Prue goes to India and Italy.

I found this poster online and immediately thought of this is what Prue would have travelled on as she sailed to India with her grandmama! That is just the start of her adventures, too!

Prue – New Release!

Some adventures come with a price…

Book 2 in the Marsh Saga series!

#1920s #familyseries #bookseries #kindleunlimited #historicalfiction #India #Italy

Amazon: http://mybook.to/Prue

On sale 99p for Mother's Day!

My split era novel is on sale this week for 99p. 

Where Dragonflies Hover

Amazon UK https://goo.gl/btSMDN

Kobo https://goo.gl/eWNeHx

St Patrick's Day!

St Patrick's Day is mentioned in my novel, Long Distance Love because the main male character, Patrick, is of course, Irish!

Grab a copy and see why Fleur falls in love with him. But naturally, not all goes smoothly!

Can one delicious summer affair be enough to keep them together? Fleur Stanthorpe, an Australian, arrives in Whitby, England to live out a dream after surviving cancer. She's to open a bookshop cafe? and experience the English way of life for the summer before returning home and settling down. Only she hasn't counted on meeting gorgeous Irishman, Patrick Donnelly. Their attraction is instant, their goals a world apart. 
He is looking for a solid relationship for the first time since his divorce five years ago. 
She is having her last fling at freedom before returning home to family and responsibilities. 
Their problems are more than surviving a hot summer of romance, but wondering what will happen when the summer draws to an end and Fleur returns to the other side of the world.

Purchase links for Kindle:
Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00I9JFSEM
Amazon USA http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I9JFSEM
Kobo
Paperback:
Amazon USA
Amazon UK

Number 1 on Amazon!

Last week, one of my historical novels, Aurora's Pride was free on Amazon kindle, a promotional offer by my publisher.
The results were that Aurora's Pride made it to number 1 in the free saga category!
Thank you to every one who downloaded a copy.
I hope you enjoy the story.

Aurora’s Pride

Amazon UK https://goo.gl/EqtBgm

Amazon USA https://goo.gl/HVZNsA

Amazon Australia https://goo.gl/YkZrOx

Free book! Aurora's Pride- Victorian saga.

Aurora’s Pride is free for one week 27th - 5th March! Grab a bargain!

Amazon UK https://goo.gl/EqtBgm

Amazon USA https://goo.gl/HVZNsA

Amazon Australia https://goo.gl/YkZrOx

Aurora's Pride - Victorian Saga

Aurora's Pride

My
Victorian historical novel, Aurora's Pride, is set in 1898 Yorkshire.
 This is Aurora and Reid's story and will be available in paperback and ebook March 14th 2017.

Back blurb:
Aurora Pettigrew has it all, a loving family, a nice home, a comfortable life. She’s waiting for the right man to offer her marriage, and the man for her is Reid Sinclair, heir to the Sinclair fortune and the love of her life.
But, Reid’s mother, Julia, is against the match and her ruthlessness unearths a family secret that will tear Aurora’s world apart.
Unwilling to bring shame on her family and needing answers to the allegations brought to light by Reid’s mother, Aurora begins a long journey away from home. She leaves behind all that is familiar and safe to enter a world of mean streets and poor working class.
Living in the tenements of York, surrounded by people of a class she’d never mixed with before, Aurora struggles to come to terms with the way her life has changed. By chance, she reconnects with a man from her past and before he leaves with the army to war in South Africa, he offers her security through marriage.
Aurora knows she should be happy, but the memory of her love for Reid threatens her future.
When tragedy strikes, can Aurora find the strength to accept her life and forget the past?

Review:
If you're looking for a fairy tale with a twist, then look no further than Aurora's Pride. The characters may not fill out all the classic roles precisely, and you'll get to meet the entire townspeople around the "castle", but they are beyond a doubt entertaining and very adeptly written. It's a great read that reminds the little girls in us that sometimes the princess has to become Cinderella in order to be a good queen one day.
Books N Beans

 Aurora's Pride is available in paperback and ebook from March 14th 2017.
Preorder on Amazon

Aurora’s Pride

Amazon UK https://goo.gl/yp2QK1

Amazon USA https://goo.gl/ADQnG8

(orginally published as To Take Her Pride)

Some books I've been reading...

I've been doing a bit of reading lately, and here are some of the books, which as you can see are quite varied!

All books are available from Amazon.

Title: The Summer Escape

Author: Lily Graham

Ebook

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I wanted to be Ria!!
It was funny, sensitive and full of great characters. Great descriptions.
Ria is such a lovely character who impulsively goes to Crete to escape a terrible job and the rut she had found herself in. There, she changes her life and starts living again, surrounded by helpful and kind people.  Of course she falls in love with the dashing male lead in the story, but who wouldn't? He was the kind of guy that makes you feel good.
Excellent summer read.

Title: Chickens Eat Pasta

Author: Clare Pedrick

Ebook

In the vein of Under the Tuscan Sun, this autobiography drew my attention as I've always wanted to go to Italy, or France, buy a house and do it up and become part of a village life. Clare does this and I was excited to read her story.
I did feel the first part of the story was a bit stilted and sometimes confusing with all the names and people. I would have liked to learn more about her doing up the house and her struggles to adapt, as it seems much of her life was helped by having money and good Italian friends - without that I doubt she would have found it so easy. At times the story concentrated more on what she was eating and what other people were doing than her own story. Some elements were glossed over too readily.
However, it was an interesting read, and I'm glad it all worked out for her in the end.

Title: COMFORTS FOR THE TROOPS

Author: Fiona Joseph

Published by: Foxwell Press UK

Year: 2015

Paperback

Pages: 251

ISBN: 9780957093454

Sub genre: WWI 1915 Birmingham England.

Review:

A novel inspired by the female workers at Cadbury Chocolate Factory, the novel centres on three female characters and their stories through this difficult time.

Leonora is the character that has drive and determination to be a forewoman of her section at the factory. However, her manner is cold and her spine unbending when it comes to matters outside of the factory. Although a hard worker, she finds herself overlooked for promotion and this makes her increasingly bitter.

Jessie is a married worker at the factory, whose husband is housebound after an accident at his work. Jessie is the breadwinner, but finding life outside of the home opens Jessie’s eyes to another world where she can be free to find new interests. Sadly her new found freedom creates problems in her marriage, which is suffering under the pressure of her long hours at the factory and her husband’s long convalescence and his struggle to regain his focus and independence.

Finally we have Mary, the boisterous and fun-loving woman who has a sense of family duty and a bucketful of courage. Her adventurous nature gives her an instant friendship with Jessie but earns the disapproval of Leonora.

It takes the climatic events in each of these three women’s lives to make them realise that what they were striving for, isn’t always easily attainable.

Leonora has to learn humbleness to truly understand her role at the factory and in her life.

Jessie must learn compromise and forgiveness to find the happiness she seeks.

While Mary learns that her eagerness to make things right isn’t always the correct way to do things and sometimes you have to let others help you.

Comforts for the Troops is a gentle and interesting read. I enjoyed the three women’s situations. Although I felt at times that each story could have had a little more depth. I would have preferred more back story to each woman. Apart from Mary, we know nothing of Leonora or Jessie’s background really, just the odd comment, but nothing substantial.

 In general though the plots worked and the story flowed. The story set in the Cadbury’s chocolate factory was unique, as everyone has heard of Cadbury’s chocolates. I can tell the author did her research and put much effort into getting the historical details correct.

I give Comforts for the Troops 3 stars.

Title: THE KIMONO SONG

Author: T.C. Kuhn

Published by: Amazon UK

Year: 2015

Paperback

Pages:346

ISBN:1514161877

Sub genre: WWII 1942 Manila.

Review:

The Kimono Song is set in Manila in 1945, but with flash backs to 1942. The story starts with the main character, Captain Helen Williamson, a nurse in the U.S. Army Nursing Corps, going on a bus journey after the war has finished, and it is during this bus journey that she reminisces about the last three years of the war.

In 1942 with serving in a military hospital for America soldiers, Helen suffers a personal loss, however, her grief has to be put to one side as the Japanese Army sweeps across the Philippines, capturing the hospital. Helen and her fellow nurses are taken to a prisoner of war camp. There, they are kept for three years until the Allies defeat Japan and the prisoner of war camps are liberated.

During the three years incarcerated, Helen and her fellow prisoners have to deal with the brutality of her capturers, the primitive conditions, the lack of medical supplies, the bland diet of limited food and subsequently the numerous deaths that result.

Despite the harsh conditions, Helen manages to find solace in her work nursing the ill and infirm in the make-shift hospital inside the walls of barbed wire.

Although hating the Japanese that rule them, there is one man, Ito, who comes to take charge of the camp, and with whom Helen learns to respect and a friendship grows.

Ito, having experienced years of working in Hawaii, understands the Westerners, and Helen in particular, he finds intriguing. He asks her to treat his soldiers and she agrees, hoping she can convey information back to her own people. Unintentionally, they find their feelings towards each other grow. Helen is in mourning, Ito is missing his wife. There are consequences of their actions.

I don’t want to spoil the ending for readers and so I won’t mention any more of the story line, only to say that I found the ending of the camp flashbacks to be satisfactory.  It worked well. Knowing the history of Japanese officers after their defeat I accepted the plotline as totally plausible.

However the ending of the story as a whole, (one year after the war finished) I found less agreeable.  I didn’t understand Helen’s actions, the whole reason for her bus journey through a war torn country to visit someone, who didn’t need visiting and which I feel was a little cruel. But, that is my opinion and others may feel the ending is completely correct to the tory and characters.

That said, I did enjoy this story. I believe the author did well with the research, and the characters were three dimensional. I found at odd times the American dialect to be a little over the top when spoken by the G.I.s who Helen encountered on the bus journey.

Overall, The Kimono Song is a book worth reading. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys WWII fiction. Also I think the cover suits the story, which is always nice to see.

I give The Kimono Song 3 stars.

Free for 5 days!

Starting tomorrow May 3rd, Broken Hero is on a free promotion for 5 days!

Audrey Pearson's life changed dramatically when WWII broke out and her large home, Twelve Pines on the East Yorkshire coast, became a convalescence home for wounded soldiers. Her life is no longer lavish with entertainment, beautiful clothes and surrounded by a loving family. Soldiers, physically and mentally wounded now fill her home. The smell of disinfectant replaces her mother's perfume and gone are the friends and acquaintances - instead nurses roam the hallways. 
Captain Jake Harding, a doctor training in psychiatry arrives at Twelve Pines. Audrey immediately finds herself attracted to the Captain, but he is remote towards her. Puzzled by his cold behaviour, Audrey tries to learn more about the handsome Captain. He reveals that he's lost a wife and baby in childbirth and refuses to ever remarry. 
However, despite this, Audrey believes she can change his mind and make him aware he doesn't have to spend his life alone.The ice around Jake's heart begins to melt. For years he has rejected the possibility of finding love again because of the pain it caused him before, but the beautiful Audrey shows him her love and she needs someone to love her in return. 
Could he honestly walk away from her, from the love that could be his? 

Click this link   Amazon.com

Pre-order, lower price £2.99!

Where Dragonflies Hover is available for pre order until 8th April.

The book received it's first review this week and it was 5 stars! Yay. So happy about that I can't tell you.

Here's the review link. http://goo.gl/IheCVz

Go here to buy! http://goo.gl/IheCVz

Broke the top 100!

So excited to see Where Dragonflies Hover has broken the top 100 of the Amazon UK women's fiction list! Yay!
View here. http://goo.gl/B2gxzi

 

Two novels free for 5 days!

Two of my historical novels are free: 5 days only! The Day Embroidered & Woodland Daughter. http://goo.gl/dDhjJc
Quick what are you waiting for? :o)

St Patrick's Day!!

Don't you just love the Irish? It's St Patrick's Day! 
In honour of this famous day I've changed my desktop to a rotating theme of landscaped of Ireland. The images make me want to hop on a plane and go there. Of course it's in my blood, don't you know?
Oh yes, I have Irish ancestors, my great grandfather on my father's mother's side was Patrick Kittrick from county Mayo!
On my Mum's side I have great great grandfather Joseph Nichols, also Irish born.

 
And I always like to add a touch of the Irish somewhere in my books. 
In my contemporary romance, Long Distance Love, I have Patrick Donnelly a gorgeous Irishman who sweeps Fleur off her feet.
Long Distance Love is available in print or ebook on Kindle.

Blurb;

Fleur Stanthorpe, an Australian, arrives in Whitby, England to live out a dream after surviving cancer. She's to open a bookshop café and experience the English way of life for the summer before returning home and settling down.
Only she hasn't counted on meeting gorgeous Irishman, Patrick Donnelly. Their attraction is instant - their goals a world apart. He is looking for a solid relationship for the first time since his divorce five years ago. She is having her last fling at freedom before returning home to family and responsibilities.
Their problems are more than surviving a hot summer of romance, but wondering what will happen when the summer draws to an end and Fleur returns to the other side of the world.

Available in Kindle and paperback from Amazon sites.

Art of Desire, short story

After visiting New York on my honeymoon, I wrote a short story featuring Manhattan, a city I loved being in. This short story is about Antonia and Ronan and how they find love.

Arriving in New York, Antonia is using her inheritance to start a career as an artist. In Manhattan she needs to be focused and committed to her art, wanting to make her late father proud, and to make a point to her cold mother that she can make a success of her life. 
Only, her plans don’t include meeting Ronan Kelly, the sexy teacher living in the same building as her apartment. 
They can’t deny their attraction, and despite her good intentions to only concentrate on building her career, Antonia is soon swept up in a whirlwind romance. 
Just when she thinks she has found the happiness she’s been searching for, Ronan’s ex-girlfriend appears with devastating news and re-instates her claim to him. 
Antonia does what she does best, she flees - again - this time to Paris, to forget Ronan and the love that could have been hers. 
Will Ronan allow the one woman who has filled his heart leave him for good? 
Can Antonia stop running and face what could be hers? 

Available on Amazon Kindle

Also available in other formats at Smashwords

What He Taught Her, a short story.

Happily I'm re-releasing some of my older short stories, one of which is, What He Taught Her.
Set in tropical Australia, I really enjoyed writing this story about an older woman changing her life, and a strong, but gentle man going after what he wants.

Rob Healy has everything he wants, or will have once he’s built his new resort on a small island in the Pacific. A woman in his life isn’t planned at the moment, but when he sees Cassandra Kearns in the foyer looking stiff and out of place amongst the holiday makers his interest is spiked. What is a beautiful woman doing wearing a business suit and holding a laptop doing on an island resort, especially when there are no conferences booked that week?
Cassandra Kearns is fleeing New York and all that makes her comfortable for two idyllic weeks in the tropics. She’s stressed, overtired and close to breaking point. Her divorce is finalised, her daughter is grown and she’s realising that she’s on her own and dare she say it - lonely.
She needs to take some time and recharge her batteries. But how is she to do that? She’s worked 24/7 for years. Does she know how to have fun?
When Cassandra meets Rob she rejects the spark of attraction she feels. A man in her life, after the betrayal of Oliver? She’d rather eat broken glass!
Yet Rob is persistent, he’s funny and he’s gorgeous, but what exactly does he want?

Available on Kindle on all Amazon sites.

Plus available in other formats at Smashwords.com