Jenny Kane & Jennifer Ash

Jenny Kane: Coffee, cupcakes, chocolate and contemporary fiction / Jennifer Ash: Medieval crime with hints of Ellis Peters and Robin Hood

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Guest Post from Sharon Black: On Books & Movies

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On May 13, 2016

In Contemporary fiction, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, Romance

I’m pleased to welcome Sharon Black back to my site today to chat about her romance novel, Going Against Type.

This post is part of Sharon’s blog tour- make sure you read to the end to find out all the other tour dates, and to take part in a giveaway.

Over to you Sharon…

Going_Against_Type_by_Sharon_Black_200

EARLIER this week, I sat and watched Miss Congeniality on DVD. It’s the romantic comedy with Sandra Bullock and, amongst others, Michael Caine. As actors, I adore them both. I’ve seen it before of course. Romantic comedy? I’ll make the popcorn and luxuriate in ninety minutes of sheer escapism.

But this time I was watching it through the eyes of my younger daughter, who’s never seen it. When she shrieked with laughter, at the parts that now only make me smile, I found myself laughing again.

And it occurred to me that for some of us, romantic comedies may be timeless. Classics, almost. The sort of movies that you can put on, when you need a bit of comfort viewing.

Books, of course, are the same. Some of us have favourite novels that we return to again and again through our lives. As a child I read a lot of Enid Blyton and E Nesbit, for example. I still remember particular novels, to which I returned, right through my early years. When I was twelve, I read The Diary of Anne Frank, and found myself rereading this through my early teens. Emotionally connecting with a young girl I’d never met. Who’d lived and died long before I was even born. Drawn in, through her honest outpouring, to the tiny world that became hers.

Later, I discovered the wonderful world of romantic comedy. I watched reruns of the great Hollywood romantic comedies of the 1930s and 40s: Adam’s Rib, Shop Around the Corner, Lady Eve, His Girl Friday, and one of my favourites, Woman of the Year. In my early twenties, I discovered great writers of romantic comedy, amongst them Catherine Alliot, and later again, Sophie Kinsella. They became old friends, a pleasure to spend time with in the evening. And, like the ninety minutes of a movie, pure escapism. They are not, of course, my only reading. I read a lot of literary fiction, in particular because I’m part of a great little book club. We read everything from Irish writers like John Banville, Colm Tóibín and Anne Devlin, to American authors like Alice Walker and William Faulkner.

And everything in between.

In between this reading, I always try to dip into commercial women’s fiction, and if it’s  romantic comedy, so much the better.

I once read that the world is divided into readers and non-readers. But maybe it doesn’t always have to be the written word first? I know youngsters who won’t read, but love to watch a good comedy or edge-of-the-seat thriller, instinctively understanding story arcs and appreciating well drawn characters. A well written book in their favourite genre, has the potential to convert!

For me, a good book or a good movie can be interchangeable. Perhaps because I’m a visual reader. I need to be able to see characters and locations very clearly. And the writer who can do that with the least amount of words or flowery description, will grab me every time.

Here’s to the great novelists and the great screenwriters of our time!

***

EXCERPT

‘I hope you like Mexican food,’ said Derry as they drove from Charlotte’s house into the city centre on Thursday evening.

‘Well, I’d love to try it,’ Charlotte said, uncertainly.

‘Maybe another time, so. We’re actually going Greek tonight,’ Derry deadpanned. Charlotte smiled and snuck a glance over at him from the passenger seat of his twelve year old, very beautiful Ferrari. She placed her hands tentatively over her stomach, trying to calm her nerves. She’d spend an hour readying herself, much to Helen’s amusement.

‘Why are you so nervous, Charlotte? It’s just a date!’

‘Oh come on, Helen. The last guy I dated was Mr Uptight Conor, and before that I dated sports jocks. Derry is different. He’s Premier League status!’

‘And you’re Scumthorpe United? Take a look at yourself, woman!’

I’m not sure what he expects, but I’m not his type, Helen. I’m floundering.’ Helen caught Charlotte’s hands and forced her to meet her gaze.

‘Don’t you dare run yourself down, Charlotte Regan. You’re intelligent and totally gorgeous! But you need to do one thing!’

‘What?’

‘Allow yourself to be a woman! How do I put this without you taking it the wrong way? Don’t talk sport all night. You are incredibly bossy when you start. Let Derry take charge a bit. Allow him to be a man!’ Charlotte blinked.

‘Sorry, I just time travelled to the 1950s for a moment. What were you saying?’ Helen smiled.

‘Charlotte! You like this guy! So give him a chance. Don’t send him to sleep with triathlon stats. If he wants that, he’ll go drinking with his mates.’

‘If his mates are anything like him, they probably wouldn’t know a sports stat from the price of heifers in Mullingar.’ Charlotte sighed.
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BLURB

Some would say Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Regan has it all. Beautiful, smart, athletic and a great job working as a journalist – in the almost exclusively male sports department. But Charlotte is not quite as sure as she seems. Recently split from her overbearing boyfriend, she escapes for weekends, surfing in the Atlantic, and spends her free nights watching sports, roaring at the TV.

Derry Cullinane is a fashion writer, gossip columnist and sophisticated man-about-town. The go-to guy for any woman seeking expert advice on what fabulous outfit to wear for any given occasion. He’s also tall, dark, good looking – and straight! So what’s the snag? He has a track record of dating glamorous, vain and shallow women.

Charlie gets an opportunity to write a new column under the pen name Side Swipe, but is soon drawn into a war of words and wit with a rival paper’s columnist The Squire – and their verbal fireworks get readers and editors talking. Yet neither Charlie nor Derry knows just whom the opponent is…

When Charlotte and Derry meet at the Races, the attraction is instant. As their relationship develops, so much more proves at stake, than protecting their alter egos. But a blunder puts Charlotte’s job in jeopardy just as Derry’s past makes front page, and Charlotte begins to doubt her feelings.

When Side Swipe and The Squire are finally forced to reveal themselves, will they revert to type – or confound everyone’s expectations?   

Buy Links:

Amazon USA: http://amzn.to/1pKAZtF

Amazon UK:   http://amzn.to/1zjr0fT

All buy links:  tirpub.com/gatype
sharonblack

Bio-                                              

IRISH author Sharon Black is a diehard screwball comedy enthusiast. Her first novel, Going Against Type, a contemporary romantic comedy set in Dublin, was e-published by Tirgearr Publishing in September, 2014 to great reviews.  She has had short stories published, and won the 2010 Dromineer Literary Festival short story competition. She worked for a number of national newspapers. She writes a regular blog, This Funny Irish Life, featuring light, fun, personal columns, and tweets at Authorsharonb.

When she’s not writing, she reads, walks, sees friends, and drinks far too much coffee. She co-founded a local book club 15 years ago. She loves theatre, old Hollywood films, every romantic comedy ever made, and edgy stand-up. She hates shopping. She lives in a Dublin coastal village, with her husband and their three children.

Find Sharon: Blog: http://sharonblackauthor.blogspot.ie/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SharonBlackAuthorPage/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Authorsharonb

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Sharon-Black/e/B00RPI1I10

NOT FORGET THE GIVEAWAY!

Make sure to follow the whole tour—the more posts you visit throughout, the more chances you’ll get to enter the giveaway. The tour dates are here: http://www.writermarketing.co.uk/prpromotion/blog-tours/currently-on-tour/sharon-black/

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/OGI5ZWM1YmU4ZGM2YmI0ZWQ2MTgyNmNkMjI0MWJhOjE1OA==/?

 ***

Many thanks for coming by today Sharon,

Jenny x

Novel Progress 10- Another Glass of Champagne is available for PRE-ORDER

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On April 6, 2016

In Blog, Contemporary fiction, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, Fiction, News, Romance

The final book in my ‘Another Cup of…’ series

Another Glass of Champagne

is now available for pre-order!

AGOC

So the process is almost complete!! From that first ‘Novel progress blog’ when I began to draft out my chapter plan for Another Glass of Champagne, we are almost there! The pre-order facility is up on Amazon, I can show off the cover, and I can begin to share a few hints about what Amy, Jack and Kit have been up to since you last saw them. But the novel isn’t finished yet!

There is still one vital task for me to do before I hand the book over to the printers. Although the editors proofs have been tackled, I still need to check over the printer proof to make sure all those naughty little typos are eliminated. Of course this is not an exact science! I’m only human, I miss things. Also- printers these days often use predictive text- so that can cause a few extra errors to appear despite our best efforts to stop them!

In the meantime….

Here’s the blurb!!

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.

***

Another Glass of Champagne will be released on 9th June!!! You can pre-order it on from all good book retailers, including-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Another+Glass+of+Champagne+Jenny+Kane

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/188-7813436-7626710?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Another+Glass+of+Champagne+Jenny+Kane

It isn’t vital to have read the previous four stories (especially the Christmas novellas), but if you want to read the very beginning of Amy, Jack and Kit’s story, you can find it here-

Another Cup of Coffee –mybook.to/cupcoffee 

Another Cup of Coffee - New cover 2015

Happy reading!

Jenny x

 

 

 

Sunshine Dreaming: Returning to Abi’s House

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On March 27, 2016

In Blog, Contemporary fiction, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, Fiction, Romance

I’m delighted to say that the sequel to my Cornish friendship and romance novel, Abi’s House, is well underway, and will be out in the world in Summer 2017. (Yes- that is just over a year away!!)

Sennen

Abi’s Neighbour will follow on from where we left Max, Abi, Beth and their friends in the beautiful Sennen Cove, at the very tip of the Penwith peninsula in Cornwall. There will – obviously- be a new neighbour moving in next door to Abi on Miners Row…but I’m saying no more for now!

In the meantime, why not hide from the awful weather this Easter weekend, indulge in a little Cornish sunshine, and discover the world of Abi Carter, and her dream home.

Blurb

Newly widowed at barely thirty, Abi Carter is desperate to escape the Stepford Wives-style life that Luke, her late husband, had been so keen for her to live.

Abi decides to fulfil a lifelong dream. As a child on holiday in a Cornwall as a child she fell in love with a cottage – the prophetically named Abbey’s House. Now she is going to see if she can find the place again, relive the happy memories … maybe even buy a place of her own nearby?

On impulse Abi sets off to Cornwall, where a chance meeting in a village pub brings new friends Beth and Max into her life. Beth, like Abi, has a life-changing decision to make. Max, Beth’s best mate, is new to the village. He soon helps Abi track down the house of her dreams … but things aren’t quite that simple. There’s the complicated life Abi left behind, including her late husband’s brother, Simon – a man with more than friendship on his mind … Will Abi’s house remain a dream, or will the bricks and mortar become a reality?

Abi's House_edited-1

Here are some of the lovely review’s Abi’s House has received…

“A summer read as scrumptious as its Cornish backdrop. Brilliant!”

“This novel is a box of delights…the perfect escapist read…”

“Better than a Cornish Cream Tea…”

“Reading a Jenny Kane book is like opening a journal by a much loved friend…”

***

To pick up your copy Abi’s House in either paperback or on Kindle visit any good book retailer or follow these links –

 
Happy reading,
Jenny xx

Interview with Tracey Sinclair: Romance and Fantasy

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On March 24, 2016

In Blog, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, Fiction, Interview

I’m delighted to welcome Tracey Sinclair to my site today to tell us about her latest books. Why not grab a cuppa, a slice of cake, put your feet up, and join us for a chat! 

coffee and cake

What inspired you to write your book?

I know one of the most commonly asked questions for writers is, where do you get your ideas from, but the only honest answer is, everywhere! My romance, Bridesmaid Blues, was inspired by the fact that, as a single woman, I was bridesmaid to an awful lot of friends (I used to joke that the film 27 Dresses was my autobiography!) I was also the only bridesmaid at a wedding where my ex-boyfriend was best man, and though that worked out fine in real life, I saw the comic possibilities of it as a basis for a story.

For the Dark Dates urban fantasy books, it was a little different – I was sick of the wimpy, whiny heroines I was seeing in some books (naming no names, but sparkling vampires may have been involved!) and I wanted to create a series based around someone who wasn’t like that, but also wasn’t some kind of superwoman – just a normal, relatable woman thrown into extraordinary circumstances.

Bridesmaid Blues Final High res

Do you model any of your characters after people you know? If so, do these people see themselves in your characters?

I do, quite often, though usually I take a mix of characteristics from several people and combine them so as to protect the guilty! Funnily enough, I often combine siblings’ characteristics into one person. The glamorous Hali from Bridesmaid Blues is based on a brother and sister who were great friends to me when, like Luce in the novel, I first moved to London, while Katie in Dark Dates is loosely based on a couple of dryly funny, no nonsense sisters who are also good friends of mine. Sometimes people see it, but I try not to make them too much of a carbon copy, otherwise I think you worry too much about offending people instead of staying true to the characters.

Do you prefer to plot your story or just go with the flow?

I usually have an idea for the start of the book, and the end, but the middle is left to unfold as it will. It’s a bit nerve-wracking, and often ends up being quite surprising, but it works out – although I do a lot of advance notes, sketching out scenes, and an awful lot of rewrites.

What is your writing regime?

I write loose fragments and character sketches, to test or flesh out ideas, characters or scenes, then I do a first draft in longhand. Then, depending on how well it’s going, I’ll do another longhand draft and then at least a couple more on the computer.

In terms of routine, I tend not to write a lot over the winter as I have a lot of other commitments (I’m a freelance writer and editor, so I work around a lot of deadlines) but from March-October I usually write every day, depending where I am in the story.

What excites you the most about your book?

It’s different things for different books, I think. With Bridesmaid Blues, I relished the idea of writing a rom-com that was set in my home city of Newcastle, because you see so many books about women being whisked off to glamourous lives in New York or Paris, and I wanted a more down to earth setting. With Angel Falls, which is the latest in the Dark Dates series, it’s the thrill of writing about characters I’ve become familiar with, and that readers have become attached to – knowing you’re putting out a book that people are looking forward to, and that feature characters that readers have come to really care about is pretty much the biggest thrill I can think of!

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Links – darkdates.org

Facebook.com/darkdates

Twitter – @thriftygal

Books:

Angel Falls – http://www.amazon.co.uk/Angel-Falls-Cassandra-Bick-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B01AMOGRBY/

Bridesmaid Blues: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Bridesmaid-Blues-Tracey-Sinclair-ebook/dp/B00M83Y3VO/

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/510122.Tracey_Sinclair

Author image

Bio

Tracey Sinclair is a freelance editor and writer, theatre reviewer, author and playwright. She has been published widely in both print and online magazines, and included in a number of print anthologies. Her play Bystanders was produced at Baron’s Court Theatre in 2011, and again at the White Bear, Kennington and Tristan Bates Theatre, London in 2015, and Dark Dates: An Audience with Cassandra Bick, which she co-wrote with Zoe Cunningham and Peta Lily, has been performed at the Tristan Bates Theatre and the Brighton Fringe. Her first two books were published by Kennedy & Boyd, and her latest series is the Dark Dates/Cassandra Bick novels. A Northerner by birth and temperament, after spending most of her life in Newcastle and Glasgow, she bailed for sunnier climes and now lives happily by the sea in Brighton, with only occasional yearnings for a stottie sandwich or a macaroni pie.

You can follow her on Twitter under the profoundly misleading Twitter name, @thriftygal, or keep up with Dark Dates via darkdates.org or www.facebook.com/darkdates

***

Many thanks Tracey- great interview!

Happy reading everyone,

Jenny xx

 

Guest Post from Rachel Brimble: The Victorian Era…Why I Love It

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On March 18, 2016

In Fiction, Historical fiction, Romance

Today I’m delighted to welcome my friend, and fabulous romance writer, Rachel Brimble, to my blog to talk about her new novel.

Over to you Rachel…

Rachel Brimble- cover

The Victorian era…why I love it

Her One True Love is my fourth Victorian romance with eKensington/Lyrical Press. I adore the Victorian era because so much more than the potential for romance inspires me from that time.

All my Victorian romances are set in and around the famous city of Bath, England––which is just a short thirty minute drive from where I live. During the late 19th century, there were many social, economical, industrial and even sexual changes happening. The first whispers of the women’s revolution had begun to circulate…not that many men noticed until around 1903 when The Women’s Social and Political Union was founded.

The leaders and supporters of the group began to cause a stir––marching and petitioning for their right to vote. This is marked as a hugely significant and respected time for women. Men had no choice but to sit up and take notice.

But the actual change in women and how they were viewed started years before the press and public were forced to listen to what they had to say.

The battle for young women to have a happy home, work and social life was a hard one and it is the dilemmas they faced that I love to explore. Each of us is faced with temptations (or decisions) every day and I, for one, am guilty of too often making the easy, expected, even socially acceptable, choices.

My books tend to be about the women who do the exact opposite. What better way to earn a living than to create a woman you would like to be? Someone whom you admire and want to see succeed in her chosen vocation, romance or spiritually satisfying path?

Her One True Love centres around Jane, whose story began in my third Victorian romance, What A Woman Desires. Even though both books can be read stand-alone, whenever Jane appeared on the page, I knew she deserved her own story.

Jane has been a dutiful daughter to her overbearing parents for many years, but when the story opens they have both passed and the family’s estate is being ran by Jane’s sister and her husband.

The time for Jane to finally break free is now. With a raw, unrequited heartbreak fuelling her need to leave her small village of Biddestone, Jane heads to Bath to seek her true destiny…

Royal Crescent

I love writing flawed, complex but ultimately, deeply emotional women striving for more. I hope you like to read about them too!

Her One True Love Blurb:

She Can’t Forget Him…  Jane Charlotte Danes has loved the squire of her idyllic country town for as long as she can remember. He is good, kind, and alluring beyond words… and he chose to marry another. Tired of dwelling on her futile longings, Jane plans a move to Bath, where she dreams of a new beginning. But the man who has so imprisoned her heart is only a few steps behind… He Can’t Let Her Go… Until now, Matthew Cleaves has endeavoured to meet the responsibilities of his position with dignity and good spirits–including his dutiful marriage. But when his wife leaves him for another man, Matthew is at last free to pursue his one true love. Only one vital question remains: will the captivating, stubborn, beautiful Jane allow him the challenge, and the pleasure, of winning her back?…

Buy Links:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B010JYVX66

http://amzn.com/B010JYVX66

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/her-one-true-love-rachel-brimble/1122226549?ean=9781601832771

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/her-one-true-love

Rachel Brimble - Mar 2013

Bio:

Rachel lives with her husband and two teenage daughters in a small town near Bath in the UK. After having several novels published by small US presses, she secured agent representation in 2011. Since 2013, she has had five books published by Harlequin Superromance (Templeton Cove Stories) and recently signed a contract for three more. She also has four Victorian romances with eKensington/Lyrical Press.

Rachel is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and Romance Writers of America, and was selected to mentor the Superromance finalist of So You Think You Can Write 2014 contest. When she isn’t writing, you’ll find Rachel with her head in a book or walking the beautiful English countryside with her family. Her dream place to live is Bourton-on-the-Water in South West England.

She likes nothing more than connecting and chatting with her readers and fellow romance writers. Rachel would love to hear from you!

Links:

Website

Blog

Twitter

Facebook

Facebook Street Team – Rachel’s Readers

***

Thanks Rachel- great blog. I love Bath!!

Happy reading,

Jenny x

 

 

Happy Valentine’s Day: Robin Hood Style

By

On February 14, 2016

In Contemporary fiction, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, Fiction, Historical fiction

Valentines

To celebrate Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d share a little of Romancing Robin Hood– my part romance/part medieval mystery novel- with you.

RRH- new 2015

Blurb

Dr Grace Harper has loved the stories of Robin Hood ever since she first saw them on TV as a girl. Now, with her fortieth birthday just around the corner, she’s a successful academic in Medieval History, with a tenured position at a top university.

But Grace is in a bit of a rut. She’s supposed to be writing a textbook on a real-life medieval gang of high-class criminals – the Folvilles – but she keeps being drawn into the world of the novel she’s secretly writing – a novel which entwines the Folvilles with her long-time love of Robin Hood – and a feisty young girl named Mathilda, who is the key to a medieval mystery…

Meanwhile, Grace’s best friend Daisy – who’s as keen on animals as Grace is on the Merry Men – is unexpectedly getting married, and a reluctant Grace is press-ganged into being her bridesmaid. As Grace sees Daisy’s new-found happiness, she starts to re-evaluate her own life. Is her devotion to a man who may or may not have lived hundreds of years ago really a substitute for a real-life hero of her own? It doesn’t get any easier when she meets Dr Robert Franks – a rival academic who Grace is determined to dislike but finds herself being increasingly drawn to…

***

Romancing Robin Hood is a contemporary romance is based on the life of Dr Grace Harper, a medieval history lecturer with a major Robin Hood obsession. So much so, that instead of writing a textbook on medieval life, Grace is secretly writing a novella about a fourteenth century girl called Mathilda, who gets mixed up with a real outlaw family of the day, the Folvilles. As you read Grace’s story, you can read the medieval mystery she is writing alongside!

The problem is, Grace is so embroiled in her work and passion for outlaws, that real life is passing her by.

RH- E Flynn

 

With her wedding approaching fast, Grace’s best friend Daisy can’t help wishing a similar happiness to her own for her Robin Hood loving friend…

Extract

…Daisy hadn’t grown up picturing herself floating down the aisle in an over-sequinned ivory frock, nor as a doting parent, looking after triplets and walking a black Labrador. So when, on an out-of-hours trip to the local vet’s surgery she’d met Marcus and discovered that love at first sight wasn’t a myth, it had knocked her for six.

She’d been on a late-night emergency dash to the surgery with an owl a neighbour had found injured in the road. Its wing had required a splint, and it was too big a job for only one pair of hands. Daisy had been more than a bit surprised when the locum vet had stirred some long-suppressed feeling of interest in her, and even more amazed when that feeling had been reciprocated.

It was all luck, sheer luck. Daisy had always believed that anyone meeting anybody was down to two people meeting at exactly the right place, at exactly the right time, while both feeling precisely the right amount of chemistry. The fact that any couples existed at all seemed to Daisy to be one of the greatest miracles of humanity.

She pictured Grace, tucked away in her mad little office only living in the twenty-first century on a part-time basis. Daisy had long since got used to the fact that her closest friend’s mind was more often than not placed firmly in the 1300s. Daisy wished Grace would finish her book. It had become such a part of her. Such an exclusive aim that nothing else seemed to matter very much. Even the job she used to love seemed to be a burden to her now, and Daisy sensed that Grace was beginning to resent the hours it took her away from her life’s work. Maybe if she could get her book over with – get it out of her system – then Grace would stop living in the wrong timeframe.

Daisy knew Grace appreciated that she never advised her to find a bloke, settle down, and live ‘happily ever after,’ and she was equally grateful Grace had never once suggested anything similar to her. Now she had Marcus, however, Daisy had begun to want the same contentment for her friend, and had to bite her tongue whenever they spoke on the phone; something that happened less and less these days.

Grace’s emails were getting shorter too. The long paragraphs detailing the woes of teaching students with an ever-decreasing intelligence had blunted down to, ‘You ok? I’m good. Writing sparse. See you soon. Bye G x’

The book. That in itself was a problem. Grace’s publishers and colleagues, Daisy knew, were expecting an academic tome. A textbook for future medievalists to ponder over in the university libraries of the world. And, in time, that was exactly what they were going to get, but not yet, for Grace had confided to Daisy that this wasn’t the only thing she was working on, and her textbook was coming a poor third place to work and the other book she couldn’t seem to stop herself from writing.

‘Why,’ Grace had forcefully expounded on their last meeting, ‘should I slog my guts out writing a book only a handful of bored students and obsessive freaks like myself will ever pick up, let alone read?’

As a result, Grace was writing a novel, ‘A semi-factual novel,’ she’d said, ‘a story which will tell any student what they need to know about the Folville family and their criminal activities – which bear a tremendous resemblance to the stories of a certain famous literary outlaw! – and hopefully promote interest in the subject for those who aren’t that into history without boring them to death.’

It sounded like a good idea to Daisy, but she also knew, as Grace did, that it was precisely the sort of book academics frowned upon, and she was worried about Grace’s determination to finish it. Daisy thought it would be more sensible to concentrate on one manuscript at a time, and get the dry epic that everyone was expecting out of the way first. Perhaps it would have been completed by now if Grace could focus on one project at a time, rather than it currently being a year in the preparation without a final result in sight. Daisy suspected Grace’s boss had no idea what she was really up to. After all, she was using the same lifetime of research for both manuscripts. She also had an underlying suspicion that subconsciously Grace didn’t want to finish either the textbook or the novel; that her friend was afraid to finish them. After all, what would she fill her hours with once they were done?

Daisy’s mobile began to play a tinny version of Nellie the Elephant. She hastily plopped a small black guinea pig, which she’d temporarily called Charcoal, into a run with his numerous friends, and fished her phone from her dungarees pocket.

‘Hi, Marcus.’

‘Hi honey, you OK?’

‘Just delivering the tribe to their outside quarters, then I’m off to face the horror that is dress shopping.’

Her future husband laughed, ‘You’ll be fine. You’re just a bit rusty, that’s all.’

‘Rusty! I haven’t owned a dress since I went to parties as a small child. Thirty-odd years ago!’

‘I don’t understand why you don’t go with Grace at the weekend. It would be easier together wouldn’t it?’

Daisy sighed, ‘I’d love to go with her, but I’ll never get her away from her work more than once this month, and I’ve yet to arrange a date for her to buy a bridesmaid outfit.’

‘Well, good luck, babe. I’m off to rob some bulls of their manhood.’

Daisy giggled, ‘Have fun. Oh, why did you call by the way?’

‘Just wanted to hear your voice, nothing else.’

‘Oh cute – ta.’

‘Idiot! Enjoy shopping.’

As she clicked her battered blue mobile shut and slid it back into her working clothes, Daisy thought of Grace again. Perhaps she should accidentally invite loads of single men to the wedding to tempt her friend with. The trouble was, unless they wore Lincoln Green, and carried a bow and quiver of arrows, Daisy very much doubted whether Grace would even notice they were there…

***

RH- Ros 1

If that extract has whetted your appetite for more, Romancing Robin Hood is available in paperback, and e-formats from all good retailers- including-

Amazon UK- http://www.amazon.co.uk/Romancing-Robin-Hood-Jenny-Kane-ebook/dp/B00M4838S2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407428558&sr=8-1&keywords=romancing+robin+hood

Amazon.com- http://www.amazon.co.uk/Romancing-Robin-Hood-Jenny-Kane-ebook/dp/B00M4838S2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407428558&sr=8-1&keywords=romancing+robin+hood

Nook – http://www.nook.com/gb/ebooks/romancing-robin-hood-by-jenny-kane/9781783754267

Kobo- https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/romancing-robin-hood

***

Happy Valentine’s Day,

Jenny x

Romantic Reads For Valentine’s Day: With Coffee and a Smile

By

On February 11, 2016

In Contemporary fiction, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, crime, Fiction

Have you got that special reader in your life a Valentine’s gift yet? No? Well, don’t panic!! Here are a few book ideas to help out.

Valentines book

All of these Rom Com’s have enough romance to hit the required ‘Romantic Gesture’ button- but are satisfyingly short of being twee or sickly sweet!

 Another Cup of Coffee

Another Cup of Coffee - New cover 2015

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 got completely 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 a bucked-sized cup of coffee, as she goes forth to lay the ghost of first love to rest…

Amazon UK – http://www.amazon.co.uk/Another-Cup-Coffee-Jenny-Kane/dp/1783751126/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377605533&sr=8-1&keywords=another+cup+of+coffee

Abi’s House
Abi's House new cover
Newly widowed and barely thirty, Abi Carter is desperate to escape the Stepford Wives lifestyle that Luke, her late husband, had been so keen for her to live. Abi decides to fulfil a lifelong dream. As a child on holiday in a Cornwall she fell in love with a cottage – the prophetically named Abbey’s House. Now she is going to see if she can find the place again, relive the happy memories …maybe even buy a place of her own nearby?
On impulse Abi sets off to Cornwall, where a chance meeting in a village pub brings new friends Beth and Max into her life. Beth, like Abi, has a life-changing decision to make. Max, Beth’s best mate, soon helps Abi track down the house of her dreams …but things aren’t quite that simple.
There’s the complicated life Abi left behind, including her late husband’s brother, Simon – a man with more than friendship on his mind … Will Abi’s house remain a dream, or will the bricks and mortar become a reality?
Romancing Robin Hood
RRH- new 2015

Dr Grace Harper has loved the stories of Robin Hood ever since she first saw them on TV as a girl. Now, with her fortieth birthday just around the corner, she’s a successful academic in Medieval History, with a tenured position at a top university.

But Grace is in a bit of a rut. She’s supposed to be writing a textbook on a real-life medieval gang of high-class criminals – the Folvilles – but she keeps being drawn into the world of the novel she’s secretly writing – a novel which entwines the Folvilles with her long-time love of Robin Hood – and a feisty young girl named Mathilda, who is the key to a medieval mystery…

Meanwhile, Grace’s best friend Daisy – who’s as keen on animals as Grace is on the Merry Men – is unexpectedly getting married, and a reluctant Grace is press-ganged into being her bridesmaid. As Grace sees Daisy’s new-found happiness, she starts to re-evaluate her own life. Is her devotion to a man who may or may not have lived hundreds of years ago really a substitute for a real-life hero of her own? It doesn’t get any easier when she meets Dr Robert Franks – a rival academic who Grace is determined to dislike but finds herself being increasingly drawn to… 

Amazon.com- http://www.amazon.com/Romancing-Robin-Hood-love-story-ebook/dp/B00M4838S2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409936409&sr=8-1&keywords=romancing+robin+hood

Hope this has given you a few ideas.
Happy almost Valentine’s Day!!
Jenny x
PS- sorry for the awful spacing of this blog- WordPress is not playing nicely today! x

SALE! Another Cup of Coffee ONLY 99p/99c

By

On February 7, 2016

In Blog, Contemporary fiction, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, Fiction

jkcoffee

What better way to celebrate the fact that the final novel in my ‘Another Cup of…’ series, Another Glass of Champagne, is coming out in the Summer, than by offering you the first in the series, Another Cup of Coffee, at a BARGAIN price!

ONLY 99p/99c

Another Cup of Coffee - New cover 2015

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 sound tracked 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 got completely 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 a bucked-sized cup of coffee, as she goes forth to lay the ghost of first love to rest…

coffee and cake

You can pick up this cup of coffee, for les than a real cup of coffee via this link- mybook.to/cupcoffee

***

Happy reading!

Jenny x

My First Time: Gilli Allan

By

On February 3, 2016

In Blog, Contemporary fiction, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, Fiction

Today I’m beginning a brand new series of interviews on my blog. Every fortnight (novel deadlines willing!) I’ll be asking some of the best writers in the business about their very first time…Their first time getting published that is.

Kicking off this blog series is the fabulous Gilli Allan…

First Time

My First Time

Can you remember writing the first story you actually wanted to write, rather than those you were forced to write at school? What was it about?

I started writing ‘books’ when I was still at primary school. I was copying my older sister. She adored the Regency romances of Georgette Heyer, and decided to write her own.

Gilli & Lod133 - Copy

I don’t recall if I gave it a title, but mine was set in the unspecified olden days. Two women and a girl embark on an excursion to visit a lighthouse set on a rocky outcrop, surrounded by sea. They are trapped there by bad weather. I don’t recall what reason I came up with, if any, to explain their original desire to visit the lighthouse (patently a plot device to isolate them) other than that it was the kind of jaunt I thought well-brought up ladies of the time might engage in to fill their time.

The romance is between the girl of the party, and the son of the lighthouse keeper. I don’t recall the names of my hero and heroine, and to be honest, I don’t think there was much in the way of romance. At this point in my life I had no idea how to convey the journey from attraction to actual cuddling. But even more than the difficulty of visualising a budding love affair, I was put off by the sheer amount of boring stuff I felt I needed to get through, before I could even arrive at my romantic interludes. It remained just a few pages long, and most of the pages were doodles and illustrations.

GA 2

What was your first official publication?

I was a wife and a mother by the time my first completed book – JUST BEFORE DAWN – was published, but I hadn’t spent the intervening years as a frustrated novelist. To all intents and purposes, I stopped writing when I went to Art School. After a few alarms and diversions I worked as an illustrator in advertising, eventually going free-lance. It was only when I was on a career break to look after my baby son that I began to consider what else I could do to earn a living from home. It was theoretically possible to be a free-lance artist from home, but there were big obstacles. This was before the internet – before PCs in fact – I didn’t drive, and we didn’t live near a tube station. The idea of travelling into central London, with a toddler in tow, to pick up and deliver jobs – jobs which were typically wanted first thing the next morning – was very unappealing.

Then I remembered my teenage passion and Gilli Allan, the author, was born.

GA 3 1986

What affect did that have on your life?

I‘d enjoyed my job. And obviously, getting married and having my son was a huge and deeply fulfilling alteration to my life. But beginning to write a novel with the serious intention of getting it published was utterly magical in a completely different way. I was on a continuous high, enthralled and enchanted, as the words poured out of me without interruption. I felt taken over by some guiding spirit. I had no doubt whatsoever that the book would be published. I submitted it direct – the complete manuscript, wrapped up in brown paper and string, plus return postage – to 7 publishers. When it was returned to me, generally with kind and encouraging rejections, I ironed the thumbed pages and sent the same script out again. The eighth immediately entered into negotiations with me. The book was published almost exactly 2 years after I typed “the end” on my final draft.

From then on, my self-esteem went sky high. I became far more confident and assured. I found it easier to make friends. I had ambition. I knew where my life was going. I was proud to be able to say I was now “a writer”.

Does your first published story reflect your current writing style?

Yes and no. When I first started to write seriously, my intention was to write a category romance aimed at Mills & Boon. I did incorporate many of the elements I thought necessary – an alpha hero, plus many a piercing look and rapacious kiss – but the plot took me over. I knew I was heading in an unconventional direction, but my story was far more important to me than ticking all the right boxes. Unsurprisingly M & B rejected my tale of an unmarried girl who, as the book opens, is going through a miscarriage. Fortunately, a new publisher – Love Stories – had just been established. Their aim was to publish un-clichéd romantic fiction, characterized at the time as the “thinking woman’s Mills & Boon”. What I was writing and what they wanted to publish fitted like a hand in a glove.

Love Stories also took my second novel – ‘Desires & Dreams’, an even darker tale. When, a couple of years later they ceased trading, unable to get their books into bookstores, the seal had been set on my own brand of romantic fiction. I like to write novels that have a love story at their heart, but I am uninterested in prettifying or simplifying the downside of love, life and relationships. I once wrote this as the introduction to a blurb and it sums up what I am trying to do.

Life is not a fairy tale; it can be confusing and difficult. Sex is not always awesome; it can be awkward and embarrassing, and it has consequences. You don’t always fall for Mr Right, even if he falls for you. And realising you’re in love is not always good news. It can make the future look daunting….

What are you working on at the moment?

This is a culture clash novel. I have no title but my elevator pitch is Educating Rita meets Time Team. It is about the academic (desk) archaeologist, working in an old university, coming up against the Essex girl (left school at 16) conference organiser. But I am only a third of the way in and – given I’m an into the mist type of writer – everything could change. Watch this space.

I’ve given the link to the paperback of Just Before Dawn. Theoretically it should be available – it’s there on Amazon – but to be honest I don’t know if it actually is, if you click buy.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Just-before-Dawn-Gilli-Allan/dp/1898030456/

 GA P1010802 - Copy (2) - Copy

Bio

Gilli Allan started to write in childhood, a hobby only abandoned when real life supplanted the fiction. Gilli didn’t go to Oxford or Cambridge but, after just enough exam passes to squeak in, she attended Croydon Art College.

She didn’t work on any of the broadsheets, in publishing or television. Instead she was a shop assistant, a beauty consultant and a barmaid before landing her dream job as an illustrator in advertising. It was only when she was at home with her young son that Gilli began writing seriously. Her first two novels were quickly published, but when her publisher ceased to trade, Gilli went independent.

Over the years, Gilli has been a school governor, a contributor to local newspapers, and a driving force behind the community shop in her Gloucestershire village. Still a keen artist, she designs Christmas cards and has begun book illustration. Gilli is particularly delighted to have recently gained a new mainstream publisher – Accent Press. LIFE CLASS is the third book to be published in the three book deal.

Links

To connect with Gilli:

http://twitter.com/gilliallan (@gilliallan)

https://www.facebook.com/GilliAllan.AUTHOR

http://gilliallan.blogspot.co.uk/

GA Life Class - new

LIFE CLASS: http://myBook.to/LifeClass

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Life-Class-Gilli-Allan/dp/1783752548/

 G Allen Torn

TORN: MyBook.to/gilliallansTORN (universal) or

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Torn-Gilli-Allan-ebook/dp/B00R1FQ1QE

Cover FOF

FLY OR FALL: myBook.to/GilliAllan (universal)

***

Many thanks Gilli- fantastic interview.

Happy reading,

Jenny xx

 

 

 

Release Blitz: Before We Say Goodbye by Julie MacLennan

By

On January 26, 2016

In Blog, Contemporary fiction, Contemporary Romantic Fiction, Fiction

Book Blitz: Before We Say Goodbye by Julie MacLennan #contemporary #fiction #romance #ebook

 releaseblitzbutton_BWSG

Blurb:

Four strangers are brought together who share one thing in common: they’ve reached a pivotal moment in their lives and after this journey nothing will ever be the same again. From the sorrow which follows joy, the love which turns to betrayal, rejection which finally finds the door to acceptance, each will discover that the only journey which really matters is the one which leads to survival.

beforewesaygoodbye

Buy links:

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00S05BR4A/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00S05BR4A&linkCode=as2&tag=lucyfelthouse-21

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00S05BR4A/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00S05BR4A&linkCode=as2&tag=lucyfelt-20&linkId=ADQV7MS7SVHMAJAF

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/508864?ref=cw1985

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/before-we-say-goodbye-julie-maclennan/1121019949

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/search?Query=9781310948978

iBooks: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/isbn9781310948978

Tirgearr Publishing: http://www.tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/MacLennan_Julie/before-we-say-goodbye.htm

*****

 Excerpt:

‘I’m leaving you!’

The young woman at the end of the phone screamed in fury as Damien Hunt calmly rose from his desk and walked towards the window.

The late afternoon sun was slipping silently below the horizon in a last brilliant blaze of crimson defiance. The irony was not lost on him as he witnessed the magnificent rays disappearing from sight at exactly the same moment as Stella Milner was doing her best to elicit a response – any response – from him.

‘Do you hear me? Are you even listening? What’s the matter with you?’

She was almost hysterical now, and he could tell that his continued refusal to answer her was only inflaming an already volatile situation. But not for the first time, he recognised it as his escape route and said nothing.

‘Damien? Damien! Will you answer me?’

The silence on the line was deafening and Damien could hear her start to cry.

He closed his eyes. There was a part of him which felt guilty, responsible for the situation in which they now found themselves. But only a part of him.

Mostly what he felt was a dreadful and overwhelming weariness.

It was a feeling which was unfamiliar and yet it had crept up on him lately, invading his thoughts during random moments and making him doubt everything. Including himself.

And now it was telling him that there was no point in prolonging this conversation.

He let the phone fall to his side as Stella continued to rage against him.

They both knew that she was right. She wanted only what she deserved. There was only one problem.

He couldn’t give it to her.

Couldn’t give her the commitment and the stability that she hadn’t cared about in the beginning but now seemed to crave. He couldn’t give it, and more importantly he didn’t want to give it. Not to her. Not to anyone. Not ever.

Her voice became louder and he reluctantly raised the phone to his ear again.

‘Can’t you even speak to me now, Damien? What do you think I am? Some little tramp? A one night stand? You really think that you’re better than me, don’t you, Damien?’

Still he remained silent.

When she spoke again, her voice was lower and she sounded more in control.

‘Okay, if you won’t speak to me on the phone, you leave me no choice. We’ll just have to have this conversation in front of everyone in your office. I’m coming round.’

***

julie_maclennan

Author Bio:

Julie MacLennan lives and works in Inverness in the Highlands of Scotland.

This is her first published novel although she has been writing for as long as she can remember.

Some of her earliest memories are of sitting by her grandfather’s chair and being fascinated by the books he read. Later, encouraged by her grandmother’s gift for writing and her mother’s imagination, she began to transfer her own short stories and poetry to paper.

Her shared love of football with her father inspired her to write the poem “Farewell, Our Friend” which was read out and televised around the world at George Best’s funeral in late 2005.

More recently, she was honoured to be asked by the Royal British Legion if they could use another of her poems, “The Promise”, as part of their commemoration of the First World War.

She is now working on her second novel.

 

 

 

 

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