A tragic accident had erased pieces of billionaire Finn Sørensen's memory. Including all recollection of his wife. But what wife?

The one he'd been told had married him for his money? The one who now owned a controlling share of his family's jewelry empire?

Ally McKnight's image was burned into Finn's memory from photographs -- pictures that captured the passion between them. It was time she received a surprise visit from her long-lost husband. The one who wouldn't let her forget just what she owed him.

Ahh... where do I start?  I guess the idea began in 1992 when I met my Danish then-boyfriend.  Yes, I had the idea BEFORE Princess Mary!   Eight years later I was going through a divorce and two months' pregnant and decided if I couldn't get my happy ending, then I would damn-well write one!  And so Forgotten Marriage germinated.

It's the fourth book I've written and I've learnt so much from it.  I wish I could say it wrote itself, but it didn't.  I originally had Ally as too accepting, too weak and too forgiving.  Had to toughen her up.  Then I had Finn as too horrible.  Insert major internal conflict in the form of his father's will.  And at one stage I had them hot-footing it into the Blue Mountains to hide from the press.  However, after receiving some fabulous contest feedback (Robyn Donald gave great insight into pacing) and my critique partner Anne-Louise ("just get them together!") I began to shape that clay into something resembling a sculpture <g>.  Entering it in the Valerie Parv Award garnered some great feedback from the Lady herself (remember to "put some more *emotion* into it!") as did RWA's Emerald Award: one judge gave me what I class as my first fan email.  She said, "I felt that this story was comparable to any that have been published before, if not better than some of the American writers."

If you want to read about the timeline of this book - from idea to first sale - read my Journey of a Novel article.

Coogee Beach is one of my favorite places in Sydney - so it's no wonder I gave Ally an apartment there!  Not only did RWAustralia host our 2004 conference at the lovely Crowne Plaza Hotel, but Coogee was just around the corner from the place I used to work.  After 4pm I mosied on down to the gorgeous beach to soak up the late afternoon sun.  It's also a very popular spot for tourists (the Coogee Bay Hotel does a fabulous BBQ!) 

  When Ally emerged dressed in a robe and a towel turbaned in her hair, Finn was silently waiting in the living room.

  “Well,” she gave him a tentative smile but his face remained impassive.  “That bathroom was amazing.  Are you...”  He was in her personal space quicker than a heartbeat.  She backed up against the wall until she could go no further.  His body pressed up then settled against hers, the heavy robe ruffling a sigh with the friction.  His hands went to her shoulders, his face close... too close.

  “Ever since I saw you, I’ve been wondering what you’d taste like.”

  Through her shock, she could see the tension in his jaw, the purpose in his green eyes.  He wasn’t happy about that rough confession.

  And then against all reason, against every promise he’d made, Finn kissed her.

  The kiss was pure Finn, everything Ally remembered, his smell, his skin, his lips.  They took, they devoured.  For one heartbreaking second, time actually did stand still, throwing her commonsense into chaos and tumbling her memory back to when she’d been in love with this hypnotic man.

  Danger danced across her skin as his smell, all spicy and male, stormed her defenses like an invading Viking army of centuries past.  She felt his body against hers harden, the honed muscle settling into unyielding granite. 

  Yet beneath his uncompromising body, heat radiated out like it wanted to claim her in its flame.  She see-sawed between desire and panic, until desire won out.

God forgive me for being weak, but I can’t help myself.

  With a small whimper, she opened her mouth and invited his tongue in.  The small question of doubt flashed into her brain but she ignored it.  This moment, this mind-numbing kiss, was hungry and intense and everything she’d missed.  Everything in her dreams.    So she threw caution to the wind and let herself go.

  Finn held her face steady between his hands and took her mouth like she was his own private banquet.  He feasted upon her, tongues tangling, lips crushing, until they were both breathless.  He seized everything she offered, not caring that his blood was pounding through his veins so quick and hard that his whole body vibrated with the force of his desire.  Not caring that he was here for one purpose only and that didn’t include seducing his wife. 

  Not caring that his knee was wedged between her legs, shoving apart the robe so he could now feel her damp heat of arousal on his thigh.

  All it did was serve as fuel to a naked flame, licking him from head to feet.  Her towel fell to the floor.  He grabbed her nape and with it, handfuls of silky damp hair.  Angling her mouth across his and deepening the kiss, he heard her muffled groan of pleasure.

Every nerve exploded, sending shards of pleasure throbbing through his body.  His groin pulsed and suddenly he wanted to throw her down onto the floor and bare her body to his gaze.  To lick and nibble and taste.  To take her every which way he possibly could – from the back, the side, bent over the desk—

  The ferocity of his thoughts pulled him up short, dragged his mouth from her swollen one with an oath.  Stunned gray eyes stared back at him.

  As quickly as Ally had been thrust into the past, reality came crashing back.  They were in his hotel room.  She was practically naked.  His knee intimately jammed between her legs.

  And she was damp with wanting.

  That’s the way it was, had always been, for her.  As if she was a Christmas tree festooned with lights and with one flick of the switch, Finn could turn her on.

  Her readiness for sex had become just one of their many intimate jokes.

  His thigh tensed and moved, steely muscle rubbing damp wetness.  With a small groan of dismay she pulled away then winced as his hands remained entangled in her hair. 

  “You promised!” She jerked back, desperate to put some distance between her memories and the overwhelming reality of the here and now.

  He finally released her, dragging his fingers through her hair slowly, almost longingly.  As if he’d been wondering what she felt like and now couldn’t get enough of it.

  His eyes were dark and filled with passion, his mouth grim.  And he had touched things that hadn’t been touched in an eternity.

  Ally let her arousal dissolve into anger as she took a step back.  “Are you trying to seduce me?”

  “Can’t you feel it?”

  Stunned into silence, she shook her head to clear the fuzziness.  “What?”

  “My theory.”

  “Your..?”

  “Earlier today.  After I touched you-”

  She flushed.  “Yes.”

  “I was... thinking about your mouth.”

  She blinked slowly.

  Finn felt his throat became thick with the thought of recall, like he’d swallowed a cup of rich chocolat and couldn’t quite clear his voice.  With the devil on his shoulder he added with a tilt to his lips, “I was thinking about your lips.  Tongue.  How you’d smell, all warm and sweaty under me.”

  She flushed bright red.  “And your point is?”

  “I remembered something.  Which leads me to my theory.”

  He waited for her to make the connection and when she did, it widened her eyes and sent a flush across her cheeks.

  “You think...” she said hoarsely, “the key to recovering your memory is you and me... us...?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m suggesting.”

  The air was suddenly charged with heat as he watched her shove hands in her hair, hot pink nails diving into the tangled mass of damp sun-kissed chestnut.  Even something as innocuous as her ears were perfectly shaped, he realized.  Imagine taking that delicate lobe between your teeth and sucking, making her moan with pleasure...

  He felt himself tighten.  She was damn cute when she frowned, that little crease of concentration between her eyes so adorable he wanted to kiss it.

  “Let me get this straight,” she said.  “You think us getting physical may result in jogging your memory?”