Tea: A drink that soothes, inspires and sometimes get spilt  #writing #reading #spillthetea #booktwitter @AmattAuthor @SueMoorcroft @StephenKing @JessicaRedland

Tea – word of the month for March

I was introduced to tea by my grandma when I was around seven years old and I’ve been a tea Jenny ever since. It’s my go to drink at breakfast time and whenever some soothing timeout is required. I also like a mug of tea – and yes, I much prefer a mug to a cup – at my side when I’m writing and when I’m reading. And of course it has to made in a teapot – no teabag dunking.

Literally spilling the tea is, of course something I do my best to avoid. But I am going to be doing some literary spilling of the tea here – because the #spillingthetea challenge involves bloggers spilling, as in sharing, three books that for them best represent the letters T,E and A. So:

T has to be a book that TAUGHT you something

E is a book you didn’t want to END

A is an AUTHOR you can’t get enough of

And so, without further ado here are my TEA books

For the book that taught me something, and there are many, I’ve chosen On Writing by Stephen King. I read this more than ten years ago and it’s the book that made me believe I could be a writer. Although it’s a memoir – an excellent one – it’s also full of tips for aspiring writers. And I still dip into it to this day.

A book I didn’t want to end… That was a hard one to choose. There have been many over the years. So I decided to pick the most recent one and that is, An Autumn Hideaway by Margaret Amatt. It’s a contemporary romance set on the Scottish island of Mull and when it was one of those reads that where I was desperate to see how it all ended but also didn’t want to get to the end because I knew I was going to miss the main characters, Richard and Autumn so much.

And the author I can’t get enough of … as for the above categories it was a difficult choice. But from a list of six or so British, American and Australian authors, I chose Sue Moorcroft. She writes, entertaining, engaging and thought-provoking contemporary romances and the most recent one of her that I’ve read is A White Christmas on Winter Street.

Book of the Month

Still on the theme of books – regular readers of the blog will know that in each of my monthly posts, I like to share my most recent favourite read. And for March’s post that book is:

Finding Love at Hedgehog Hollow by Jessica Redland. This is a contemporary romance (I know, who’d have guessed?) and I loved it.

From the back cover:

Can love really be found when you stop looking for it…?

As Samantha Wishaw watches the love of her life marry another woman, she’s ready to give up hope of finding her happy ever after.

But when a chance encounter leads Sam to find friendship in Thomas – a lonely, grumpy elderly widower living at derelict Hedgehog Hollow – her life is about to change forever.

Glad to have a distraction from family feuds and match-making, Sam vows to fulfil Thomas and his wife, Gwendoline’s, dreams of restoring Hedgehog Hollow to its former glory, and to open a hedgehog rescue centre.

Throwing herself into the task at hand, little does Sam realise that the keys to love and happiness may also be found at Hedgehog Hollow, when she least expects it…

And that’s it for this month. You can consider yourself officially challenged to #spillthetea and share below the three books you’d choose.

Thank you for reading!

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My latest novel is contemporary romance Baby Steps.

It’s available as an ebook and as a paperback and you can buy it HERE

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November 2020: Books of the Month #books #reading #romanticfiction @Jane Cable @SueMoorcroft @KathrynFreeman1

I have three best reads to share with you this month. Two of them are set at Christmas – and I must admit in a normal year I wouldn’t be mentioning the festive season before the first of December – but this has been a far from normal year and I’m heading into the comforts of Christmas early.

And don’t tell anybody – but I’m planning on putting up my Christmas tree this weekend! I know – me – who usually waits until a few days before the big day – and scoffs at the early embracers 😊

But reading remains something to be enjoyed all year round, and for me, never more so than this year. So here are my three recommendations from the 11 books I’ve read during the last 30 days. All 3 are contemporary romances.

Best November Reads

Endless Skies by Jane Cable

This was a fabulous book. It tells the moving love story of land developer, Jonathan, and archaeologist, Rachel. Both are damaged souls who are drawn together through their work. There’s a bit of a ghost story in the background too – which is lovely and so well done. And the supporting cast is full of excellently drawn characters.

From the back cover:

If you want to move forward, you have to deal with the past…

After yet another disastrous love affair – this time with her married boss – Rachel Ward has been forced to leave her long-term position in Southampton for a temporary role as an Archaeology Lecturer at Lincoln University.

Rachel has sworn off men and is determined to spend her time away clearing her head and sorting her life out.

But when one of her students begins flirting with her, it seems she could be about to make the same mistakes again…

She distracts herself by taking on some freelance work for local property developer, Jonathan Daubney.

He introduces her to an old Second World War RAF base. And from her very first visit something about it gives Rachel chills…

As Rachel makes new friends and delves into local history, she is also forced to confront her own troubled past.

Why is she unable to get into a healthy relationship? What’s stopping her from finding Mr Right?

And what are the echoes of the past trying to tell her…?

Christmas Wishes by Sue Moorcroft

Set in both England and Sweden, this is the lovely story of shopkeeper Hannah and single dad, Nico. The descriptions of a wintry Sweden are superb and really add to the telling of the story. And as for little Maria and her use of the name ‘mydad’ for Nico – I challenge you not to cry over that. A very romantic, snuggle up read.

From the back cover:

Hannah and Nico are meant to be together.

But fate is keeping them apart…

As soon as Hannah bumps into her brother Rob’s best friend Nico in Stockholm, the two rekindle a fast friendship. But Hannah has a boyfriend – and Nico has two children to look after.

When Hannah loses her beloved shop in Stockholm, though, she is forced to move back to the little village of Middledip – only to find Nico has just moved in too. Under the same snowy sky, can the childhood friends make a romance work – or are there too many obstacles standing in their way?

A Little Christmas Hope by Kathryn Freeman

I loved this story and I miss it now I’ve got to the end – always a good sign. The story of headteacher Anna and out of work actor Dan is truly magical. There’s a great supporting cast – including the children. It was good to catch up with some of the characters from this author’s previous Christmas books but it won’t affect your enjoyment of this book if you haven’t read these earlier ones.

From the back cover:

Newly promoted head teacher Anna Dalton needs a Christmas miracle – and fast! After years of sitting through excruciatingly dull Christmas productions, complete with crying children and sleeping parents, she’s determined Riddlescomb Primary School will put on a Nativity to remember. 

Enter bad boy actor Dan Ramsey, recently axed from the lead role in a TV drama and in desperate need of cleaning up his image or he’ll never work again.  
 
Dan can flash those heart-stopping dimples all he likes, Anna tells herself she isn’t going to fall for them. She knows why he’s decided to volunteer at the school, and it’s for the good of his bank balance…not his soul. 

But as Anna and Dan are forced to work together for the sake of a truly magical Christmas for the children, sparks fly and they can’t help but wonder what will happen once the festive season is over…

Here’s to more reading

And that’s it for this month’s reading. I can’t wait to get started on December’s books. I hope you are finding good reads to offer a bit of escapism and solace too. Feel free to share any that have stood out for you recently in the comments below. And happy reading to you all as we enter the final month of this very strange year.

February’s Book of the Month: Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Vampire Menace by Olga Wojtas @OlgaWojtas @SarabandBooks #books #reading #literaryfiction

I’ve read five books this month and there was one I didn’t finish (as life’s too short to waste time on something you’re not enjoying). As usual I stuck with either crime or romantic fiction for four of them, but I also read one book that was a bit different from my usual reading fare. It was a fantasy thriller novel with vampires and time travel. So, yes a bit out of my comfort zone.

However, I wasn’t actually being all that brave and ‘out there’ by including this novel in my February reading, as I’d read Olga Wojtas’s previous novel Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Golden Samovar and absolutely loved it. I reviewed it HERE.

And yes, I loved her latest one too. Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Vampire Menace is every bit as witty, funny, entertaining and captivating as its predecessor. The originality is refreshing and awesome and make the book quite unique.

Therefore even although I thoroughly enjoyed all five books that I did finish, it was fairly easy to decide on February’s book of the month just because of its sheer originality.

From the back cover:

Fifty-something librarian Shona is a proud former pupil of the Marcia Blaine School for Girls, but has a deep loathing for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, which she thinks gives her alma mater a bad name.

Impeccably educated and an accomplished martial artist, linguist and musician, Shona is personally selected by Marcia Blaine herself to travel back in time for an important mission in fin-de-siècle France.

But Shona finds this mission very confusing. Why, for example, have so many people been torn to death by wild animals, what are Maman and the mayor up to, and is the reclusive aristocrat really suffering from toothache?

It’s a race against time to solve the mystery. It is also a very tall order but as Shona is wont to remind herself: Never underestimate a librarian!

 

Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Vampire Menace is available as an ebook and as a paperback and is published by Saraband.

What book has impressed you most this month? Feel free to share in the comments below.