Fake Play by Carla Swafford / #SpotlightPost #ReleaseBlitz @RABTBookTours @carlaswafford

 

 

Connor Ellison, one of Atlanta Edge’s best wingers and biggest prankster, is given an ultimatum by the coaches and the PR department. He must stay married until the end of the run for the Cup or be available for trade.

Lily Jones wants nothing to do with the insane demand. But he convinces her the best decision is to play along. If they remain married and pretend to be in love, he offers to save her family’s ice rink from bankruptcy. Anyway, it’s only until the end of the hockey season. Then they can go their separate ways.

Easy-peasy. No way will they go to the finals. No way will they truly fall in love.

 

 

Spotlight Post

Thank you, Carla Swafford and RABT Book Tours

 

About the author

Carla Swafford loves romance novels, action/adventure movies, and men, and her books reflect that. And that’s not all, she’s crazy about hockey, and thankfully, no one has made her turn in her Southern Belle card. She’s married to her high school sweetheart and lives in Alabama.

 

Author Links 

Website: https://carlaswafford.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/carlaswafford

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carlaswaffordAuthor/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carlaswafford/

Promo Link: http://bookbuzz.net/blog/sports-romance-fake-play/

 

 

Book Link

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Fake-Play-Atlanta-Hockey-Romance-ebook/dp/B0861FBWG2

Murder at the Playhouse by Helena Dixon / #Review #BooksOnTour @bookouture @NellDixon

 

 

A Miss Underhay Mystery #3

The scene is set for murder… and Kitty Underhay’s partner has been cast as the killer.

Late Summer, 1933. After a quarrel with too-plucky-for-her-own-good amateur sleuth Kitty Underhay, dashing ex-army captain Matthew Bryant is nursing his wounds, and a tumbler of brandy, when there’s a heavy knock at the door and he finds himself arrested for murder. The body of aspiring actress Pearl Bright has been found, strangled with one of Matt’s own bootlaces, and the evidence seems to be stacked against him.

The local constabulary might have locked Matt up, but before they can throw away the key, Kitty hears the news and hies to his aid, determined to prove his innocence. And when her investigations lead her to the home of retired theatre impresario Stanley Davenport, and the local amateur dramatics society, Kitty uncovers a web of deceit that stretches far beyond the stage make-up. But Kitty’s digging is bringing her to the attention of the killer. Without her partner in crime-fighting, can Kitty expose them and clear Matt’s name? Or will it be curtains for them both?

 

 

Review

Time flies when you are having fun and I most certainly had a lot of fun reading this third adventure with Kitty and Matt as the main players.

Kitty not only has a new murder case on her hands but she also has other fish to fry. As always she can count on Matt, but this time it seems like he’s in a pickle.

In my opinion the series gets better and better with every new book. I like that the author decided to give Alice a bigger role again too.

Often the relationship between the police team and the amateur sleuths is not a very good one. The detectives more than once see the sleuths as interfering busybodies and don’t appreciate their help. Well, this officer is smarter than some of his colleagues and works with them in stead of against them. There is strength in numbers, obviously. 😉

A very entertaining series and I am dying to know how the mystery in Kitty’s private life will develop. 5 stars.

Thank you, Helena Dixon and Bookouture

 

About the author

Nell Dixon was born and continues to live in the Black Country. Married to the same man for over thirty-five years she has three daughters, a cactus called Spike, a crazy cockapoo and a tank of tropical fish. She is allergic to adhesives, apples, tinsel and housework. Her addictions of choice are coffee and reality TV. She was winner of The Romance Prize in 2007 with her book Marrying Max, and winner of Love Story of the Year 2010 with her book, Animal Instincts. She also writes historical 1930’s set cozy crime as Helena Dixon.

 

Author Links

Website: http://www.nelldixon.com

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/nell.dixon

Twitter:      https://twitter.com/NellDixon

 

 

Book Link

https://geni.us/B085QNNFWHSocial

Escape to the Art Cafe by Sue McDonagh / #Review @ChocLituk @SueMcDonaghLit

The Art Café #3

Heartbreak and cake at the Art Café …
It was meant to be the perfect romantic holiday. But then Flora Bexton’s boyfriend does the unthinkable, and she responds in the only logical way: she steals his motorbike and escapes for a holiday by herself on the Welsh coast.
Far from the lonely trip she imagined, Flora soon finds comfort at the friendly local Art Café where the legendary hot chocolate and cake help to ease her troubled mind. And when Aussie-Welsh lifeguard Jake Foley steps in just when Flora needs help the most, she realises that her ‘holiday’ feels more like home with every passing day …

 

 

Review

Woohoo, we are back in Wales and meet up with the people at the Art Café. I am so glad to see them again, because I really missed them.

This is book 3 in the series but you don’t have to hold back if you have not read the two previous ones yet. If you pick up this one, you will be seduced by the lovely writing style and great story line, which will lead you to buying the other two as well. You will be very tempted to know what happened to Jo (book 1) and Lucy (book 2).

This time the spotlight is on Flora who is a bundle of energy and you just have to love her. Her future is not looking so bright at the moment, but this being a feel good book, you already know that this is going to change. How, where and when and which mountains she will have to climb first, is for you to find out. 🙂

I just adored this book. The author really knows how to entertain her readers. 5 stars.

Thank you, Sue McDonagh and Choc Lit

 

About the author

Sue McDonagh’s career as a policewoman for Essex Police was cut short when she was diagnosed at the age of twenty-four with ovarian cancer. After a successful recovery and a stint working as a Press Officer she moved to Wales.

In Wales her love of art evolved into a full-time occupation and she made a living teaching and sketching portraits at shows. In 2014 she was a regional finalist for the Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year. She now works exclusively to commissions from her art gallery.

In 2009 she learned to ride a motorbike, and now helps run Curvy Riders, a national, women only, motorbike club. Her joy of motorbikes and her love of writing inspired her to write the Art Café series. Sue, granny of two little girls and proud mum of two stepsons, lives a mile from the sea in Wales. She can often be found with her border terrier, Scribbles, at her art gallery. Scribble thinks the customers only come in to see him. Sometimes, Sue thinks that too.

When she’s not painting, she’s writing or on her motorbike. She belongs to a local writing group and the Romantic Novelist’s Association.

 

Author Links

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SueMcDonaghWriter/

Blog: http://suemcdonagh.co.uk/

 

 

Book Links

Publisher: https://www.choc-lit.com/dd-product/escape-to-the-art-cafe/

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Escape-Art-Cafe-uplifting-page-turner-ebook/dp/B0872BX3WR/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2866GZDERU4S0&dchild=1&keywords=escape+to+the+art+cafe+sue+mcdonagh&qid=1591989040&s=digital-text&sprefix=escape+to+the+art+cafe%2Cdigital-text%2C182&sr=1-1

The History of Eternity by James E. Winder / #SpotlightPost #BookBlitz @RABTBookTours

 

 

You cannot help but wonder what and why you are. The History of Eternity is a book that again and again answers these questions, as it celebrates the tragic joy of wonder at the enigma of your existence. There will always be a clamoring after elusive fact. There will always be a hankering for some durable theory that will explain the fact. There will always be an inability to match the one wholly with the other. Because something is always left out, there will always persist a stubbornly invisible and intractable remainder. And this remainder, this dark matter behind every thought, behind every desire, behind every joy, behind every sorrow, will continue to populate your universe with wonder. Read this book, if you will, and share that wonder.

You are born into a conspiracy of significance, already entangled with your equally lonely others. The history of eternity, the tension between nowhere and now here, defines the struggle between the life you are living now and whatever there may be of the life to come. The History of Eternity is a series of broken elegies to those who have mattered, to their moments and your moments, to their sanity and your sanity, to their madness and your madness. The History of Eternity is one man’s meditation on the reverberating shock of his encounter with Henry Adams, Aristotle, Augustine, Bach, Balzac, Beckett, Bergson, Bloch, Boehme, Bonhoeffer, Cervantes, Chekhov, Cicero, Claudel, Dante, Darwin, Derrida, Emily Dickinson, Dostoevsky, Eckhart, Emerson, Ezekiel, Faulkner, Gide, Goethe, Heraclitus, Herodotus, Hume, Isaiah, Henry James, Jeremiah, Samuel Johnson, Kafka, Kierkegaard, D.H. Lawrence, Leopardi, Levinas, Joan of Arc, Joe Louis, Lucretius, Machiavelli, Malraux, McTaggart, Milton, Montaigne, Newton, Nietzsche, Parmenides, Pascal, Plotinus, Plutarch, Proust, Rabelais, Rembrandt, Rosenzweig, Rousseau, Sartre, Schopenhauer, Schubert, Adam Smith, Sophocles, Spinoza, Edith Stein, Wallace Stevens, Tocqueville, Van Gogh, Virgil, Von Hofmannsthal, Wagner, Weil, Whitehead, Wittgenstein, Woolf, Yeats, and many others.

Considered collectively, and as one integral whole, these philosophic meditations in poetic form echo the meaning of eternity as reflected in the troubled hearts, minds, and lives of 144 historic individuals, famous or unknown. There is – in the history of philosophy and literature – nothing akin to it in nature and scope.

 

 

Spotlight Post

Thank you, James E. Winder and RABT Book Tours

 

About the author

Mr. James E. Winder was born on June 16, 1953, in Athens, Tennessee, and graduated summa cum laude from Vanderbilt University in 1975 with a B.A. in philosophy and literature. He earned an M.A. in philosophy from Purdue University in 1980.

James Winder spent the lion’s share of his career as a mid-level manager and intelligence analyst for the National Security Agency (NSA), where he retired in 2013 after 30 years of service. At NSA, Mr. Winder’s most noteworthy assignment was in 1991-1992, when he served as Assistant Director of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB). During that time, he co-authored a report for President George H.W. Bush on intelligence lessons learned during the first Gulf War and provided extensive research and documentation on a wide range of other matters of great interest to the PFIAB board members. In a special commendation, then Acting PFIAB Chairman, Admiral Bobby Ray Inman, cited Mr. Winder for his “expert advice to the President of the United States” and for his “extremely incisive and timely contributions on some very complex issues.”

During three decades at NSA, Mr. Winder produced three classified, book-length studies, most notably including a comprehensive report on an important subject, which won NSA’s annual Cryptologic Literature Award. He also wrote a wide variety of other in-depth reports on Soviet intelligence, terrorism, and technical threats to U.S. telecommunications.

Mr. Winder is the author of The History of Eternity, a series of philosophic meditations in poetic form, which is, according to Mr. Winder, the cryptic story of his life and the lives of many others. There is – in the history of philosophy or literature – no other work that is akin to it in nature and scope.

 

Author Links

GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50946188-the-history-of-eternity?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=75a8c5ldSZ&rank=3

Promo Link: http://bookbuzz.net/blog/poetry-the-history-of-eternity/

 

 

Book Link

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/History-Eternity-James-Winder-ebook/dp/B084FS2Z8H/

The Wounded Ones by G.D. Penman / #Interview #BlogTour @meerkatpress @GDPenman

 

 

Witch of Empire #2

Demons and serial killers are Iona “Sully” Sullivan’s bread and butter, but nothing could have prepared her to face off against the full weight of the British Empire at the height of its power. With the War for American Independence in full swing, she finds even her prodigious talents pushed beyond their limits when citizens of the American Colonies begin vanishing amidst rumors of crop circles, hydra sightings and worse. Through a wild and lethal adventure that will see her clashing with the Empire around the world and beyond, the only constants in Sully’s life are an undead girlfriend, a giant demon crow that has taken a shine to her, regular assassination attempts by enemies on all sides, and the cold certainty that nothing and nobody is going to make it out of the war in one piece.

 

 

Q&A

1. Do you always take a book/e-reader wherever you go?

How sweet of you to think that I go outside often enough to justify carrying a book with me. When I did have something resembling a life, I always had a yellowed paperback in my pocket, and a torch in case I was walking home after dark and couldn’t make out what was on the pages, but nowadays I tend to use my phone to catch up on my online research rather than a dedicated device.

2. Say someone asks if they can use your name in a book. Would you rather be the ‘good one’ or the ‘bad one’?

In terms of most genre fiction, I don’t think I’m believable as a heroic character. Bald, bearded, fat and queer are all villain-coded. The fact that I dare to be open about my intelligence along with all those things adds insult to injury; the superhero is strong, the villain is smart, that is the rule, no?

Also, a lot of my life-stories do tend to have a little bit of a mad scientist origin story vibe; like that one time I built a giant electromagnet that dragged stools across the room, melted and blew all the fuses in the school science department.

3. Where can I find you when you are reading?

Everywhere around the house. I’ve got a perch on the counter by the kitchen window. The sofa I sleep on and my little office desk. Not to mention the throne of all serious readers in the bathroom. You know it is time to get back to work when your leg falls asleep.

4. Where can I find you when you are not writing/reading?

Where can you find fish when they’re not swimming? I was going to say that I do other things with my time too, but honestly, I usually have something to read sitting open beside me regardless. When I’m watching television, it is with the eternal presence of Wikipedia at my fingertips. When I’m cooking – one of my other great passions – I am usually reading through recipe books or food writing for inspiration. You just can’t get away from reading once it has its hooks in you.

5. Can you walk past a bookstore without going inside?

I wish that I could. Even when it is a chain bookstore that I know without a doubt isn’t going to contain anything except the bestsellers list of airport books, I still end up wandering around trying to find something that tickles my fancy. I think I’ve probably spent more on books than I have rent through the years.

6. What are you most proud of?

I mean, I’m a critically acclaimed, best-selling author. Those are both pretty good for the old ego. I’m sure I’m meant to say I’m proud of my kids or something but honestly I’m quietly convinced I’m screwing them up more and more every day.

Oh wait! I know. That one star review on a book I ghost-wrote that said “This isn’t true crime, it is erotica for serial killers!” That one keeps me warm at night.

7. What goes through your mind when you hold your new book in your hands for the first time?

It is a strange thing to hold a book with my name on it, because it already belongs to somebody else. Publishing is not an industry to get involved with if you want instant gratification, because from the time I first put an idea to paper to the time it finally sees print, it can be half a decade. I look at every book with my name on it, and they were written by someone in the past. I can see all the mistakes I

made, and that I can convince myself aren’t in the books that I’m writing now. I swear, I could spend my whole life going back and rewriting my old books to be up to my current standard, but then I’d never get to write anything new, and there isn’t enough time!

8. What piece of advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Kick the stool out from under you and hope that you’ve learned to fly. There is no way to be a writer except to write. There is no way to get published without going through the mortifying ideal of being known. If you want it bad enough, do it.

Thank you, G.D. Penman and Meerkat Press

 

About the author

G.D. Penman is the author of the Strata Online and Witch of Empire series, the ghostwriter of more than 50 books, and a freelance game designer. A firm believer in the axiom that any story is made better with the addition of dragons, he is fulfilling his destiny as an overweight bearded white man by pursuing a career as a fantasy author. In “real life” he lives in Scotland with his partner, children, dog and cats. Just . . . so many cats.

 

Author Links

Website | Twitter

 

 

Book Links

Meerkat Press | Amazon | Indiebound | Book Depository | Barnes & Noble

 

Giveaway

$50 Book Shopping Spree!

GIVEAWAY LINK:  http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/7f291bd819/?

Black Rock Manor by Shaun Baines / #Review @Littlehavenfarm

A Holly Fleet Mystery 1

When Holly Fleet returns to her home village of Little Belton, she expects it to be there.

Arcadia Leisure, a corporation led by an eccentric outsider, buys Black Rock Manor and wants to build a theme park in the heart of Northumberland’s countryside. Houses will be demolished and livelihoods will be lost.

Holly’s cottage may be rundown, but she doesn’t want it to be replaced by a log flume.

A local resident protests and goes missing. Another resident is attacked. While Little Belton holds its breath, frightened to see who might be next, Holly decides to defend her home.

Enlisting the help of Callum Acres, a handsome, young gamekeeper, Holly investigates Arcadia Leisure and discovers secrets the village would like to keep quiet.

If Little Belton is to survive, its residents must work together before Holly’s fresh start becomes a dead end.

 

 

Review

Holly and the villagers of Little Belton have a lot on their plate in this first book of a new series. 

Holly does not only have to find out where the missing person has disappeared to, but also who is responsible for the attack on another villager and has to prevent the village from turning into an amusement park. She can’t do this on her own though and enlists Callum, Black Rock Manor’s gamekeeper. 

She also has private matters to deal with, but the village has to come first. Hopefully there is still time left to solve the rest as well.

Sometimes people you think are working against you are in fact on your side. Time to join forces and when you believe you have found what it takes, fate strikes hard. Were all those efforts in vain or will the solution come from an unexpected angle?

This is a story I finished in one day. I liked the bits of humor the author added and the well built up structure of the book. 4 stars.

Thank you, Shaun Baines

 

About the author

I grew up in South Shields, a coastal town in the north-east of England. When I wasn’t playing on my ZX Spectrum, I was in the library reading non-age appropriate books.

I’ve had a number of soul destroying jobs – door-to-door salesman, statistician, buyer of manufacturing equipment I could barely pronounce. Tired of wearing a shirt and tie to work, I started a gardening business where shorts and grubby T-shirts became mandatory.

It wasn’t until I moved to Scotland that my love of reading gravitated into one of writing. My main interest is in crime fiction from cosy mysteries to hardboiled noir.

 

Author Links

shaunbaines.org

Twitter @littlehavenfarm 

Facebook shaunbaineswriter

 

 

Book Link

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Rock-Manor-Holly-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0871FWMMS/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=black+rock+manor&qid=1593202348&s=digital-text&sr=1-1

Tell That To My Heart by Eliza J. Scott / #Review #BlogTour @rararesources @ElizaJScott1

 

 

Heartshaped Series #1

Jemima Dewberry wears her heart on her sleeve. Her weakness for bad boys, coupled with her track record for making bad decisions has led to endless heartbreak. The only trouble is, she can’t seem to kick the habit.

On top of that, her “dream” job at Yorkshire Portions magazine hasn’t turned out to be what she’d hoped, and she seems to have developed the knack of annoying her boss without even trying. It doesn’t help that the new girl seems to have taken an instant dislike to her. All that’s keeping her there are her best friends Anna-Lisa and Aidey, who have picked up the pieces of her shattered heart more times than they care to remember.

When Jemima’s latest boyfriend turns out to be no better than the rest, the hurt and humiliation is almost unbearable. She declares she’s finally through with love, and swears off men for life. But when charismatic Caspar De Verre walks into the office with his dangerous good looks and mesmerising smile, she’s utterly captivated, and her promises to Anna-Lisa and Aidey not to let her heart rule her head are soon forgotten.

But is Caspar all he seems? Anna-Lisa and Aidey have their doubts. And Herbert, the happy-go-lucky black Labrador Jemima’s looking after, doesn’t seem to like him either.

As Jemima falls for Caspar’s charms she finds herself being forced to confront the struggle between her head and her heart. But which one will prove the most powerful?

And will Jemima get the happy-ever-after she so desperately craves?

 

 

Review

Parents have a big influence on children’s lives. When you are already a bit older, you see better what’s right and what’s wrong, but young children don’t see it that way and pick up everything whether it’s good or bad.

Often people are following their hearts even when their heads scream ‘nooooooo’ and their gut agrees with their head, but how can something that feels so good be bad at the same time?

You can totally be swept off your feet and be on cloud nine, but it’s also very important that you keep your cool too, because otherwise you can find yourself in very murky water.

Sometimes you find what you were looking for right in front of you,but it can take years before you realize it.

I really enjoyed this story. The author has created great characters and treated us to a lovely book. 4 stars.

Thank you, Eliza J. Scott and Rachel’s Random Resources.

 

About the author

Eliza is proud to be a member of the RNA. She lives in a 17th-century cottage in a village in the North Yorkshire Moors with her husband, their two daughters and two mischievous black Labradors. When she’s not writing, she can usually be found with her nose in a book/glued to her Kindle or working in her garden, fighting a losing battle against the weeds.

When she’s not reading or gardening, Eliza also enjoys bracing walks in the countryside, rounded off by a visit to a teashop where she can indulge in another two of her favourite things: tea and cake.

Her biggest weakness is ginger biscuits dunked in tea.

Eliza is inspired by her beautiful surroundings and loves to write heartwarming romance stories with relatable female characters. She enjoys exploring the dynamics of female friendship, with a key feature of her books being how women pull together and support one another when things get tough.

Eliza’s novels will always have happy endings.

 

Author Links

Twitter: Eliza J Scott – @ElizaJScott1

Instagram: Eliza J Scott – @elizajscott

Facebook: Eliza J Scott – @elizajscottauthor

Blog: www.elizajscott.com

Bookbub: www.bookbub.com/authors/eliza-j-scott

Amazon Author Page: UK:  www.amazon.co.uk/Eliza-J-Scott/e/B07DMQWPMH

                                US: www.amazon.com/Eliza-J-Scott/e/B07DMQWPMH

 

Book Links

UK:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B084VQHQDL 

US:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084VQHQDL

A Wish For Jinnie by Audrey Davis / #SpotlightPost #BlogTour @rararesources @audbyname

 

 

What if wishes really could come true? 

When Jinnie Cooper is dumped by her fiancé, and exiled to a job in an antiques shop in a sleepy Scottish village, little does she know a battered old lamp is about to shake up her life. 

Genie Dhassim grants wishes. But he also wants a few of his own to come true. Letting him explore the outside world proves nerve-wracking as Dhassim has an uncanny knack of putting his pointy-slippered foot in it. 

As Jinnie grows closer to her employer Sam, Dhassim discovers his time on earth is running out. 

Can both Jinnie and Dhassim find true happiness? Or are those wishes that cannot be granted?

 

 

Spotlight Post

Thank you, Audrey Davis and Rachel’s Random Resources

 

About the author 

Audrey Davis is a Scottish-born former journalist, now resident in Switzerland. Her newspaper career saw her cover events in Northern Ireland and the Falkland Islands, as well as working for a London-based movie magazine writing reviews and carrying out interviews.

She self-published her debut romantic comedy novel A Clean Sweep in June 2017, following an online Open University course in Writing Fiction.

Audrey followed up with a short, darker prequel A Clean Break before beginning work on a rom-com novella trilogy with a ghostly twist – The Haunting of Hattie Hastings. Again, reviews across the board were excellent, and it was combined into a standalone novel in November 2018.

A Wish For Jinnie is her third standalone novel.

Apart from writing, Audrey enjoys travel and spends a lot of time in Edinburgh. She is an avid cook, watcher of scary movies and reluctant gym-goer.

 

Author Links 

https://twitter.com/audbyname

https://www.facebook.com/audreydavisbooks/

https://www.instagram.com/cowieaudrey/

https://audreydavisauthor.com

 

 

Book Links

UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wish-Jinnie-magical-romantic-difference-ebook/dp/B088HGYN8G/

US – https://www.amazon.com/Wish-Jinnie-magical-romantic-difference-ebook/dp/B088HGYN8G/

Summer Strawberries at Swallowtail Bay by Katie Ginger / #Interview #BlogTour @rararesources @KatieGAuthor

 

 

Grab your strawberries and cream and get ready to return to the beautiful Swallowtail Bay!

Summer is in full swing and the locals are getting excited for the launch of the Swallowtail Bay strawberry food festival. But will all run smoothly when festival organiser Hetty’s heart is torn between lord of the manor John Thornhill and successful bakery owner Ben?

 

 

Q&A

1. Did or do you like to read comic books/grapic novels? Which ones?

I’ve never been a huge fan of comics or graphic novels. My husband likes them, but it’s never really been my thing. I’m more of a Jane Austen girl!

2. Whom did you inherit your love for books/reading from?

My mum, definitely! She really helped me to find lots of new authors and recommended the classics, people like Oscar Wilde and Thomas Hardy. She even had me read Persian poetry – the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam but if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have read so widely.

3. When you need a murder victim or someone you can diagnose with a serious disease or someone who is involved in a fatal accident do you sometimes picture someone nasty you have met in real life and think ‘got you’ LOL?

I’m tempted sometimes, but no. I always try and make my characters distinctive and different. I wouldn’t want to get in trouble with anyone in real life! That being said, I do sometimes use people, conversations and events as inspiration.

4. How do you come up with the names for your characters?

For my main characters, I love traditional names like Esme and Hetty. For the guys, it really depends on how they look in my head! I need a name that fits them and their personality. I have a book of baby names that I often go to for inspiration. Though I crossed out baby and wrote character because I didn’t want my sisters-in-law getting ideas!

5. Do write other things beside books (and shoppinglists 😉 )?

I love writing short stories when I have time, and I also write cosy mysteries under the pen name K E Coburn. I like either making my characters fall in love or killing them off!

6. If a movie or series would be made from your books, would you be happy with the ‘based on’ version or would you rather like they showed it exactly the way you created it?

That’s a great question and a hard one to answer! I don’t know much about actually filming movies and all that entails, so there might be things that work better on screen than in books and vice versa. It’s a completely different medium, so I think there’d be a lot to understand before I made a decision. Having said that, I’d be grateful for any opportunity for one of my books to be turned into a film! Maybe one day!

7. Who would you like/have liked to interview?

I’d love to sit down and chat with Jenny Colgan! She seems such a lovely person and I’ve read every single one of her books! She’s my favourite romance writer and really knows her stuff.

8. Do you have certain people you contact while doing research to pick their brains? What are they specialized in?

I haven’t needed anyone yet. Google’s always been my best friend in that department.

9. Is there someone you sometimes discuss a dilemma with?

Definitely! My mum and dad are my go-to people when I need to figure something out. I’m missing them like crazy at the moment (as I write this we’re in lockdown here in the UK because of Coronavirus) but I ring them every day. Normally, we’d take the dog for a walk and thrash out any pesky plot holes or character arcs that aren’t quite working.

10. What is more important to you : a rating in stars with no comments or a reviewer who explains what the comments they give are based on (without spoilers of course)

I’m grateful to anyone who takes the time to leave a review whether it’s a star rating or something more detailed. Adding a comment lets us know what we’re doing right, what you’d like more of and maybe where we’re growing wrong. Reviewing is subjective so whatever works for you is fine! I’m just beyond happy you decided to spend time with one of my books! Thank you to everyone who’s read and/or reviewed!

Thank you, Katie Ginger and Rachel’s Random Resources

 

About the author 

KATIE GINGER lives in the South East of England, by the sea, and she really wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Summer Strawberries at Swallowtail Bay is her fifth novel. The first, Spring Tides at Swallowtail Bay is available now. Her debut novel The Little Theatre on the Seafront was shortlisted for the Katie Fforde Debut Novel of the Year award, and her stand- alone Christmas novel Snowflakes at Mistletoe Cottage was a US Amazon bestseller.

When she’s not writing, Katie spends her time drinking gin, or with her husband, trying to keep alive their two children, Ellie and Sam. And there’s also their adorable King Charles Spaniel, Wotsit (yes, he is named after the crisps!).

 

Author Links

website: www.keginger.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/KatieGAuthor

Twitter: @KatieGAuthor

Instagram: @katie_ginger_author

 

 

Book Links

UK Amazon ebook: https://amzn.to/3bGn0yi

US Amazon ebook: https://amzn.to/2KuIdPf

Déjà Vu by Melody Saleh / #Extract #BlogTour @LoveBooksGroup @MelodySaleh

 

 

Unbroken series #2

Happiness is finally within reach for best friends, Amber, Dominque, Debra and Zya.  But fate has other plans…

Pregnant and widowed, Debra is engaged to suave and charming Italian heartthrob Roberto.  So why does her heart race when she thinks about her therapist, Brian?  Has she said yes to the wrong man?

Dominque has found the love and acceptance she always longed for with Tad.  But devastating news soon threatens their future together.

Successful fashion designer Zya has discovered her own unexpected happily ever after with Tina . . . until her daughter, Ashanti is bullied and becomes the focus of a police investigation and the media. Now Zya suddenly stands to lose everything she holds dear.

Finally, together with the only man she’s ever loved, Amber is determined to not let anything come between her and Patrick—not even her jealous and vindictive identical twin sister.  But someone is watching . . . waiting for the right moment to destroy her . . .

Will the women get their happy ending, or is it déjà vu all over again?  

 

 

Extract

“Take this off me now before I damage it,” Tina pleads about the wedding gown she’s wearing. “No, no, honey, you have to leave it on. You’re going back out, it’s the end of the show.”

“You never mentioned that before,” she replies, on the defensive.

As the models form a line and begin their final walk, “I’m sorry, must have slipped my mind,” Stan, Zya’s assistant, retorts.

Tina gets in line, behind all the models decked out in Zya’s Resort Wear collection.

Stan holds her back leaving more distance between her and the last model. The wedding gown is the star of the show, needing to make its own entrance. “You’re going to walk out and stop at the end. The other models will follow you so you’ll all be out there together. Zya will then be announced and join you at the end of the runway.”

Tina looks at him confused; she doesn’t remember this happening in previous shows.

Watching her forehead crinkle in doubt, Stan quickly adds, “You’ve always been so busy, you just never noticed.”

Still unsure, Tina does as instructed.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the creator of Label Zya.” Zya walks out grabbing a microphone as she passes the sound booth.

The room is loud with everyone clapping and whistling—a standing ovation.

As Zya makes her way to Tina, she motions everyone to take their seat. “Thank you, thank you everyone for coming tonight and sharing my latest masterpiece with me. They say do what you love and it will never feel like work. It never has, and designing this collection has been absolutely the most fun I’ve ever had. And, if I do say so myself, I think it’s one of my finest.”

The room explodes in whistles and applause again.

Continuing, once everyone has quieted down, “My success has a lot to do with being happy and fulfilled. That can mean so many different things… family, friends, but for me,” she reaches over taking Tina’s hand, “happiness is this gorgeous woman, Tina, standing next to me.” Zya turns and surprises Tina with a deep passionate kiss.

Gasps from all around the room.

Tina is stunned. Zya hadn’t shown any desire to tell the world about her sexual preference. She certainly didn’t think tonight would be the time she would share her secret.

“I didn’t know I could love someone this deeply, this completely, until I met Tina. I wasn’t prepared to meet my soulmate, and I certainly didn’t expect that person to be a woman. She has helped me find myself—be all I can be. She completes me. They say behind every success story is a man or woman who helped make it real.” Turning to Tina, “My reality is, I can’t do any of this without you. I don’t want to do this without you. I want to wake up next to you every morning and go to sleep with you every night.”

Zya pulls a diamond ring from her pocket, a two-carat oval diamond with a ruby halo. Tina gasps, her tears silently rolling down her cheeks.

“Tina, will you spend the rest of your life with me?”

Totally surprises and speechless, she nods… the words just won’t come out.

As Amber jumps from her seat to capture the romantic moment on her phone, a guest, who wasn’t given access earlier, sneaks in unnoticed making his way as close as possible to her. Very close now… so close… Amber wears Coco Chanel… good to know.

Thank you, Melody Saleh and Love Books Group

 

About the author

After 35+ years in operations for various businesses (including her own), Melody pursued her dream of writing a novel. Having written for business publications, local magazines and even publishing a poem, Chemo’s not for Sissies, during treatment after her first cancer diagnosis, it was time to finish the novel that was started many years ago. When she started  writing, “Facade: Things Aren’t Always as They Appear,” she had no idea where her characters were going to take her. “The story basically wrote itself. It was like a movie projector playing in my mind,” is how she describes her experience. It soon became apparent, their voices were not to be silenced… “The Unbroken Series” was born. “Deja Vu: Here We Go Again,” Book II, to be released June 23, 2020, followed by C’est la Vie, Book III, in December.

Melody lives with her husband in her native home state Florida. She’s blessed to be alive today after two cancer diagnoses and enjoys watching her grandchildren grow up; something she doesn’t take for granted.

 

Author Link

Website: https://www.melodiousenterprises.com/

 

 

Book Links

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=D%C3%A9j%C3%A0+Vu+by+Melody+Saleh&i=stripbooks-intl-ship&ref=nb_sb_noss

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=deja+vu+melody+saleh&i=digital-text&ref=nb_sb_noss