THE WEDDING SHOP ON WEXLEY STREET by Rachel Dove

wedding shop

The Wedding Shop on Wexley Street
by
Rachel Dove

wedding shop

Series: Westfield village series #3

Genre: romantic fiction

Release Date: 10th August 2018

Publisher: HQ Digital

Maria is ready to say ‘yes’ to the dress!

As owner of Happy Ever After, Maria Mallory is Westfield’s resident wedding planner, spending her days making dreams come true for future brides.

Maria even has her own perfect day planned out too, she just needs to find the right man. So when she falls in love with local celeb Darcy Burgess she can’t believe her luck – it was finally her turn for her Happy Ever After. Or so she thought.

Jilted at the altar, Maria can’t believe that her fairytale ending hasn’t come true. She’s ready to give up on love once and for all. But little does she know that once you stop looking for it, love has a way of surprising you…

A laugh-out-loud romance, perfect for fans of Holly Martin and Tilly Tennant.

EXTRACT

Two hours later, Maria found herself in Harrogate, squeezed into the red dress, heels pinching her feet, wondering why the hell she wasn’t sat on Cass’s couch eating ice cream and crying. She said the same to Cass as they walked on tottering heels to the nearest trendy bar, Ice, in the wine bar and posh eatery part of Harrogate’s city centre, which, coincidentally, butted up against the legal quarter of Harrogate, and no doubt the two sides kept each other in business quite well too. Walking into Ice with Cassie, it was hard to ignore the stares that her friend attracted. Cassie Welburn was, let’s face it, sex on a twenty nine year old stick. She was always tanned thanks to her meticulous salon treatments, plucked and shaped to perfection, and tonight, as usual, was dressed to kill. Even Maria’s daring red dress looked tame in light of Cassie’s black and silver dress, slashed to the thigh, combined with sparkly silver heels that make Cassie even taller than her just under six foot frame. Maria blushed and nudged Cass’s elbow with her own.

“People are staring Cass.” Cassie shrugged.

“Let them stare, girl. Don’t worry, I’ve got your back.” Maria belatedly realised that tonight, thanks to that ridiculous article, the stares may indeed be for her and not her glamorous friend. She cringed inwardly, and planted a smile on her face.  She took her friend by the arm, and pushing her boobs out and her chin up, she headed to the bar. “Let’s get smashed,” she declared.

BUY LINK

Amazon UK – https://goo.gl/5EgXqB

A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR

WEDDING SHOP

I am a writer and teacher, living in West Yorkshire with my husband, our two sons, and our furry pets.

In July 2015, I won the Prima magazine and Mills & Boon Flirty Fiction Competition, with my entry, The Chic Boutique on Baker Street, out now in ebook and paperback. The Flower Shop on Foxley Street followed this in 2017 and both books hit the Amazon top 200. Chic Boutique got to #2 in the rural life humour chart and is regularly in the top 100 of that chart.

I am the winner of the Writers Bureau Writer of the Year Award in 2016 and I have had work published in the UK and overseas in various magazines.

My next book, The Long Walk Back, is out in January 2018 and I am currently writing the last book in the Westfield series. My first book with Manatee Books, Nice Guys Finish Lonely, is out in April 2018 in ebook and paperback. I love to write romantic fiction, both rom-com and harder hitting women’s fiction.

I am also a post 16 teacher and am undertaking an MA in Creative Writing at Teesside University.

I love to chat on twitter so come say hi! @writerdove

I also run a blog (very occasionally these days): racheldoveauthor@wordpress.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RachelDoveauthor/?ref=bookmarks

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WriterDove

Goodreads Author Page: https://goo.gl/CPJkbr

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/writerdove/

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+RachelDovewriter

GIVEAWAY

A signed spiral bound paperback of the book plus bookmarks

(open Internationally)

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Vieux-Québec ~ one of my favourite destinations

Vieux-QuébecJ’adore le Vieux-Québec surtout quand elle est vêtue de ses parures de Noël!

What’s not to love about Vieux-Québec? It’s a beautiful city in every season. I think it’s the closest thing to Paris there is without jumping on a plane for a seven hour flight. From where I live, Vieux-Québec is about a six hour car ride. Everything within the fortifications is in walking distance. Even the hotel my husband and use, is only a five minute walk beyond the wall. If we have a room on the back of our accommodations, we overlook the Plains of Abraham.

With all this going for it, you can understand why I wrote a novel set in this beautiful, historic city.

Vieux-Québec
Dufferin Terrace

Dufferin Terrace is a beautiful place to walk in any season.  It overlooks the Lower Town and the majestic St. Lawrence River. Day or night, the views from here are spectacular.

Fairmont le Château Frontenac in the distance has the appearance of a medieval castle with its towers and turrets – a place where knights would rescue damsels in distress.

Vieux-Québec
Rue du Petit Champlain

Christmas in full swing here on this narrow street. Love, love, love this part of the town!

Vieux-Québec
Parc Félix-Leclerc at Christmas during the day

 

Vieux-Québec
Parc Félix-Leclerc at Christmas at night

When you’re down in this part of the city, the ferry terminal is only a short walk away. Riding across the river to Lévis gives you a whole different perspective of the city. Views you would never get from any other angle.

Between the hotel and the post office you can see the funiculaire. This inclined railway is the best way to travel from the top of the escarpment to the bottom or vice vera. Actually, the walk down the hill isn’t nearly as difficult as the return trip.

Vieux-Québec
Place royale

This part of town is beautiful year round and is one of the stops on the ghost walk. One of my favourite shops is in the background on the left – Geomania. I’ve purchased some gorgeous jewellery there.

Vieux-Québec
Place Royale from Côte de la Montagne
Vieux-Québec
Christmas Market

This is just one market stall. The area behind Hôtel de Ville and the park beside it are packed with vendors selling all manor of things – handknitted, blown glass, footwear, books, a café where you can sit and take a load off whilst enjoying something to eat or drink.

Vieux-Québec
Most haunted house in Quebec?

On one of the horse-drawn carriage rides we took, our driver told us the section of the house above overgrown by the shrubs covering the front windows was reputed to be the most haunted house in the city. It definitely looks in disrepair and sorely in need of some TLC, but haunted?

Vieux-Québec
Ghost walk guide

On our last summer trip, we did a ghost walk hosted by Les Visites Fantômes. We started out while it was still light out and finished well after dark in an unlit Holy Trinity Cathedral. Spooky.

Vieux-Québec
Busker on Rue Notre Dame

We stopped and watched this gentleman for quite some time. His music had everyone tapping their toes and clapping their hands in time to the rhythm.

Vieux-Québec
René Lévesque’s Home

During his tenure as Premier of the Province of Québec, Réne Lévesque resided in this modest home on Rue d’Auteuil.

Vieux-Québec
The Price Building

In 2001, the upper two floors of the Price Building became the official residence of the Premier of the province. This buildings is visible from almost anywhere in Vieux-Québec.

Vieux-Québec
Changing of the guard ceremony at La Citadelle

Because La Citadelle is a working military base, there were a number of places we couldn’t tour.  Here are the soldiers of the Royal 22e Régiment (Van Doos) taking part in the ceremony.

Vieux-Québec
Cannonball embedded in tree roots on Rue Saint Louis

I love this cannonball. It’s been there for ages and as the tree grows, it brings more of the iron sphere with it.

Our horse-drawn carriage

No trip would be complete without a ride in a horse-drawn carriage. We’ve done it twice now. There are three different routes you can take – two shorter ones, or a long one with puts them both together. We opted for the long one, both times.

I hope you’ve enjoyed your virtual tour of Vieux-Québec.

Welcome back to The French Adventure by @LucyColemanauth

French Adventure

The French Adventure

by

Lucy Coleman

 

French Adventure

Genre: Sweet romance/cosy mystery

Release Date: 1 February 2018

Publisher: Aria Fiction (Head of Zeus)

Packed full of French flavour and idyllic settings this is a romantic, heart-warming and unputdownable new novel about life and love, perfect for anyone who loves Milly Johnson, Lucy Diamond and Debbie Johnson.

Suddenly unemployed and single, Anna escapes to her parents’ beautiful house in France for a much-needed recharge – and to work out what she wants to do next with her life now her carefully mapped out plan has gone out the window.

Anna gives herself 6 months to recuperate, all the while helping renovate her parents’ adjoining gites into picturesque B&Bs. But working alongside the ruggedly handsome Sam on the renovation project, she didn’t expect for life to take an unexpected, if not unwelcome, twist…

Excerpt

The L Word

Two weeks today will be the first anniversary of our first real date. Being wined and dined in a chic little French restaurant was a gigantic step forward; it signalled the beginning of a new era in my relationship with Karl. Even though at least half of the meal was spent talking about work, his intentions were clear – we were no longer simply colleagues and romance was in the air.

Since then, Karl must have told me that he loves me more than a thousand times. You might think I’m exaggerating, but I can assure you that’s not the case. He usually manages to slip it into the conversation at least three times a day. The first time he said the L word to me, it slid off his tongue so easily I could almost have missed it. It wasn’t a staring into each other’s eyes moment of discovery, just a casual ‘love you, babe’.

As the months rolled by, I pushed aside my growing fear that it was only a word to him. Because it means so much more to me, I freeze whenever he tacks it onto a sentence.

And, yes, I’m very aware that my air of disapproval does make me sound ungrateful and undeserving. But it’s all about self-preservation, you see. I’ll never utter that word again until I’m one hundred per cent certain that the man I’m saying it to believes I’m their soul mate too – the perfect fit.

The last time I uttered the L word, was six years ago. It was to a guy I’d known since childhood and the man I genuinely believed I would marry when the time was right. He was handsome in a rugged way, fired up with ambition and exciting to be around. Sadly, everyone we knew thought we were the perfect couple too, except the guy in question, as it turned out…

BUY LINK

http://smarturl.it/TheFrenchAdventure

GOODREADS

https://goo.gl/k3hEkq

ABOUT LUCY COLEMAN

French Adventure

Lucy Coleman always knew that one day she would write, but first life took her on a wonderful journey of self-discovery for which she is very grateful.

Family life and two very diverse careers later she now spends most days glued to a keyboard, which she refers to as her personal quality time.

‘It’s only when you know who you are that you truly understand what makes you happy – and writing about love, life and relationships makes me leap out of bed every morning!’

If she isn’t online she’s either playing with the kids, whose imaginations seem to know no bounds, or painting something. As a serial house mover together with her lovely husband, there is always a new challenge to keep her occupied!

Lucy also writes under the name Linn B. Halton.

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LucyColemanauth

Goodreads Author Page: http://ow.ly/mk3H30atV5h

Website:  http://linnbhalton.co.uk/

GIVEAWAY

A signed paperback copy of The Secrets of Villa Rosso and an iHeart pack. (UK only)

French Adventure

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Welcome, Tori, the black lab from It Happened on Dufferin Terrace #woof, #blacklab

This is a first here at Celtic Connexions. I’ve interviewed characters in my books before, but never a dog. So here goes. Welcome, Tori.

*tongue hanging out and tail wagging*, Tori enters the room and plops by my feet, tail thumping on the floor.

tori

Aren’t you just a beautiful girl. So, Tori, what can you tell us about yourself?

Woof… *tail thumping harder against the floor* My humans are Roger and Adam Scott. I’ve lived with them for about three years now.

And how did you come to live with them?

Well, Roger’s wife (Adam’s mum) died. They were both very sad. Roger thought having me might help cheer Adam up. It worked for both of them.

Aw, how sweet. I remember after my dad died, my mum got me a hampster. Not quite the same thing but I know where you’re coming from. But that’s a whole other story. We want to hear about you and your family.

In the summer, my humans take me to the Plains of Abraham. We play ball there. I love playing fetch.

Something happened there, didn’t it, Tori?

Woof… You bet it did. I didn’t know anything about it, but Adam put his dad’s credentials on online dating sites. The one day we were out on the plains, Roger’s phone never stopped ringing. He was so mad. We had to come home early. I wanted to stay and play.

So, what other things have you been up to? Did I hear you were a bad girl and knocked someone down?

*hangs head and looks at me with doleful brown eyes* Yes. We were out on a walk coming home from the Plains of Abraham along Promenade des Gouverneurs which turns into Dufferin Terrace. Anyway, I was off-leash and being a very good girl. Then I saw the lady. She was leaning against the railing. She looked sad. I just wanted to cheer her up. I bolted away from my humans and ran to her. I didn’t mean to hurt her, but I jumped and knocked her down, sending her glasses flying. 

Oh dear. I hope she wasn’t hurt. You’re a big girl. I’ve read where female black Labs can weigh up to seventy pounds.

*raises head with a haughty expression on her face* I’ll have you know, I’m a svelte sixty-five pounds.

Sorry. Didn’t mean to insult you.

My humans ensure I eat healthy and get plenty of exercise. We go for walks every day but most times in the winter only go up to Artillery Park. It’s closer to home and I still get to run around and have fun.

What’s next?

I can’t tell you. It would spoil the story.

Ah, quite right. So why don’t we end the interview now and tell the Celtic Connexions folks about It Happened on Dufferin Terrace.

Woof… yes, please.

She’s married to her career… He’s a widowed father…

tori

Miracle on 34th Street meets Sleepless in Seattle in

It Happened on Dufferin Terrace

Toronto business consultant, Serenity Layne, knew the only person she could depend on was herself. Married to her career, she has no time for other pursuits and life’s intangibles.

Widowed for three years, Roger Scott, a data security specialist in Quebec City, is a single parent to his ten-year-old son, Adam.

On a day out on the Plains of Abraham with their black Labrador retriever, Roger’s cell phone rings incessantly. Adam has played matchmaker and put his father’s profile on a number of online dating sites.

The week before Christmas, Serenity is heading up a series of meetings after a six-month study of the Canadian retail chain, jonathans. After an unpleasant encounter with one of the store managers, she escapes from the boardroom of the Château Frontenac Hotel, only to be bowled over by Roger and Adam’s dog.

Guilty over the accident, Roger invites Serenity out for a drink by way of apology. Over the course of the week, and spending time together, feelings long dormant for Roger are re-awakened. At the same time, emotions foreign to Serenity fill her with contentment and happiness.

Will the couple get their happily ever after?

It Happened on Dufferin Terrace is the first book in the It Happened series, a set of sweet, contemporary romances by author, Melanie Robertson-King. If entertaining and heartwarming romances are for you, then you’ll fall in love with this entry in a light, romantic series set in picturesque Canadian locations.

BUY LINKS

 kindle

Kobo Canada

Kobo US

 

 

IF YOU LOVE ME I’M YOURS by Lizzie Chantree #romance #humour

LOVE ME

IF YOU LOVE ME I’M YOURS

by

Lizzie Chantree

 

love me

Genre: Romance/Humour

Release Date: 9th July 2018

Publisher: Crooked Cat Books

‘If you love me, I’m yours…’

Maud didn’t mind being boring, not really. She had a sensible job, clothes, and love life… if you counted an overbearing ex who had thanked her, rolled over and was snoring before she even realised he’d begun! She could tolerate not fulfilling her dreams, if her parents would pay her one compliment about the only thing she was passionate about in life: her art.

Dot should have fit in with her flamboyant and slightly eccentric family of talented artists, but somehow, she was an anomaly who couldn’t paint. She tried hard to be part of their world by becoming an art agent extraordinaire, but she dreamed of finding her own voice.

Dot’s brother Nate, a smoulderingly sexy and famous artist, was adored by everyone. His creative talent left them in awe of his ability to capture such passion on canvas. Women worshipped him, and even Dot’s friend Maud flushed and bumped into things when he walked into a room, but a tragic event in his past had left him emotionally and physically scarred, and reluctant to face the world again.

Someone was leaving exquisite little paintings on park benches, with a tag saying, ‘If you love me, I’m yours’. The art was so fresh and cutting-edge, that it generated a media frenzy and a scramble to discover where the mystery artist could be hiding. The revelation of who the prodigious artist was interlinked Maud, Dot and Nate’s lives forever, but their worlds came crashing down.

Were bonds of friendship, love and loyalty strong enough to withstand fame, success and scandal?

EXTRACT

Chapter One

Maud closed her eyes and prepared to jump off the emotional cliff she was teetering on the edge of. She shuffled forward until she felt sick with nerves, took a deep calming breath and waited.

‘Oh, Maud…’ her mother sighed. ‘Not again.’

Maud cringed at the familiarity of those words, and in her mind, she stepped off into the void and plunged into the icy darkness without a whimper. In reality, she was still in her lounge, but being around her mother made her feel like an abject failure and the words she uttered sliced through Maud and filled her with doom. Her mum pushed her to the edge of reason on a regular basis. She wished that for once her mother could try harder to be nice. Surely it couldn’t be that difficult to be grateful for the anniversary gift she had been given and to offer a smile, even a fake one, for the sake of her child? It was the same every year and Maud was finally ready to surrender and stop trying so hard to make them understand her and compliment one of her paintings. It was never going to happen, she realised with a heavy heart.

Maud didn’t mind being boring, not really. She had a sensible job, sensible clothes, a sensible love life… if you counted two overbearing exes and a one night stand who had thanked her, rolled over and was snoring before she even realised he had started! She was ok with not fulfilling her dreams or being outrageous and carefree, she just wanted her parents to pay her a compliment, just once, after years of disapproval and disappointment.

Maud knew that as far as her mum was concerned, she was the most amazing parent who encouraged her daughter to have a responsible career until she settled down and found a ‘suitable’ husband. Granted, Maud was a very good, well-liked and adept teacher’s assistant in the local primary school, but every time she pushed against the boundaries set by her parents for their perfect daughter… ‘Oh, Maud!’

It was ridiculous, she was twenty-four, thought Maud. She wished she had a big glass of wine to slug back, but her mother would disapprove of that too, suggest in horror that she was a ‘wino,’ and hand her the number for AA, which she would have readily available in the little brown Filofax she carried everywhere in her patent handbag. The woman was a menace.

BUY LINKS

Universal link: If you love me, I’m yours: viewbook.at/IfYouLoveMe-ImYours

Amazon.co.uk: https://www.amazon.co.uk/If-You-Love-Me-Yours-ebook/dp/B07C7HRNG1

Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/If-You-Love-Me-Yours-ebook/dp/B07C7HRNG1

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

LOVE ME

Award-winning inventor and author, Lizzie Chantree, started her own business at the age of 18 and became one of Fair Play London and The Patent Office’s British Female Inventors of the Year in 2000. She discovered her love of writing fiction when her children were little and now runs networking hours on social media, where creative businesses, writers, photographers and designers can offer advice and support to each other. She lives with her family on the coast in Essex.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lizzie.chantree.3

Author page: viewAuthor.at/LizzieChantree

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/LizzieChantree/pins/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lizzie_Chantree

Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7391757.Lizzie_Chantree

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lizzie_chantree/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lizzie-chantree-03006425/

Blog: www.lizziechantree.com

Website: www.lizziechantree.com

LOVE ME

LOVE ME

GIVEAWAY

a signed copy of this book and a Swarovski crystal handbag charm.

(OPEN INTERNATIONALLY)

 

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HEATHCLIFF by Sue Barnard #historical #whatif #giveaway

heathcliff

Heathcliff

by

Sue Barnard

 

heathcliff

Genre: Historical/What if…?

Release Date: 30 July 2018

Publisher: Crooked Cat Books

It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now…”

Cathy’s immortal words from Wuthering Heights change Heathcliff’s life.  At just seventeen years of age, heartbroken and penniless, he runs away to face an unknown future.

Three years later, he returns – much improved in manners, appearance, and prosperity.

But what happened during those years? How could he have made his fortune, from nothing? Who might his parents have been? And what fate turned him into literature’s most famous anti-hero?

For almost two centuries, these questions have remained unanswered.  Until now…

EXTRACT

THE YORKSHIRE MOORS, 1780

Thomas Braithwaite, Coachman

I didn’t see the man at first, in the dark and the rain. It was only when he stepped out into the road, a mere few yards in front of the coach, that I saw him at all. I yelled, “Whoa!” and yanked on the reins to slow the horses down. He must have heard me, because he looked up and tried to jump out of the way, but I felt a thud, and heard a cry of pain.

I pulled the horses to a halt and stepped down from the box seat. That was when the carriage lamp lit up his face, and I got a better look at him.

It was not a comforting sight. He was lying on the ground and his arm was bleeding. He had no coat, his hair and clothes were soaking wet, and the eyes which were staring up at me displayed a wild light which gave him the appearance of a man possessed.

“Is anything the matter, sir?” I ventured to ask – although I knew the answer to this question almost before it had left my lips. Even without the injury to his arm, I could tell that there was clearly something very much the matter. No man in his right mind would be wandering across the moors, coatless and hatless, on a wet and blustery night such as this.

He stared at me and staggered to his feet, all the while muttering under his breath. As he drew nearer I could hear that he was making the same sound over and over again. But it made no sense. It sounded like “Degrade… degrade… degrade…”

I walked towards him, extending my hand.

“Sir, you are injured, and it is not good to be out in this foul weather. Please, will you allow me to transport you to your home?”

“Home?” he snarled, baring his teeth. “I have no home. Not now.”

I was anxious to know what had brought him hither, in a temper which so strongly matched the tempest around us – but this was neither the time nor the place to ask. Instead, I hastily tied my kerchief around the wound in his arm, then gestured towards the coach and offered to transport him to the nearby inn which was to be the coach’s destination for the night.

He appeared to consider this for a moment, then shrugged his thick-set shoulders and gave a barely perceptible nod.

I opened the coach door and motioned him to climb aboard. As he entered, I heard various words from the other passengers within, but could not make out what was being said. I closed the door behind him, climbed back into the box seat and tugged on the reins. The horses broke into a canter as we covered the remaining few miles to the inn.

I was troubled. Who was this mysterious stranger, and what was he fleeing from?

BUY LINK

http://mybook.to/heathcliff

ABOUT SUE BARNARD

heathcliff

Sue Barnard is a British novelist, editor and award-winning poet. She was born in North Wales but has spent most of her life in and around Manchester. After graduating from Durham University, where she studied French and Italian, Sue got married then had a variety of office jobs before becoming a full-time parent to her two sons. If she had her way, the phrase “non-working mother” would be banned from the English language.

In addition to working as an editor for Crooked Cat Publishing, Sue is the author of four novels: The Ghostly Father, Nice Girls Don’t, The Unkindest Cut of All and Never on Saturday.  Her fifth novel, Heathcliff, will be published on 30 July 2018, to coincide with the bicentenary of the birth of Emily Brontë.

Sue speaks French like a Belgian, German like a schoolgirl, and Italian and Portuguese like an Englishwoman abroad.  She is also very interested in Family History.  Her own background is far stranger than any work of fiction; she’d write a book about it if she thought anybody would believe her.

Sue lives in Cheshire, UK, with her extremely patient husband and a large collection of unfinished scribblings.

 

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

Twitter: @AuthorSusanB

Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1171386.Sue_Barnard

Instagram: suebarnardauthor

Google+:  https://plus.google.com/+SueBarnard

Blog: http://broad-thoughts-from-a-home.blogspot.co.uk/

GIVEAWAY

A first prize of a signed copy of Heathcliff (UK ONLY), and ten runner-up prizes of signed Heathcliff bookmarks (INTERNATIONAL).

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