New Publication Spotlight: Red Roses by Katie Ward

Red Roses by Katie Ward

BLURB

Autumn is stuck in a rut and desperate to escape the fears that bind her to the life she’s grown to hate. Back home and living with her parents after university with a degree that seems to count for nothing, she knows something has to change. After a chance meeting with a stranger at the beach, she makes the spontaneous decision to move to Dublin and chase her dreams. However, what Autumn doesn’t realise is that she has just made the decision that will lead to her death. But does a short life have to mean an unsuccessful life? Will she be able to make it count?

Red Roses is a compelling and uplifting story that shows the true beauty of life, love and friendship.

TRAILER

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzZ4ugmOBww

PURCHASE LINKS

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09GMG13XM

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09GMG13XM

AUTHOR BIO

Katie Ward always knew she wanted to write for a living. However, she was told by her careers advisor that “it might be more appropriate for you to work in a shop”. When Katie didn’t get the grades she needed to get into college, she negotiated a three month trial. After successfully completing the course she secured a place at her first choice university to study Journalism.

After realising she wanted to be an author, Katie moved to Dublin where she worked her way up from receptionist to Executive Assistant at Merrill Lynch. Katie continued to write in her spare time, submitting her short story into the “Do the Write Thing” competition being run by Irish TV show ‘Seoige and O’Shea’. This story was originally written when Katie was 14 after she was inspired by an article in her favourite teen magazine. Katie was the only non-Irish author selected to have her story published in an anthology of the same name which reached 19 in the Irish Best sellers List. Katie was also shortlisted for a competition judged by MAN Booker Prize winning author Roddy Doyle which was run by Metro Eireann newspaper.

Katie currently lives in Devon with her cat (aka ‘Her Royal Fluffiness’) where she sings in a community choir and has recently taken up Archery. Katie’s favourite author has been Roald Dahl since she was a child as she loves the dark edge he brings to his books. On the flip side though, Katie loves Disney, magic, unicorns and a good rom com film at the cinema with her friends.

Twitter - https://twitter.com/KatieWWriter

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/KatieWWriter

Website - https://katiewardwriter.com/

GIVEAWAY

Giveaway to Win a signed painting by Katie Ward’s illustrator and a signed copy of Red Roses (Open INT)

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

New Publication Spotlight & Author Guest Post: The Hidden by Alison Knight

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 

Secrets, nightmares, and a big black dog…

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

Alison Knight has been a legal executive, a registered childminder, a professional fund-raiser and a teacher. She has travelled the world – from spending a year as an exchange student in the US in the 1970s and trekking the Great Wall of China to celebrate her fortieth year and lots of other interesting places in between.

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 

www.facebook.com/alison.knight.942

@Alison_Knight59 on Twitter

www.imaginecreativewriting.co.uk

www.darkstroke.com/dark-stroke/alison-knight/