Kate Fortuneâs Journal Entry
My faithful friend Sterling has informed me that someone is secretly buying up large blocks of shares of Fortune stock. It seems as if the stage is being set for a hostile takeover. Iâm desperately afraid that weâre going to lose everything!
But at least weâll always be a family, money or not. My only wish is that each of my children and grandchildren finds love and happiness. Something my grandson Michael has finally discovered. Heâd always been mistrustful of women and love. I left him the ruby ring my dearly departed husband, Ben, gave to me as a symbol of true love. And now heâs given the heirloom to his new fiancée. I couldnât be more pleased.
Though I worry about the hastiness of this engagement. I do hope he knows what heâs doingâ¦.
Dear Reader,
I found the FORTUNEâS CHILDREN series intriguing because it contained many elements that interest me. I love stories about families whose members are quite different from each other, who may or may not like and trust each other all the time but will rally together when threatened by outsiders.
A series with several generations and different branches of the family interacting with each other makes for an even more interesting read. I was happy to be given the opportunity to write such a story. There are lots of books about parent/child and sister/brother relationships, but in the FORTUNEâS CHILDREN series there are also aunts and uncles and cousins. Writing about those relationships added an extra dimension for me because Iâve seldom written about an entire extended family. It was territory I enjoyed exploring!
This series has the feel of a soap opera, with the many characters and situations interconnecting with each other. This was great fun for me, as I am an avid âsoapâ fan. I started watching the lineup of fifteen-minute shows with my grandmother way back when, and have been hooked ever since. I love the concept of continuing characters, with different ones taking turns on the âfront burnerâ while the others make appearances or are referred to. I also enjoyed fitting Michael and Julia, my characters in Stand-in Bride, into the ongoing story while creating a specific one just for them.
I hope you will enjoy reading the FORTUNEâS CHILDREN series as much as I enjoyed my participation in it.
loves writing about families. âI guess family has been a big influence on my writing,â she says. âI particularly enjoy writing about how my charactersâ family relationships affect them.â
When Barbara isnât writing and reading, sheâs spending time with her own familyâher husband, three daughters and three cats, whom she concedes are the true bosses of their home! She has lived in Europe, but now makes her home in Pennsylvania. She collects miniatures and holiday ornaments, tries to avoid exercise and has somehow found the time to write over 20 category romances.
Meet the Fortunesâthree generations of a family with a legacy of wealth, influence and power. As they unite to face an unknown enemy, shocking family secrets are revealedâ¦and passionate new romances are ignited.
MICHAEL FORTUNE: The Fortune Company executive doesnât want to settle down, but he needs help warding off his female admirers. So he proposes a no-strings-attached engagement to his faithful assistantâ¦.
JULIA CHANDLER: She canât believe it when her boss asks her to be his pretend fiancée! But what starts as a charade produces an unexpected Fortune heirâ¦.
MONICA MALONE: The glamorous movie star has ties to the Fortune clan that go way back. Sheâs a woman scorned who will stop at nothing to get what she wants.
KATE FORTUNE: She has to find out who is out to sabotage her companyâ¦and destroy her family.
RACHEL âROCKYâ FORTUNE: Identical twin to beautiful Allie, Rocky is a tomboy whose adventurous spirit and inheritance from her grandmother will lead her to the wilderness of Wyomingâ¦.
LIZ JONESâ CELEBRITY GOSSIP
Michael Fortune, named one of the âTen Most Eligible Bachelors in the U.S.A.â by Fame magazine, is engaged!
But I have my doubts about this pair. Who is Julia Chandler, anyway? Sheâs not from any well-known society family that I ever heard of. Sheâs just a plain-Jane mousy assistant whoâs probably a gold digger. But what I canât figure out is how she hoodwinked the savvy Michael Fortune.
My good friend Faith Carlisle from Channel 3 News interviewed the hastily engaged couple and told me that Michael was quite protective of his soon-to-be bride. She also claimed there was a strong attraction between the two.
But is this really a love match? Perhaps the conniving secretary is pregnant from an illicit after-hours encounter and is blackmailing him? Again, how could a woman like that ever hook the biggest catch in the U.S.?
My prediction: this marriage wonât last longâif it ever really takes place.