I thought long and hard about writing this post but then decided I should - because without Penny Jordan there would be no post.
By now I am sure all my blog followers will know the sad news that legendary romance writer Penny Jordan passed away on the 31st December 2011 at the age of sixty five. I never met her or exchanged any form of correspondence but her death affected me profoundly. You see, she has been a part of my life since I was twelve years old. I remember it vividly - my great-aunt Myra came to stay for the weekend and brought her usual cache of romances. Already a voracious reader (I was coming to the end of my Sweet Valley High addiciton) I snuck one of my aunt's books to my bedroom and read by torchlight until the early hours. The book? It was by none-other than Penny Jordan and let me say, that book awoke me on many different levels. I have never forgotten it and managed to read it a second time before sneaking it back into my aunt's room. Because of that one book, I fell in love with romance. The next time my aunt came to stay, she caught me trying to sneak another of her books out and gave me a couple to keep - one of them I still have: Man-Hater by Penny Jordan. Now, twenty-three years later, I must have read thousands of Mills & Boon (and thousands of other books in genres from thriller to horror) but, for me, Penny Jordan remained the original Queen.
Over the years I forgot the title of that very first M&B but I remembered the plot and the characters vividly. When I heard the sad news of Penny's death, I was tweeting to another M&B author about it (the equally talented and extremelly lovely Maisey Yates) and decided to track it down. And I did. I went through her bibliography and started systematically googling the titles until I found the one I wanted. My very first M&B, my very first Penny Jordan book, was called Blackmailed. And a copy of it is winging its way to me as I write.
So now I am going to sign off by saying a massive thank you. Thank you Penny Jordan for all the years of joy you have given me and thank you for making me fall in love xxx
It's so sad. I started reading her books at about the age of 18, and worked my way through much of her back catalogue - also read her as Caroline Courtney and never knew!
ReplyDeleteYou've made me want to look up one of my faves now, involved revenge using a young woman/pregnancy and modelling. Hello Google!