Ramblings about books and life
I regularly share my top reads from this blog over at The Riviera Woman.
The Riviera Woman, run by Anna Fill, helps women living or working on the Riviera live life to the full with it’s inspirational people and interesting articles.
For February, I have chosen A Greek Affair by Linn B. Halton. You can read my review here.
I am so excited to be sharing with you the cover for Heidi Swain’s latest novel, Poppy’s Recipe for Life, which is due to be published in May 2019. For those of you who are familiar with Heidi’s books, this cover is a slight change in direction and, personally, I love it!
The image at the top of this post is a little taster of the delicious cover but before I reveal the full cover, here’s what Poppy’s Recipe for Life is about.
Treat yourself to a glorious novel full of food, sunshine, friendship and love
Things haven’t always been straightforward in Poppy’s life but her dreams are finally within her reach.
She’s moving into a cottage in beautiful Nightingale Square, close to the local community garden, where she can indulge her passion for making preserves and pickles. She may not have the best relationship with her family but she is surrounded by loving friends, and feels sure that even her grumpy new neighbour, Jacob, has more to him than his steely exterior belies.
But the unexpected arrival of Poppy’s troubled younger brother soon threatens her new-found happiness and as the garden team works together to win community space of the year, Poppy must decide where her priorities lie and what she is prepared to fight for …
Are you ready?
Here it is!!
What a gorgeous cover!!! It is so sophisticated and I can’t wait to see it brightening up bookshelves far and wide. It has really put me in the mood for Summer and I am so looking forward to reading it whilst lounging in the sunshine 🙂
Poppy’s Recipe for Life will be published by Simon & Schuster UK in May 2019 and can be found at the following links:
Although passionate about writing from an early age, Heidi Swain gained a degree in Literature, flirted briefly with a newspaper career, married and had two children before she plucked up the courage to join a creative writing class and take her literary ambitions seriously.
A lover of Galaxy bars, vintage paraphernalia and the odd bottle of fizz, she now writes feel good fiction with heart for Simon and Schuster.
Her debut novel, The Chery Tree Café was published in July 2015 and since then she has had a further six books published, becoming a Sunday Times Bestseller in 2017. She is currently preparing to celebrate the release of her 2019 summer title, Poppy’s Recipe for Life while working on her next project.
Heidi is represented by Amanda Preston and lives in Norfolk with her wonderful family and a mischievous cat called Storm.
You can find out more about Heidi on her website and connect with her on Facebook @WriterHeidiJoSwain and Twitter @Heidi_Swain.
I am delighted to be welcoming author Rachael Featherstone to Sarah’s Vignettes today. Rachael’s debut novel Puzzle Girl is out in paperback this month and she has written a beautiful piece to share with you about the inspiration behind the story. It’s straight from the heart and I am honoured to be featuring it. There is also a chance for you to win a copy of the book.
Thank you to Emily Glenister at The Dome Press for inviting me to take part in the blog tour and for sending me a copy of the book to be reviewed on Sarah’s Vignettes soon.
Love is a riddle waiting to be solved… Clued-up career girl Cassy Brookes has life under control until one disastrous morning changes everything. When she finds herself stuck in a doctor s surgery, a cryptic message left in a crossword magazine sends her on a search to find the mysterious puzzle-man behind it. Cassy is soon torn between tracking down her elusive dream guy, and outwitting her nightmare workmate, the devious Martin. Facing a puzzling love-life, will she ever be able to fit the pieces together and discover the truth behind this enigmatic man?
I’m often asked what inspired me to write Puzzle Girl. In a nutshell: my mum. But that doesn’t do her justice. It’s hard to put into words just how much of an inspiration my mum was for this book. She wasn’t just the base of a character or a cheerleader for my writing process. Without her, Puzzle Girl would never have existed, the idea or the physical book.
I was 23 when I found out my mum (aged 45) had terminal ovarian cancer. The news was devastating but my mum didn’t let it stop her from living every minute of her life to the fullest. She travelled, she fundraised, she did chemo and alternative treatments, she embraced a raw food diet and positive thinking. She surpassed the doctors’ expectations. She had always been an inspiration to me, bringing me up by herself, going to university as a mature student to become a primary school teacher when I was young. But during her illness she showed me just how strong she really was.
I tried to hold it together, but I needed an outlet for the emotions I was feeling. When I was a self-conscious teenager, the first book that offered me true escapism and made me laugh-out-loud was Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella. So it just seemed to make sense – at a time when I really needed to find reasons to laugh – to try writing a romantic comedy.
The idea for Puzzle Girl began to take shape while I was sat in a hospital waiting room with my mum. There was a stack of magazines. I began wondering what would happen if someone had left a message in one of them and the story grew from there. While none of the book is based on true events or people, my mum was the catalyst for writing the book and I wanted her reflected in the story in some way.
At one point in the novel, Cassy (for reasons I will leave you to discover!) finds herself reluctantly in a yoga class. My mum only trained to be a yoga teacher when I was older so it’s not often how I remember her but many people do. She touched so many people’s lives. She was the sunshine on a rainy day. That’s why I created Letitia Sunshine.
My mum died before I finished my book but she never doubted I would get it published one day. When she was in the hospice, I read her the Letitia Sunshine passage and it is so special to me. Puzzle Girl has gone through HUGE structural changes since then, but the short scene with Letitia Sunshine is almost unchanged from the original. Knowing my mum heard that part is so incredibly important to me.
Writing Puzzle Girl was in many ways a coping mechanism for what was going on in my life at the time. Puzzle Girl is more than just my debut novel, it contains a memory, a part of my history and a link to my mum, that I will always cherish. I hope reading Puzzle Girl offers you some escapism and makes you laugh whether on a rainy day or in the sunshine!
Puzzle Girl was published by The Dome Press in ebook in August 2018 and in paperback in January 2019. It can be found at Amazon UK and on Goodreads.
For your chance to win a paperback copy of Puzzle Girl, click on the button below. The giveaway is open until 12am on 20 January 2019. A winner will be announced shortly afterwards. UK entries only please. Good luck!! Full terms and conditions are below the entry button.
*Terms and Conditions –UK and Ireland entries only. Please enter using the button above. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Sarah’s Vignettes will delete the data. Sarah’s Vignettes is not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
Rachael Featherstone was born and raised in Woodford. Her path to writing was a little unorthodox. After reading Mathematics at Oxford University, New College, Rachael went to work in research.
When Rachael’s mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2012, Rachael decided to take a chance, quit her job, and fulfill a lifetime ambition to write a novel. She went back to university and completed a Masters in English Literature and had several short stories published.
Rachael now lives in Hampshire with her husband and daughter.
You can find out more about Rachael on her website www.writerachael.com and connect with her on Facebook @RachaelFeatherstoneAuthor, Twitter @WRITERachael and Instagram @rachael_featherstone
Do drop by the other blogs on the Puzzle Girl tour!
I’m excited to be taking part in another Love Books Group bookstagram tour over on Instagram. Thank you to Kelly Lacey at Love Books Group for inviting me to take part and to Wild Pressed Books for sending me a copy of the book.
For each day of the tour, a creative photo featuring a physical copy of the book is posted by a bookstagrammer on Instagram and a copy of the book blurb is included in the post’s description.
Today’s post is for a non-fiction book called And the Swans Began to Sing by Icelandic author Thora Karitas Arnadottir.
The swans on the lake began to sing. It was singing so loud they were almost screaming as if they were encouraging me to release what I had been keeping inside for so long.
Gudbjorg Thorisdottir has been hiding from the ghost of an ugly secret for most of her life. When she finally faces the truth of what happened in her childhood, the ghost floats away. Painting an evocative picture of life in Iceland, this is the story of a little girl who didn’t know how unnatural it was to experience both heaven and hell in the same house.
Thora Karitas Arnadottir studied drama in the UK and has worked as an actress for most of her life, appearing on stage, in films and on television. And the Swans Began to Sing is the English translation of her creative nonfiction Mörk – saga mömmu, which was nominated for the Icelandic Woman’s Literary prize in 2016. Thora is currently working on her first novel, which will be released in Iceland in 2019
I adore this cover which is so subtle but yet I already feel that it describes the book perfectly! Do head on over to Instagram using the button below to check it out fully. Even if you do not have an Instagram account, you should still be able to view the photo.
I am thrilled to be sharing my review of Linn B. Halton’s latest novel A Greek Affair with you today.
Thank you to Rachel Gilbey at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to take part and to Harper Impulse for an ecopy of the book.
Read on for my review and for your chance to win a bottle of rose wine and some chocolates.
More than just a holiday romance?
Her daughter, her job and divorcing her untrustworthy ex are Leah’s main priorities. She isn’t really bothered that her life might be missing a few things. But after winning a prestigious travel blogger award, she’s inundated with offers to review glamorous holiday destinations. Lying around drinking exotic cocktails and being paid for it! What could be better?
Perhaps a romantic trip to idyllic Greece to find the one man who might make Leah risk her heart again…
When I heard that Linn B. Halton had a new novel coming out, I couldn’t wait for it to land on my Kindle. I read The Secrets of Villa Rosso back in July and adored it (read my review) so I was hoping that I would feel the same about A Greek Affair. I am delighted to say that it did not disappoint!
A Greek Affair is a contemporary romance novel which follows 31-year old single mum and travel blogger Leah and her 9 year old daughter Rosie as they transition through an important part of their life after Leah wins a prestigious blogger award and the offers start rolling in.
I warmed to Leah instantly. We are around the same age and both have interests in photography and blogging. I think it is worth highlighting that Linn B. Halton illustrates very well how much time and effort it takes to run a blog, let alone to make it award winning. As a blogger, it was endearing to read.
Rosie is just a delight and very mature for a 9 year old. I also adored Harrison, who Leah meets on one of her assignments. Every woman should have a Harrison in their lives. You’ll have to read the story to find out what I mean by that!
Linn B. Halton’s writing is so fluid that it makes A Greek Affair an easy read and her description is immersive – both of which I know are not easy to produce. I read this story in cold, rainy December and was instantly transported to summer in Athens, sitting by the pool, visiting tourist sites early in the morning to avoid the heat of the midday sun and then chilling in the shade whilst sampling the delights of Greek cuisine.
I don’t know what it is about Linn B. Halton’s writing but as in The Secrets of Villa Rosso, there were occasions where her words jumped off of the page and touched me deeply. Something in me really resonates with Linn’s writing and I love that connection between a reader and writer.
This story goes so much deeper than the cover and blurb suggest. It’s fabulous and I am very much looking forward to reading Linn’s next book.
A Greek Affair was published by Harper Impulse as an ebook on 28 December 2018 and can be found at Amazon UK and on Goodreads.
To enter to win this delicious prize of rose wine and chocolates, click on the button below 🙂
*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
Please note that Sarah’s Vignettes is not responsible for this giveaway.
From interior designer to author, Linn B. Halton – who also writes under the pen name of Lucy Coleman – says ‘it’s been a fantastic journey!’
Linn is the bestselling author of more than a dozen novels and is excited to be writing for both Aria Fiction (Head of Zeus) and Harper Impulse (Harper Collins); she’s represented by Sara Keane of the Keane Kataria Literary Agency.
When she’s not writing, or spending time with the family, she’s either upcycling furniture or working in the garden.
Linn won the 2013 UK Festival of Romance: Innovation in Romantic Fiction award; her novels have been short-listed in the UK’s Festival of Romance and the eFestival of Words Book Awards.
Living in Coed Duon in the Welsh Valleys with her ‘rock’, Lawrence, and gorgeous Bengal cat Ziggy, she freely admits she’s an eternal romantic.
Linn is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and writes feel-good, uplifting novels about life, love and relationships.
You can find out more about Linn on her website http://linnbhalton.co.uk/ and connect with her on Facebook @LinnBHaltonAuthor and Twitter @LinnBHalton.
Be sure to drop by the other blogs on the tour!
I’m excited to be taking part in my first ever bookstagram tour over on Instagram today. Thank you to Kelly Lacey at Love Books Group for inviting me to take part and for sending me a copy of the book.
For each day of a tour, a creative photo featuring a physical copy of the book on tour, is posted by a bookstagrammer and a copy of the book blurb is included in the post’s description.
Today’s post is for a fiction book called What’s Left Unsaid by Deborah Stone and the book cover is gorgeous! Do head on over to Instagram using the button below to check it out. Even if you do not have an Instagram account, you should still be able to see the photo.
I regularly share my top reads from this blog over at The Riviera Woman.
The Riviera Woman, run by Anna Fill, helps women living or working on the Riviera live life to the full with it’s inspirational people and interesting articles.
For December, I have chosen None So Blind by Alis Hawkins. You can read my review here.
