AUTHOR GUEST POST
Thank you so much for inviting me onto your blog to talk about my new book, The Hidden. Like you, I’m a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and it was through their support and encouragement that I started to learn my craft as a writer. I’ve also made many, many friends there, who are all wonderful people who love to cheer on other romance writers. I hope to meet you at one of the RNA conferences in the future!
The Hidden is set in Montana in 1973. It features Faye, an Englishwoman with secrets to guard and who suffers regular nightmares, and Jeff, a wounded, traumatised soldier just home from Vietnam. It was a time when people were just beginning to recognise and name Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, although it was still a taboo subject and sufferers were ashamed to admit to their problems.
Jeff is also grieving the recent sudden death of his father, not knowing that he had allowed Faye to move into Jeff’s cabin on the edge of their family ranch lands. When he is discharged from hospital and arrives home in the middle of the night after driving thousands of miles to get there, he is greeted by Faye aiming a shotgun at him, and his dog, Bear, at her side.
This isn’t a good start for the pair as each refuses to leave. Thus starts an easy partnership. Faye is hostile and secretive, an upper-class English Rose, seemingly out of place in this wild landscape. Yet when Jeff tries to find out about her past, he comes up against a brick wall when it becomes clear that she is using an assumed name.
Jeff is struggling to settle back down into civilian life and Faye soon realises that he too suffers from nightmares and flashbacks. She is able to support Jeff as he tries to overcome his difficulties. But even as they grow closer, she refuses to reveal her secrets and this causes constant tension between them.
But when Faye’s past finally catches up with her, she and Jeff need to trust each other in order to survive.
This is my third book published by Darkstroke in recent months. All three (Mine, The Legacy and The Hidden) are standalone stories but each is linked to the next. If you want to know more about Faye’s previous life, you’ll find that story in The Legacy. All of these books are available as ebooks or paperbacks on Amazon.
BLURB
Montana, 1973.
Faye has found sanctuary in a simple cabin in the wilds of the Crazy Mountains in Montana with a dog called Bear. She’s a long way from her old life in England. But she knows that one day her peaceful life could be invaded by her enemies, and she keeps her guard up at all times.
Jeff returns home from Vietnam, a wounded, damaged hero, just weeks after his father’s sudden death. He finds hostile, secretive Faye living in his cabin and refusing to leave. The reading of his father’s will adds another layer of mystery to this woman’s presence.
The tension between them grows as Jeff tries to overcome his nightmares and expose Faye’s scars and secrets. The more he learns about her, the more enigmatic she seems.
When her enemies come calling, she needs Jeff to protect her. Can they learn to trust each other? And will Faye ever be safe?
BUY LINK FOR THE HIDDEN: https://mybook.to/thehidden
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
In her mid-forties, Alison went to university part-time and gained a first-class degree in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University and an MA in the same subject from Oxford Brookes University, both while still working full-time. Her first book was published a year after she completed her master’s degree.
Alison currently has a trio of novels published by Darkstroke. The first, Mine, is a domestic drama set in 1960s London based on real events in her family. She is the only person who can tell this particular story. Exploring themes of class, ambition and sexual politics, Mine shows how ordinary people can make choices that lead them into extraordinary situations.
The Legacy, a drama set in London in 1969, was inspired by a scene in Mine, and explores how an unexpected legacy can be both a blessing and a curse. The Legacy looks at themes of greed and expectations, and the lengths people will go to when they are desperate.
The Hidden, available from September 2021, is a romantic suspense that picks up the story of one of the characters in The Legacy. Set in Montana in 1973, two wounded, damaged people are forced together, each guarding their secrets. Can they learn to trust each other? And will their nightmares ever end?
Alison teaches creative and life-writing, runs workshops and retreats with Imagine Creative Writing Workshops(www.imaginecreativewriting.co.uk) as well as working as a freelance editor. She is a member of the Society of Authors and the Romantic Novelists’ Association.
She lives in Somerset, within sight of Glastonbury Tor.
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
@Alison_Knight59 on Twitter
