Her Ruthless Italian Boss

Christina Hollis

Christina Hollis was born a few miles from Georgian Bath in England. She has been writing from the moment she picked up a pencil and her first book was a few sentences about three puppies that lived in a basket. It was written at the age of three!

She left school at sixteen. Working as a 'gopher' in the marketing department of a financial institution was an experience that opened her eyes to life outside of sleepy Somerset. She met her husband on a blind date and love at first sight led to marriage within months. When a play she wrote in her spare time was short-listed for a national award, her husband suggested she try writing full-time.

Over the next few years, Christina wrote half a dozen full-length novels, did a lot of non-fiction work for magazines and had two lovely children. In the year 2000, she joined a college course in creative writing to update her skills. It was tutored by the prize-winning Welsh poet Paul Groves, who suggested she try writing short stories. Various examples of these went on to be broadcast by the BBC and achieved success in several national competitions and magazines.

Christina's first modern romance, The Italian Billionaire's Virgin, began life as a two-thousand-word holiday assignment for her writing course. Urged to send it to Mills and Boon by her fellow students, her thrill at being invited to send in a completed manuscript was only topped by the experience of receiving THE letter--acceptance! It arrived on her young son's birthday, making it a double celebration the family will never forget.

Christina's hobbies include cooking and gardening and she always has a book in hand. Romances are a favourite, as they are in such contrast with raising a family in a crumbling old cottage. Married to the most romantic man in the world, Christina enjoys every aspect of the subject. Romance can be as simple as a cup of tea in bed, but grand gestures such as a restaurant dinner add spice to the mix.

Christina thinks writing must be the best job in the world. There really is nothing like seeing the pictures in her head become words on a page. The chance to explore relationships and the way people overcome the problems that life throws at them means that there is always some new avenue to investigate.