China Blossom in Japan

I'm pretty sure many romance readers think of me as a writer of medieval historicals. But I've actually written books set in a variety of time periods, beginning with my second book, CHINA BLOSSOM. Released in North America in 1992, CHINA BLOSSOM was set in Victorian England and featured a heroine who was British by birth, but raised in China, and a hero who was, just for my own amusement, a descendent of one of my medieval heroes, Urien Fitzroy.

I just received copies of a new Japanese edition of CHINA BLOSSOM,. It's already been published in Japan, in 1999, and now it's been reissued as part of their 30th Anniversary Collection.

That's one of the great things about selling to Harlequin. My books may only be on shelves in North America for a month, but then they'll be sold all over the world. Some of my single titles sold in other markets, but nothing like my Harlequins, which have been published in France, Italy, Germany, Great Britain, Australia, Belgium, Switzerland, Brazil, Korea, Japan, Sweden, the Netherlands, Russia, Poland, Estonia and the Czech Republic.

I'm especially tickled CHINA BLOSSOM is having this continued success, because despite good reviews ("In CHINA BLOSSOM Margaret Moore has created some of the most endearing, refreshing, enchanting and humorous characters to ever grace the pages of a novel. This delightful, delicious Victorian romp is a 'must read.'" -- Romantic Times), it didn't do as well as my first book. Was it the setting? Was it the unusual nature of the heroine's history? The cover? I don't know, but I've since gone out on other limbs (Restoration setting, anyone?) and I have to say, for all those readers who want "different," there seem to be many more who don't.

Yet CHINA BLOSSOM is living on and I'm delighted.

Here's the original cover and back cover blurb:


Fragrant Blossom looked at him with eyes as blue as the China Sea. Such delicate beauty seemed at odds with the whipping scars across her back. This was no fragile china doll, but a woman with a will of steel. And she was determined to serve Darcy Fitzroy in every way possible....

He was like a god -- tall and broad, with a voice like thunder. Most certainly a rich and powerful lord. And Fragrant Blossom belonged to him, body and soul. Willingly she offered him a thousand and one delights. So why did Darcy Fitzroy continue to refuse her precious gift?