Set in Portsmouth, England, in the 1800's, CHINA ROSE is the story of an innocent young woman who acts as the catalyst in a web of deception, betrayal and passion that pits brother against brother.
China Rose (so named for the glass rose her father gave her mother) has been promised in marriage to Sir Ranulf Cross, a domineering womanizer whose only interest is China's generous inheritance. When China arrives at his home she is unaware of the tensions between Ranulf and his half-brother Justin.
Justin Cross is the black sheep of the family--handsome, reckless and fascinating. Though China knows she must marry Ranulf, she cannot help but be drawn to the daring Justin. And when the two become lovers their fate is sealed; they must leave England before Ranulf discovers them.
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China Rose was originally released in 1984 by Avon Books, part of their Ribbon Romance line. I shared the debut month with another little-known Canadian author, Virginia Henley. When my editor, Maggie MacLaren, moved to another publishing house, I went with her, to PaperJacks Ltd; in hindsight a bad move. The company went bankrupt within five years, leaving myself and many other authors floundering around hoping to find another publisher. Virginia had stayed with Avon, but, ironically, not long after I started writing for Dell Books, Virginia left Avon and came to Dell.
China Rose will always hold a special place in my heart. It has a lot of firsts attached to it: first published book, first time I walked into a book store and squealed out loud, first time I took a camera into a book store, first time anyone ever asked me for an autograph, first time I realized that my grade 11 English teacher, Mrs Vanek, was right when she said I could make a career out of this.
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