Blake moves to HarperFiction for Ruthless Women follow-up

Soap star agent Melanie Blake has moved to HarperFiction with her latest novel, the follow-up to Ruthless Women (Head of Zeus). 

Editorial director Phoebe Morgan bought UK and Commonwealth rights to Guilty Women from Jason Bartholomew at The bks Agency. The new book will be published in hardback in spring 2022 followed by a paperback later in the year. 

The novel will see the return of the characters from Ruthless Women, who are battling to keep their hit TV show on the air. HarperFiction said: "With enemies at every turn, tensions have never been higher: will Guilty Women’s leading ladies survive the revenge filled rollercoaster ride and get away with the murder that bonds them together?"

Blake said: "The reader's investment in Ruthless Women's characters was truly overwhelming so I knew that I had to continue the story, after all, no one wants a novel set behind the scenes of a backstabbing soap opera to end on a cliffhanger! I’m already deeply immersed in Guilty Women, which is not only going to satisfy fans of the franchise but will welcome new readers into their monstrously mesmerising world. To say I’m delighted to be joining HarperFiction would be an understatement. I hugely admire Phoebe Morgan and the inspiring women that make up her team so to know that my characters are in such safe and creative hands is a dream come true. Bring on 2022!"

Morgan added: "Melanie burst onto the writing scene with Ruthless Women and I’m very excited to publish her next novel. Glamorous, sexy, dramatic and with a cut-throat edge, this is a bold, incredibly fun novel that will whisk you away from the day-to-day and into the hugely entertaining world of Melanie’s characters. Melanie herself is such a powerhouse and readers are in for a rollercoaster ride."