Dreaming of Verona

Verona is the City of Love. But will Suzie find romance there or, like Romeo and Juliet, will it all end in tears?

When Suzie is hired to accompany spoiled, abrasive Lady Alexandra Tedburn on an all-expenses paid holiday to Italy, she fears the trip will be a disaster.

But she soon discovers there’s more to Alex than shopping and tantrums, and she’s determined to help her realise her potential – against Alex’s authoritarian father’s wishes.

As they settle in Verona, Suzie can’t stop thinking about local artist Michael, who is still mourning the tragic death of his wife. With Suzie’s future uncertain, and Michael’s past
holding him back, it seems there’s no hope for romance in the city of
star-crossed lovers… or is there?

A gorgeously uplifting and moving story, Dreaming of Verona is the perfect read for fans of Holly Martin, Tilly Tennant and Jenny Oliver.

Purchase Links 

UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07Z4MCCJ5

 US - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Z4MCCJ5

Author Bio – I’m a man. And a pretty old man as well. I did languages at university a long time ago and then lived and worked in France and Switzerland before going to Italy for seven years as a teacher of English. My Italian wife and I then came back to the UK with our little daughter (now long-since grown up) where I ran a big English language school for many years. We now live in a sleepy little village in Devonshire. I’ve been writing almost all my life but it was only seven years ago that I finally managed to find a publisher who liked my work enough to offer me my first contract.

The fact that I am now writing romantic comedy is something I still find hard to explain. My early books were thrillers and historical novels. Maybe it’s because there are so many horrible things happening in the world today that I feel I need to do my best to provide something to cheer my readers up. My books provide escapism to some gorgeous locations and, as a writer, I obviously have to go there in person and check them out first. I love my job… 

Social Media Links – 

Website: www.tawilliamsbooks.com

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/tawilliamsbooks

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TrevorWilliamsBooks/

My Review

Another rivetting read from T.A.Williams which takes us to the famed city of Verona. Tasked with looking after Lady Alexandra Tedburn, Suzie finds herself with a romantic dilemma of her own. In a modern twist on the Shakespearean story, Suzie hopes to find love with artist Michael but it seems his past will deny them happiness in the present. Both comical at times yet deeply moving at others, this book is a delight to read - the easy-going style making it a quick read yet one that will stay with you.

The liar's daughter

No one deserves to be taken before their time. Do they?

Joe McKee – pillar of the Derry community – is dead. As arrangements are made for the traditional Irish wake, friends and family are left reeling at how cancer could have taken this much-loved man so soon.

But grief is the last thing that Joe’s daughter Ciara and step-daughter Heidi feel. For they knew the real Joe – the man who was supposed to protect them and did anything but.

As the mourners gather, the police do too, with doubt being cast over whether Joe’s death was due to natural causes. Because the lies that Joe told won’t be taken to the grave after all – and the truth gives his daughters the best possible motive for killing him…

 

Claire Allan is a Northern Irish author who lives in Derry~Londonderry.
She worked as a staff reporter for the Derry Journal for 17 years, covering a wide array of stories from court sessions, to the Saville Inquiry into the events of Bloody Sunday, health and education and human interest features.
She wrote her first novel in 2006, to mark her 30th birthday and it (Rainy Days and Tuesdays) was subsequently published and became an instant bestseller in 2007.
Claire wrote seven further women's fiction novels between 2007 and 2015. In 2016 (when she turned 40) she decided to change genre and try her had at domestic noir. Her first domestic noir novel, Her Name Was Rose was published by Avon/ HarperCollins in 2018 and became a bestseller in the UK, Canada, Australia and was a USA Today bestseller.
It was subsequently nominated in the Dead Good Reader Awards in 2019.
Claire has followed up on the success of Her Name Was Rose with Apple of My Eye and Forget Me Not.

My Review

This is a multi-layered psychological story that is cleverly told. First, you feel sympathy for a character only to have the rug pulled from under your feet and then it's all turned on its head again. In fact, just about everyone has a motive in this book and just when you think you've worked it out, you find you are mistaken. It is only after Joe's death that the truth can emerge and it's a story of lies, cover-ups and grief. It's the story of a small, close-knit community and what goes on behind closed doors. Very clever but not pleasant reading as so many people are touched by the events in this story, a story that is all too closely reflected in real life.

Burning Island

They were not her children. But she would protect them with her life…

Corfu 1944. Though they don’t know it, five-year-old Matilde and three-year-old Anna have kissed their mother for the last time. The Nazis have reached their sun-scorched home, and they are being taken to a place of safety, on the north-eastern tip of the rocky island, to be hidden at great risk by kindly Agata and her husband until the terrible war is over.

Matilde and Anna’s tears are soothed by Agata’s bedtime stories, but she is always alert. So far no soldiers have ventured down the steep rocky hillside to their secret haven, but Agata knows they are constantly scouring the island for missing Jews. And then, on a day when Agata’s husband is away, a German soldier appears…

2016. Under a baking June sun, Amber and her husband arrive in Corfu from England, hoping for a fresh start. But not everyone is pleased by their arrival, and with the pressures of pregnancy, the couple grow further apart. Desperate to find a sense of belonging for herself and her unborn child, Amber finds herself drawn to the local story of two little girls, left by their parents and hidden for their own protection.

But there are some who would rather Amber left Corfu’s terrible history well in the past. Can Amber uncover the heart-breaking truth about the two little girls, and what happened after a German soldier took a swim in the bay by their house? If she does, can the secrets of the past help her find happiness, or send her running from the island, alone?

A gripping, heart-wrenching and compelling read about the shadows at the heart of the sun-drenched island of Corfu and survival against all odds. Fans of Victoria Hislop, The Nightingale and The Tattooist of Auschwitz will fall in love with Burning Island.  

Author Bio:

Following an eventful career as a public relations consultant, specialising in business and travel, Suzanne Goldring turned to writing the kind of novels she likes to read, about the extraordinary lives of ordinary people. Her debut novel MY NAME IS EVA draws on her experience of volunteering in a care home and was partially inspired by a cache of wartime love letters which were saved from the flames. Her second novel, BURNING ISLAND, is set in Corfu, a place of fun and beauty but also tremendous tragedy.
Suzanne writes in her thatched cottage in Hampshire and a seaside cottage in Cornwall. 

 https://www.facebook.com/suzannegoldringauthor

https://twitter.com/suzannegoldring  

Buying Links:

Amazon: http://bit.ly/30BqdtE

Kobo: http://bit.ly/36cZowY

Apple Books: https://apple.co/2Rxnm0O

Google Play: http://bit.ly/2sKCOOM

My Review

What an amazing story. I loved the interweaving of the WW2 story and the modern one and how they came together in the end. Set on the island of Corfu, this is simply heartbreaking as Matilde and Anna are sent away to escape the Nazis, never knowing what happened to their parents as they are brought up by Agata and her husband. The modern story is just as engaging as Amber and her husband deal with their own problems. Full of secrets and surprises this book is simply gripping and I enjoyed every minute.

Six steps to happiness

When Ronnie’s husband, Nick, leaves her for their next-door neighbour, Gaye, Ronnie’s life starts to fall apart.

Devastated by the break-up of her marriage, Ronnie is desperate for Nick and Gaye to set up home elsewhere. But Nick and Gaye won’t budge.

To add to her problems, Ronnie’s daughter and mother-in-law decide to stage an intervention. With her family keeping a close eye on her, Ronnie is forced to become more devious in her actions to get rid of Nick and Gaye.

But just how far will she go?

And is moving on ever that easy?

Six Steps to Happiness is a hilarious look at just how far one woman will go to recover from a broken heart and find happiness again.

Author Bio:

Suzie Tullett is an author or contemporary humorous fiction and romantic comedy. She has a Masters Degree in Television & Radio Scriptwriting and worked as a scriptwriter before becoming a full-time novelist. Her motto is ‘live, laugh, love’ and when she’s not busy creating her own literary masterpieces, she usually has her head in someone else’s.

Suzie lives in a tiny hamlet in the middle of the French countryside, along with her husband and two Greek rescue dogs.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SuzieTullettAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuzieTullett

Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5022688.Suzie_Tullett?from_search=true

Blog: https://suzietullett.com/blog/

Website: https://suzietullett.com/

My Review

Absolutely loved this book - it's funny and sad at the same time. Suzie Tullett really gets into the mindset of a woman scorned - and what could be worse than having to live next door to the woman your husband left you for? I love her mother-in-law and daughter who try to set Ronnie on the right path. This is the perfect pick-me-up and had me laughing out loud at the lengths Ronnie goes to. What more could you ask? A dog? There's even a dog and a lovely policeman. We need more books like this!

A Cornish Inheritance

              Welcome to Fox Bay Hotel, where family fortunes rise and fall.

1920, Bristol. Helen Fox is happily married to the love of her life: charming, former playboy Harry. With their three children, glamorous lifestyle and extravagant parties, they have the perfect life. But after a tragic motorcycle accident, nothing will ever be the same...

Helen is forced to leave their home and move to the Fox family's hotel on the Cornish coast - where she discovers her perfect life has been based on a lie.

Now Helen must find a way to build a new life for herself and her children with the help of a vivacious new friend, Leah Marshall.

But when the future of the hotel is threatened, Helen discovers that she hasn't left her past behind after all, and unless she takes drastic action, she's going to lose everything all over again...

Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cornish-Inheritance-Fox-Bay-Saga/dp/0349423989

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Terri was born in Plymouth. At the age of 9 she moved with her family to Cornwall, to the village featured in Jamaica Inn -- North Hill -- where she discovered a love of writing that has stayed with her ever since. She also discovered apple-scrumping, and how to jump out of a hayloft without breaking any bones, but no-one's ever offered to pay her for doing those.

Since publishing in paperback for the first time in 2002, Terri has appeared in both print and online fiction collections, and is proud to have contributed to the Shirley Jackson award-nominated hardback collection: Bound for Evil, by Dead Letter Press.

As a Hybrid author, her first commercially published novel was Maid of Oaklands Manor, published by Piatkus Entice.

Terri's self-published Mythic Fiction series set in Cornwall, The Lynher Mill Chronicles, is now complete and available in paperback and e-book.

Terri also writes under the name T Nixon, and has contributed to anthologies under the names Terri Pine and Teresa Nixon. She is represented by the Kate Nash Literary Agency. She now lives in Plymouth with her youngest son, and works in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Plymouth University, where she is constantly baffled by the number of students who don't possess pens.

Twitter @TerriNixon

Website : http://www.terrinixon.com/

My Review

A brilliant start to a new series! I loved the setting of the Cornish Riviera in the 1920s as well as the lavish background that Helen is forced to leave behind. The real star of the show for me though is Leah Marshall and with her chameleon-like ability to change character, she had me wondering about her motivation from the start. There are so many twists and turns on this book that at times I found it hard to keep up but all was neatly resolved at the end. Join the fox family in the triumphs and their despair as you feel like one of the family. Looking forward to the next one now.

The wronged daughter

Can she heal the wounds of her past?

Mags has never forgotten the friendship she forged with Flora and Ella, two fellow nurses she served with at the beginning of World War I. Haunted by what she experienced during that time, she fears a reunion with her friends would bring back the horror she’s tried so desperately to suppress.

Now, with her wedding on the horizon, this should be a joyful time for Mags. But the sudden loss of her mother and the constant doubt she harbours surrounding her fiancé, Harold, are marring her happiness.

Mags throws herself into running the family mill, but she’s dealt another aching blow by a betrayal that leaves her reeling. Finding the strength the war had taken from her, she fights back, not realizing the consequences and devastating outcome awaiting her.

Born the thirteenth child of fifteen to a middle-class mother and an East End barrow boy, Mary Wood’s family were poor, but rich in love. Over time, she developed a natural empathy with the less fortunate and is fascinated by social history. Mary raised four children and has numerous grandchildren, step-grandchildren and great-grandchildren. An avid reader, she first put pen to paper in 1989, and is now a full-time novelist.

My Review

I couldn't wait to read this story and find out what happened to the third friend in the trio, Mags. There were hints in the earlier books about Harold from the way in which he treated his sister. Nothing could have prepared me though for just how evil he turns out to be. This book is a staunch reminder that no matter how strong the woman was at that time, it was still a patriarchal society and poor Mags really goes through the mill. This book will have you holding your breath as you wonder how she can triumph against adversity. Totally engrossing.

Coming home to Winter Island

Wrap up warm and prepare to explore the breath-taking beauty of a remote Scottish island and an old house waiting to unlock enchanting family secrets.

Fans of Jill Mansell and Milly Johnson will love this irresistible new winter novel from Jo Thomas.

Do you need to find out where you've come from before you can know what the future holds?

Ruby's singing career is on the verge of hitting the big time, when her voice breaks. Fearing her career is over, she signs up for a retreat in Tenerife to recover.

But an unexpected call from a stranger on a remote Scottish island takes her on a short trip to sort out some family business. It's time to go and see the grandfather she's never met.

City girl Ruby knows she will be happy to leave the windswept beaches behind as quickly as she can, especially as a years-old family rift means she knows she won't be welcome at Teach Mhor.

But as she arrives at the big house overlooking the bay, she finds things are not as straightforward as she might have thought.

There's an unexpected guest in the house and he's not planning on going anywhere any time soon.

 
https://www.facebook.com/pg/JoThomasA...

Hello, I’m Jo Thomas. I write romances about food, love, family and fun and believe every story should have a happy ending. Welcome to my world.


My Review

I'm a big fan of Jo's books and this one is no exception, although a rather different setting to her others. If you love the idea of wintry landscapes on a remote Scottish island and a rambling ramshackle old house then this is the book for you. I thoroughly enjoyed the developing relationship between Ruby and Lachlan and the self-realisation that ensues. More poignant though is the beginning of a relationship between Ruby and the grandfather she has never known and his dementia is very sensitively portrayed. Did I mention that there's gin too? This is the perfect winter book if you fancy a change from everything Christmassy.