty be able to heal his wounded soul. And will their one moment in time be enough to build the future that could and should be theirs?

The Midwife’s New-Found Family by Fiona McArthur is a fascinating contemporary that draws the reader in and then delivers a powerfully moving tale of human fallacy. I enjoyed perusing this book because it had a feel-good attitude to it and I thoroughly loved reading about all of the characters in it. Ms. McArthur is a fairly new author for me and she has also become one of my favorites. Her characters are determined to succeed in their chosen fields but they also have a frailty to them that makes them appear human and down-to-earth while also struggling to fix problems and discover what destiny has in store for them. This book should definitely be on anyone’s list as a story to read.
Read this review on Cataromance.com

And this month Lyrebird Lake’s new midwife can be found in THE MIDWIFE’S NEW-FOUND FAMILY, out in the UK, and to be quickly followed in May in North America so readers can link the books . Misty and Ben’s story was something different. Misty is quite a ‘mystical’ person and one of my favourite heroines and revisiting Lyrebird Lake gives the reader a chance to see how Montana and Andy are going .

At home, the floods of last month are drying up but we’re still seeing a lot of water on the paddocks and even  Sydney spent mornings rainwashed when I was down there.

Have had the busiest, but amazing March, hence the late web update. I had a fabulous visit from medical author Alison Roberts. I dragged her all over the North Coast in my friend Carolyn’s snazzy red sports car showing off the beautiful Macleay Valley and Dorrigo. Here’s a photo of us at South West Rocks.

Alison Roberts and Fi

Then spent some time in beautiful Coogee with a group of wonderful friends and I think myself very fortunate. What do you think? The company, the view, the warmth of a wonderful friends.  The picture tells it all.

To make it even more special while  I was there I finished my Kimberley book on a high and loved it so much I’m off to visit the area in a couple of weeks in preparation for my next book which will be linked.

I can’t wait to share some of the spectacular scenery of the Kimberley region of Australia with you when I get back.

I could become addicted to linked books. It’s so wonderful to revisit old friends in a new setting and from a different view point. What do you think?

My midwifery has been busy with lots of beautiful babies born and my own grandbabies have birthdays at this time of the year. Sophie, who’s six, early this month and Simone, our premmie will be four, early next month. It doesn’t seem so long ago that I was posting their photos every month.  I’llslip one in for this month for the birthday girls.

Birthday Girls

That’s all for now. Wishing everyone a happy and safe Easter, and happy holidays. If you’d like to see last months news just click on blog in the side bar.

warmest regards

Fiona

Amongst the grief and tragedy, such tales of heroism, mateship, and the helping hands of millions of people have highlighted the amazing resilence and warmth of the good side of human nature.

In Romance Writers of Australia, the committee and members have rallied to send their own books, new books and children’s books,  to the fire affected victims in Victoria who lost their homes, their schools and their libraries. Hundreds of books are pouring into one heroic person’s house, (go – secret heroine doing all the work!!) lounge room, bedrooms, bathroom, you name it, she has books. Send her more!

The books will be sorted and packaged for distribution to communities affected as a small reassurance that they are in our thoughts and we’d love to do something to even briefly lighten the load. For a reader, imagine not being able to lay your hand on one uplifting book or a story to read to your children that would allow you to escape for just a short time from the reality of starting again.

If you would like to send a book token to the Romance Writers of Australia Book Appeal send them to RWA Bushfire Book Appeal

c/ – 89 Rennie Street, Thornbury, Victoria 3071 – Our book collector says “Feel free to pop a note inside or if an author, to sign it.”

Speaking of books, thank you to all the people who have contacted me about my first Lyrebird Lake book, The Midwife’s Little Miracle, still to come out in North America in April. I’ve never had as much wonderful feedback as I’ve had for this book. You’re fabulous. Thank you.

I’ve just recieved the cover for Book two of the series, isn’t beautiful, which will be out in the UK and North America in May, and Australia/New Zealand in June.

The Midwife’s New Found Family is Misty and Ben’s Story as they both find the magic of Lyrebird Lake. More on them and a new competition next month.

And to close I’d like to share some of my own flood photos, (thank you to Suz and the RWAus group who were worried about how much water I was sitting in <G>).

We live on the Pacific Highway between Sydney and Brisbane and the land at the front of our house runs out to the hills. You can see how different it looks when it’s all under water. We were high and dry so could only enjoy our special water views. It took only four days of rain to lift the flood level up about seven feet and I could still kayak around nearly two weeks later.

I’m still having a fabulous time researching the far north Western Australian Kimberley area for my new book. What a road trip my midwife heroine, Kate, and the dashing paramendic, Rory, are having. More on them later.

Keep well, keep safe and happy reading

with  warmest regards

Fi

w/a Fiona McArthur

Cool Lyrebird Lake banner Sally put on eharlequin.com.au

There’s a lot to look forward to this year.

Two more Lyrebird Lake books to come out after this one,  four days kayaking up the mighty Macleay River in March, five days in Coogee with writing friends in April, Romance Writers Australia conference in Brisbane in August, Melbourne Cup cruise in November to celebrate milestone birthday (just like Barbie), and probably a few midwifery conferences in between.  Woohoo. You may ask, ‘When am I going to write?’ Little and often, at the very least, ’cause I’m planning on three more books this year.

Plus I’m researching my latest book set in the Kimberley’s, far north Western Australia. If I was a good penny saver I’d fly up there and see what I’m researching because it looks and sounds absolutely stunning. If you’ve been along the Gibbs River Road to Derby  then drop me an email, please. I’d love to hear of your experiences. The best fact or anecdote wins a book.

So to Valentine’s Day. It’s coming around to one of the most romantic times of the year, when you take time to show and tell your special someone, again, that you love them.  Romance is good, it’s wonderful, and so much more fun than being sad. Make sure you make someone smile on February 14th because the world will smile with them.

It was Valentine’s Day eight years ago since my first book was on the shelves and ten since I was first accepted by HM&B. So Valentine’s Day is special for me in many ways.

Be with someone you love on Valentine's Day 2009

Apart from celebrating with my darling husband, the most romantic man I know, another thrill this year is the first of my Lyrebird Lake Maternity books hits the shelves in Australia this month. Check out the full description in my 25th November Blog.

Lastly, the winner of last month’s copy of  The Midwife’s Little Miracle, goes to Debra Guyette. Send me another mail, Deb, as I need your postal address.

Wishing Love and Romance to all in February 2009

Fiona McArthur

Tiny baby: father needed!
Finding she was pregnant was the best moment of midwife Montana’s life. But days later she was widowed. Now nine months have passed, she has a tiny infant, and she knows it’s time to make a fresh start.
Dr Andy Buchanan has offered Montana a job at Lyrebird Lake because it’s the perfect place to build a new life. Her courage impresses him. And he just can’t get the beautiful new mum out of his mind…
Every time Montana sees her baby in Andy’s arms her resolve not to get involved crumbles. He’s the perfect father. And he makes Montana’s life feel complete once again…
Lyrebird Lake Maternity
Every day brings a miracle…

Excerpt

NEW YEAR’S MORNING began with the faintest hint of grey shimmer on the horizon and Montana gently stroked her fingers across her swollen stomach.

This had been the first New Year’s morning without her husband and the last she would spend at the mountain house before the new owners moved in.

The sea was a long way off, somewhere below the white fluffy quilt thrown over the mountains, shrouded like the future she couldn’t see but did have faith in.

Eagles Nest Retreat sat so high and wild that it overlooked everything and Douglas had loved it when he painted here.

The sky had lightened only enough to illuminate the deep drifts of mist in all the lower valleys across from the house, and she sat symbolically alone, and accepted it would always be so.

The first contraction squeezed gently, like the tendrils of dewed spider webs that stretched the tops of the stumpy grass, and she nodded when she felt the mysterious child within herald her intentions.

Montana had agreed with her two best friends, for her child’s sake not her own, it would be safer to avoid the mountains for the last two weeks of her pregnancy.

So it wasn’t Montana’s fault her baby had decided to come earlier.

She closed the house and gathered her shawl and water bottle and grasping the rail on the stairs made her way slowly down to her vehicle. To actually climb in the four-wheel drive proved much more difficult than she had expected and she chewed her lip as she started the engine.

The chug from the diesel engine scared a flock of lorikeets into flight a little like the flutter of apprehension she fought down while she waited for the engine to warm. Two more waves of pain came and went in that time.

As the contractions grew closer and fiercer a tiny frown puckered her forehead. It might not be as easy as she’d thought to drive the truck for two hours in early labour.

After thirty minutes of careful navigation down the misty mountain the sweat beaded her forehead and Montana’s breath fogged the windscreen with the force of the pain. Though still focussed on what lay around the next corner she found it more difficult to divide her thoughts between road and birth.

The dirt track twisted and turned like the journey her baby would make within her and on an outflung clearing overlooking the mist covered valley she had to pull over to rest and shore up her reserves.

A pale grey wallaby and her pint-sized joey stood at the edge of the clearing and their dark pointy faces twitched with fascination at her arrival.

Montana’s labour gathered force and she glanced with despair at the distance to the valley floor. It was impossible to descend the mountain safely when she couldn’t concentrate on the road and suddenly the tension drained from her shoulders as she slumped back.

So be it.

When the pain eased she slid from the truck and spread a rug on the damp grass and tucked her shawl and water beside her. She eased herself down and sat with her arms behind her to watch the deepening of the horizon from coral to pink to cerise as the sun threatened to rise through the cloud below.

When the next surge had dissolved she sighed and gazed skywards. Maybe he was looking down.

‘You should be here, Douglas.’ A single tear held her loss that still pierced so keenly.

She felt the whisper of cool breeze brush the dampness on her cheek and suddenly she was not alone and she didn’t care if she imagined him because the next pain was upon her and she needed his strength with her own to stay pliant on the waves of the contractions.

‘I am here,’ the wind whispered, ‘you are safe.’

‘I love you,’ she heard and then she listened to the nuances of her body and in her mind she watched the descent of her baby and squeezed her husband’s hand and the waves changed in tempo and direction and strength and suddenly the urge was upon her to ease her baby out into the world.

The sun cascaded through like the gush of water, her baby’s head glistening round and hard and hot in her hands, and then the next pain was upon her. Her baby’s head rotated towards her leg and the released shoulder slid down and through to follow.

In long, slow, seconds, her baby’s body eased into the world until, in a waterfall rush, legs and feet followed and in a tangle of cord and water and fresh broken sunlight, her baby was born.

The unmistaken sound of a newborn’s first cry startled the birds as Montana reached down and gathered her daughter to her forgetting the rope that joined them both and she laughed at the tug that reminded her that all umbilical cords were not long.

A daughter. Douglas’s daughter. She turned, not expecting to see him, yet so grateful she had imagined him in her greatest need.

The clearing was empty save for the mother wallaby and her skittish joey, and like the last of the night tendrils, they too disappeared silently as the fog rolled away.

She shivered.

‘You must be Montana?’ His voice was different to Douglas’s, not as deep or careful with enunciation, but the same timbre of quiet authority and caring drifted over her and that must have been why she didn’t jump.

She wound down the window and saw the darkest auburn hair and green eyes that proclaimed his relationship to her friend. So this was Misty’s big brother from Queensland. He towered over her door.

It seemed almost normal that Misty’s four-wheel drive had pulled up next to hers in the morning light and have this man stand beside her car door to look in.

He had to bend down quite a bit to her level and she smiled to herself at the trials of tall men. ‘Yes, I’m Montana. I gather Misty sent you?’

He nodded. ‘I’m Andy.’ He looked across at the top of her baby’s head snuggled into her chest with blankets over both of them in a big mound and he smiled.

To Andy they both seemed so peaceful despite the absolute isolation they’d met in. There was something so tranquil about the mother and daughter in this isolated spot that it was difficult to grasp she had birthed without support. ‘And who is this?’

Montana smiled and he felt the curve of her lips and the softening of her eyes right down to his combat boots and back up again where heat flickered in his chest like a hot coal from an outback campfire.

‘This is my daughter, Dawn,’ she said, and her serene voice wrapped around him like the fog he’d just passed through to get here.

‘Hello, Dawn.’ He smiled at the thatch of dark hair against Montana and the baby snuffled as if in answer. ‘I can guess what time she arrived.’

His smile faded and his training reminded him this woman had been without assistance. He framed the question as delicately as he could. ‘Any problems you need help with?’

She glanced at him and he felt the humour behind her voice more than he heard it when she spoke and the observation confused him. Since when did he pick up fine distinctions in tone from unknown women?

‘No, thank you, Doctor,’ she said. ‘Third stage complete and I’m not bleeding or damaged. My baby has fed.’

He didn’t like the way he was so conscious of his sister’s friend but maybe that was because he felt for her recent loss.

He knew he avoided emotions these days, had done for three years, it was the way he’d decided to stay and he empathised with her journey. But, actually, he was more than conscious of her.

They were on the side of a mountain for crikey’s sake and she’d just had a baby.

He concentrated on the things he was good at. ‘Right, then. Let’s get you out of here.’ He glanced around and decided where to reverse the vehicle.

Buy The Midwife’s Little Miracle by Fiona McArthur online now

Review: The Midwife’s Little Miracle by Fiona McArthur

4 star review of THE MIDWIFE’S LITTLE MIRACLE has been posted to the Cataromance site.

Posted By sheryl On March 30, 2009 In Harlequin Medical Romance, January 2009, Reviews

Montana thought that learning she was pregnant was the best moment of her life but days later she suffers a tragedy and now, nine months later, she is about to welcome her child into the world. She knows that her life has changed drastically and when she is offered a position at Lyrebird Lake by her best friend’s brother she leaps at the chance, hoping to make a brand new life for herself and her child. But she hadn’t counted on her attraction to Dr Andy Buchanan, the man offering her the new start or her emotional struggle to not feel like she’s betraying her husband. And for Andy, he knows all about her conflicting emotions having suffered a tragic loss too. But will they both get the second chance at happiness that fate is giving them? Or will they forever hide their growing feelings for one another?

The Midwife’s Little Miracle by Fiona McArthur is a contemporary romance where love builds slowly but once experienced, it won’t let go. I really enjoyed this book and the romance because it wasn’t an intense passionate need but a subtle and caring courtship. Montana and Andy have both suffered a loss and Andy knows what Montana is going through but he feels an attraction to her that won’t go away but he doesn’t want to push their friendship too far. Whereas Montana knows that she needs to start again but in some ways still clings to the past. This story isn’t just about romance but also of starting afresh with a new future beckoning if only they can reach out and grab it. Ms. McArthur is a fairly new author for me but I can say it won’t be the last time I pick up one of her books. Kudos to her for a fantastic and enthralling romance.