Eleanor Harkstead's Blog, page 10

The Colour of Mermaids reviewed by Totally Booked Blog

…an emotional, dark and gripping suspenseful romance. The darkness increased as secrets were exposed, yet the romance built into a beautiful love affair.

Read the full review at Totally Booked Blog.

The Man in Room 423 reviewed by Chicks, Rogues and Scandals

This one is all about the suspense element, it’s all about the plot with the romance between Ben and Lizzie flawlessly riding alongside, which makes for a perfect and undoubtedly epic love story with a twist.

Read the full review at the Chicks, Rogues and Scandals blog.

The Man in Room 423 – out on 5th May

This one is all about the suspense element, it’s all about the plot with the romance between Ben and Lizzie flawlessly riding alongside, which makes for a perfect and undoubtedly epic love story with a twist. – Chicks, Rogues and Scandals

Published 5th May 2020 by Totally Bound. Available in paperback and ebook from Amazon and other retailers.

In a heady cocktail of passion and poison, who can you really trust?

When Lizzie Aspinall and her sister meet for cocktails in a high-rise bar, the last thing she’s expecting is to spend the night in the arms of the nameless man in room 423. As a one-night stand with a stranger turns into a steamy affair with a dedicated detective, Lizzie finds herself in the sights of a stalker.

Ben Finneran has spent ten years pursuing a ruthless serial killer who poisons victims at random before disappearing into the shadows. He wants to believe that the attraction he and Lizzie share is just physical, but when they find themselves falling for each other, is Ben unwittingly leading a murderer straight to her door?

Pursued by the past and threatened by the present, who can Lizzie and Ben really trust?

Excerpt

Lizzie saw him in the light of his uncurtained hotel window. He leant one hand casually against the pane, looking back at her across the dark December street.

She watched him over the rim of her glass. Office Christmas parties were loud in the bar around her, but she was barely aware of them. All she could see was the man at the window, immaculate in a dark-coloured suit, the white of his shirt as crisp as frost.

“Earth to Lizzie. Come in, Lizzie!” Long, coral pink acrylic nails snapped in front of her eyes and Donna set down two glasses of a bright red cocktail, a cherry bobbing on the surface like a drowning man. “You need a crowbar to get served in here tonight!”

She wasn’t going to tell Donna about the man in the window. She wanted him for herself, so that she could pass through what remained of this evening with her sister in the knowledge that she and she alone had seen him.

And that he had seen her.

The interested glance of a stranger.

“What on earth sort of cocktail is that?” Lizzie attempted a grin. She put it to her mouth to taste it and exaggerated her recoil. “Gosh, that’s strong!”

She allowed herself a quick look. He was still there. He was still watching.

He might even be smiling.

“Aaaand still nothing from Matt.” Donna’s frosted pink lips turned down into a frown as she stared at the phone she held. She sighed and threw it down on the table, sending it skidding into a puddle of someone else’s spilled beer. “He finished training hours ago, where is he?”

“Maybe he’s busy? You did insist on marrying a footballer.”

“You did insist,” Donna mimicked her sister, a petulant child once more. “And he’s not playing tonight, he’s not training tonight, he’s not here tonight. So where is my Matt? There’re some strange people out there, Lizzie, and he doesn’t look out for himself sometimes!”

“I’m sure he’s okay. Maybe he’s drinking with the squad. Lads’ night out. Or maybe he’s at his mum’s, eating beans on toast!”

“I hope so.” Donna shook her head and swirled the cocktail glass by its stem. “We’ve had to get the police involved, you know. He’s had some horrible messages sent to the club, really nasty stuff. They’ve said not to worry, but… Well, I love him. I don’t like to think of someone being out to get him.”

Lizzie reached across the table and gave her sister’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “That’s terrible, Donna! But you’ve done the right thing, going to the police. It’ll be okay.”

Would it be? But her sister had chosen this existence, had sought it out, pursued it and embraced it.

“That’s celebrity life, Don. I’ve heard similar from some of my clients. And you know what they say to me? I knew I’d made it when I got my first stalker.”

That seemed to please Donna, just a little reminder that she had won her premiership striker, that she was the closest Manchester came to royalty. Donna beamed a bright smile and patted her poker-straight blonde hair into place, though it was immaculate already. “I always said I’d be a WAG, didn’t I? When you were stitching dresses for your dolls, I was dreaming about my footballers! A girl’s got to have ambition, after all.”

“Mine was to run my own business and be my own boss.” Lizzie smiled. “And I am.”

She took a sip of her cocktail, punctuating her comment, then pushed the glass away. It tasted like medicine.

Her sister just laughed in response and glanced around, her attention caught by a group of loud, tanned, gym-honed young men by the bar. As if by habit, her eyelids fluttered and she dropped her gaze, forming her lips into a perfect selfie-pout. Donna de Luca was confident in her glamour in a way that Lizzie had never quite been.

Lizzie propped her elbow on the table and peered outside again. He was still there. Had he watched her, even as she’d looked away at her sister?

Never breaking his glance, he slowly unbuttoned his jacket and flung it in one smooth movement onto a chair. His hands were at his throat, and seconds later, a tie went after the jacket. And now he was attending to the cuffs of his shirt. Although a street and several floors divided them, Lizzie was sure that he must have been wearing cufflinks. They went into his pocket.

She swallowed, her free hand toying with the beads of her wooden necklace.

He was unbuttoning his shirt, from the neck down. Then it was off. But on the floor this time, at his feet.

He pressed both palms to the glass, his toned, bare torso on show for her.

For someone. Had a complete stranger really just stripped for Lizzie Aspinall? Partially, that is.

His hands drifted to his belt. Then he turned his body away, his glance lingering for just a second longer before he strolled across the room and vanished from her sight.

“Matty!” Donna snatched up her mobile as a text buzzed across the screen. She swiped her thumb from left to right on the glass and immediately started to tap out a reply, her finger moving with confidence from key to key. “Oh my God, Lizkins. He was tanning!”

“A special coat of creosote for Christmas?” Lizzie laughed. “Is he going to come to our parents’? It would’ve been our turn at Neil’s parents, but seeing as we’ve split up… I was thinking of going to our parents’, but I’m tempted to lurk about the flat by myself. Just enjoy being on my own, in my PJs, even if— Donna, are you listening?”

“Just a mo, sweets.” Donna didn’t even look up from the screen, her finger moving swiftly from letter to letter. “I can’t listen to you and text. I’ve had too many drinkies for that!”

Not for the first time, Lizzie wondered why she had agreed to come out. Because Donna had insisted, ‘because you’ve got to go out and meet people’. But Lizzie would’ve been content to stay at home. Even though home was makeshift, it was hers.

She looked again at the hotel room. It was empty.

Minutes passed, then from the corner of Lizzie’s eye, there was movement. The man was back in the window.

Donna was still intent on her phone. Lizzie placed a hand to the side of her face, as if she were merely relaxing, but instead, she was staring.

The man was wearing nothing but a towel.

Neat and white, it was tucked in at his waist and hung to just below his knees. He ran a hand through his dark hair and slowly shook his head from side to side. Even from where she was, Lizzie could see the water droplets fly away. He resumed his pose, leaning with one hand on the glass. Leaning and looking across the street at Lizzie.

Who does he see when he looks at me?

Interview: Zoe Allison

Debut author Zoe Allison’s first novel, Impervious, is published on 14th April by Totally Bound. A busy medic by day, she took time out to talk to us about writing her first book and what draws her to paranormal romance.

Welcome to our blog, Zoe! Tell us about your journey to publication.

I started writing around 4 years ago. I was looking for a creative outlet and initially I wrote children’s picture books, because with two small children that was all I was reading at the time! After that I got back into reading romance and a few things spurred me on to start writing my own romances. It was partly being inspired by other writers and also the feeling that if I was to write my own, it would be satisfying to be the master of the story’s destiny. I decided to give it a go and wrote my first, contemporary, romance.

I read about the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s New Writer’s Scheme and felt it would be an excellent way to get professional feedback, which I felt I needed in order to grow as a writer. I therefore bided my time until the next intake of members and on the day in question sat with my finger hovering over the “send” button on my join request email, until the clocked ticked onto the time that applications would be accepted. As I had predicted it was an excellent opportunity. I had already started writing Impervious as that first manuscript went through the scheme and in my second year with the NWS, I submitted it. My feedback was so helpful and inspiring. I decided to make the suggested changes and resubmit the next year (2019). Whilst awaiting my critique another fantastic writer on the RNA Facebook group posted about Totally Bound accepting submissions in a few genres, including vampire and paranormal. I decided nothing ventured nothing gained, and submitted. They got back to me a few days later with the offer of publication and I ended up in shock for a number of days!

What do you enjoy about writing paranormal romance?

I enjoy the escapism of it. Writing is an escape full stop, but even more so when it’s in a genre such as paranormal because anything is possible and so your imagination can run wild.

There are many vampires in novels and films. Do you have a favourite in books or on the big screen?

My favourite and inspiration is The Vampire Diaries. I first discovered it in its T.V format and went on to read and enjoy the original books by L.J Smith.

Are you planning on spring-cleaning your bottom drawer? Any manuscripts or ideas you plan to dust down and revisit? Or is spring for you about new beginnings and a new project?

Both to be honest! I’m working on something new currently, and after I’m finished, I want to revisit my original contemporary manuscript which went through the NWS the first time. I thought I could spruce it up utilising my learning from the publication process.

Can you tell us – or hint at – what you’re working on at the moment?

Currently I am writing the sequel to Impervious. I don’t plan on any more in the series after that and my next new idea is a time travel romance.

Do you have writing habits – such as always getting up early to write, or writing in the evening? Or do you write when the mood takes you? Are you a plotter or a “pantser”?

I don’t have any particular habits, between work and family life I just steal the time when I can. Mainly I’ve been writing on my day off when the kids are at school. For my first manuscript and Impervious I was a pantser, but now I have evolved into a hybrid planster for the sequel! I have outlined where I want to end up and the major points along the way but will fly by the seat of my pants for the in-betweens.

Where do you write? Have you got a little nook at home, or do you write wherever you happen to be on a laptop or on your phone?

A mixture. On my day off I tend to use my study. Prior to my writing it was a general dumping ground for books and work-related papers but now it has a much better use. I sometimes steal time on my laptop in our garden room, and a few minutes here and there out and about if there is an opportunity.

Impervious

She excels as an assassin. Will she fail at love?

Vampires are real, existing alongside regular humans as a secret subspecies. The malevolent of their kind exploit their powers and immortality at the expense of their human counterparts. The Organization, a league of benevolent vampires headed up by the anonymous Mr. X, works covertly to keep this threat in check. Amber Ridley is the company’s top agent, unique to the team as the only human working alongside her vampire allies. She is an ‘Impervious’, a rare human with powers that can be used against the malevolent.

When Amber’s latest mission takes her back to the UK to work with her close companion Valentino, she meets his old colleague Hayden Knight. Hayden is infamous to Amber as the man who betrayed their organization and abandoned her friend Valentino in the past. She dislikes Hayden instantly, and his arrogant, cold demeanor does nothing to aid this.

Amber and Hayden are forced to work together on The Organization’s most important mission to date, and they must put aside their differences to take down the menace that threatens the very existence of their group. Amber must put her trust in Hayden, but is she impervious to love?

Order Impervious now from Totally Bound, Amazon, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble. Available in ebook and paperback.

About the author

Zoe lives in Edinburgh, Scotland with her husband and two children. A medic by day, she started writing in her spare time as a means to counter burn out and found that this was a balm for the soul.

She is a fan of the romantic genre and its “happy ever after” ethos. A sharp contrast to what she can, at times, see in her day job. Zoe is keen for the female lead in romantic fiction to disabuse stereotypes and walk on an equal footing with her male counterparts. She prefers male leads who do not display signs of toxic masculinity and believes and that positive masculinity is much more attractive to women and healthier for men.

Her debut novel “Impervious” is on preorder now and will be published on 14th April 2020 by Totally Bound.

Find out more at Zoe’s website and follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

Interview: Morton S Gray

Morton S Gray popped by to have a chat with us about writing romantic suspense.

Can you tell us a bit about your journey to publication?

I have always written. I can remember the delight of learning to read and write words at infant school and I’ve enjoyed both processes ever since. My first novel closely resembled the Errol Flynn swashbuckling films I used to watch with my nan on Sunday afternoons. I gave this first novel to a school friend to read when I was fourteen. I still have the original typewriter written pages.

As with many writers, life then got in the way! I didn’t really write seriously again until 2008 when the need to tell my stories began to build. Of course, you could argue that by then I’d experienced enough of life to have something to actually write about.

I went with a friend to weekly sessions run by author Sue Johnson in Pershore and again discovered the delights of putting down words to tell stories and form poems. Sue mentioned the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s New Writer’s Scheme (NWS) and I applied and got a place in 2012. The NWS is invaluable as it gives a critique of a full-length novel for each year you are a member. I had fun and experimented with different sorts of novel – contemporary, historical and timeslip.

I began to enter competitions for first chapters of novels and began to get shortlisted, notably for the New Talent Award at the Festival of Romance in 2013 with the first chapter of what became my second published novel The Truth Lies Buried.

Eventually, I won a competition in 2016 – The Choc Lit Search for a Star competition for the publication of my debut novel, The Girl on the Beach. I will be forever grateful to Choc Lit for taking a chance on me.

I’ve now had three novels published – The Girl on the Beach, The Truth Lies Buried and Christmas at Borteen Bay – all set in my fictional seaside town of Borteen. My publisher is currently having a look at my fourth manuscript, working title Mandy’s Story.

What do you enjoy about writing romantic suspense? Are you a plotter or a “pantser”?

When I start writing a novel, I only have a vague idea, which might be a place, a person or a scenario. I don’t plan, as for me the beauty of writing a novel is to solve the mystery in my book as I go along. I think if I knew what was going to happen, I would get bored and stop writing.

I love the idea of the mystery and the romance unfolding in my notebook and the story often takes unexpected turns to keep me on my toes and test my inventiveness.

Are you planning on spring-cleaning your bottom drawer, or is spring for you about new beginnings and a new project?

I am currently undergoing a decluttering of the whole house. I’m finding this quite painful and difficult, besides time consuming! I’ve never considered myself a hoarder, but at least the charity shops are benefitting from this experience.

I’ve also made a list of manuscripts that I have in progress. Now I just need to get on and write, edit and submit.

Can you tell us – or hint at – what you’re working on at the moment?

I have literally just finished another novel set in my fictional seaside town of Borteen and featuring Mandy, a character who has appeared in all three of my published novels to date. Next up, is a Christmas novella about the Borteen solicitor.

Do you have writing habits or do you write when the mood takes you?

I always used to be pretty organised, achieving a set word count each day, but for the last eighteen months I’ve been suffering with persistent migraines and strange allergies, which have made writing anything at all quite difficult. Readers probably wonder where I have gone – or at least I hope they do. At the moment, I’m grateful for anything I write at all.

Where do you write? Have you got a little nook at home, or do you write wherever you happen to be?

I’m lucky to have my own study. The only downside is that it is right by the front door and everyone dumps things in there. My favourite place to write, however, is with a notebook and pen in a cosy café with a nice coffee in front of me.

Tell us about your three published novels.

They are all romantic suspense novels, or romance with a mystery to solve as I prefer to say, all set in my fictional seaside town of Borteen.

My debut novel The Girl on the Beach follows the story of Ellie Golden, a woman with a troubled past as she tries to unravel the mystery surrounding her son’s new headteacher, Harry Dixon. She is convinced that she has known the man before but with a different name. The book is available as a paperback and e-book.

My second book for Choc Lit The Truth Lies Buried is another romantic suspense novel. This one tells the story of Jenny Simpson and Carver Rodgers as they uncover secrets from their past surrounding the disappearance of their fathers around the same time when they were young. This book is available as an e-book, paperback, audio download and audiobook.

Christmas at Borteen Bay is my first Christmas novella. It follows the story of Pippa Freeman, who runs the Rose Court Guesthouse in Borteen alongside her mother, and local policeman Ethan Gibson, as they unravel a family secret as Christmas approaches. The book starts when a body is found on Borteen beach. This one is available as an e-book and audio download.

About Morton S. Gray

Morton lives with her husband, two sons and Lily, the tiny white dog, in Worcestershire, U.K. She is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and The Society of Authors. Morton previously worked in the electricity industry in committee services, staff development and training. She has a Business Studies degree and is a fully qualified Clinical Hypnotherapist and Reiki Master. She also has diplomas in Tuina acupressure massage and energy field therapy. She enjoys crafts, history and loves tracing family trees. Having a hunger for learning new things is a bonus for the research behind her books.

You can catch up with Morton on her website. Follow Morton on Twitter at @MortonSGray, and on Facebook.

Buy The Girls at the Beach, The Truth Lies Buried Christmas at Borteen Bay direct from Choc Lit publishing, as well as from Amazon etc.

Interview: Sue Fortin

Today we’re chatting to bestselling romantic suspense author Sue Fortin.

Can you tell us a bit about your journey to publication?

I’ve been writing stories since I was a child, I think it was my love of books which made me want to write my own. However, I didn’t complete my first manuscript until about twelve years ago when I was on maternity leave with my youngest.

I was on the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s New Writers’ Scheme and sent my manuscript in. Needless to say it required a lot of work. I spent the next twelve months working on it and the following year sent it through the scheme again. This time it came back with excellent feedback and comments that it was ‘book ready’. I took the decision to self-publish as I was part of an indie group at the time but a year later HarperCollins started up a new imprint called HarperImpulse and I submitted my book to them. I was delighted when they offered me a three-book deal as a result and I have been published within the HarperCollins group for all my books – eight in total.

What do you enjoy about writing romantic suspense?

I’ve always loved a thriller or mystery type of book to read, as well enjoying a romance story so it felt natural to merge the two genres together. I like writing about the danger that can complicate a relationship or vice versa.

Are you planning on spring-cleaning your bottom drawer, or is spring for you about new beginnings and a new project?

I am actually planning to revisit a romantic suspense novella I wrote about five years ago that needs tidying up having since had a professional edit. I’m looking to release that later this year.

Can you tell us – or hint at – what you’re working on at the moment?

I’ve just submitted my latest manuscript to my agent which is a dual timeline where romance and suspense/adventure feature heavily. It’s a book I’ve wanted to write for a long time but never had the opportunity until last year. Although it’s not my dad’s story, it was inspired by a photograph of my dad and my daughter sitting together laughing.

Sue Fortin writes in a rather lovely garden office.
Do you have writing habits or do you write when the mood takes you? Are you a plotter or a “pantser”?

I have a school aged daughter who I have to get to school first before I can do any work. Fortunately, she starts school very early, so I can be back at my desk by 8.30 am where I try to work until at least 12.30. After that I often help my older daughter with her two children and then it’s time to pick up my younger daughter. If I’m on a deadline then I work evenings and weekends. I usually start a new project with a reasonably formed idea but I’m not wedded to it as it often takes unexpected twists and turns. I’ve tried plotting in detail but have never stuck to that, so although I do plot, it is very loosely.

Where do you write? Have you got a little nook at home, or do you write wherever you happen to be on a laptop or on your phone?

I’m very lucky to have a garden room my husband built especially for me to work in. We have a busy household so working in the house isn’t always ideal. I love going down to the garden room as it’s nice to look out at the veg patch, watch the garden birds or just to admire the view through the hedgerow and across the fields – oh and I do some writing if I’m not too distracted!

Sue Fortin
Tell us about your latest release

My latest book was published last year by HarperCollins called The Dead Wife which is a romantic suspense set in the Lake District in the UK. Here’s the blub …

Police have ruled out suspicious circumstances in the investigation into the death of Elizabeth Sinclair, wife of charismatic entrepreneur Harry Sinclair, found drowned in the lake of the family’s holiday park.

It’s been two years since the Sinclair case closed but when reporter Steph Durham receives a tipoff that could give her the scoop of the year, she’s drawn deeper and deeper into the secretive Sinclair family.

Elizabeth’s death wasn’t a tragic accident. And the truth will come at a deadly price…

Find out more about Sue Fortin and her books on Amazon, and at her website. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

Chicks, Rogues and Scandals reviews The Colour of Mermaids

I am in complete love with it, I was glued to every single page, it was intoxicating to read, with thrills, romance, secrets and real darkness that had me hooked. Plus it’s super, super sexy

Read Frankie’s full review at Chicks, Rogues and Scandals.

Out today! The Colour of Mermaids

Published on 24th March 2020. Available in ebook and in paperback from Amazon, Totally Bound and other retailers.

In a world of childhood secrets and tabloid scandals, is falling for the bad boy of British art as risky as it is raunchy?

When artist Eva Catesby is invited to an exhibition in honour of art world enfant terrible Daniel Scott, she’s expected to follow the crowd and sing his praises. Instead she tells him what she really thinks and sparks fly. As they plunge headlong into a wild affair, Eva becomes the target of unwanted attention from an unseen enemy.

Daniel Scott is famous for his paintings. Filled with darkness and tormented imagery, his canvases are as mysterious as his background. Until he meets Eva, Daniel is a stranger to criticism and doesn’t know what it means to fall in love.

Can Eva help Daniel overcome his childhood demons or will a fatal secret from the past destroy their future?

Excerpt

Of course Eva wasn’t going to turn down her invitation to the private viewing at the Hawley Gallery. Daniel Scott, enfant terrible of the international art world, was exhibiting in Brighton of all places.

She arrived fifteen minutes early, but the gallery was almost full. It seemed as if everyone who was anyone on the Brighton art scene had turned up for vast amounts of free drink and air-kissing. Eva waved to people she knew, and finally spotted her friend Lyndsey on the other side of the room in front of one of Daniel Scott’s canvases. Somehow, a glass of Prosecco had appeared in her hand by the time she had squeezed through the crowd to reach Lyndsey.

“Hello, gorgeous!” Lyndsey put her hand on Eva’s arm and leaned in to dart her lips to her cheek. As she did, she dropped her voice and whispered, “Not many laughs on these walls tonight!”

“Hello, darling!” Eva kissed Lyndsey back, her friend’s summery floral scent enveloping them both like a cloud. “No, his work’s not a laugh a minute, is it? But it’s so exciting that the exhibition’s here. And thanks so much for sorting me out with an invite.”

“I don’t actually understand what it is. I don’t think I like it.” Lyndsey peered up at the canvas before her. From it, something vaguely human glowered down, a twisted, misshapen silhouette of a human face in a mist of fog. She cocked her head to one side then the other and shrugged. Then she smiled and murmured, “It needs a kitten or two, then we’ll talk.”

Eva laughed. “Like the ones on tea trays that grannies used to have? You do crack me up! I love his paintings… I’m always drawing things in my illustrations. It must be so freeing to paint emotion.”

“I haven’t met him yet, but Rupert says he’s super intense.” Lyndsey took a glass of Prosecco from the tray of a passing waiter. “He wouldn’t let us so much as hang a single work until he’d been through the space a dozen times. We’ve had some tricky artistic types through, but nothing like this. Rupert’d let him paint the place neon green if he wanted, though, for the exposure we’re getting.”

“I can’t say I’m surprised that he’s intense. I mean, to produce art like this.” Eva recalled the photos she’d seen of him in newspapers and magazines, dark eyes like coals that seemed to burn through the paper. “Then again, I bet he’s been really spoiled over the years. Don’t you think? Mr Rockstar Artist!”

“I just want another lovely sculptress to come and give us all biccies like that one from Cornwall.” Lyndsey pouted. “She was so nice, like the perfect mum! I mean, nobody came to see her work but…that meant biccies for the office!”

“Sorry about that, Lynds… I was busy.” Eva hadn’t been, of course, but at the time she hadn’t wanted to go out and her own studio had been her sanctuary. “She sounds lovely, though. No biscuits from Mr Scott, I take it?”

“No, nothing from Mr Scott other than shirty emails from his people about the quality of the light and the spacing between the works.” She took a sip from her glass. “You know none of them are for sale, and we’ve had offers on every single one?” Lyndsey dropped her voice again and confided, “I can’t tell you how much because Rupert won’t tell me. He just says think of an insane number and then add at least one zero. Mr Man-in-Black apparently might let some go once the exhibition closes. Personally, I can’t think who’d want one! Would you want these things above your bed?”

“Possibly not!” Eva looked up again at the canvas. She had trouble turning away from it. She’d seen his paintings reproduced in books and everywhere else, but actually seeing his artwork up close—close enough to see each individual brush mark—made the emotion it represented all the more intense. “But imagine it in the lounge, it’d be quite the conversation piece at parties!”

“The problem is, to buy this you’d have to sell your house, so you’d have no lounge to hang it in!”

“That’s true!” Eva laughed. “Thing is, don’t you think he should, I dunno, up his game a little? Develop his style a bit? It is exciting seeing all these works up close, but it’s as if he’s painting to a tried-and-tested formula. The Daniel Scott Method!”

“Are you accusing our enfant terrible of painting by numbers?” Lyndsey affected mock outrage. “Tell me more, Ms da Vinci!”

Eva gestured towards the painting while she sipped a mouthful of Prosecco. “Well, I do paint myself, as you know, and I try to…do different things. I mean, imagine if he broke from type and did a landscape. Although I suppose if you get to be as famous as him you’re trapped in one style, because everyone expects to see a Daniel Scott, and this is what they want.”

“Oh, don’t stop there,” a male voice said from behind the two women. “I’m enjoying learning from a master.”

Eva didn’t recognise the voice, although it seemed familiar. Some annoying hanger-on, no doubt, who thought they were an expert. But when she turned, her eyebrow already raised in scornful retort, she was facing Daniel Scott himself.

His coal-black eyes held Eva fixed to the spot. “I…erm… My God, Mr Scott. If I’d known you were stood right behind me, I really wouldn’t have said all that. Sorry. Erm…” She swallowed, then held out her hand to him, an awkward grin on her lips. “Eva Catesby. I am actually an artist, before you ask! Not just an opinionated bystander.”

“Eva Catesby.” He took her hand very briefly and narrowed his eyes as though trying to recall her name. “Did I see you exhibited at the Met last season? Or was it the Tate Modern? You’ll have to remind me, I seem to have forgotten.”

Because, of course, he has to be an egomaniac.

Eva rolled her eyes. “How unfortunate that you can’t remember. By the way, you also appear to have forgotten your sunglasses. We are indoors.” She indicated his Ray-Bans, which were perched on his dark hair.

“Eva!” Lyndsey whispered urgently, no doubt seeing her job as PA to Rupert Hawley flashing before her eyes.

“That’s why they’re not on my face,” he replied, deadpan. “As you correctly say, everybody wants to see Daniel Scott and they’d be disappointed if I didn’t have my sunglasses. I’ve always been a people pleaser.”

“Is that so?” Eva arched her eyebrow again. He was dressed entirely in black. His suit, his shirt. Was it an act, and at home he tooled about in flip-flops and Bermuda shorts? “Of course, some people are much harder to please than others. And I’m one of those people, I’m afraid. What can I say? I’m sure you’re not all that fussed by the views of a provincial artist you’ve never heard of.”

“Mr Scott.” Rupert Hawley was suddenly beside them, as if conjured from nowhere. He was almost bowing, Eva realised, his hand extending to shake Daniel’s. “I was hoping to announce you, you managed to evade me!”

“I was meeting the locals,” Daniel told him. He subtly turned from Eva, angling his body away from her a little. “Tough crowd.”

Rupert glanced to the two women for just a moment, but word of the artist’s presence seemed to have spread and an interested crowd was gathering. Everyone was eager to meet the star in their midst and none of them, Eva knew, would tell him that he needed to try something just a little different next time he put brush to canvas.

“That’s Brighton for you.” Rupert managed to force a smile to accompany his words. He moved to put his hand on Daniel’s back as though to steer him away, but it hovered there before falling. He can’t touch the icon, can he? All he could do was wring his hands and say, “Let me introduce you to some people. Excuse us, ladies.”

“Ms Catesby,” Daniel addressed Eva, the hint of a smile chilling on his lips, “thank you for the notes. I’ll keep them in mind.”

“Oh my God,” Lyndsey groaned as they departed in a crowd of excited chatter. “Oh my God, oh my God. Why did you do have to do that? You didn’t have to do that!”

“Do what?” Eva sipped her drink as she watched Daniel walk away. Cocky sod. Although, she had to admit it, a very good-looking sod, which was probably part of the problem. A man who had lucked out thanks to the universe granting him both a handsome face and talent. “I was merely expressing an opinion. That’s the point of a private viewing, isn’t it? I mean, I know everyone really just comes out for the free booze and schmoozing, but there are paintings on the walls, and we’re allowed to comment on them. It’s not my fault he was eavesdropping. His work is great, but I just think… Bloody hell, if he pushed himself, it could be amazing.”

“It’s Daniel Scott,” Lyndsey reminded her. “His last exhibition was at the Pompidou and when he came back to England he didn’t go to the Tate or the National, he came to our humble little gallery. You were really rude to him, Eva, that wasn’t on. It costs nothing to be nice, you know.”

“I did apologise, but then he came out with all that egotistical bollocks, and I saw red.” Eva adopted a snooty tone. “I’ve exhibited at the Met, I’ve exhibited at the Tate Modern, I’m a great big poser with my sunglasses on my head, I dress in black because I want everyone to think I’m a badass, I still sleep with my teddy.”

“It was rude,” Lyndsey told her again. “And you were saying you loved his work, why didn’t you tell him that?”

“Because that’s all he ever hears!” Eva watched his progress through the room, handshaking with some of the most annoying people in Brighton. Everyone was smiling and fawning over the man. “Look, when I do outreach with those kids, I don’t just say well done to everything they paint. I’ll say, well done. And next time, what if you do this a bit differently. There’s nothing wrong with pushing people. As long as it’s a gentle shove.”

“He’s going to complain about you.” As Lyndsey spoke, Daniel glanced over his shoulder at them for a moment. Eva flashed him a sarcastic grin and momentarily raised her glass. He raised his own in turn, the red wine catching the light before he turned away again. “And Rupert will blame me for inviting you and I’ll lose my job. You know how moody Rupe can be. You’ll have to go out for drinks with him again and save my job!”

“Oh God, Rupe and his lacklustre snog.” Eva wrinkled her nose and giggled like a gossipy schoolgirl. “There’s someone I won’t be going on a date with again. Ewww!”

“Bless his socks, give him another chance.” Lyndsey laughed. “You know, in three years of working with him, he’s never had a girlfriend for more than a couple of months. You looked so cute together, and he still likes you!”

“He’s a nice bloke, but really…” Eva shook her head. “He’s not for me.”

Whereas Daniel Scott…

Take a trip to Longley Parva!

In a bid to pep up morale, our summery, chappish romcom The Captain and the Cricketer is currently free, yes FREE, to read, from our publisher. The lovely village of Longley Parva is waiting to meet you!

Boy Meets Boy reviews The Dishevelled Duke

This tale goes on my ‘reread’ holiday shelf.

Read the full review at Boy Meets Boy.