Publication Day Review: Dangerous Ground by Rachel Grant

Dangerous Ground by Rachel Grant
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When wildlife photographer, Dean Slater can't get in contact with his brother, Dylan, a volcanologist, he knows something isn't right. As close as brothers can be, it isn't normal for either to not inform the other of their plans. Therefore, he hatches a plan to look for his missing sibling in the last place he was known to be… The Aleutian Islands.

Intrigue and danger set against the dramatic, volcanic landscape of the Islands of the northern Pacific Ocean, Ms. Grant's descriptions of the backdrop brought this bleak wilderness to life. Additionally, the history of the indigenous Unangan, known by non-natives as the Aleut, and why their territory is of strategic importance is an unexpected inclusion leaving me feeling both enlightened for the informative details and entertained by the fast-paced, adventurous narrative.

The romance aspect is a slow burn, as Dean and Fiona fight their attraction to each other with each having a valid reason for not getting involved with the other. I enjoyed the build-up and also the ending which is to keep the reader guessing on what happens next. Yes, there is another novel to look forward to but this isn’t a cliffhanger. For the time being, a happy for now is fitting for the protagonists and allows the imagination of the reader to run wild as to what will come next.

Some time has passed since I’ve read a romantic suspense novel and Dangerous Ground has reawakened my thirst for the genre and I can't wait to read the next installment in the Fiona Carver series; Crash Site.

***arc generously received courtesy of Montlake Romance via NetGalley***

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New Publication Spotlight & Author Guest Post: Colouring Outside The Lines by Amanda Paull

Thank you so much for hosting me on Ellesea Loves Reading. Following the recent release of my new novel, Colouring Outside the Lines.

I thought I’d share my thoughts about the relationship between my main character, Katie, and her mother because I think theirs is probably similar to the relationships many of us have with our mothers – loving, yet at times, infuriatingly frustrating.

I actually had no idea I’d written so many mother characters in my other books until I started working with my current editor, who told me that I wrote mothers well.

I don’t know if I write them well, but she’s right about their being a lot of them. Apart from one short story, which became the second book in the Scott Family romantic comedy series, I never intended to write about mothers at all. Maureen Scott was a fictional character, loosely based on my own mother, while the story itself was actually inspired by a farcical real-life family get together.

In general, I write about forty-something year old women who already have more than enough challenges to cope with, without adding a mother into the mix. Mothers just appear from nowhere, to interfere in my stories in the way a lot of mothers do in their daughters’ lives – without being invited. Personally, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love my mother dearly, but, like Katie does with mother, I sometimes have to make a concerted effort not to grit my teeth, particularly when I start losing the will to live during a conversation that has gone off at a ridiculous tangent.

I might have shot myself in the foot when I asked my mother if she wanted to be one of my beta readers. She can read a novel at the speed of light. And, with her gimlet eye, she’s also quite good at pointing out flaws – years of practice… 🙄

But she does tend to assume that all the mothers are her, and she’s forever saying things like, ‘Why did you make me say that?’

‘Because she isn’t you, Mam,’ I say. ‘I mean, when did you ever wear your hair in such a tight French twist updo that your eyebrows were practically pinned into it?’ (Katie’s mother, Beverley)

‘But, all the same, people might think –’

‘Which people?’

‘And those chickens.’

Slight move of the teeth towards a grit. ‘People who do know you also know that you didn’t drag us out to the countryside so you could raise chickens.’

You get the picture.

In Colouring Outside the Lines, although Katie knows her mother loves her, she feels as if she fails to live up to her expectations. What Katie can’t see, and what her mother doesn’t communicate very well, is that she just wants her to be all that she can be in life, so that she’ll be happy.

As a young woman, Katie’s mother wanted to work with animals in Africa, but her own mother wouldn’t allow her to go. So, she has spent her adult life flitting from one fad to another, looking for fulfilment. Unfortunately for Katie, this resulted in lots of moving around when she was a child, and a deep desire for security, which she manifests in the way she tries to control every aspect of her life.

Her mother hated the way, as a child, Katie insisted on colouring inside the lines of the pictures in her colouring books. She wanted her to scribble over the lines, which Katie just couldn’t allow herself to do. Even as an adult, her mother keeps urging her to spread her wings and try new things, which only encourages Katie to become more regimented and controlled.

Until the rug is pulled from beneath Katie’s feet, and she starts to unravel.

As she falls into a tailspin, a different Katie starts to emerge, against her own will. But in the midst of the mayhem, she might just discover things about herself she didn’t know, which could then lead to true happiness – if she can allow herself to follow her mother’s advice and colour outside the lines.

Colouring Outside the Lines in available as an e-book via Amazon from 26^th July 2021.

Colouring Outside The Lines

Meet Katie: she’s about to marry the most wonderful man in the world. The planning is done, the checklist is checked. The future is set.

Having spent her twenties and thirties enjoying life with good friends, and building a career she loves, it’s taken Katie until her forties to contemplate settling down. And she couldn’t be more delighted she waited.

So, why is her perfect groom standing gawping at her, wearing mismatched socks and sweating buckets? This can’t bode well.

With her special day in tatters, Katie has a decision to make. Does she snatch back the reigns of her old life, and tighten her grip even more? Or should she take a chance on change? Will she find the key to happiness at a Pilates class in a smelly old hall? Or is the curve ball heading her way too huge to handle?

If you like British humour and a flawed protagonist on an emotional journey, you’ll enjoy reading Amanda Paull’s latest novel, Colouring Outside the Lines – a heart-warming tale of shattered dreams, self-discovery and finding true love where you least expect it.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0988WTQJ4

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58560469-colouring-outside-the-lines

Amanda Paull grew up in the North East of England and couldn't wait to move away. However, after studying and then living both in England and abroad, she returned to the North East and wouldn't dream of living anywhere else now.

After a short career in teaching, she retrained as a nurse. She recently retired from her post as a Sleep Nurse Specialist and now spends her time writing Women’s Fiction novels and Romantic Comedy short stories.

 https://www.amandapaull.co.uk

https://twitter.com/Apaullfiction

https://www.facebook.com/Apaullfiction/

Read an Extract...Always Never, Rarely Sometimes by Alexander Raphael

“Is this seat taken?” the stylish gentleman asked the attractive woman sitting next to an empty chair, whose face was barely visible due to a shawl covering part of her face.

The woman paused for a few seconds.  She studied the handsome stranger who stood in front of her before saying slowly, “Jack. Jack Hawthorne. Is it really you?”

Jack paused for a while, going through all the women he had dated in reverse chronological order before finally coming to the right answer. “Anne. Anne Stelkins. Well, who would have believed it?”

Neither was really sure what to say next. What do you say to someone you haven’t seen since meeting at an open mike magic show 20 years ago? “Hello?”, “Goodbye?”, “Much happened?”, “I was planning on ringing you but I’ve been busy for the last two decades?”

Full of confidence after her counselling sessions, Anne decided to start the conversation. “So, what brings you here? If I remember correctly, you don’t like coffee bars.”

She remembered, thought Jack worryingly. What sort of person recollects that from such a long time? “Well, you are right, I don’t like coffee bars, but my girlfriend likes the independent ones and she suggested I come here by myself to check them out.” What a pathetic lie, he felt, berating himself. She’ll never believe that! She knows why I’m at this singles bar.

Anne was impressed. A girlfriend into quirky coffee bars. Perhaps worth meeting one day. “I’m just here because I heard they have a great selection of coffees and a relaxed atmosphere,” she felt the need to say. She didn’t want him to find out that she was here looking for a boyfriend. “A guy at work recommended it,” she added, hoping Jack might think it was serious.

“So, what work is that?”, Jack asked as innocently as he could.

“Accounting,” she lied. She was a receptionist at a small business.

“Accounting?” he repeated, pleasantly surprised. Feeling he had to do better, he said he was an architect when in fact he was an approvals officer for his local council.

“I would have thought that you were going to live abroad. Didn’t you have dreams of living in South Africa?” Jack said, thinking it better to change the subject. 

“I did. I travelled the world for six months. From Cairo to California. It was amazing and the scenery was breath-taking. But there’s no place like home.”  She neglected to mention that she travelled due to a fortunate lucky scratchcard win. “What about you?”

“Only on business. I keep meaning to, but there’s always something to be done. Anyway, though, how’s the family? Your parents? Jeff? Zappy?”

“They’re all fine.” Her parents had divorced, Jeff, her brother owned a surprisingly successful pornography shop and Zappy, her beloved Labrador, had died of old age. 15 years ago.

Jack was surprised at her short answer. He figured that they must all be doing well but she did not want to seem arrogant. “Yeah, mine are all doing well.” He was not on speaking terms with his parents after a serious argument about responsibility, his two brothers were involved in the loan shark business and he had lost complete contact with all his old friends after drifting apart.

“So how’s your life been since I last saw you? It sure has been a while,” Anne asked, curious as to what had happened to the guy who had been her first serious boyfriend at 15.

Just what has happened in the last 20 years? Jack asked himself. Caught cold by the question, Jack hesitated.

Always Never, Rarely Sometimes

An aspiring magician who gets a sinister pleasure playing all kinds of tricks on those around him. Two strangers running into each after 20 years and wondering what they’ve missed. A long-suffering husband who decides it’s time he started making big decisions. An unhappy child at Christmas struggling to deal with his new surroundings before a wonderfully surprising encounter. All this and more within the seven stories of Always Never, Rarely Sometimes, where a wide range of characters are forced to challenge long-held beliefs and powerful memories, accompanied by a sprinkling of magic. Always Never, Rarely Sometimes is the third book from Alexander Raphael, following on from his short story The Summer of Madness and his set of conceptual short stories Illusions, Delusions.

Amazon UK                 Amazon US 

Half-Welsh, half-Mexican and growing up in London, Alex Raphael was surrounded by different influences and interests. But it was always books that spoke to him most and had the greatest impact.

He started writing when at college, where his love of reading evolved into a desire to write, in particular focusing on poetry and short stories. Studying English and American Literature at university meant he took a break from writing, as well as giving him the chance to see more of Mexico on his travels. He concentrated on his journalistic career while working on different writing projects, but his favourite genre of literature has always been short stories as they are what first inspired him to write.

That’s why his first book was The Summer of Madness, a romantic short story that tells of a guy who goes out to try to win his ex-girlfriend back. Will you be rooting for Kurt and his big public gesture or is it more complicated than that and you don’t want her to date him again? Either way you’ll get to know a memorable set of characters along for the ride.

His second book Illusions, Delusions reflects Raphael’s love of alternative short stories from the writers of his childhood and challenges the idea of the narrative. Will your favourite be the story in the form of a questionnaire, a poem or a set of jokes, among the seven very different styles?

Alexander Raphael’s latest offering is Always Never, Rarely Sometimes, featuring original premises and distinctive characters with his trademark imagination, humour and memorable dialogue. Among others, meet a sinister magician with an array of pranks, a long-suffering husband finally becoming more decisive and a group of young guys intrigued by a pretty woman on another table.

http://www.alexanderraphaelwriter.com/

https://twitter.com/elraphael

https://www.instagram.com/raphaelalexx/

New Publication Spotlight with an Extract: Summer at Blue Sands Cove by C.P. Ward

Summer at Blue Sands Cove by C.P. Ward

Tired of the city, Grace Clelland returns to Blue Sands, the quiet Cornish seaside village where she grew up. There she will meet old flames and old friends, rekindle old loves and ignite new ones in a novel that will have you dreaming of the soft crash of the waves on the shore, the feel of sand between your toes, overloaded ice-creams and smoky beach barbeques.

Summer at Blue Sands Cove – Grace gets Dumped

One of the catalysts for Grace moving back home is when her sports fanatic boyfriend dumps her.

It didn’t bode well that Gavin suggested a neutral location for their evening meeting, a park which happened to be a couple of miles closer to his place than to hers. She got off the bus, walked up the street and through the park gate, only to be confronted with Gavin standing by a fountain in his running gear, already warming up.

‘Hi,’ Grace said, approaching him. ‘Should I have come prepared? I dressed for something a little more casual.’

Gavin shook his head. ‘You look fine.’

Fine. Just fine. It was what her mother would have said before a job interview.

He was all thick shoulders, lyrca running trousers, and an expensive Mont Bell running jacket, his breath puffing out in little gasps as he pumped his legs up and down.

‘Did you want me to hold your stopwatch or something?’ Grace asked, the sinking feeling that had left her unable to eat anything after lunch making way for something just a little more hopeful, that her sports-mad new boyfriend wanted something other than what she had been suspecting all day. Perhaps he was planning to run around the world or something. Only five people had supposedly done it, and while it might mean they were apart for most of the next two years, at least it was something she could—in a superficial way, at least—support.

‘I wanted to talk. About us.’

Nope. It was heading in the same direction that her other relationships had gone.

‘Look, just get it over with. I like you, Gavin, but it’s only been a couple of months. I can handle it. You don’t think we fit well enough. That’s okay.’

It wouldn’t matter that it was the fourth guy in three years who would duck out before the three-month mark had passed. Grace would get over it; she would drink and message-Joan her way through it, like she had the previous three. The world wouldn’t end, even if it felt like it might for a while.

Gavin gave her a pained smile. ‘You’re kind, Grace,’ he said. ‘And there’s a lot to like about you. I mean it. It’s just … there are a couple of things.’

Which I don’t need to hear.

‘Like what?’

Gavin grimaced again and Grace hoped he would save her the humiliation of a list. But when he cleared his throat, she knew it was coming. Perhaps that was why he had worn his running gear: so he could get away.

‘You get up too late,’ he said. ‘I mean, you’re not going to get anywhere in life getting up at seven, are you? The day’s half done. And you have no ambition. You’re what, thirty-five and you work in a café.’

‘I’m twenty-eight.’

Gavin sighed. ‘Well, you look thirty-five. Okay, maybe that’s harsh. Thirty-two at least. It must be the way you do your hair. I mean, can’t you go somewhere a little more upmarket?’

Instead of ripping off one of her shoes and hitting him around the head with it, Grace just felt an easy sense of resignation. Best to let him have his moment and be done with it.

‘I have a mortgage to pay,’ she said. ‘I don’t live with my parents, Gavin.’

He scowled. ‘That was cheap. It’s temporary.’

‘You’re calling me cheap?’

He obviously misunderstood. ‘Look, I appreciate that you always contribute to dinner when we go out, picking up the odd.’

‘I always pay half! It’s you who “picks up the odd”.’

Gavin ignored her. ‘It’s very modern of you. But your money doesn’t impress me.’

Grace sighed. ‘You’d have low standards if it did.’

‘I’m just not a materialistic guy.’

Grace could have picked five labels off his current attire which suggested otherwise, but she was too tired to prolong this torture any longer than necessary.

‘Goodbye, Gavin. It was nice, for a while.’

She started to turn away, but he danced around her like some kind of exercise fairy, doing little sidesteps, puffing out his breath in short, sharp gasps.

It gave me night terrors. I thought I’d got over my childhood traumas, but since I met you, the nightmares I’ve had … they’ve been strong. I’ll say that. Strong.’

‘I’m sorry that your childhood sucked.’

Gavin shook his head. ‘I opened the car door and fell out on my parents’ drive when I was just five years old,’ he said. ‘A lorry was passing on the other side of the street, and the sound left me crying for a week. So my mother said. And your snoring brought that sound back. I’m going to a therapist tomorrow. I don’t like to say this, but I think you could have ruined my life.’

 https://books2read.com/Summer-at-blue-sands-cove

 CP Ward is an author from the UK who currently lives and works in Japan. For more information, please visit http://www.amillionmilesfromanywhere.net/cp-ward.html

https://www.facebook.com/groups/510678469409835

New Publication Spotlight & Author Guest Post: Finding Summer Happiness by Chris Penhall

Ellesea Loves Reading

Finding Summer Happiness

By Chris Penhall

“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.” Aldous Huxley

I love books. I love films. I love theatre. I love dancing. And I love singing and bouncing along to music virtually all the time, whether it’s in my house, in my car, or in my head. Apologies to anyone who has to hear or see that.

Like a lot of people, a fair bit of my life is done to a soundtrack – you know, sometimes a random song on a radio will spark a response, or I’ll compile a playlist for a sunny day. Shouting ‘Alexa play something happy’ or “Alexa play something relaxing’ has become a favourite pastime of mine.

And, now I’ve written three books, I realise that I sort of set them to music as well. I don’t make the main characters perform a song and dance number, but music does punctate the action occasionally. And that’s particularly true of my latest novel, Finding Summer Happiness.

The story follows Miriam Ryan, who has just walked away from her hugely successful events and catering company for a very long rest in secluded house on the Pembrokeshire coast in south west Wales. But due to an administrative error she discovers that seclusion is definitely not on offer. Cue surprise visitors, a few tribute acts, a spot of stargazing and a Look-A-Like Festival, plus quite a lot of food.

Of course, as it’s set in Wales there has to be singing, and Miriam herself is a lover of a playlist, so I found myself referring to the music she and some of the other characters were listening to in the background during the course of the story without really thinking about it.

It’s Not Unusual by Tom Jones makes an appearance – of course it does - It’s one of my favourite songs, and my main karaoke go-to! But it would be giving too much away to say how and why it is sung…..

Little Mix’s Break Up Song is in there somewhere – I was thinking of songs you could sing really defiantly to, and I have to say, that one’s a prime ‘as loudly as possible’

one I reserve for the house alone (or maybe a karaoke session in a booth for the ears of my friends only as they usually sound as bad as me). Look at Me I’m Sandra Dee from Grease is obviously a classic, as is the whole soundtrack and is surely designed as a sing-along. Alan the astronomer unsurprisingly plays the whole of Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd, at one point. I’ve also thrown in a nod to the Sex Pistols, Ed Sheeran and Huey Lewis and the News, plus others scattered here and there because everyone at some point during their day puts on some music that just plays out in the background to whatever they’re doing.

And my favourite, favourite song of the past year – Happiness by McFly – is in there too. Because it’s in my head quite a lot of the time anyway.

When I write at home I often listen to certain types of music without really thinking about it or head to cafes for a spot of writing around other people where there’s a playlist going on.

In Portugal there is a supermarket close to the place I stay in regularly which until recently used to play out Frank Sinatra, Michael Buble and sometimes a spot of salsa over the sound system. It felt like going to a party and certainly affected what I bought…I’m writing my fourth novel set in Lagos and the western Algarve, and this may have to make an appearance.

“In the words of AC/DC we roll tonight to the guitar bite and for those about to rock I salute you.” Dewey Finn, School of Rock

Finding Summer Happiness by Chris Penhall

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?

Amazon UK                Amazon US 

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, which is set in Pembrokeshire in South West Wales was published in May 2021.

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.

www.chrispenhall.co.uk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChrisPenhall

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

Publication Day Push and Extract: Cornish Gold at Summer's End by Laura Briggs

Cornish Gold at Summer’s End by Laura Briggs

Rumors of a ghostly presence haunt Julianne’s Cornish autumn in the series’ charming fourth installment.

What began as a bit of teenage mischief in the village quickly became stories of spooky lights and ghost sightings in the wood. Being sensible, Julianne is more worried about whether she can finish her kids’ costumes in time for the annual Halloween contest—and whether husband Matt and his eager assistants will be selected for the exclusive Brookshire Garden Design Competition. So when everyone in town begins flocking to the local ‘ghost walk’ tours Julianne assures her wide-eyed children it’s just a case of imagination run wild...until she experiences her own brush with the supernatural, that is.

Real or imagined, Julianne can’t shrug off what she saw, or even bring herself to confide in sympathetic Matt for advice. Best friend Kitty is on hand to help, despite her usual family battles, including that of her cousins’ shady new scheme to profit from the town’s ghost mania. But even Julianne’s friends can’t fully understand her need to find a solution this time, one that leads her on a quirky quest from local lore, to meetings with the village’s ragtag paranormal club, and even a creepy abandoned cottage hiding secrets in the woods.

Join Julianne for suspense, surprises, and (of course) heartfelt moments as book four in the series brings an autumn like no other to sleepy Ceffylgwyn.

Thanks so much to Ellesea for this opportunity to give her readers a glimpse of my latest story. It is the autumn-themed fourth installment in my series about Julianne, an event planner who lives in a gorgeous Cornish village. In the following scene, Julianne observes the popular ghost walk tour that has curious crowds flocking to the village as Halloween grows near.

"Step this way, ladies and gentlemen, and we'll begin our tour with a story. Tonight, in the shadows of an old Cornish pub, we walk in the direction of the original public house in this village, burned tragically by a fifteenth-century fire which claimed three lives..."

Several men and women bundled against the evening's chill were trickling out of the public house's door, following the guide dressed in an old-fashioned cloak and carrying an electric lantern. Despite the guide's creepy voice and story, some of them didn't look serious, with a few giggles and smiles among them, especially the two girls in puffy coats.

I stepped aside until they passed, but the last person out was a familiar face — Lady Amanda shut the door behind them, stopping short when she recognized me.

"Coming to join us, Juli?" she asked, wrapping her camel-colored pashmina more closely around herself. It matched the wool hat she was wearing, pulled down over her ears and the upper half of her long ginger braid. "It should be another exciting evening."

"Are you going along?" I asked. "It's three miles, isn't it?"

"It is, but since it starts at a pub and ends at an inn with a proper bar, no one complains," said Amanda, cheerily. "It takes the chill out of one's bones. Besides, I'm only seeing them to the old post road, then I'm turning aside and meeting Rosie for dinner off the Golden Perch's new tapas menu. Will's minding Edwin and Charles for the evening, so I'm enjoying a bit of freedom." She stepped out of the doorway as another patron went inside the Fisherman's Rest. "I'm sure Rosie wouldn't mind a third if you'd fancy coming along."

"Thanks, but I have a crowd to feed at home," I said. "I'm only stopping in for a bite to eat because dinner is delayed and I'm starving. I don't want my kids catching me raiding the biscuit cupboard at home."

"I'd stop with you, but I do like to watch the visitor's reactions to Gerard's little speech," she said. The guide was pointing towards the local clothing boutique, which I presumed was the site of something long lost in Ceffylgwyn's history.

https://smarturl.it/cornishgold

Laura Briggs is the author of several feel-good romance reads, including the Top 100 Amazon UK seller 'A Wedding in Cornwall'. She has a fondness for vintage style dresses (especially ones with polka dots), and reads everything from Jane Austen to modern day mysteries. When she's not writing, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, caring for her pets, gardening, and seeing the occasional movie or play.

Find Laura on Facebook at http://on.fb.me/1JjeMoI

Follow her on Twitter at http://bit.ly/1ME9ivJ

Giveaway to Win an e-copy of Cornish Gold at Summer’s End (Open INT)

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New Publication Spotlight & Review: The Beach Reads Book Club by Kathryn Freeman

The Beach Reads Book Club by Kathryn Freeman

Welcome to the Beach Reads Book Club…where love is just a page away…

When Lottie Watt is unceremoniously booted out of her uptight book club for not following the rules, she decides to throw the rulebook out the window and start her own club – one where conversation, gin and cake take precedent over actually having read the book!

The Beach Reads Book Club soon finds a home for its meetings at Books by the Bay, a charming bookshop and café owned by gorgeous, brooding Matthew Steele, and as the book club picks heat up, so too does the attraction between Matt and Lottie.

If there’s anything Lottie has learned from the romances she’s been reading, it’s that the greatest loves are the ones hardest earned.

A love letter to chicklit, romance, romcoms, whatever you want to call them!

This novel is a surprise! I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked it up, but it quickly got under my skin and is now a summer favourite.

Charlotte "Lottie" Watt loves reading but the book club she attends isn't reading books she enjoys, so on a whim, she decides to set up her own club. With the backing of a couple of other ladies, she asks the new owner of the local bookshop, if they can hold their meetings after hours. With the venue sorted, a book agreed, what more do you need to do at a meeting apart from chat?

Matt Steele, owner of Books by the Bay doesn't know what hit him when he agrees to let Lottie and her book club use his shop for their monthly meetings. He and his family are new to the town, so he sees it as a way of getting to know more locals. However, the ladies become much more to him and his family than to a group of people who enjoy books!

You'll laugh out loud and inwardly cringe at the antics… and incidents during the book club meetings. Readers can also join in, as each month they discuss well known familiar novels. The group is small but has likeable and relatable personalities. As they get to know each other meaningful friendships are forged whilst reading sexy novels and drinking gin!

While Lottie is a whirlwind of a woman, with her bubbly personality, Matt is quiet and brooding. Underneath is a passionate man trying to rebuild his life after his divorce and the death of his mother. Together, they make a fascinating couple who compliment each other.

One of the joys of this story is the diverse age span between the book club members. On the younger end, is Amy, Matt's sister who is struggling to settle into her new surroundings, whilst on the senior end, is Audrey, who is a force to reckon with…a wild-card but ultimately is an octogenarian given a new lease of life to socialise with like-minded people. However, Lottie is the woman who makes it all possible with her unselfish and compassionate desire to help people struggling with issues in their lives.

Overall, The Beach Reads Book Club is a quick and fabulous read for either a day at the beach or a cosy corner in the garden along with a cheeky, sparkling glassful of some naughty and nice!

***arc generously received courtesy of One More Chapter via NetGalley*** 

UK AMAZON              US AMAZON 

A former pharmacist, I'm now a medical writer who also writes romance. Some days a racing heart is a medical condition, others it's the reaction to a sexy hero. 

With a husband who asks every Valentine's Day whether he has to buy a card (yes, he does), any romance is all in my head. Then again, his unstinting support of my career change proves love isn't always about hearts and flowers - and heroes come in many disguises.

Website:  http://kathrynfreeman.co.uk

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