When Scotland’s sleepiest hamlet becomes the centre of hot gossip, Layla Devlin finds herself caught in a mystery…
When Layla’s fiancée has an unexpected heart attack and dies – in another woman’s arms, no less – Layla is determined to pack up and leave Loch Harris, the village she’s always called home. But an unexpected inheritance and love for her quiet corner of Scotland send her down a new path.
Now Layla finds herself facing a whole new kind of drama. Rumours swirl that a celebrity has moved into Coorie Cottage and Layla is determined to have him headline her opening night at local music venue The Conch Club. But the reclusive star is equally determined to thwart Layla’s efforts. Rafe Buchanan is in hiding for a reason, and soon his past comes to Loch Harris to haunt him…
PUBLISHED BY ONE MORE CHAPTER
MY REVIEW
This was a totally captivating story, following the story of Layla who is dealt a devastating blow when her fiancee dies and discovers a secret about him that crushes her. She had been so settled in the area, but all her thoughts now are about running away and starting again elsewhere as she’s feeling so let down.
The local community are very supportive to her, and she has such a wonderful relationship with her Dad that doubts start to creep into her mind about leaving, and she starts to get excited about creating a new local music venue. Music has always played a big part of her life and she wants to find a way to attract new tourists to the area.
Layla is one of those characters who can’t NOT get involved in things, despite her best efforts! She feels like she wants to help everybody, and there are plenty of people to help in this book as she reaches out to a reclusive musician who lives in the area – his story intrigues her, as does he as a person, and she finds she becomes more involved with wanting to know more. He’s a very jekyll/hyde personality with her so she knows he’s hiding something….her journalistic skills come in very handy trying to get to the bottom of it all!
I loved the setting and the sense of community in this book. There are many secrets that come to light that threaten to darken her light but you can’t do anything but admire her determination to see a project through!
Another treat for me today, to get to hand over the Blog once again to the lovely Angela Britnell so she can share her thoughts with you on Publication Day for the fabulous A CORNISH SUMMER AT PEAR TREE FARM!! Get downloading it NOW!!
Over to you Angela…. 🌞🌞🌞
Release Day: A Cornish Summer at Pear Tree Farm by Angela Britnell
Thank you so much for inviting me over to say hello on publication day for A Cornish Summer at Pear Tree Farm! When it became obvious earlier in the year that I wouldn’t be able to travel across the pond and enjoy a real Cornish summer yet again, I decided a fictional one would do the trick which is when this book came to life.
I soon discovered at the core of Nessa Vivian’s character was a generous heart towards people who needed a refuge from their everyday lives which struck me as fortuitous because in a way she ended up doing the same thing for me. She also has the very special quality of not having to know the reason why someone needs her help but simply accepting that they do. The way Nessa sees it, if they want to tell her they will. Polly and Jack Green have lived on the site for thirty years without ever explaining to Nessa, or her parents before her, why they left Birmingham in the first place, why they’ve never returned or had any family come to visit them at Pear Tree Farm. Nessa treats army veteran Crispin Davies the same way. Almost three years earlier, he turned up in the middle of winter asking for a place to pitch his tent in return for work around the site. The hardworking Welshman is a loner and Nessa respects his reticence and never presses him to talk about his past. But things change when Ward Spencer arrives. Their mutual attraction is obvious from day one, but he’s clearly a man with secrets and for once that isn’t good enough for her. She’ll have to decide whether to break her golden rule or risk losing something – and someone – very special.
I rarely write sequels but when I finished A Cornish Summer at Pear Tree Farm there were two special characters begging for their own chance at love and a sense of belonging so I gave them
what they asked for. You’ll have to read A Cornish Christmas at Pear Tree Farm, due out in December, to find out if they took it!
🌞🌞🌞
About the Book:
Cornish charm and a Tennessee twist – the perfect pair?
Nessa Vivian is determined to keep her parents’ business afloat, but Pear Tree Farm near the backwater Cornish village of Polgarth didn’t do well as farm, and it’s not faring much better as a camp site. Maybe it’s due to Nessa’s habit of taking in troubled runaways, like ex-soldier Crispin, for next to nothing. Or perhaps her highly-strung sister Lowena is right – caravans named after Beatles’ songs and homegrown pears are not enough to turn the farm into a tourist haven.
Then another troubled runaway turns up, posing the greatest threat yet. Ex-musician Ward Spencer from Tennessee is certainly intriguing, but could his plans to put nearby Tregereth House on the map mean Pear Tree Farm is finished – or does his arrival signal a second lease of life, and not just for Nessa’s business?
Angela was born in St. Stephen, Cornwall, England. After completing her A-Levels she worked as a Naval Secretary. She met her husband, a US Naval Flight Officer, while being based at a small NATO Headquarters on the Jutland Peninsula in Denmark. They lived together in Denmark, Sicily, California, southern Maryland and London before settling in Franklin, Tennessee.
Angela took a creative writing course in 2000 and loved it so much that she has barely put her pen down since. She has had short stories and novels published in the US. Her novel Sugar & Spice, won Choc Lit’s Search for an American Star competition and was her UK debut.
Delighted to be handing over the blog today to the lovely HELEN BUCKLEY to help celebrate the publication day for CELEBRITY SOS!! Another stunner of a book that you all need to be adding to your TBR piles ASAP!!
Over to you Helen….
Release Day: Celebrity SOS by Helen Buckley
I love all the couples in my books, but I must confess, Finn and Kat’s story in Celebrity SOS: Love Survives is definitely one of my favourites.
Here’s why:
Firstly, I’m a sucker for a teenage romance. It was a joy to write about Finn and Kat and the sweet intensity of falling in love for the first time as they were thrown together as leads in the school play.
Secondly, all my books have a dramatic reveal and this one is probably the most dramatic yet as it takes place on camera, in the middle of a blizzard. It was very intense to write!
Thirdly, I’m obsessed with snowy mountain scenery, and a large part of the book takes place in Alaska, as a group of celebrities take on the challenge to survive in the wilderness. It was the perfect excuse to lose myself in Google images for a few hours and stare in wonder at the vast, inspiring scenery of a place I’d love to visit.
Fourthly, I love reality TV survival and physical challenge shows. From the hilarity of I’m a Celebrity to the jaw-dropping feats of Bear Grylls, from the sweat and strain of SAS: Who Dares Wins to the sheer bravery of those on Naked and Afraid, I’m hooked on them. It was great fun to write a book based on these shows, with both survival and love at the heart of the story.
I really hope readers will enjoy Celebrity SOS, which is the second book in my Spotlight series, although it can be read as a standalone. There will be more to come in the series soon, as always with slow-burn romances, shock twists and bags of drama!
About the book:
I’m a celebrity … trying to escape the past!
When Katerina Murphy agrees to take part in Celebrity SOS, a reality TV show where celebrities have to fend for themselves in the Alaskan wilderness, she’s up for the challenge. But then she locks eyes with fellow contestant Finn Drayson of 1Dream boy band fame and realises that the show is going to push her further from her comfort zone than she ever imagined.
After all, Finn wasn’t just Katerina’s co-star in the school play adaptation of Breakfast at Tiffany’s where she discovered her acting confidence, he was also her first love – and the first boy to break her heart. Even years later, the secret kisses and shared packets of crisps on park benches are never far from her mind.
Will award-winning actress Katerina Murphy’s talents stretch to staying composed in the face of Arctic winds and blasts from the past?
Book 2 in the Spotlight series but it can be read as a standalone novel.
Helen Buckley lives in Bedfordshire with her husband and two sons. After working in the charity sector in the UK and abroad, she turned her hand to writing and her first novel, Star in the Shadows, was published in 2019. She writes any moment that she can, enthralled by stories of fame, romanceand happy ever afters. Apart from being addicted to writing and enjoying soft play with her sons, she’s an avid reader, action-movie fan and chocolate addict.
Can “Dozy Rosie” spice up her life and prove she’s not boring?
Rosie Bunting has spent her life caring for others, often at the expense of her own hopes and dreams. But when she overhears somebody describing her as “boring”, she decides it’s time for a change.
Little does she realise that the outdoor pursuits weekend brochure handed to her at the local Art Café will kick start a summer that will see her abseiling down a Welsh cliff face in “eye watering” leggings, rediscovering her artistic side and unexpectedly inheriting an old fire engine. It also involves meeting hunky outdoor instructor, Gareth Merwyn-Jones – although of course he’d never be interested in Dozy Rosie Bunting … would he?
One thing’s for certain: Rosie’s path to achieving her hopes and dreams might not be smooth, but it’s definitely not boring.
All the feels – and more!! I loved the latest in the Art Cafe series – easily read as a standalone! – and it has yet more fabulous characters you take to your heart in the most wonderful of settings!
Rosie is the main focus of this story and I dare you not to want to be her best friend!! She’s the kind of woman who is always putting others first, without complaining, yet she’s forgotten just who she is. And when she overhears her own daughter calling her boring – shame on her!! – she throws caution to the wind and sets about finding herself and putting herself first for a change!
After a visit to the Art Cafe, she finds out about an outdoor pursuits weekend – what better way than doing something out of the ordinary and challenging yourself!! And while she’s there she starts a journal so she can chart her progress – I loved this aspect of the book and loved reading her entries! She’s more honest with a pen in her hand and seeing her thoughts on everything written down seems to make her more relaxed and feel in control!
She meets all kinds of different people on the weekend and I loved the variety and how that seemed to help with her confidence – the lovely instructor Gareth helped on that front too!! He was dealing with his own family issues after his marriage broke down.
Rosies’ ex is still on the scene too and sniffing around when there’s money to be had, so I loved watching how Rosie dealt with this new challenge. And how others helping her, made her happy again to be helping others with their own problems and finding solutions to make the future seem more ‘rosy’ for Rosie!! I’m sorry I couldn’t resist!!
Delighted to be handing over the blog today to the lovely Marie Laval to help celebrate publication day for HAPPY DREAMS AT MERMAID COVE!! 🥳 Over to you Marie…….
💛💛💛
Release Day: Happy Dreams at Mermaid Cove by Marie Laval
My inspiration for writing Happy Dreams at Mermaid Cove was the photo of a yellow mobile library on a deserted Scottish road that author friend Melinda Hammond posted on Facebook at the beginning of 2020. It captured my imagination so much that I had to start writing a story about it straight away. I knew a little about mobile libraries already because a long time ago I actually worked in one in the Wigan area for a few weeks, and what fun it was! I remember driver Don’s smile and perpetual good humour, and mobile librarian Julie’s kindness and energy, and our chats during the tea breaks. I had always dreamt of spending time in England and didn’t hesitate for one minute when the chance came up to do a three month work placement in Wigan as part of my secretarial course.
Of course Wigan and its surroundings are very flat, unlike Arrandale – the made-up part of Skye where the novel is set, and of course there were no Highland cows crossing the road or fierce storms battering the countryside… and no mermaids.
I had a wonderful time in Wigan. People were so kind and welcoming, and I quickly got used to strangers calling me ‘love’, ‘pet’ or ‘flower’. I read Lord of the Rings for the first time, and discovered the pubs, baked beans and fish fingers, and Miss Selfridge!
More importantly, during my time in Wigan I met the man who was to be my love, my companion and my happy dream for the following thirty-one years, and this story is dedicated to him…
💛💛💛
About Marie Laval
Originally from Lyon in France, Marie now lives in the Rossendale Valley in Lancashire. She writes both contemporary and historical romance. Her novels include best selling contemporary romantic suspense novels LITTLE PINK TAXI and ESCAPE TO THE LITTLE CHATEAU, which was shortlisted for the 2021 RNA Jackie Collins Romantic Suspense Awards, as well as A PARIS FAIRY TALE and BLUEBELL’S CHRISTMAS MAGIC. Her historical novel, ANGEL OF THE LOST TREASURE, was published in February 2021, and HAPPY DREAMS AT MERMAID COVE is her latest contemporary romance. Marie also contributes to the best selling Miss Moonshine’s Emporium anthologies together with eight author friends from Authors on the Edge.
💛💛💛
ABOUT THE BOOK
From the big city to a little yellow mobile library on the Isle of Skye …
When Jenna Palmer agrees to the new position of mobile librarian on the tiny Arrandale peninsular of the Isle of Skye, she knows she’s signing up for difficult working conditions and mediocre wages. But Jenna needs to get away, and a little yellow mobile library called Buttercup could be her escape to happier dreams … However, whilst Jenna can get to grips with foggy island roads, local mermaid legends and even big purple monsters, she never expected to have to contend with a boss as grumpy as Daniel McGregor, or a young book lover as enthusiastic as his niece, Katrina. Arrandale might represent Jenna’s safe port in a storm, but could she and Buttercup also become a beacon of hope to Daniel, Katrina and the entire island community?
HAPPY DREAMS AT MERMAID COVE is available as an ebook on Amazon and Kobo.
A huge pleasure today to be able to hand over my Blog to the lovely Chris Penhall to help celebrate it being publication day of FINDING SUMMER HAPPINESS!!! Oh to be living in that setting right now – and enjoying blue skies!!Over to you Chris!!
🌞🌞🌞
Release Day Post: Finding Summer Happiness by Chris Penhall
Thanks for inviting me to write a few words about my new novel.
Finding Summer Happiness is my third book and is set on the beautiful south Wales coast. It follows the story of Miriam Ryan, a successful businesswoman who has just sold her company and is search of rest, relaxation and solitude. However, when she arrives in her secluded idyll, she gets anything but!
I had wanted to write a novel set in Wales for many years, but it wasn’t until I spent a day walking with friends on the glorious Pembrokeshire coastal path that the idea for the story really began to take root in my mind.
We were walking between Manorbier to Bosherston, and as usual I kept stopping to take in the stunning scenery around me. As the path dipped down towards an empty beach, I had a flashback – completely out of the blue. I was on a beach with my family and friends when I was a child. We were playing cricket. And for the briefest of moments I felt I was there. But it wasn’t the beach I was walking towards: it was Oxwich Bay on the Gower Peninsula where we used to spend endless happy days swimming, playing ball games and jumping off the sand dunes.
And that is when my mind began to develop the storyline. I decided to incorporate those kinds of vivid little mental films that take us back to a particular time and place within the book to help tell Miriam’s story.
It took a few years to do, because not long after that my first novel, The House That Alice Built won the Choc Lit Search for a Star Competition, and I then I wrote the sequel to that Portuguese-set book, New Beginnings at the Little House in the Sun, before I started work on Finding Summer Happiness.
I also have a half-formed interest in astronomy and one of the things on my list of things to do – which is very long list as a lot of things on that list didn’t get done in 2020 – is to go to a dark sky event. So, I decided that one of the main characters needed to be an expert in looking at the stars, and that’s why Alan Thomas, astronomer, author and dreamer was born. Not literally, as in the book he’s got adult children of his own. Miriam and Alan, plus two other characters, Rhiannon and Jim decide to go to one of the events. You’ll have to read the book to see whether they get there or not!
During the story, I also take some of my characters to Neath, which is where I was born. It’s quite a way from Pembrokeshire, so I get them to stop off briefly in Swansea on the way. When they are in Neath, an area called Fairyland is mentioned in passing – this does exist and you can get a bus there. It’s a housing estate, and there’s a road, so nothing supernatural or anything. When questioned, Alan is a bit vague about the origins of the name, as am I, but I have been told (by my cousin who was told by a friend who saw it written somewhere) that it could have been because it’s said a Roman Centurion got lost in the area – Neath has a few Roman remains in and around the town, including one next to
my old school – and some fairies helped him find his way home. Is this true? Are there other theories or reasons? Probably. I like the fact I don’t really know!
This is one of the themes of the book; how you can find beauty and magic everywhere – whether it’s gazing out to sea on the Pembrokeshire coast, standing on top of a hill in an old industrialised town, or in the genuine kindness from people you don’t know when you are least expecting it.
I have to say I also enjoyed creating some of the minor characters; there are a couple of surprise tribute acts and a Look-Alike festival, too. The idea from that came from the Elvis Festival in Porthcawl – which is also on my to-go-to-list – and the number of events I’ve been involved with whilst working for BBC local radio!
Anyway, I really enjoyed writing Finding Summer Happiness, and I hope you enjoy reading it too. Perhaps you’ll feel like you’ve had a nice long cwtch when you’ve finished the book. That’s the Welsh word for hug and is one of my favourites.
🌞🌞🌞
About the book:
You won’t find happiness without breaking a few eggs … Miriam Ryan was the MD of a successful events and catering company, but these days even the thought of chopping an onion sends her stress levels sky rocketing. A retreat to the Welsh village of her childhood holidays seems to offer the escape she’s craving – just peace, quiet, no people, a generous supply of ready meals … did she mention no people? Enter a cheery pub landlord, a lovesick letting agent, a grumpy astronomer with a fridge raiding habit – not to mention a surprise supper club that requires the chopping of many onions – and Miriam realises her escape has turned into exactly what she was trying to get away from, but could that be just the thing she needs to allow a little bit of summer happiness into her life?
Chris Penhall won the 2019 Choc-Lit Search for a Star competition, sponsored by Your Cat Magazine, for her debut novel, The House That Alice Built. The sequel, New Beginnings at the Little House in the Sun was published in August 2020. Her short story, Lily McKee’s Seven Days of Christmas appears in Choc Lit and Ruby Fiction’s Cosy Christmas Treats anthology.
Her new novel, Finding Summer Happiness is is set in Pembrokeshire in South West Wales.
Chris is an author and freelance radio producer for BBC Local Radio. She also has her own podcast – The Talking to My Friends About Book Podcast in which she chats to her friends about books. Good title! Born in Neath in South Wales, she has also lived in London and in Portugal, which is where The House That Alice Built is set. It was whilst living in Cascais near Lisbon that she began to dabble in writing fiction, but it was many years later that she was confident enough to start writing her first novel, and many years after that she finally finished it! A lover of books, music and cats, she is also an enthusiastic salsa dancer, a keen cook, and loves to travel. She is never happier than when she is gazing at the sea.
You can find more information about her on www.chrispenhall.co.uk or follow her on twitter: @ChrisPenhall
Hello! And it’s a very happy Publication Day to GINA HOLLANDS today with the release of the fabulous YOURS, TRUDY! And she gets to share the day with you as she’s taking over my Blog page today to share some background to the book! Over to you Gina………
Release Day Post: Yours, Trudy by Gina Hollands
Yours, Trudy is my seventh published work but first ever romcom! Friends and family have been encouraging me to write a comedy since I started writing books because I like to inject humour into my work emails and letters and texts to friends and family. Despite that, it took me years to take the plunge and write a comedy because being funny works best when it’s spontaneous. However, once I realised that the funniest moments tend to happen in everyday conversations and communication, I found that the words flowed. A lot of the material in Yours, Trudy is based on real events and communication I’ve encountered in my job and family life. It’s therefore fair to say that my own life was a huge inspiration in Yours, Trudy.
Trudy isn’t me, however. Although there are similarities between us – she’s a wife and mum who’s trying to juggle family life with a career – she’s a huge watersports enthusiast. I love the water but am accident prone, so getting in a kayak would be a very bad idea indeed! Unfortunately for Trudy, she herself had a serious accident several years before the story begins, which has thrown her life off course and even led to the breakdown of her marriage to the gorgeous and loveable Carlton. She feels she’s failed on many levels and in trying to be everything to everyone, has ended up letting down those she loves most. Luckily, Trudy has some great friends – Mary and Aisha – who are based loosely on two of my real-life friends! Female friends are really important to many women, including myself, and I wanted to explore this theme in the book.
Although Yours, Trudy is a romcom, there are several tender – and even darker – moments. In order to get light, there must be shade, of course. The most touching scene, I think, is where Trudy is remembering her late father in a conversation she’s having with her mum. It’s at that moment she realises that she might have misunderstood her mother. It’s a real turning point in their relationship.
I set Yours, Trudy in the seaside town of Worthing, where I live. I love Worthing and wanted to put it ‘on the map’ by making it the setting of my story. It’s such a vibrant, diverse place that in my opinion doesn’t get the credit or attention it deserves. It often sits in the shadow of nearby Brighton and that’s a shame. That’s not to say Worthing is the most beautiful place on earth – although our sunset has been voted one of the best in the world! – it’s more that it’s interesting. There are some great, quirky little shops, restaurants and bars, and The Dome is the best cinema I’ve ever been to. We’re lucky to have such a vivid cultural scene with theatres, art galleries and eateries. I love it here and Trudy’s pretty happy here too, although she’s always dreamed of having a sea view, which she hasn’t managed yet. If she steps outside her front door and cranes her neck, she can see the front of M&S though! In the book I mention several real places in Worthing, including The Connaught Theatre and even the little pizza van that parks on the seafront.
I really hope that readers get a laugh out of Yours, Trudy, champion her as a character and fall a bit in love with Carlton. Feedback so far has been that it is ‘relatable’ and I hope more readers find that. Being a woman in modern society who has a family and responsibilities is not easy. In fact, it’s grossly underestimated how challenging and exhausting it can be. Women often carry the lion’s share of the household’s responsibilities even when they, too, work full-time. It’s time society woke up to this and readdressed the balance. It is my wish that Yours, Trudy can, even to a small degree, bring this issue to light, and do so in a fun and entertaining way.
🐾🐾🐾
About the Book:
How many positive words and exclamation marks can you fit into the space of one email?
A lot is the answer, if you’re Trudy Drinkwater. As ‘Head of People Happiness’, her cheery emails are carefully written to boost the morale of her ‘fellow finned friends’ at Pink Fish Web Design. Yay!
But, in reality, there is very little Trudy has to say ‘yay!’ about in her home life. Her marriage is all but over, she’s in a near constant battle to make her two chicken nugget loving teens eat anything vaguely nutritious, and the days when she and her husband were young lovers with big dreams seem very far away.
Can Trudy keep up the chirpy pretence of her day job, or does she really need a new start and a second chance at true happiness?
Gina Hollands was born and bred in Yorkshire, England. She has worked in public relations for 15 years, since graduating from Oxford University with a degree in modern languages. Gina now lives on the West Sussex coast with her husband and young son. When she’s not writing Gina is likely to be participating in her other hobby – dancing, be it salsa, jive or lindy hop.
Could a beautiful old house and a handsome stranger hold the key to a life-changing secret? Rosie Phillips could be forgiven for not being immediately won over by Tanner Bryant. After all, their first meeting involves him knocking a tray of prawn cocktail over her very expensive dress at a charity event in the grounds of Lucerne Lodge. But little does Rosie know how pivotal that awkward first meeting will be, or how the Lodge will become the unexpected backdrop for a summer spent finding out who she really is, and who she could be …
So happy to be back amongst the Borteen crowd, and what a story they have to share with us this time, set at the beautiful Lucerne Lodge!!
And Rosie has a not so clever first meeting with Tanner, it involves prawn cocktail!, so to say she’s not impressed is a bit of an understatement! But there’s more to Rosie than meets the eye, and when Tanner discovers there may be a link between his family and Rosie, it sets up a really intriguing tale of secrets and repercussions from the past coming back to haunt people – and impacting on those who knew nothing about the goings on in their families younger days!
I loved the characters of Rosie and Tanner – they are both really likeable people who seem to have their hearts in the right place. It’s just when tragedy strikes Tanner, it changes both their destinies and it’s how they deal with the news that sets their future up as a little different from ideal!
You can’t not help but share so much empathy with these characters as the links between their families become clearer, and I also loved the use of crystals throughout the book to add another little spiritual edge to the story – I’m rather partial to a moonstone pendant myself!! Another fabulous and engaging story from Morton – I hope we get to go back to Borteen again very soon!!
When Mya is with Smithy, it feels like her eyes are constantly rolling. His wheeling and dealing charisma charms everyone but her. Well, that’s not strictly true – Mya is only human after all, and there’s no doubt the man is hot with his suits and swagger. It’s just that Smithy knows Mya’s secret, and she’s not sure she can trust him to keep it from their group of friends.
As they immerse themselves in the glamorous and mysterious world of ‘The Suits’, growing closer as a result, Smithy has to question whether his time with Mya is destined to become a case of ‘what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas’ …
This was a fabulous read! It was fun, sexy and full of sparks that it just made me want to pack up and head to Vegas…. I might meet a Smithy while I’m there! He’s one of those guys that is a bit of a lad, and full of himself, but that seems more of a front than anything. Underneath you know there’s a big softy just waiting to get out!
And in this book he has his eyes on Mya! She’s a lady full of secrets, and he’s party to the biggest secret, but how long will he stay quiet!? And why hasn’t she told her friends the real reason why she’s over in Vegas to begin with?!
This is a fabulous setting for a story!! It’s full of glamour and there’s lots of mystery and intrigue going on and the group that are thrown together are bound to clash with the varying personalities amongst them!
While Mya and Smithy are in Vegas they are both there for the same reason, and – trying not to give away any spoilers! – it was really fun to see how their relationship progressed. Mya is a bit of a hard one to read at times and glimpsing behind the bravado shows us her other side and shows the best way to deal with the sexists amongst the group! Never stoop to their level and hit them where it hurts!!
Another great book from Lucy, featuring a feisty female character and a storyline that zips along and keeps you fully involved! Loved it!!
Delighted to be able to share a guest post today from Morton S. Gray, who is celebrating Publication Day for SUMMER AT LUCERNE LODGE!! Hope you’ll all be grabbing a copy to escape in to very soon!!!
Over to you Morton…….
My sixth book for Choc Lit, Summer at Lucerne Lodge tells the story of Tanner Bryant and Rosie Phillips. They first meet at a charity auction held in the grounds of Lucerne Lodge on the outskirts of my fictional seaside town of Borteen. However, that first meeting isn’t as innocent as it sounds, because Tanner has found a private investigator’s file on his father’s desk about Rosie and wants to know why …
The back of the book says:-
Could a beautiful old house and a handsome stranger hold the key to a life-changing secret?
Rosie Phillips could be forgiven for not being immediately won over by Tanner Bryant. After all, their first meeting involves him knocking a tray of prawn cocktail over her very expensive dress at a charity event in the grounds of Lucerne Lodge.
But little does Rosie know how pivotal that awkward first meeting will be, or how the Lodge will become the unexpected backdrop for a summer spent finding out who she really is, and who she could be …
This is a stand-alone novel, but there are cameo appearances from characters who have been in my previous books, such as Justin Sadler the solicitor who was the hero in Christmas at the Little Beach Café.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Morton lives with her husband, two sons and Lily, the tiny white dog, in Worcestershire, U.K. She has been reading and writing fiction for as long as she can remember, penning her first attempt at a novel aged fourteen. She is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and The Society of Authors.
Her debut novel The Girl on the Beach was published after she won the Choc Lit Publishing’s Search for a Star competition in 2016. This story follows a woman with a troubled past as she tries to unravel the mystery surrounding her son’s new headteacher, Harry Dixon.
Her other books for Choc Lit are The Truth Lies Buried, Christmas at Borteen Bay, Sunny Days at the Beach, and Christmas at the Little Beach Café.
Morton previously worked in the electricity industry in committee services, staff development and training. She has a Business Studies degree and is a fully qualified Clinical Hypnotherapist and Reiki Master. She also has diplomas in Tuina acupressure massage and energy field therapy. She enjoys crafts, history and loves tracing family trees. Having a hunger for learning new things is a bonus for the research behind her books.
Books and Me! 
