Many many thanks for all your support over the last year.
I hope you are all having a truly peaceful and huggled Christmas, with extra coffee and a mince pie or three.
I will be back with you on 31st December, with another brilliant blog from Nell Peters.
Much love,
Jenny xx
Comprising of my three previously published novella length sequels to my debut novel, Another Cup of Coffee (- Another Cup of Christmas, Christmas at the Cotswolds, Christmas at the Castle – ), Jenny Kane’s Christmas Collection is available in both e-book format – and will be available as a paperback very soon!
Blurb for the Jenny Kane Christmas Collection-
There is something very special about Christmas…
Jenny Kane’s Christmas Collection combines all three seasonal shorts from Jenny’s best-selling Another Cup of … series in one festive anthology.
In ‘Another Cup of Christmas’, we return to Pickwicks Coffee House in London, the setting for Jenny’s bestselling novel Another Cup of Coffee. Together with old friends Kit, Amy, Scott and Peggy, we meet new Pickwicks waitress Megan, who’s in charge of organising a charity event for the local hospital…is romance as well as seasonal goodwill in the air?
‘Christmas in the Cotswolds’ sees Megan, now an established face at Pickwicks, travelling to the beautiful Cotswold countryside after an emergency call from her friend Izzie. Can Megan help Izzie pull off the perfect Christmas at her Arts and Crafts Centre – and save the business from disaster?
Kit Lambert, Pickwicks’ writer-in-residence, takes centre stage in ‘Christmas at the Castle’. Already nervous about appearing at her very first literary festival, in the grounds of a magnificent Scottish castle at Christmas time, Kit suddenly finds herself co-organising the whole thing – and trying to repair old friendships – with the deadline fast approaching…
***
Each novella is deliberately short, so that you can fit a peaceful moments reading into your busy Christmas preparation schedule. Either Another Cup of Christmas, Christmas at the Cotswolds, or Christmas at the Castle, can be easily consumed in one delicious ginger and nutmeg flavoured mouthful at a time!
You can still buy each story as a separate e-book, but now you can buy them in one book as well-
***
Here’s the very beginning of Another Cup of Christmas…
December 4th 2012
Having politely escaped her third ‘So what are you doing for Christmas?’ conversation of the day, Megan Johnson was retreating back to the counter when she spotted Pickwicks’ most regular customer sit up from her work and brush a stray red hair from her eyes.
Knowing it had been at least half an hour since Kit’s caffeine addiction had been attended to, the waitress swiped up the percolator jug and headed in her direction.
Without bothering to ask if it was required, Megan poured the steaming liquid with practised care, before taking advantage of the lull in Christmas shopping trade, and sitting down opposite her friend. ‘Going OK?’
Swivelling the laptop round to face Megan, Kit rubbed the back of her neck, ‘I’m sure I’ve missed something. What do you think?’
Pickwicks Festive Fundraiser!
Spoil Yourself With An Afternoon of Pickwicks’ Finest Festive Fare.
In Aid of the Royal Free Hospital’s Spinal Ward.
Saturday 22nd December from 2pm.
Deluxe Buffet And Festive Fundraising Fun!
Tickets are ONLY £25 per person
Don’t miss out!
Book your place at Pickwicks Coffee Shop, Richmond – NOW!!
Megan scanned the poster. ‘Oh, that’s fabulous! I thought you were writing your latest novel.’
‘To tell you the truth, that’s exactly what I should be doing, but Peggy asked me to do some publicity for the fundraiser and I thought I’d better get on with it. Time seems to be dissolving. It’ll be the 22nd before we know it.’
‘I know what you mean.’ Megan started to collect the dishes left by a couple who’d just vacated a nearby table. ‘The next three weeks are going to fly by.’
‘Two and a half weeks!’
‘Oh, hell! Really?’
‘That’s why I want to get these done; otherwise everyone will be too booked up with their own celebrations to have time to come.’ Gesturing towards the kitchen, Kit asked, ‘How’s Scott doing out there, or shouldn’t I ask?’
Megan’s permanent smile widened further across her lightly freckled face. ‘He’s amazing. I have no idea how he does it. The temperature in that kitchen is tropical, and yet Scott’s still beaming that massive toothy grin of his. I’m seriously beginning to think he is physically unable to stop cooking! Surely he must have pre-prepared as much as he can for the fundraiser by now?’
Kit nodded. ‘He probably has, but Peggy is getting paranoid there won’t be enough food.’ Glancing around, checking that Megan wasn’t needed by a customer for a moment, Kit pointed to a fresh pile of abandoned cups. ‘If I clear those, will you have a proper read of the poster? I’m sure I’ve missed something obvious but I can’t put my finger on it?’
Kit was already standing up and taking a tray from Megan’s hands before the waitress said, ‘On one condition.’
‘Which is?’
‘I can check my emails? I’m supposed to be liaising with the hospital about this for Peggy, but we’ve been so busy over the last few days I haven’t had time to see if Nick has got back to me about how many of the ward staff are coming.’
‘Nick?’
Megan silently cursed her inability to prevent the involuntary warm pink blush that hit her pale cheeks, ‘Yeah, he’s the admin guy for the ward that cared for Scott after his accident.’
‘Nice, is he?’ Kit gently teased the petite blonde waitress, wondering, not for the first time, why someone as kind and pretty as Megan hadn’t been snapped up years ago.
‘I’ve never met him, but he seems friendly. Well, he does via email and over the phone at least.’
‘You’ve spoken to him then?’
‘There are loads of things to sort out.’ Megan, knowing that the crush she’d developed on Nick’s Irish accent was utterly ridiculous, turned her full attention to the poster on the screen before her…
***
I hope that snippet has tempted you into taking a look at my coffee loving, friendship enhancing, romance brewing, mulled wine sipping, stories.
Happy reading everyone,
Jenny xx
Today I’m taking a look at the third of my Pickwick’s café festive short stories. Christmas at the Castle (which follows hot on the heels of Another Cup of Christmas and Christmas in the Cotswolds), is available as a standalone story, or as part of the ‘Jenny Kane’s Christmas Collection.’
This, my fourth outing with the Pickwick Coffee House crew, begins in a little café in Richmond (on the outskirts of London), before flying one of the regular customers, writer Kit Lambert, off to the Deeside region of Scotland for a Highland adventure.
Seven years have elapsed since the close of the original novel, Another Cup of Coffee, and there are quite a few new faces to be spotted amongst the original line up now. One of the most exciting things about writing any series of stories is introducing these new characters and working out how their personalities would mix- or not- with those of the main cast.
It is this friction within the personalities that makes the stories work, and creating these new interactions over the festive season makes this task all the more interesting- and challenging. No other event in the calendar can add the pressures on a relationship, be it a friendship or a romantic connection, than Christmas can. So much is expected of us over the festive season. Everything has to be perfect, and happy, and sugar-coated…which is a tall order under any circumstances. Add in a literary festival, a business woman who has forgotten how to act like a human being, a wallflower of a writer, and a go-getting Gran from the WI, as I have in Christmas at the Castle, and even the strongest of friendships can suffer…or blossom…
Blurb
Christmas at the Castle is a seasonal treat from Jenny Kane, featuring much-loved characters from her bestselling novel Another Cup of Coffee.
When hotshot businesswoman Alice Warren is asked to organise a literary festival at beautiful Crathes Castle in Scotland, her ‘work mode’ persona means she can’t say no – even though the person asking is her ex, Cameron Hunter. Alice broke Cameron’s heart and feels she owes him one – but her best friend Charlie isn’t going to like it. Charlie – aka famous author Erin Spence – is happy to help Alice with the festival…until she finds out that Cameron’s involved! Charlie suffered a bad case of unrequited love for Cameron, and she can’t bear the thought of seeing him again. Caught between her own insecurities and loyalty to her friend, Charlie gets fellow author Kit Lambert to take her place. Agreeing to leave her London comfort zone – and her favourite corner in Pickwicks Café – Kit steps in. She quickly finds herself not just helping out, but hosting a major literary event, while also trying to play fairy godmother – a task which quickly gets very complicated indeed…
***
As you would expect from one of my cosy café tales, it doesn’t take long for Kit to find a coffee shop that will be a good temporary replacement for Pickwicks while she is away. And she soon realises, that if she is going to gets to grips with the fact that she is to help organise a literary festival in a place she doesn’t know, with people she isn’t sure she likes, with next to no budget and very little time, then that supply of caffeine is going to be more vital than ever…
Although Christmas at the Castle follows on from Another Cup of Coffee, Another Cup of Christmas, and Christmas in the Cotswolds, it can also be read as a standalone piece.
Buy Links
You can buy Christmas at the castle along from –
Or you can buy it alongside Another Cup of Christmas and Christmas in the Cotswolds within Jenny Kane’s Christmas Collection–
***
Happy reading,
Jenny x
Christmas in the Cotswolds is the second festive novella to feature the characters from Pickwicks Café. A sequel to Another Cup of Christmas – which in itself follows the novel, Another Cup of Coffee – this story can be read as a standalone festive tale.
Rather than being set in the Pickwicks café in Richmond however, this festive tale takes Megan, Pickwicks’ regular waitress away from her day job, on a mercy mission…
Blurb Izzie Spencer-Harris, owner of the Cotswold Art and Craft Centre, is due to host the prestigious Cotswold Choir’s annual Christmas carol concert in her beautiful converted church. Or at least she was, until a storm smashed a hole right through the chancel roof. Days from Christmas, Izzie suddenly finds herself up to her neck in DIY, with her last dodgy workman having walked off the job. She does the only thing she can … calls in her best friend Megan to help.
Leaving Peggy and Scott to run Pickwicks Café in her absence, Megan heads to the Cotswolds for Christmas. Within minutes of her arrival, she finds herself hunting down anyone willing to take on extra work so close to Christmas. It seems the only person available to help is Joseph Parker – a carpenter who, while admittedly gorgeous, seems to have ulterior motives for everything he does … With Izzie’s bossy mother, Lady Spencer-Harris, causing her problems at every turn, an accident at work causing yet more delays, and the date for the concert drawing ever nearer, it’s going to take a lot more than Mrs Vickers’ powerful mulled wine to make sure everything is all right on the night …
I’ve always loved the Cotswolds, and was lucky enough to grow up not too far from their villages filled with yellow stoned picturesque cottages and stunning churches. For me, once I’d decided to take Megan away from Pickwicks for a while, the Cotswolds was the obvious choice of location. It is precisely the type of area I can imagine Izzie setting up an arts and craft centre, which- were it real- I have no doubt would flourish! I’d go there for sure. It has a café after all!
If you’d like to have a read, you can buy my latest novella from all good e-retailers including-
Or you can buy it as part of the Jenny Kane Christmas Collection –
Happy reading,
Jenny x
Today I’m kicking off a three day explore through the Christmas stories which make up Jenny Kane’s Christmas Collection.
I’m in festive mood as I line up a mince pie next to my cup of coffee. It really doesn’t feel like three years since the publication of the novella length sequel to my debut novel, Another Cup of Coffee – Another Cup of Christmas!
Here’s the Blurb-
Five years ago the staff of Pickwicks Cafe in Richmond were thrown into turmoil when their cook and part-owner, Scott, had a terrible accident. With help from his friends, his wife Peggy, and the staff at the local hospital, he made an amazing recovery. Now Pickwicks is preparing to host a special Christmas fundraiser for the hospital department that looked after Scott.
Pickwicks’ waitress Megan has been liaising with the ward’s administrator, Nick, as all the staff who helped Scott’s recovery are invited are invited. As the problems of organising the fundraiser take up more and more of their busy lives, Megan and Nick contact each other more frequently, and their emails and phone calls start to develop from the practical into the flirty.
But can you actually fall for someone you’ve never met?
As the fundraiser draws closer, Megan is beginning to think that she had imagined all the virtual flirting between herself and Nick – he promised to arrange to meet her for real, but he hasn’t done so. Now he’s bringing someone with him to the fundraiser, and they’re just bound to be everything Megan feels she isn’t …
Deliberately short, so that you can fit a peaceful moments reading into your busy Christmas preparation schedule, Another Cup of Christmas can be easily consumed in one delicious ginger and nutmeg flavoured mouthful!
As an extra treat to warm up a Monday. Here’s how Another Cup of Christmas begins…
Chapter One
December 4th 2012
Having politely escaped her third ‘So what are you doing for Christmas?’ conversation of the day, Megan Johnson was retreating back to the counter when she spotted Pickwicks’ most regular customer sit up from her work and brush a stray red hair from her eyes.
Knowing it had been at least half an hour since Kit’s caffeine addiction had been attended to, the waitress swiped up the percolator jug and headed in her direction.
Without bothering to ask if it was required, Megan poured the steaming liquid with practised care, before taking advantage of the lull in Christmas shopping trade, and sitting down opposite her friend. ‘Going OK?’
Swivelling the laptop round to face Megan, Kit rubbed the back of her neck, ‘I’m sure I’ve missed something. What do you think?’
Pickwicks Festive Fundraiser!
Spoil Yourself With An Afternoon of Pickwicks’ Finest Festive Fare.
In Aid of the Royal Free Hospital’s Spinal Ward.
Saturday 22nd December from 2pm.
Deluxe Buffet And Festive Fundraising Fun!
Tickets are ONLY £25 per person
Don’t miss out!
Book your place at Pickwicks Coffee Shop, Richmond – NOW!!
Megan scanned the poster. ‘Oh, that’s fabulous! I thought you were writing your latest novel.’
‘To tell you the truth, that’s exactly what I should be doing, but Peggy asked me to do some publicity for the fundraiser and I thought I’d better get on with it. Time seems to be dissolving. It’ll be the 22nd before we know it.’
‘I know what you mean.’ Megan started to collect the dishes left by a couple who’d just vacated a nearby table. ‘The next three weeks are going to fly by.’
‘Two and a half weeks!’
‘Oh, hell! Really?’
‘That’s why I want to get these done; otherwise everyone will be too booked up with their own celebrations to have time to come.’ Gesturing towards the kitchen, Kit asked, ‘How’s Scott doing out there, or shouldn’t I ask?’
Megan’s permanent smile widened further across her lightly freckled face. ‘He’s amazing. I have no idea how he does it. The temperature in that kitchen is tropical, and yet Scott’s still beaming that massive toothy grin of his. I’m seriously beginning to think he is physically unable to stop cooking! Surely he must have pre-prepared as much as he can for the fundraiser by now?’
Kit nodded. ‘He probably has, but Peggy is getting paranoid there won’t be enough food.’ Glancing around, checking that Megan wasn’t needed by a customer for a moment, Kit pointed to a fresh pile of abandoned cups. ‘If I clear those, will you have a proper read of the poster? I’m sure I’ve missed something obvious but I can’t put my finger on it?’
Kit was already standing up and taking a tray from Megan’s hands before the waitress said, ‘On one condition.’
‘Which is?’
‘I can check my emails? I’m supposed to be liaising with the hospital about this for Peggy, but we’ve been so busy over the last few days I haven’t had time to see if Nick has got back to me about how many of the ward staff are coming.’
‘Nick?’
Megan silently cursed her inability to prevent the involuntary warm pink blush that hit her pale cheeks, ‘Yeah, he’s the admin guy for the ward that cared for Scott after his accident.’
‘Nice, is he?’ Kit gently teased the petite blonde waitress, wondering, not for the first time, why someone as kind and pretty as Megan hadn’t been snapped up years ago.
‘I’ve never met him, but he seems friendly. Well, he does via email and over the phone at least.’
‘You’ve spoken to him then?’
‘There are loads of things to sort out.’ Megan, knowing that the crush she’d developed on Nick’s Irish accent was utterly ridiculous, turned her full attention to the poster on the screen before her…
****
Just for an hour, why not forget about the mince pies that still need making, and the present wrapping that hasn’t been done yet, and curl up on the sofa with some Christmas chocolates close by, and a hot drink to hand (a cup of coffee perhaps?), and escape into the adventures of Nick and Megan, and their friends from the Pickwick café…
***
If you’d like to buy Another Cup of Christmas, it is available as a standalone read from all good eBook suppliers including-
You can also buy it as part of Jenny Kane’s Christmas Collection from-
Happy reading everyone,
Jenny xx
Hello everyone, and thanks for having me, Jenny! How is this usually busy season treating you all?
You are very welcome. The Christmas is chaos as usual hun – but good chaos!
It’s surely a very different December for me compared to two years ago when we moved to into a quirky house from the 1950’s. My daughter, who was only two years old at the time, was fascinated with the “secret cupboard” in her nursery. It didn’t matter how often my husband tried to explain to her that this small door in the wall was only for pipes or storage. She was convinced that there was a whole world inside the cupboard and it would lead somewhere beyond the darkness.
Just after we had moved in, my daughter got very poorly and ended up in hospital. It was a dark, windy night with a full moon, when we were lying in her hospital bed, looked out of the window and I told her the story of a little girl who moved house and discovered a secret cupboard in the wall. Inside there was a glittery tunnel that led to her old bedroom, where everything was safe and warm. It was the first draft of my children’s book “The Moon Lantern” – long before I even thought about publishing it one day.
The story has changed a little since. The little girl in the book moves house on the first night of Chanukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights. I felt the story needed more light and Chanukah is very festive in our house. In addition, every illustration is being photobombed by a hilariously grumpy cat, which isn’t impressed with anything at all.
This story has certainly brought a bit more magic into our house and I hope it will do the same for my youngest readers. As a special festive gift to you, I’m giving away signed copies for only £7, including postage (UK only, 2nd class). Only until the 10th December (or until I run out of stock).
Whatever you’re celebrating or if you’re simply enjoying the many festive lights, I hope you have a truly magical season!
Loreley Amiti xx
***
If you would like one of these beautiful books signed, and discounted, (and you live in the UK) then please leave a comment below with your email address.
***
What a fantastic offer. I’ve read this lovely book- it’s beautiful.
Happy reading everyone,
Jenny xx
It’s been some time now since I wrote these seasonal coffee shop specials, Another Cup of Christmas, Christmas in the Cotswolds, and Christmas at the Castle. It’s been fun looking back over the stories of my past. The longer the period of time between writing and now, the more it feels like reading the words that someone else has created. I often have to remind myself that these stories are actually mine!
Blurb
The Jenny Kane Christmas Collection combines all three seasonal shorts from Jenny’s best-selling Another Cup of … series in one festive anthology.
In ‘Another Cup of Christmas’, we return to Pickwicks Coffee House in London, the setting for Jenny’s bestselling novel Another Cup of Coffee. Together with old friends Kit, Amy, Scott and Peggy, we meet new waitress Megan, who’s in charge of organising a charity event for the local hospital. Is romance as well as seasonal goodwill in the air?
‘Christmas in the Cotswolds’ sees Megan, now an established face at Pickwicks, travelling to the beautiful Cotswold countryside after an emergency call from her friend Izzie. Can Megan help Izzie pull off the perfect Christmas at her Arts and Crafts Centre – and save the business from disaster?
Kit Lambert, Pickwicks’ writer-in-residence, takes centre stage in ‘Christmas at the Castle’. Already nervous about appearing at her very first literary festival, in the grounds of a magnificent Scottish castle at Christmas time, Kit suddenly finds herself co-organising the whole thing – and trying to repair old friendships – with the deadline fast approaching…
***
You can buy these three books together or you can buy them individually by following the following links.
And if you fancy the paperback, then you can buy that here-
Happy Christmas clicking!!
Jenny xx
Come along to the CreaTIVHub in Tiverton between 28th November and 2nd December for your chance to purchase books from local authors!
See you there!!
Jenny x
Thirteen years ago Amy Crane ran away from everyone and everything she knew, ending up in an unfamiliar city with no obvious past and no idea of her future. Now, though, that past has just arrived on her doorstep, in the shape of an old music cassette that Amy hasn’t seen since she was at university. Digging out her long-neglected Walkman, Amy listens to the lyrics that soundtracked her student days. As long-buried memories are wrenched from the places in her mind where she’s kept them safely locked away for over a decade, Amy is suddenly tired of hiding. It’s time to confront everything about her life. Time to find all the friends she left behind in England, when her heart got broken and the life she was building for herself was shattered. Time to make sense of all the feelings she’s been bottling up for all this time. And most of all, it’s time to discover why Jack has sent her tape back to her now, after all these years… With her mantra, New life, New job, New home, playing on a continuous loop in her head, Amy gears herself up with yet another bucket-sized cup of coffee, as she goes forth to lay the ghost of first love to rest…
In eBook format from Amazon UK and Amazon US, and paperback format from Amazon UK and Amazon US, and all good book stores.
Another Cup of Christmas is a festive sequel to Jenny Kane’s fantastic debut romance, Another Cup of Coffee.
Five years ago the staff of Pickwicks Cafe in Richmond were thrown into turmoil when their cook and part-owner, Scott, had a terrible accident. With help from his friends, his wife Peggy, and the staff at the local hospital, he made an amazing recovery. Now Pickwicks is preparing to host a special Christmas fundraiser for the hospital department that looked after Scott.
Pickwicks’ waitress Megan has been liaising with the ward’s administrator, Nick, as all the staff who helped Scott’s recovery are invited are invited. As the problems of organising the fundraiser take up more and more of their busy lives, Megan and Nick contact each other more frequently, and their emails and phone calls start to develop from the practical into the flirty.
But can you actually fall for someone you’ve never met?
As the fundraiser draws closer, Megan is beginning to think that she had imagined all the virtual flirting between herself and Nick – he promised to arrange to meet her for real, but he hasn’t done so. Now he’s bringing someone with him to the fundraiser, and they’re just bound to be everything Megan feels she isn’t …
In eBook format from Amazon UK and Amazon US
A festive sequel to Another Cup of Christmas
Izzie Spencer-Harris, owner of the Cotswold Art and Crafts Centre, is due to host the prestigious Cotswold Choir’s annual Christmas carol concert in her beautiful converted church. Or at least she was, until a storm smashed a hole right through the chancel roof.
Days from Christmas, Izzie suddenly finds herself up to her neck in DIY, with her last dodgy workman having walked off the job. She does the only thing she can … calls in her best friend Megan to help.
Leaving Peggy and Scott to run Pickwicks Café in her absence, Megan heads to the Cotswolds for Christmas. Within minutes of her arrival, she finds herself hunting down anyone willing to take on extra work so close to Christmas. It seems the only person available to help is Joseph Parker – a carpenter who, while admittedly gorgeous, seems to have ulterior motives for everything he does …
With Izzie’s bossy mother, Lady Spencer-Harris, causing her problems at every turn, an accident at work causing yet more delays, and the date for the concert drawing ever nearer, it’s going to take a lot more than Mrs Vickers’ powerful mulled wine to make sure everything is all right on the night …
Available from:
Available in eBook format from Amazon UK and Amazon.com.
Christmas at the Castle is a seasonal treat from Jenny Kane, featuring much-loved characters from her bestselling novel Another Cup of Coffee.
When hotshot businesswoman Alice Warren is asked to organise a literary festival at beautiful Crathes Castle in Scotland, her ‘work mode’ persona means she can’t say no – even though the person asking is her ex, Cameron Hunter.
Alice broke Cameron’s heart and feels she owes him one – but her best friend Charlie isn’t going to like it. Charlie – aka famous author Erin Spence – is happy to help Alice with the festival…until she finds out that Cameron’s involved! Charlie suffered a bad case of unrequited love for Cameron, and she can’t bear the thought of seeing him again.
Caught between her own insecurities and loyalty to her friend, Charlie gets fellow author Kit Lambert to take her place. Agreeing to leave her London comfort zone – and her favourite corner in Pickwicks Café – Kit steps in. She quickly finds herself not just helping out, but hosting a major literary event, while also trying to play fairy godmother – a task which quickly gets very complicated indeed…
Available in eBook format – Amazon UK and Amazon US.
All 3 of the Christmas novellas from this series are also available in a boxed set- Amazon UK and Amazon US
A warm-hearted, contemporary tale about a group of friends living in a small corner of busy London, by bestselling author Jenny Kane.
Fortysomething Amy is shocked and delighted to discover she’s expecting a baby – not to mention terrified! Amy wants best friend Jack to be godfather, but he hasn’t been heard from in months.
When Jack finally reappears, he’s full of good intentions – but his new business plan could spell disaster for the beloved Pickwicks Coffee Shop, and ruin a number of old friendships… Meanwhile his love life is as complicated as ever – and yet when he swears off men for good, Jack meets someone who makes him rethink his priorities…but is it too late for a fresh start?
Author Kit has problems of her own: just when her career has started to take off, she finds herself unable to write – and there’s a deadline looming, plus two headstrong kids to see through their difficult teenage years…will she be able to cope?
A follow-up to the runaway success Another Cup of Coffee.
Available from: Amazon UK and Amazon US.
***
I hope you like the series’ new look as much as I do.
Don’t forget, all these books are available in paperback as well (as a combined paperback for the Christmas novellas). They will be given the new covers as well once the next reprint comes around.
I have a very soft spot for the ‘Another Cup of…‘ collection. The story is based a lot on my own life, and everyone in it is real! I’ll say no more…
Happy reading,
Jenny xx
I’ve been blogging a lot about my forthcoming novel, Abi’s Neighbour lately. This weekend however, I’m turning my thoughts away from my Abi Carter collection, to my coffee drinker obsessed – the Another Cup of…series.
And that got me thinking about my coffee shop habit.
Okay- I admit it, I am addicted- not just to the caffeine- but also to the coffee and teashops where I can drink it.
I just love cafes- all of them! I love to watch the people around me, to smile at strangers to see how they respond, to wrap my hands around a coffee mug and inhale the aroma of the drink within. For me, there is something very soothing about these places. Whether they are jammed packed and noisy, or as quiet as the proverbial grave, with myself as the only coffee swiller in residence, I simply feel at home in cafes.
It won’t surprise you to learn then, that every novel I have ever written has taken shape in various coffee shops up and down the UK. I can’t write at home, with the distractions of ironing and dusting, so I pen all my words at cafe tables. There is even a plaque on the wall of my cafe, denoting where I write! It seemed totally natural to me therefore, that when it came to creating my first non-erotic stories, that I wrote the coffee shop based, Another Cup of… series, which begins with Another Cup of Coffee– goes seasonal with Another Cup of Christmas, Christmas in the Cotswolds, and Christmas at the Castle, before heading back to Richmond in London for Another Glass of Champagne.
Another Cup of Coffee Blurb-
Thirteen years ago Amy Crane ran away from everyone and everything she knew, ending up in an unfamiliar city with no obvious past and no idea of her future. Now, though, that past has just arrived on her doorstep, in the shape of an old music cassette that Amy hasn’t seen since she was at university.
Digging out her long-neglected Walkman, Amy listens to the lyrics that soundtracked her student days. As long-buried memories are wrenched from the places in her mind where she’s kept them safely locked away for over a decade, Amy is suddenly tired of hiding.
It’s time to confront everything about her life. Time to find all the friends she left behind in England, when her heart got broken and the life she was building for herself was shattered. Time to make sense of all the feelings she’s been bottling up for all this time. And most of all, it’s time to discover why Jack has sent her tape back to her now, after all these years…
With her mantra, ‘New life, New job, New home’, playing on a continuous loop in her head, Amy gears herself up with yet another bucket-sized cup of coffee, as she goes forth to lay the ghost of first love to rest…
The coffee shop that features most within Another Cup of Coffee is called Pickwicks, a café tucked away in a corner of Richmond, run by the ever bubbly Peggy, and her husband Scott. It is there that, newly arrived in London from Scotland, Amy Crane finds a refuge from her troubles, a temporary job, a possible future, and a potential friend in Kit.
Based on the best bits of all my favourite cafes, Pickwicks is a place I really wish existed outside of the realms of my imagination!! I’d love to have a cuppa there.
***
If you’d like to read Another Cup of Coffee, you can buy it from all good bookshops, as well as from…
Happy reading,
Jenny x
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