#RNA60 Giveaway: Win a romance-inspired bookish bundle

This year is the 60th anniversary of the foundation of the Romantic Novelists' Association (RNA), an organisation that champions writers and their romantic fiction novels. Over the years the genre has broadened as authors writing styles and reading tastes have evolved but the central ingredient at its core romance/love is ever present. 

As part of their celebrations the RNA has designated February as Romance Reading Month, well it is the month of love after all, so I've decided to join in the celebrations today by hosting a romance-inspired giveaway bundle. I'm not sure yet what I'm going to buy to include, apart from a romance novel or 2 of course & maybe some sweets or chocolate, but I've got until the giveaway finishes on Valentine's Day to decide 😍

Festive Fun: My Fantasy Christmas Dinner Party by LM Milford

Today it's my pleasure to welcome author L M Milford back to the blog for the latest in these fun festive features... over to you Lynne to describe your dream Dinner Party table.

The first seat at my table would be given to my heroine Agatha Christie. I’ve always wanted a chance to sit down with her and discuss how she managed to come up with so many different plots, without seeming to repeat herself. I’ve also always wanted to have a murder mystery dinner party and Agatha would be able to help me come up with a cracking story for that.

Sitting next to Agatha would be Jane Austen. She’s another of my favourite authors and her wit would help the party to go with a swing. I’d also like to have a chat with her about publishing a book at a time when it was very much a man’s world. Given the fact that she self-published, I’d love to know how she decided when her books were ready and how she felt about sending them out.

Next to Jane sits someone who isn’t technically an author. Victoria Wood has been a favourite of mine for years, making me howl with laughter on a regular basis. For all she’s quite a quiet person in private, I’m sure she could be relied on to tell us a few funny stories. I’ve always wanted to meet her to ask about how she comes up with the brilliant dialogue that is a key feature of all of her work. She also achieved a great deal, having covered almost all aspects of TV from sitcom to sketch show to documentary. I’ve always wondered what she would have done next if she had lived.

Irish Fiction Month Guest Review: Maeve Binchy - The Return Journey

Reviewed by Ceri Kehoe
 

In this extraordinary collection of stories, the world-wide bestselling author of Evening Class once again reveals her incomparable understanding of matters of the heart. In The Return Journey, Maeve Binchy creates powerful compelling stories of love, loss, revelation, and reconciliation. A secretary's silent passion for her boss meets the acid test on a business trip; a man and a woman's mutual disdain at first sight shows how deceptive appearances can be; an insecure wife clings to the illusion of order, only to discover chaos at the hands of a house-sitter who opens the wrong doors; a pair of star-crossed travelers pick up each other's bags, and then learn when you unlock a stranger's suitcase, you enter a stranger's life. These and many more poignant, ironic, often humorous stories - unforgettable slices of life -make up The Return Journey, a spellbinding trip into the human heart.