Emma's Review: Under a Summer Skye by Sue Moorcroft

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

A chance encounter is about to change everything for Thea Wynter.

The moment she arrived on the Isle of Skye, life changed for Thea. Running from a succession of wrong turns, she comes to the island in search of blue sea, endless skies, and mountains that make the heart soar. Here, she feels at peace.

As head gardener at Rothach Hall, life is exactly how she wants it, with her days spent working in the glorious clifftop garden and her evenings in the cosy local village.

But an encounter with a stranger from the mainland brings with it an unexpected turn – and only time will tell if he is friend or foe.

It seems that even on Skye, life can catch up with you, and Thea is soon faced with the past she left behind – and with it, the family she’s never met…

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback

The Write Stuff with... Sue Moorcroft

Today it's my pleasure to hand the reins of the blog to author Sue Moorcorft to talk about writing in Malta, the setting of her latest book Summer on a Sunny Island.

My relationship with Malta is deep.

I lived on that small, rocky Mediterranean island for several years as an army kid and Malta was home. We returned to the UK when I was eight-and-a-half - a strange, cold country called England with sadistic teachers who sent you outside in sleet, snow, ice and fog.The main entertainment in our new barracks in north London was a slide and a few swings.

In Malta we’d had snorkelling, swimming, sunshine … and a whole lot more freedom. Prickly pear lined the dusty roads, colourful fishing boats contrasted with grey naval vessels in the creeks and the buildings were made of golden stone. We were the ethic minority and nobody ever tried to teach us the language but still, decades later, part of my heart is on the island.

The characters in Summer on a Sunny Island do something I’d dearly love to do myself - they spend the summer in Malta. Zach’s grandmother is Maltese and he’s helping her out by looking after a property for her at the same time as escaping a bit of bother he’s got himself into. Dory’s found success in middle age as a food writer and is writing her latest cook book in one of the apartments that Zach’s grandmother owns. Rosa, Dory’s daughter, is spending the summer as Dory’s PA and kitchen porter. Each of the characters stands at one of life’s crossroads.

Books Read: A Summer to Remember by Sue Moorcroft

WANTED! A caretaker for Roundhouse Row holiday cottages.

WHERE? Nelson’s Bar is the perfect little village. Nestled away on the Norfolk coast we can offer you no signal, no Wi-Fi and – most importantly – no problems!

WHO? The ideal candidate will be looking for an escape from their cheating scumbag ex-fiancé, a diversion from their entitled cousin, and a break from their traitorous friends.

WHAT YOU’LL GET! Accommodation in a chocolate-box cottage, plus a summer filled with blue skies and beachside walks. Oh, and a reunion with the man of your dreams.

PLEASE NOTE: We take no responsibility for any of the above scumbags, passengers and/or traitors walking back into your life…

GET IN TOUCH NOW TO MAKE THIS A SUMMER TO REMEMBER!

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12 Days of Festive Giveaways: Win a Festive eBook of your choice from Amazon UK

Amazon UK have finally added the give ebook as a gift option which means that I can now run giveaways for ebooks which will save me a few pennies in postage.  Sadly there is still restrictions in place meaning the eBooks can only be gifted to residents in the UK so for any International winners who use Amazon UK I would have to send a gift card instead.

I have decided to trial the gift an eBook this weekend by running to win a festive eBook of their choice.  As it's Christmas and I want to share the book love, I will choose three winners so will have to set an eBook price limit of £2 as there are multiple winners.  Below are some of the fantastic Christmas eBooks that are currently on offer from 99p to consider but you don't have to pick one of these.

The Christmas Sisters by Sarah Morgan

It’s not what’s under the Christmas tree, but who’s around it that matters most.

All Suzanne McBride wants for Christmas is her three daughters happy and at home. But when sisters Posy, Hannah and Beth return to their family home in the Scottish Highlands, old tensions and buried secrets start bubbling to the surface.

Suzanne is determined to create the perfect family Christmas, but the McBrides must all face the past and address some home truths before they can celebrate together . . .

After the Snow by Susannah Constantine

Christmas morning, 1969.

All eleven-year-old Esme Munroe wants for Christmas is for her mother to be on one of her ‘good’ days – and, secretly, for a velvet riding hat. So when she finds an assortment of wet towels and dirty plates in her stocking, she’s just relieved Father Christmas remembered to stop at The Lodge this year.

But later that day Esme’s mother disappears in the heavy snow. Even more mysteriously, only the Earl of Culcairn seems to know where she might have gone. Torn between protecting her mother and uncovering the secrets tumbling out of Culcairn Castle’s ornate closets, Esme realises that life will never be the same again after the snow…

Christmas Cakes and Mistletoe Nights by Carole Matthews

Fay and Danny are madly in love and it's all Fay's ever dreamed of. But she left everything - including the delightful cake shop she used to run - to be with Danny on his cosy canal boat The Dreamcatcher. And as she soon finds out, making delicious cakes on the water isn't always smooth sailing!

Then Fay gets a call that sends her back to where it all began; back to where she first met Danny, back to her friends and the Cake Shop in the Garden. Even as Fay happily returns to dry land and her passion for baking, she knows it will be hard being away from Danny, especially with Christmas round the corner. But their relationship is strong enough to survive . . . isn't it?

Can Fay really get everything she ever wanted in Christmas Cakes and Mistletoe Nights?

Author Interview: Sue Moorcroft

Today it's my pleasure to welcome author Sue Moorcroft back to the blog for today's stop on her The Little Village Christmas blog tour.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your writing journey? 
It took me a while to get into reading and writing, owing to interrupted education, but once I began to get the hang of it I fell in love with stories. As soon as I realised that someone had to create the words in a book, I wanted to be that person. It took a while to get going but my first paid, published stories began to appear in magazines in 1996 – and are still appearing. My first novel was sold in 2004 and The Little Village Christmas is my 11th published novel. Along the way there have been more than 150 short stories, six serials (look out for the seventh, Moonlight Over Middledip, in My Weekly, issues 2 and 9 December), a writing guide, four writing courses and a multitude of columns and articles. I like to keep busy.

I was born in Germany, as I come from an army family, and spent much of my childhood until I was eight years old in Malta and Cyprus. I wasn’t that keen on coming home to the UK but I’m just about over the trauma now.

If you had to give an elevator pitch for The Little Christmas Village, what would it be? 
The Little Village Christmas is about discovering your new life in the ashes of the old. Alexia has to stay in Middledip and help rescue the project of turning The Angel pub into The Angel Community Café after someone runs away with all the money. Ben, who’s been hiding out in the woods at the edge of Middledip village, keeps finding himself drawn further and further into Alexia’s valiant rescue attempt.

The Little Christmas Village sees a return to your fictional village of Middledip, had you always planned to write another story at a later date or is this something that just crept up on you?
It just crept up on me! After visiting for a couple of chapters of The Christmas Promise I found I wanted to see what was going on in the village again. There have been changes! But what is the same is the charm of the little Cambridgeshire village for my characters. Alexia does dream of living a more sophisticated life in London for a while but she finds it harder than she’d anticipated to detach herself from her friends and the village she loves.

My Favourite Book is... by Sue Moorcroft, Vacheli & Kelly Spillane

Sue Moorcroft, author of The Wedding Proposal 

My favourite book is 'A Town Like Alice' by the late, great Nevil Shute. I first read my late father's copy when I was nine - my very first foray into adult literature. I fell in love with Nevil Shute's writing and between Dad and I we collected the entire set. I have them on my shelf today. 

A Town Like Alice is a sweeping love story that moves Jean and Joe across continents, through war, through personal suffering, to a place where they can build a life together. It gripped my imagination and began my love affair with romantic fiction. It's amongst Nevil Shute's most famous works, and deservedly so. It also reminds me of Dad and long interesting chats about the books we loved.

Vacheli from Books & Strips 

Well 1Q84 is one of my favourite books but I think I'll talk about one of my local (Indian) favourites, The Immortals Of Meluha. 

I'm not sure If anyone has heard of The Immortals Of Meluha but it is a book written by the Indian author Amish Tripathi about a god, Lord Shiva.

The book is based on the mythology surrounding the god but it also toys with the idea that gods didn't start off as gods but as ordinary men and women who were so great that they were brought up to a god like status by the generations after them. It appealed to me a lot because while I was always a religious person, I had been raised in a very strict household. This playful approach to these gods was so refreshing that I fell in love immediately. 

Fictional Characters in Panto: The Wedding Proposal in Anti-Panto

Something a little different for you today from Sue Moorcroft for the festive Fictional Characters in Panto feature.

Pantomimes don’t lend themselves to my books. Panto heroines are too wishy-washy, hanging around and waiting to be rescued, and my heroes tend to be a bit too attitude-laden to fulfil the role of Prince Charming.

So here’s my anti-Panto: Elle, wishes for a new life on a boat in a marina in Malta, leaving behind her old self in Corporateland and volunteering at a drop-in centre. As she doesn’t have a fairy godmother, she makes this happen herself. Or maybe Simon, who lends her the boat, is her fairy godfather? I can’t see him in a tutu and wand. And he could equally be cast as a mischievous elf because he has also lent the boat to …

… Brooding Prince Lucas. Lucas is the good guy, he really is. Truth and honesty are his constant companions and right is always on his side. Unfortunately, he has been blinded to any form of the truth that’s not black or white, making him a teeny weeny bit judgemental, especially where Elle’s concerned. Beautiful Elle is hiding a boatload of secrets. And Lucas doesn’t like them. He does not need her turning up just when he’s reinvented himself as a divemaster in a magical land of sun and fun. 

Guest Book Review: Sue Moorcroft - The Wedding Proposal

Reviewed by Tanya Phillips

Can a runaway bride stop running?

Elle Jamieson is a private person, in relationships as well as at work - and for good reason. But then she's made redundant and with no ties to hold her, Elle heads off to sunny Malta.

Lucas Rose hates secrets - he prides himself on his ability to lay his cards on the table and he expects nothing less in return. He's furious when his summer working as a divemaster is interrupted by the arrival of Elle, his ex, all thanks to his Uncle Simon's misguided attempts at matchmaking.

Forced to live in close proximity, it's hard to ignore what they had shared before Lucas's wedding proposal scared Elle away. But then a phone call from England allows Lucas a rare glimpse of the true Elle. Can he deal with Elle's closely guarded past when it finally comes to light?

Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback

Guest Post: Sue Moorcroft talks research for The Wedding Proposal

This morning I'm delighted to be able to hand you over to Sue Moorcroft to talk about the research she needed to do for her latest book The Wedding Proposal.  Over to you Sue...

I’m not the world’s best sailor so you might think it’s odd that in The Wedding Proposal I put Elle and Lucas together on a boat for the summer. But I left the boat, the Shady Lady, moored for the entire duration of the book so any readers who share my dislike of uppy-downy things won’t have to worry that they’ll feel queasy.

It became obvious as I wrote that I needed a clear idea of the interior of the Shady Lady. I’d chosen a boat from the Fairline range as they have a works local to me and so I’ve always known people who craft those fantastic vessels. But it was a chance remark on my newsletter that brought me an email from someone who knew the commercial manager, Oliver. ‘Would you like me to introduce you?’ I liked the idea very much and although it took a little arranging, I was invited down to the Southampton Boat Show last year. (Thank you, Fairline.)

Countdown to Christmas Day 4: My Favourite Christmas Book(s) by Sue Moorcroft

As an extra treat for today I have an additional Countdown to Christmas feature for you, a guest post by Sue Moorcroft talking about her favourite Christmas book(s). 

I’ve adopted a deliberately liberal interpretation of the phrase ‘favourite Christmas book(s)’. I’m not choosing books that are set over Christmas – but books that I’m likely to read during that period.

I usually take some time between Christmas and New Year to see friends and relatives and entertain. But I also make certain I get two or three days to veg out in front of the fire and read. Chocolate and whisky is usually to hand, because you have to make an effort to join in the festivities, don’t you?

As Christmas is traditionally a time of indulgence, I read my favourite authors. This year, I have saved for the occasion The Gilded Fan by Christina Courtenay. Christina is my friend and gave me the book, signed. I’ve enjoyed everything else of hers that I’ve read so I’m looking forward to wallowing in historical detail, a sharply drawn heroine and a fanciable hero.

Christmas Shorts with... Sue Moorcroft

My Christmas Shorts guest today is romance writer Sue Moorcroft, whose latest book Dream a Little Dream was shortlisted for the Best Romantic Read Award 2012.   Sue also writes short stories, serials, articles, teaches creative writing and judges writing competitions... an extremely busy lady!

Sue has written a fun guide on Ten ways to enjoy Christmas which we hope you enjoy so I'll hand over to Sue.

See as many of your friends and family as you can cram into your calendar.  Even those who don't really care for Christmas, enjoy the parties/meals/drinks!  Try and avoid these being held in your home.

But if you haven't avoided being the host, don't clean your house because then the guests won't feel bad about the state of theirs.  In fact, you'll be helping to make them comfortable.  (So long as you don't give them salmonella poisoning because of the state of the kitchen.)

Books Read: Sue Moorcroft - Dream a Little Dream

What would you give to make your dreams come true?

Liza Reece has a dream. Working as a reflexologist for a troubled holistic centre isn’t enough. When the opportunity arises to take over the Centre she jumps at it. Problem is, she needs funds, and fast, as she’s not the only one interested.

Dominic Christy has dreams of his own. Diagnosed as suffering from a rare sleep disorder, disillusioned with his live-in girlfriend and discharged from the job he adored as an Air Traffic Controller, he’s single-minded in his aims. He has money, and plans for the Centre that don’t include Liza and her team.

But dreams have a way of shifting and changing and Dominic’s growing fascination with Liza threatens to reshape his. And then it’s time to wake up to the truth ...