Author Interview: Camilla Way

Today it's my stop on the Watching Edie blog tour so it's my pleasure to welcome Camilla Way to the blog for a chat.

Can you tell us a little bit about Watching Edie?
Hello, thank you for having me! Watching Edie is a psychological thriller that centres on Heather and Edie and the dark secret that ended their teenage friendship. When Heather turns up unannounced on Edie’s doorstep years later, it becomes clear that our past sins can have terrifying repercussions in our present, as both women learn we can never truly escape our past.

The story revolves around an unlikely friendship between Edie and Heather and is told in a dual timeline, where did the inspiration come from?
It came from a news story about a horrific case of teenage bullying that had really dreadful consequences. I’m fascinated by the themes of guilt and culpability. The epigraph to the book is a quote from CS Lewis’ Alice in Wonderland, “It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then”, and I wanted to explore whether that was true – whether a wrong turn taken during adolescence, that has horrendous consequences, can ever be forgiven, or are our past mistakes destined to define us forever more?  I wanted the reader to switch allegiances throughout the book, sometimes rooting for Edie, sometimes for Heather (or neither, or both!). To do this it was important to show bit by bit what atually happened between Heather and Edie all those years ago, hence the dual timeline. I decided to show the past from Heather’s view point and the present from Edie’s because I wanted to play on the reader’s doubt about who to believe, who was wrong, who was to blame, and to think about how memory and time can alter our view of things. Both narrators are unreliable and untrustworthy to an extent. 

The cover of Watching Edie is hauntingly eerie, did you get to work with the cover designers in its creation?  
It’s great, isn’t it? I’m so pleased with it! Clare Ward who designed the cover (and who also designed The Girl On The Train’s cover) worked on a few different ideas and then I was invited into HarperCollins HQ to see them. This one really jumped out at me, I love it because it’s quietly sinister and, I think, very stylish.

If you had to describe Watching Edie in one sentence, what would it be?
A twisty psychological suspense story of a toxic female friendship that goes horribly wrong!

Emma's Review: Letting in Light by Emma Davies

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Rowan Hill means many things to many people, but to Ellie Hesketh it represents new beginnings. Putting her life back together after a break-up is going to take time, but the crumbling country estate—as much in need of TLC as she is—seems the perfect place to do it.

But Ellie is not the only person for whom Rowan Hill is a refuge. There’s Will, damaged and complicated, whose secrets almost nobody knows. And Finn, his brother, who’s finally decided to stop running from his own past. As Ellie is drawn further into saving the estate, she can’t help but try saving the brothers too—and she’s sure she knows just how to go about it. The trouble is, she’s been accused of meddling before…

Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback

Friday Freebie: Take your pick from one of these 3 books

As a teenager I would say that 90% of the books that I read were crime novels, either police procedurals or books based around the forensics/law side of things but in my twenties my reading habits changed and I tended to read more contemporary and romance with only a handful of crime fiction novels.  But over the last 18 months or so I have re-found my passion for reading crime and thrillers which has also seen me go to a couple of Crime Fiction events rather than the Romance/Women's Fiction events I normally go to. In April I bought a ticket for the Crime Files Rooftop Book Club event in London and in May headed off to Bristol for the Crimefest weekend although I only bought a day pass for the Saturday (was such a great but manic day that I have already bought a pass for the whole weekend next year!).

At each of these events I was lucky enough to receive a goodie bag which included a variety of items including a selection of books but I'm having to be realistic and realise that it's highly unlikely that I'll read some of the free books I've received as my TBR piles, both review and personal, are overflowing and I'm going to have to soon start having regular book clearouts due to a lack of storage space.  So I've decided that over the course of the next few months I'll run a series of giveaways for a few of the new and unread books.

Each month I will offer up a choice of 2 or 3 books and once the winner has been selected they can then take their pick as to which book they would like to receive.  First up the books on offer are 50 Miles from Anywhere by Michael Cayzer, Cold Granite by Stuart Macbride or Slow Horses by Mick Herron.

Emma's Review: Breakfast under a Cornish Sun by Samantha Tonge

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Dreaming of the perfect man?

Kate Golightly needs to move forward and what better way to do that then with a trip to the Cornish coast with best friend and boss, Izzy.

The sea wind is just what Kate needs to finally relax and begin to let go of her past. Except she’s suddenly got one big reason to panic! She RSVP’d ‘yes’ to the Queen Bee of her high school’s wedding saying she’s bringing her boyfriend (she doesn’t have one) who looks just like Ross Poldark!

With only two weeks to find the Poldark look-alike of her dreams Kate is under a lot of pressure for the Cornish coast to deliver…

Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback 

Emma's Review: Killer Diamonds by Rebecca Chance

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

After decades in the spotlight as an Oscar-winning film star and famous beauty, Vivienne Winter is one of the most recognizable women on the planet. When she decides to auction her multimillion dollar jewellery collection for charity, there's no shortage of people eager to buy a piece of her incredible history.

Young, ambitious Christine Smith is a jewellery expert working for a centuries-old auction house. But in a world of aristocratic snobs, her working-class origins are holding her back. She's desperate to secure the sale of Vivienne Winter's gem collection: it's set to be the biggest auction since Elizabeth Taylor's. However, meeting the Hollywood star is just the first hurdle Christine has to jump.

Vivienne's handsome, spoilt and sexy playboy grandson Angel is the heir to her fortune. The anger and resentment he feels towards his grandmother for selling what he'd counted on as one day being his inheritance sets in motion a series of events with deadly consequences. Angel is totally unscrupulous, and no one will emerge from his plotting unscathed. For it seems that family secrets cut sharper than diamonds...

Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback

Emma's Review: The Taste of Summer by Kate Lord Brown

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Every summer, in a rambling castle in Kenmare, south west Ireland, the TV crews descend to film the nation's favourite cookery competition. For Diana, a celebrated TV chef, it's a way to keep her castle running. But this summer, it will be different. There's a lot more at stake than the perfect muffin. Bea, the cupcake queen, is determined to remind everyone why she deserves her own TV show, at whatever cost. Connor, the bad boy of the restaurant world, is determined to put his lurid past behind him and turn over a new leaf. And food blogger Darcy finds that returning home to the castle means stirring up some long-buried feelings for someone she'd never quite forgotten.

Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback

Emma's Review: We'll Always Have Paris by Sue Watson

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Does first love deserve a second chance?

When she was almost seventeen, Rosie Draper locked eyes with a charismatic student called Peter during their first week at art college, changing the course of her life forever. Now, on the cusp of sixty-five and recently widowed, Rosie is slowly coming to terms with a new future. And after a chance encounter with Peter, forty-seven years later, they both begin to wonder 'what if'...

Amazon links: Kindle 

Emma's Review: The Santiago Sisters by Victoria Fox

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

They should have stayed as one. They couldn’t survive apart.
It was fate, forever destined to come to this: from birth to death, two halves of the same whole.

Twins Calida and Teresita Santiago have never known a world without each other…until Teresita is wrenched from their Argentinian home to be adopted by world-famous actress Simone Geddes.

Now, while Teresita is provided with all that money can buy, Calida must fight her way to the top – her only chance of reuniting with her twin.

But no one can predict the explosive events which will finally bring the Santiago sisters into the spotlight together…

Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback

Author Interview: Sue Watson

Today I'm delighted to welcome Sue Watson to the blog to talk about her latest book We'll Always Have Paris, which Emma will be reviewing next week, and give us an insight into her writing process.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your writing journey? 
I started out as a journalist, then a TV producer, but always wanted to be a writer, so I wrote a novel - but that was just the beginning. Hundreds of rejections and several years later my first novel, ‘Fat Girls and Fairy Cakes’ was published and I’ve now just released my seventh book, ‘We’ll Always have Paris.’  My journey has been and will continue to be painful, heart-breaking, and wonderful - I wouldn’t change it for a thing.

What inspired you to write about a second chance at love after so many years apart? 
I think most people have someone they once loved and still think of – and it doesn’t matter how happy you are, there are days you wonder ‘what if?’ I wanted to know what happens when that person suddenly appears from your past - are they the same, are you? And what happens next…?

Describe We'll Always Have Paris in one sentence. 
A second chance at first love, and a life-long dream of Paris.

Does first love deserve a second chance?

When she was almost seventeen, Rosie Draper locked eyes with a charismatic student called Peter during their first week at art college, changing the course of her life forever. Now, on the cusp of sixty-five and recently widowed, Rosie is slowly coming to terms with a new future. And after a chance encounter with Peter, forty-seven years later, they both begin to wonder 'what if'...

Debut Spotlight: Zoe Cook

It's finally publication day for today's debut spotlight guest Zoe Cook as One Last Summer at Hideaway Bay is out today in eBook format with the paperback version following next month. 

I grew up by the sea in Cornwall, spending my summers on the beach. I left to study History at Oxford University, before starting a career in television during which I was lucky enough to travel the world interviewing incredible authors for the Richard & Judy Book Club. 

Fast forward ten years I’m now married to a lovely man called James and have a daughter who keeps us on our toes. Oh, and a very furry cat called Bobby.

Can you tell us a little bit about your debut novel One Last Summer at Hideaway Bay?
With Hideaway Bay I wanted to write the kind of summer read that I love to read: fast paced, sunny, and romantic with characters you really fall for. I grew up in Cornwall and have always wanted to write stories set in the beaches and bars of the North Cornish Coast. I hope it’s a story that people can relate to, it’s all about choosing who we want to be as we grow up, about how we are affected by where we come from, and about what ‘home’ really means. 

Lucy, hi. It’s Tom. How are you? It’s been a while. I’ve been meaning to get in touch but it’s hard to know how to after so much time. I hear you’re doing really well up there. I knew you would be.

You should come here, you know, back to Hideaway bay. Come and see everyone, see how little it’s all changed. Feel the sand between your toes, the Cornish sea breeze on your face. When the sun hits the surf in that way it does, it’s as magical as ever.

That’s why I’m writing to you, actually. I want to get the gang back together again, one last time before…well…just one last time. You should come too. The four of us, a summer on the beach, like old times. We all want you here for it. I want you here for it. It’s been so long since I saw you.

I still think about you.

Tom

The cover of your book is gorgeous, did you have much creative input into its creation? 
I can’t take credit for the beautiful cover. Alex at Harper Collins who designed it is also from Cornwall and she has really done our homeland justice. It’s exactly what I wanted the cover to be, I’d like to be sat there looking out at that view!

I love the sound of Hideaway Bay in the title, is this inspired by a real location?  
I grew up on the south coast of cornwall, in a seaside town called Looe. It’s your typical Cornish holiday town, with pasties, fish and chip shops, ice cream parlours, amusement arcades and a very pretty beach. Hideaway Bay has little hints of Looe in there, but the main inspiration actually comes from the North Coast. Growing up I spent so many summers camping by the beach in Polzeath, it’s my favourite place in the world and writing a story set on the north coast gave me the chance to escape there in my imagination for hours at a time, which was a real pleasure. 

When you were planning One Last Summer at Hideaway Bay which came first, the characters or the plot? 
I had the plot in my mind for a long time before I started writing anything. It evolved over a few years (I’m good at procrastinating), and I only started writing when it felt fully formed. Along the way the characters seemed to introduce themselves and by the time I was writing I had quite a clear key cast of four – two young couples who are also best friends. The book follows them from being sixteen and carefree, to their twenties where they’re trying to work out their place in the world. The very different ways they all approach those decisions about what you want your life to be was something that really fascinated me.     

If you had to describe One Last Summer at Hideaway Bay in one sentence, what would it be? 
I’d say it’s a a coming-of-age love story set on the stunning North Cornish coast.

Author Interview: Kathryn Freeman

Today it's my pleasure to welcome Kathryn Freeman back to the blog to talk about her latest book Search for the Truth which was published in paperback format earlier this month.

Thank you so much for inviting me onto Shaz’s book blog. As my friends will tell you, I relish the opportunity to talk about myself and my books…

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your writing journey? 
I’ve been writing for most of my working life…okay, what I mean is I’ve been paid to write. For over twenty years I worked in the pharmaceutical industry where I spent my days writing about medicines and disease – and my evenings reading romance. I also met my husband there, but that connection to romance is extremely tenuous (!). 

One New Year I set myself a resolution to see if I could write a romance. It was the only resolution I’ve ever stuck to. Sadly the book was rubbish (not what I thought at the time, but what I thought four years later when I dusted it off and read it again) but by then I had the bug. I went self-employed five years ago so I could juggle medical writing and romance writing. After reams of rejections, in 2013 I was lucky enough to finally get a book deal with Choc Lit.

Search for the Truth is your latest book, can you tell us a little bit about it?   
It begins with Tess’s mission to discover whether the new breast cancer treatment her mother had started taking was responsible for her death. Being a journalist, Tess decides to go undercover at Helix pharmaceuticals, joining as their new communications manager. It brings her into contact with Jim Knight, the president of research and development - known as the pharmaceutical industry’s answer to George Clooney. And that’s when the story really starts ☺

Where did the inspiration come from for Search for the Truth and how much research did you need to do to enable you to write the story? 
Part of the joy of writing a new book is researching about areas you’ve not experienced before. I loved finding out about the law for my first book, and refugee camps for my second, but I also found it stressful, wondering if I’d depicted it correctly. I’m writing fictional romance but still, you hope to make the story as believable as possible. So for my third book I decided to write about something I did know about, and set it in the pharmaceutical industry. A quick search of clinical trials and the pharma industry reveals lots of headlines claiming pharma companies haven’t been publishing all their trial results, like this from the New York Times: ‘When Drug companies hide data.’ So that gave me the plot.  

If you had to describe Search for the Truth in one sentence, what would it be?
It’s about corporate corruption, lies and deception, but most of all it’s a love story.

Debut Spotlight: Marie Campbell

Under the debut spotlight today it's the turn of Marie Campbell whose debut novel Baby is out now as an eBook and will be published as a paperback in a couple of weeks.

Marie Campbell was born in the north-east of England in 1972. Growing up, she spent many hours reading and writing stories, and can still recall the pride when, aged seven, her story was the one chosen to be backed with cardboard and put on display.

Fast-forward several years, via an abandoned teaching degree, many years as a Civil Servant, and a new baby, she embarked on a writing course, driven by lifelong passion for words. Baby started life on this course, and is Marie’s debut thriller, set in Edinburgh, where she lives with her partner and their son. 

Can you tell us a little bit about your debut novel Baby?
Baby is a psychological thriller, based in Edinburgh, where I live. In it, Michael Stanton, goes to work one day and doesn’t come back. Everyone thinks his pregnant girlfriend, Jill, should accept that he has left her. But she just won’t believe that Michael would walk away from her and their unborn child. Increasingly desperate and alone, she is determined to find him. 

What Jill doesn’t know is that Michael’s beautiful ex, Anna, wants him back, and won’t take no for an answer. And it isn’t just him she wants…

Where did the inspiration come from to write this book?
My absolute favourite books are thrillers, so I was naturally drawn to writing a book in this genre.

Although this is my first book, I have also written many short stories, and in the main, they tend to have a dark side. I like to think ‘What would happen if…’. In the case of Baby, I thought about what would happen if someone believed they had an absolute right to something, and the lengths they would go to to get it.

If you had to describe Baby in one sentence, what would it be? 
Dark, mysterious and unexpected.

Debut Spotlight: Lynda Stacey

This afternoon it's my pleasure to shine the debut spotlight on Lynda Stacey whose debut novel House of Secrets is published tomorrow. 

Lynda, is a wife, step-mother and grandmother, she grew up in the mining village of Bentley, Doncaster, in South Yorkshire.

Her own life story, along with varied career choices helps Lynda to create stories of romantic suspense, with challenging and unpredictable plots, along with (as in all romances) very happy endings.

Lynda joined the Romantic Novelist Association in 2014 under the umbrella of the New Writers Scheme and in 2015, her debut novel House of Secrets won the Choc Lit & Whole Story Audiobooks Search for a Star competition.

She lives in a small rural hamlet near Doncaster, with her husband, Haydn, whom she’s been happily married to for over 20 years.

Can you tell us a little bit about your debut novel House of Secrets?
House of Secrets is just that, it’s all about a house with shocking secrets. 

Madeleine Frost has to get away. Her partner Liam has become increasingly controlling to the point that Maddie fears for her safety, and that of her young daughter Poppy. 

Desperation leads Maddie to the hotel owned by her estranged father – the extraordinarily beautiful Wrea Head Hall in Yorkshire. There, she meets Christopher ‘Bandit’ Lawless, an ex-marine and the gamekeeper of the hall, whose brusque manner conceals a painful past. 

After discovering a diary belonging to a previous owner, Maddie and Bandit find themselves immersed in the history of the old house, uncovering its secrets, scandals, tragedies – and, all the while, becoming closer. 

But Liam still won’t let go, he wants Maddie back, and when Liam wants something he gets it, no matter who he hurts … 

Is Wrea Head Hall that is featured in your story based on/inspired by a real location?  
Yes it is, Wrea Head Hall really does exist. It’s a country house hotel in Scarborough.

What inspired you to include the discovery of an old diary as part of the storyline? 
I needed a way to bring Emily Ennis into the story and I felt that a diary would do that, as well as being a tool to bring Madeleine and Bandit together. They are both there when it’s found and Bandit has his own reasons for being interested in the history of the hall.

Author Interview: Lisa Jewell

I was recently invited to be part of the blog tour for Lisa Jewell's latest book I Found You, which was published on Thursday, so it's my pleasure to welcome Lisa to the blog to find out a little about the book as well as a get a glimpse into her writing process.  

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your writing journey? 
Hi Shaz and Shaz’s readers! I’m forty seven – forty eight next week! – and I live in a very messy house in north London with my geek husband, two bolshie daughters, a pair of excessively moulty cats, two terrified guinea pigs and a perfect dog. I started writing my first novel, Ralph’s Party, in 1996 when I was a twenty-eight-year-old secretary. I wrote it as a bet with a friend, little imagining that it would be published two years later by Penguin books, reach number three in the charts and become the bestselling debut novel of the year! I’ve since written another thirteen novels and am halfway through my fifteenth.

What’s the best thing about being a writer?
Literally everything about being a writer is the best thing about being a writer. I used to hate the actual writing, but these days I’ve restructured my working life so that I do all my writing in a blissful two hours a day rather than a torturous six hours and now I love the writing, too. Truly, the only thing that isn’t great about being a writer is bad reviews. I know I should grow a thick skin, or like some writers I know, simply not read them, but I can’t. They really hurt, each and every one. It’s a bit pathetic really!

I Found You is your 14th novel, can you give us a brief overview of it?    
I Found You is about Alice, a slightly chaotic but big-hearted single mother of three who lives in a tiny tumbledown cottage in an East Yorkshire seaside town. One morning she sees a man sitting on the beach outside her house in the rain. When he’s still there twelve hours later she takes him a coat and a thermos of tea. It turns out that the man is suffering from amnesia and has no idea how he got there. Meanwhile, in Surrey, young newlywed Lily is waiting for her husband to come home from work. When he still hasn’t returned after twenty-four hours she goes to the police. They run a check on his passport and tell her that it is fake, that her husband does not technically exist. The book is about how both these women are connected. But it’s not in the way you might think!

Emma's Review: The Olive Tree by Lucinda Riley

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

It is said that anyone who comes to stay at 'Pandora' for the first time will fall in love...

It has been twenty-four years since a young Helena spent a magical holiday in Cyprus, where she fell in love for the first time. When the now crumbling house, 'Pandora', is left to her by her godfather, she returns to spend the summer there with her family.

Yet Helena knows that the idyllic beauty of Pandora masks a web of secrets she has kept from William, her husband, and Alex, her son. At the difficult age of thirteen, Alex is torn between protecting his beloved mother, and growing up. And equally, he is desperate to learn the truth about his real father. . .

When Helena meets her childhood sweetheart by chance, a chain of events is set in motion that threatens to make her past and present collide. Both Helena and Alex know that life will never be the same, once Pandora's secrets have been revealed.

Amazon links: Kindle or Hardcover

Emma's Review: The Paris Secret by Karen Swan

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Not every door should be opened . . .

Somewhere along the cobbled streets of Paris, an apartment lies thick with dust and secrets: full of priceless artworks hidden away for decades.

High-flying fine art agent Flora from London, more comfortable with the tension of a million-pound auction than a cosy candlelit dinner for two, is called in to assess these suddenly discovered treasures. As an expert in her field, she must trace the history of each painting and discover who has concealed them for so long.

Thrown in amongst the glamorous Vermeil family as they move between Paris and Antibes, Flora begins to discover that things aren't all that they seem, while back at home her own family is recoiling from a seismic shock. The terse and brooding Xavier Vermeil seems intent on forcing Flora out of his family's affairs - but just what is he hiding?

Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback

Emma's Review: Dead to Me by Lesley Pearse

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Spring 1935. Two girls meet by chance on Hampstead Heath. To an outsider, they could not appear more different. Verity is well-mannered and smartly dressed, living with her parents in a beautiful house close to the heath. Ruby is dishevelled and grubby, used to a life of squalor where she is forced to steal to survive. Yet there's an instant affinity between them, and when their fortunes are shockingly reversed, it is the strength of their friendship that keeps them resilient to the challenges and hardships they face.

As Britain prepares for war, Ruby finds herself in Devon with the world at her feet and enjoying her first taste of romance. Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, Verity is forced to leave behind everything she has ever known and a shadow from the past threatens her chances of a new beginning. But through it all, the girls are always there for each other. Until the day Verity does the one thing that will break Ruby's heart.

In a country torn apart by fighting, will Verity and Ruby survive long enough to find a way back to each other? Or do some betrayals go with you to the grave...?

Amazon links: Kindle or Hardcover

Emma's Review: Letters from Lighthouse Cottage by Ali McNamara

Reviewed by Emma Crowley 

The sun is shining in the quiet little seaside town of Sandybridge

Sandybridge is the perfect English seaside town: home to gift shops, tea rooms and a fabulous fish and chip shop. And it's home to Grace - although right now, she's not too happy about it.

Grace grew up in Sandybridge, helping her parents sort junk from vintage treasures, but she always longed to escape to a bigger world. And she made it, travelling the world for her job, falling in love and starting a family. So why is she back in the tiny seaside town she'd long left behind, hanging out with Charlie, the boy who became her best friend when they were teenagers?

It turns out that travelling the world may not have been exactly what Grace needed to do. Perhaps everything she wanted has always been at home - after all, they do say that's where the heart is...

Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback 

Debut Spotlight: Mary McCluskey

Today it's the final stop on the blog tour for Mary McCluskey's debut novel Intrusion so I was only too happy to shine the spotlight on her to find about more about Mary and the book.

Mary McCluskey is a journalist and a prize winning short story writer. Her short stories have been published in The Atlantic, the London Magazine, Story Quarterly, Salon.com, London's Litro, Sunday Express’s S Magazine, and literary magazines in the US, UK, Australia and Hong Kong. She divides her time between Stratford upon Avon in the UK and Los Angeles, California.

Website http://www.marymccluskey.com 
Twitter @McCluskeyMary 

What is the most exciting thing about being a debut novelist? 
The fact that what started as just an idea is now a real, solid thing, a book, out there making its own way in the world! There have been a number of other exciting moments. The first was when I received a box of books and could actually hold a copy in my hands. The second was when I read the Starred Kirkus review of INTRUSION.  I was absolutely thrilled about that.  I did the adult thing – I burst into tears.

If you had to describe intrusion in one sentence, what would it be? 
A once loving couple, made vulnerable by grief, find their marriage in free fall when a beautiful  and manipulative woman from the past becomes a part of their lives.

Where did the title Intrusion come from? 
The intrusion of Sarah Cherrington into the story and into my characters’ lives.  I began writing a story about a marriage after the loss of a child. A peripheral character, Sarah Cherrington, intruded into the story and began to take over.   Thus – Intrusion.

A loving couple, grieving the loss of their son, finds their marriage in free fall when a beautiful, long-lost acquaintance inserts herself into their lives.

Kat and Scott Hamilton are dealing with the hardest of losses: the death of their only child. While Scott throws himself back into his law practice in Los Angeles, Kat is hesitant to rejoin the workplace and instead spends her days shell-shocked and confused, unable to focus.

When an unwelcome face from Kat’s past in England emerges—the beautiful and imposing Sarah Cherrington—Kat’s marriage is thrown into a tailspin. Now wealthy beyond anything she could have imagined as a girl, Sarah appears to have everything she could need or want. But Sarah has an agenda and she wants one more thing. Soon Kat and Scott are caught up in her devious games and power plays.

Emma's Review: My Husband's Wife by Amanda Prowse

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Once a week, Rosie Tipcott counts her blessings.

She goes to sit on her favourite bench on the north Devon cliffs, and thanks her lucky stars for her wonderful husband, her mischievous young daughters, and her neat little house by the sea. She vows to dedicate every waking hour to making her family happy.

But then her husband unexpectedly leaves her for another woman and takes the children. Now she must ask the question: what is left in her life? Can Rosie find the strength to rebuild herself? More importantly, does she even want to?

Amazon links: Kindle or Hardcover

Emma's Review: The Bookshop on Rosemary Lane by Ellen Berry

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Kitty Cartwright has always solved her problems in the kitchen. Her cookbooks are her life, and there isn’t an issue that ‘Cooking with Aspic’ can’t fix. Her only wish is that she had a book entitled ‘Rustling Up Dinner When Your Husband Has Left You’.

Forty years later…

On Rosemary Lane, Della Cartwright plans to open a very special little bookshop. Not knowing what to do with the hundreds of cookbooks her mother left her, she now wants to share their recipes with the world – and no amount of aspic will stand in her way.

But with her family convinced it’s a hare-brained scheme, Della starts to wonder if she’s made a terrible decision. One thing’s for sure: she’s about to find out…

Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback

Emma's Review: One Monday Morning by Jennifer Burke

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Trish has been friends with Ciara and Stephen since they were teenagers. Now in their thirties, they are still as close as ever. But there are secrets even best friends cannot share. 

The death of a stranger prompts Trish to realise that her long-hidden past may soon be exposed, with potentially disastrous consequences for her family. 

Behind closed doors, her friends are each struggling to contain their own secrets. Ciara is forced to confront the future she has so long avoided, while Stephen must face reality when arguments at home take a dark turn. 

Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback

Author Interview: Jennifer Burke

Today it's my pleasure to welcome Jennifer Burke, an author whose writing career I have followed from the start when she won a writing competition in 2013, back to the blog to talk about her third book One Monday Morning which was published last week.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your writing journey? 
I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. Little stories and poems when I was a kid, and I kept on writing sporadically as I grew up. But it wasn’t until 2011, when I qualified as a solicitor, that I took a step back and asked myself that crucial question – what do I really want to do with my life? The answer was immediate and without qualification – I wanted to write. I knew if I didn’t start prioritising writing no matter how busy I was in work and life, I’d never finish a novel.

So I started putting time aside every day to write. I took a course in the Irish Writer’s Centre to help me get started. I joined a writing group and started perusing writing websites regularly. Eventually, I finished The Secret Son, though I got nothing but rejections when I sent it out. So I put it away in my drawer and started on a new book. While being published was my dream, ultimately I knew if it never happened I was still a writer, and would keep on making up stories for the rest of my life.

Then, on the excellent Writing.ie, I spotted a “Write a Bestseller” competition being run by television station TV3. Without any expectation, I submitted my dusty old copy of The Secret Son. A few months later, I was working away in my office when a camera crew burst in to reveal I had won the competition, and with it a three book deal with Poolbeg Press! 

Suddenly, life just got a whole lot more exciting!

One Monday Morning is a story revolving around deeply hidden secrets amongst friends, where did the inspiration come from?  
I took a chance with One Monday Morning. The issues with which my characters struggle are quite controversial, and are headline news at the moment. One Monday Morning does not come down on any side of a particular argument – rather what interests me was how characters who are flung into these situations cope. 

I recently moved to London for my “day job” (!) as a lawyer, and while I’m enjoying living in this thriving city, I miss my family and friends back home. I have come to appreciate my friends from home even more, and love that they make such an effort to keep in touch. It is not surprising to me, then, that friendship would emerge as one of the more important aspects of the book. 

While One Monday Morning explores emotive and potential divisive issues, ultimately it is the positive side of friendship that is the strongest part of the book. 

If you had to describe One Monday Morning in one sentence, what would it be?
A story about the importance of friendship in surviving an unpredictable world.

Trish has been friends with Ciara and Stephen since they were teenagers. Now in their thirties, they are still as close as ever. But there are secrets even best friends cannot share.

The death of a stranger prompts Trish to realise that her long-hidden past may soon be exposed, with potentially disastrous consequences for her family.

Behind closed doors, her friends are each struggling to contain their own secrets. Ciara is forced to confront the future she has so long avoided, while Stephen must face reality when arguments at home take a dark turn.

Extract from Sunshine and Secrets (Willow Cottage) by Bella Osborne

Today it's my pleasure to share with you an extract from Bella Osborne's serial Willow Cottage, the first part Sunshine and Secrets was published yesterday. 

Beth is running away. With her young son Leo to protect, Willow Cottage is the lifeline she so desperately needs. Overlooking the village green in a beautiful Cotswolds idyll, Beth sees a safe place for little Leo.

When she finally uncovers the cottage from underneath the boughs of a weeping willow tree, Beth realises this is far more of a project than she bargained for and the locals are more than a little eccentric! A chance encounter with gruff Jack, who appears to be the only male in the village under thirty, leaves the two of them at odds but it’s not long before Beth realises that Jack has hidden talents that could help her repair more than just Willow Cottage.

Over the course of four seasons, Beth realises that broken hearts can be mended, and sometimes love can be right under your nose…

Chapter One

‘You have reached your destination,’ announced the Sat Nav with ultimate confidence. Beth pulled the hire car into the curb, switched off the engine and looked around. She was parked by a large area of greensward, which was dotted with trees and encircled by impressive old properties of differing sizes.

Beth picked up the auction catalogue and peered at the small grainy photograph, then re-read the description underneath – ‘Willow Cottage stands in a secluded position overlooking the village green within the picturesque Cotswold village of Dumbleford. Rare opportunity to purchase this freehold detached dwelling. Plot circa 0.6 acres with stream running through the property. Renovation opportunity.’

Somewhere in the back of Beth’s mind she recalled a certain person saying that he wouldn’t live in the countryside if his life depended on it and right now that felt like an added bonus. She checked the backseat. Leo was stirring from his journey-induced slumber and he instantly smiled when he saw his mother. The six year old was too tall for his car seat and would soon need to upgrade to a booster, but for now Beth just wanted to keep him safe.

‘I wish you’d brung my iPad,’ said Leo as he stretched.

‘I’m sorry. I couldn’t find it. And brought is the past tense of bring. Okay?’ What did they teach them at these private schools? ‘Shall we go and explore our new home?’ Beth waved the auction details excitedly.

Guest Post: The Inspiration Behind The Starlight Diner by Helen Cox

When I featured Helen Cox in the debut spotlight back in May it seemed like we still had a while to wait until her debut novel Milkshakes & Heartbreaks at the Starlight Diner was published.  But the wait is finally over as the book was published on Monday so it's my pleasure to welcome Helen back to the blog as part of her blog tour.

A question I get asked quite frequently is: does The Starlight Diner exist? I’m mostly asked this by people who are desperate to visit next time they’re in New York City. I am sad to report that The Starlight Diner is a place that can only be visited through my stories.

Well, sort of.

Though the diner does not exist in reality, most elements of the diner are based on real-life details from various diners across the city. The location of The Starlight Diner was inspired by The Remedy Diner on East Houston Street. That’s where I was sitting when I first decided I’d quite like to set a story in a New York diner. If The Starlight Diner really did exist the two eateries would stand just a few blocks apart. The 1950s theme for The Starlight Diner was inspired by Ellen’s Stardust Diner on Broadway (if you visit the staff sing Broadway tunes and it’s really cool) and the humming refrigerator stacked with pies and cakes was inspired by The Skylight Diner on 34th Street  - although you can find such a thing in many a New York diner.

Naturally, a lot of these details could be conjured by half an hour of furious Googling, but that’s not really my style. People always laugh when I tell them I went on a ‘research trip’ in which I toured New York diners. I laugh with them of course but, and this is going to sound like the poorest excuse ever for eating more cheesecake than one should, I don’t feel I would’ve had the confidence to write about New York diners without visiting my fair share of them. 

Emma's Review: The Reunion by Roisin Meaney

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

It's their twenty-year school reunion but the Plunkett sisters have their own reasons for not wanting to attend ...

Caroline, now a successful knitwear designer, spends her time flying between her business in England and her lover in Italy. As far as she's concerned, her school days, and what happened to her the year she left, should stay in the past.

Eleanor, meanwhile, is unrecognisable from the fun-loving girl she was in school. With a son who is barely speaking to her, and a husband keeping a secret from her, revisiting the past is the last thing on her mind.

But when an unexpected letter arrives for Caroline in the weeks before the reunion, memories are stirred.

Will the sisters find the courage to return to the town where they grew up and face what they've been running from all these years?

Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback 

Louise's Review: The Museum of You by Carys Bray

Reviewed by Louise Wykes

Clover Quinn was a surprise. She used to imagine she was the good kind, now she’s not sure. She’d like to ask Dad about it, but growing up in the saddest chapter of someone else’s story is difficult. She tries not to skate on the thin ice of his memories. 

Darren has done his best. He's studied his daughter like a seismologist on the lookout for waves and surrounded her with everything she might want - everything he can think of, at least - to be happy.

What Clover wants is answers. This summer, she thinks she can find them in the second bedroom, which is full of her mother's belongings. Volume isn't important, what she is looking for is essence; the undiluted bits: a collection of things that will tell the full story of her mother, her father and who she is going to be. 

But what you find depends on what you're searching for.

Amazon links: Kindle or Hardcover 

Emma's Review: The Flower Seller by Ellie Holmes

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Jessie Martin believes that when it comes to love there are three types of people: the skimmers, the bottom dwellers and the ones who dive for pearls. Jessie is a pearl diver. She had thought her husband William was a pearl diver too. But when William leaves her for a much younger woman, it’s not just Jessie’s heart that is broken, her ability to trust is shattered too. All Jessie wanted was a love she could believe in. Was that so much to ask? Loyalty it seems has gone out of fashion. 

Refusing to retire from the battlefield of life, Jessie resolves to put her heartache behind her. She doesn’t want to be that woman who was too scared to love again. There has to be another pearl diver out there; all she has to do is find him. 

Urged on by her sassy best friend, Anne and her daughter Hannah, Jessie makes three New Year’s resolutions: get a divorce, get a promotion, get a life. Enthusiastically embracing her new start, Jessie sets about making all her resolutions come true. 

When fate brings handsome flower seller Owen Phillips into her life, will Jessie have the courage of her convictions? Can she take her heart in her hands and give it away again? Hope springs eternal they say but a bruised heart needs to time to heal. Will Owen have the patience to understand? Will Jessie be brave enough to take that leap of faith? 

By the time summer holds her firmly in it’s warm embrace, Jessie’s monochrome world of heartache has been transformed into one full of colour, romance and love. 

Jessie can hardly believe her luck. Can Owen really be the one? 

All things seem possible and even husband William’s attempts to bully Jessie into a less than fair divorce settlement don’t have the power to upset her as they once might have. Supported by Owen, Jessie stands her ground. Putting William’s deceit and betrayal firmly in the rear view mirror of her life, Jessie is full of hope for the future. Perhaps loyalty and true love haven’t gone out of fashion after all. 

When autumn’s burnished hues colour the world around her, Jessie looks forward to cosy nights by log fires with her handsome flower seller. But is Owen really the pearl diver Jessie had hoped for? Or is Jessie’s fragile trust about to be shattered all over again? 

Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback