Eleanor Harkstead's Blog, page 9

The Captain and the Baker – preorder now!

Our seventh Captivating Captains novel is published on 25th August by Pride Publishing. Preorder from Amazon and all other ebook retailers. Available in ebook, paperback and KU.

When a hot-tempered TV chef and a mild-mannered baker meet on the rugged Cornish coast, they’ve got the perfect ingredients for a red-hot snack.

Sweary and stressed celebrity chef Jake Brantham is the captain of several floating restaurants. When he’s sent to the idyllic village of Porthavel to turn a pirate ship into the next gastronomic sensation, it’s the last place on earth he wants to be.

Locryn Trevorrow is the bakery king of Cornwall. From the humble pasty to a wedding cake fit for a mermaid queen, there’s nothing he doesn’t know about the art of baking. He lives in a cosy world of gingham and ganache, but at night he goes home to his smugglers’ cottage alone.

When he’s adopted by a lost kitten, Jake soon discovers that there’s more to Portavel than cream teas, lobster pots, and the annoyingly fastidious Locryn. As the village prepares for the wedding of its favourite young couple, Jake and Locryn find themselves as unlikely matchmakers for two locals who’d given up on love.

Torn between the call of Hollywood and the kisses of Locryn, will Jake choose a mansion in Beverly Hills or a cottage on the Cornish coast?

Excerpt

Jake, immaculate in his chef whites but his hair just ruffled enough to look careless, tried to smile into the television camera.

There wasn’t much to smile about because, although the set of Saturday Breakfast was more than familiar to him, he hadn’t had to share it with Locryn Trevorrow before.

Locryn, as sugary sweet as the cakes and delicacies he baked, was as far as it was possible to be from Jake, a chef who’d made a name for himself swearing on the telly while cooking. As he had watched Locryn across the studio that morning, all smiles and sunshine and please and thank you and how marvelous, he couldn’t imagine the man had ever sworn in his life. He’d probably draw the line at fiddlesticks.

“And now it’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for!” Katya, the host of the show, beamed, showing dazzling white teeth. “Our search for a bride and groom ends today with our very last couple, so get on the phones and get voting! You all know the rules by now. We’ve scoured the country and, out of thousands of applicants, we’ve found three couples who are competing for the chance to hold their wedding at Jake Brantham’s brand-new restaurant. The twist is, even Jake doesn’t know where that will be! All he knows is that it’ll be in the hometown of our winning couple and we’ll watch it all happen in his new series, From Wreck to Restaurant!”

The camera cut away to Jake, who pulled his best theatrical glower. The one all his fans went crazy for.

“Each week we’ve invited a couple onto Saturday Breakfast and paired them with a chef from their town, who’s been challenged by Jake to cook one of his signature dishes. Our last couple are Zoe and David, from the gorgeous little village of Porthavel, and they’re joined by Britain’s favorite and loveliest baker, Locryn Trevorrow!” Across the studio crew, a loud smattering of applause sounded, which Locryn dismissed with a bashful wave of his hand. “We sent our intrepid crew off to meet Zoe and David at home in Cornwall, so let’s take a look at life in one of Britain’s cutest fishing villages.”

The floor manager called, “And we’re off.”

A makeup artist dashed onto the set and immediately began dusting at Katya’s face. Standing behind the worktop where he would soon do battle with Jake’s recipe, Locryn called to Jake, “Morning! We haven’t had a chance to meet yet, so hello!”

Plummy wasn’t the word for it. Jake had wondered if that voice was a put-on for the cameras, but it didn’t sound like it. Did that mean the cottage in the opening titles of Trevorrow Treats was real too, right down to the roses around the door and the goats on the front lawn, grazing the grass that overlooked the Atlantic Ocean on Cornwall’s south coast?

“And a good fucking morning to you!” Jake unfolded one arm and waved. A sort of wave, at least. Locryn blinked at him, then gave a smile that was more like a grimace. Perhaps they didn’t say fucking in his little corner of Cornwall.

“You ready to feel the meat?” Jake asked. He planted his hands on his hips, his eyebrow arched in challenge.

“Yes…right, meat.” Locryn abandoned his designated mark as a runner began assembling the ingredients on the worktop. There were fresh herbs and juicy tomatoes, oils and spices, but none of the sugar and silliness that Locryn Trevorrow had turned into his fortune. He approached Jake and lowered his voice a little to ask, “You do know I’m a baker? I’m just slightly concerned because it doesn’t look like you’ve set me a baking challenge.”

“And you do know I’m not a bloody baker?” Jake sighed. “You’ve got to follow one of my recipes, mate—and I don’t do cupcakes or croissants!”

Locryn shook his head, then ruffled one hand through his dark-blond hair. He glanced back at the worktop, where the runner had now covered the ingredients with a tea towel that bore a pattern of sunflowers.

Very bloody him.

“I’ll give it my best,” he decided. Then he smiled and said, “You never know, if I get it terribly wrong, Zoe and David might get the sympathy vote anyway!”

And I’ll have to go to the arse end of nowhere for months.

“Do you think so?” Jake dabbed at some crumbs on the workstation in front of him. “I bet it’s fucking fixed anyway. That posh couple from Hamble’ll win because—and don’t tell anyone I told you”—Jake revved up to unleash his secret in an unsubtle stage whisper, and he didn’t care if anyone overheard—“the groom’s uncle is one of this show’s producers.”

Locryn unfastened one of his cufflinks—they wouldn’t be buttons, would they—and rolled up his sleeve as he said, “That’s not true, is it? Tell me that’s a fib.”

A fucking fib. Is he nine?

“It’s true!” Jake gave an emphatic nod. “Eugenia and Ptolemy have an in. You may as well send your two fucking home right away! It’s a long way back to your foggy old smuggler country. If they leave now, they’ll just about catch the next train!”

But all Locryn did was unfasten the second cufflink and serenely roll up his sleeve. Then he smiled and told Jake, “You’re just as charming as I thought you’d be. Don’t count me out yet, Mr. Brantham. If all else fails, I can try and fall back on this smile.”

“I don’t do charming, Trevorrow. I do simple, local, fresh.” Jake emphasized each word, punching his fist against his palm. Locryn blinked then glanced toward the floor manager, who was frantically ushering everyone back into position. Across the studio all three couples were sitting on bright yellow couches around a coffee table in the mock-up of a sitting room, where guests were stationed while the cooks gave their demonstrations. Locryn gave them a thumbs-up and David and Zoe returned it, the young couple looking as nervous as he was laid-back.

That won’t last.

“It’s Saturday Breakfast and—awwww—aren’t David and Zoe adorable?” Katya made a face into the camera as though she were addressing a newborn kitten. “And someone else we adore is our guest chef, or should I say guest baker, Locryn Trevorrow. Locryn’s famous for his naughty but gorgeous cakes and bakes, and he’s come all the way from Porthavel with our last couple to try and cook them to victory. Are you ready to face Jake’s challenge, Locryn?”

He nodded and replied, “As I’ll ever be, Katya.”

“You’ve already met our couples and the lines are open, so get voting now. At the end of the program we’ll find out which of our gorgeous couples have won their dream wedding, and Jake will find out where he’s going to be turning a wreck into a restaurant in his brand-new series, From Wreck to Restaurant.” She glanced toward Jake and grinned. “Will he be in Hamble, York or Porthavel? It’s up to you at home. Jake, it’s time for you to reveal to Locryn what he’s going to be cooking today!”

Rubbing his hands together, Jake crossed the studio and stood beside Locryn. The man’s cologne was suddenly all around Jake. Not a cloying, gassy cloud of it but a spicy scent that Jake, despite himself, found oddly enticing.

Oh, fuck that, no.

“So, Locryn, no f—fancy cupcakes for you today!” Jake said. “Instead, you’ll be making one of my favorites, pork goujons with tomato sauce. It’s simple, it’s local, it’s fresh, and when you get to the breadcrumbs, it’s bloody close to baking.”

“Pork?” Locryn looked down at the worktop as Katya pulled back the tea towel to reveal the ingredients. He rubbed his hands together and glanced toward the couples on the sofa. “I’m up for that. It’s for Zoe and David, after all!”

“You’ve got your recipe, you’ve got your ingredients and you’ve got Jake to keep you on your toes.” Katya grinned. “Jake, any hints or tips for Locryn before he dives in and tries to recreate one of your Michelin-starred staples?”

“Feel the meat,” Jake advised. He leaned with one hand on the worktop. “Don’t skate round it. It’s central to the dish. You need to feel it and know when it’s cut the right size, know when it’s cooked through. That’s the secret working with any f—flesh. Meat. You’ve got to feel it.”

The Mermaids in Room 423

Join us as we talk about our romantic thrillers The Colour of Mermaids and The Man in Room 423. We’ll talk, plotting, pacing and the inspiration behind our genre-hopping. And as ever, there’s something emerging from the inkwell, and a lot of fizz in our gin.

You can listen to us on Anchor.fm, iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Castbox, Overcast, Breaker, RadioPublic and Pocket Casts. Other platforms are available!

Gin & Gentlemen is now an enhanced podcast on some apps.

Interview: Beth D. Carter

Today, Beth D Carter is visiting the blog to tell us about her latest release, Come with Me, the first part in her new series.

How long have you been writing? Can you tell us a bit about your journey to publication?

I’ve been writing my whole life, I think. I started reading my mother’s Harlequin Presents when I was about 10 or 11, and wrote my first romance at 14…long hand in a spiral notebook. Never thought I’d actually be a published author. When ebook publishing exploded, I was able to hope and dream. I sent my first book, Black Leather Pants, to four publishers and one accepted. That was 2009 and eleven years later I have almost eighty published works.

Wow, that’s impressive! What do you enjoy about writing romance?

I love that there’s always a happy ever after. That you can come home from a hard, stressful day and relax with a good story that takes your mind off the buttholes you had to face.

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

I am working on book 3 in the Those Who Survived series. It’s titled My Tether, and centers on an ex-convict and an Amish woman. They have a very interesting dynamic together. After that I’m going to work on a Christmas story, which will wrap up my 2020 writing year. I’ll start plotting out my stories for next year.

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’m a total pantser, although I do have a direction  in which my story will go. I let the character guide me. I don’t have any writing habits. Back before Covid 19 I used to like going to Starbucks, but I probably won’t do that for a while.

Do your characters ever surprise you, or do you “know” them as soon as they pop into your imagination?

Some take me by surprise. Some I know their whole character arc right off the bat. Sometimes I thought I knew my characters only to have them take a complete one eighty and shock the hell out of me.

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 am most comfortable writing on my couch, sitting next to my husband. I like having some type of mindless tv show on, like HGTV. Because I work four days of the week, I’m able to focus on what needs to get done in a short amount of time. So I can sit down, open my laptop and write a scene or two before needing to get ready for the next day.

Tell us about your latest release

Come With Me (Those Who Survived) is about a virus that attacks positive blood, in effect killing 85% of the world’s population. Lainey is one of those who survived and she meets Nolan, whom she doesn’t really trust. When I wrote this, it was before Covid 19, and I wonder if people are too fed up with a pandemic to want to read this story. I hope not. I really like Lainey and Nolan.

About the author

I began reading my mom’s Harlequin Presents in the fifth grade, and from the first story I knew I wanted to write romance novels. I like writing about the very ordinary girl thrust into extraordinary circumstances, so my heroines will probably never be lawyers, doctors or corporate highrollers.  I try to write characters who aren’t cookie cutters and push myself to write complicated situations that I have no idea how to resolve, forcing me to think outside the box.  I love writing characters who are real, complex and full of flaws, heroes and heroines who find redemption through love.

Find out more about Beth at her website, and follow her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Bookbub and Amazon.

Find Beth’s books at: Amazon, Evernight, Smashwords, Kobo, Nook and Apple.

Those Who Survived Part One

Lainey is one of the few that survived the virus that ravaged the human population. In order to remain safe, she stays away from people, preferring to live on her own. Not trusting anyone. Until one night she’s attacked and rescued by a stranger who insists that there’s still good in the world.

Nolan has a fantastical story of a new civilization in Canada, and urges her to go with him. Lainey doesn’t know if she believes him or not, but the unknown is enough to scare her away. Yet day after day he slowly breaks down her walls, opening her up to the possibility that she might be strong enough to take a chance not only on him, but herself as well.

Excerpt

“You’ve amassed quite a bit of provisions.”

“I scavenged the homes of people who left. I never went into the ones where the dead were.”

“Because the houses had become tombs?”

She sat down on the couch. “For a while, when the wind would blow a certain way, I would catch a whiff of the dead. It made me want to throw-up. I think the remaining people made an exodus out of here because of the smell.”

He sat down next to her. “Why didn’t you go with them?”

“Didn’t really have anywhere to go,” she replied with a shrug. “I’ve thought about leaving for a long time but always wondered where would I go? What would I face out there? Without a solid plan, it just seemed too risky.”

“And you don’t take risks,” he concluded.

“No, I don’t.”

“I was a risk.” He tapped his chest. “Bringing a stranger into your sanctuary was a huge risk.”

“You had a dozen times you could’ve hurt me,” she said, taking a deep breath. “Something tells me I can trust you and my instincts are rarely wrong. You can help me put the fence up so I’ll be protected, and then you can continue on your journey.”

“There’s another option you know.”

She cocked her head. “What’s that?”

“You can come with me.”

This was the second time he’d mentioned that, and like the last time, she shook her head. “I’m not cut out for that type of unknown. Besides, I don’t know you.”

“You know me more than you think you do. Come on, name three things you know about me.”

“I don’t-”

“I bet you could quote just about every English lit novel ever written,” he said, interrupting her. “You don’t trust that easily, but when you do, your devotion is complete.” He folded his arms across his chest. “And your least favorite color is red because it reminds you of blood.”

She blinked, completely taken aback. “How could you possibly know all that?”

He shrugged. “Observation. Come on, say three things about me now.”

“You…used to be in the navy. And you’re from Arizona.”

He nodded. “And?”

“I, uh, don’t know your least favorite color. Or your favorite.”

“I like green and hate purple,” he said. “But you got two out of three. That’s a start.”

She admired his confidence but didn’t hold out much hope he’d be around long enough for her to learn anything else about him. All the while, ignoring a little voice that had been gaining volume in her head, pushing her to do that very thing. To run. Escape. Yet fear held her back.

“You’re wrong, you know,” he murmured. “The person who would bike ride all the way from Malibu to Sherman Oaks is completely up for an unknown adventure.”

 

Interview: Josie Bonham

Today debut author Josie Bonham has called for tea, scones and a natter about her first novel, A Good Match for the Major.

Hi ladies. Thank you for inviting me.

How long have you been writing? Can you tell us a bit about your journey to publication?

I’ve always dabbled in writing. I have several part-written novels tucked away in notebooks and computer files. My sister persuaded me to do a Futurelearn creative writing course with her which set me wondering if I could write seriously. When my eldest niece sat down and wrote a fantasy novel, it spurred me on to give this itch to write some serious attention. I happened to come across the Romantic Novelist’s Association, was lucky enough to grab a place on the New Writers’ Scheme and haven’t looked back.

What do you enjoy about writing Regency romance?

My main genre is Regency romance but I also enjoy crime. I’m writing a contemporary cosy crime with my sister at the moment. Or at least I’ve left her writing a section whilst I work on my Regency series. It’s no surprise that a certain amount of romantic suspense always seems to creep into my stories,

I love the elegance of the Regency period. The gentlemen’s clothes were as attractive as the ladies’ ensembles. It was also a time of great turbulence with many young men from both the gentry and aristocracy joining the army. This was bound to change their view of the world and the tensions they must have felt when they returned to a civilian life based on strict conventions trigger plenty of plot ideas for me.

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

I plan to write a prequel to the first two manuscripts I wrote and then give them big rewrites. These are Regency romances but also spy thrillers, set in 1812 when Napoleon was still to be beaten. I also need to get back to the cosy crime.

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

At the moment I’m concentrating on getting the first books in my Reluctant Brides Series out into the world.  Book one is out as an Ebook with the paperback to follow in June. Books two and three need final edits before they go off to my editor. Book four is at the planning stage. I’m sure Grace is going to be my feistiest heroine yet but I still have to find a gentleman who can keep up with her.

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’m a disorganised type so my writing can be rather spasmodic. That said, when a manuscript has me in its grip, I will often write a thousand or two words a day on five or six days a week for several weeks. I am a pantser up to a point but my subconscious has a habit of telling me when to stop and consider if things need changing around. I’m also finding that I am doing more planning around my suspense subplots.

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 often jot down parts of my stories in rough form in a notebook, especially useful on train journeys or when the story isn’t flowing. Most of my writing happens on the desktop in the study. Especially when the cat is asleep. When he is awake, he considers me sitting down in the study as a signal that it’s time I made a fuss of him!

Tell us about your latest release!

A Good Match For The Major, my debut novel reached the Historical Romance Final of the 2019 Sheila Contest in America. The fabulous cover was designed by Lisa Firth of Oliphant Author Services.

It is available from Amazon on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited and will soon be available as a paperback.

The plan is that books two and three will follow over the summer. Visit my website   www.josiebonhamauthor.com to find out more, and you can follow me on Twitter and Facebook too.

I haven’t been able to get a professional author photo taken so My husband took a picture on my phone. It was a beautiful day so we decided to add a green backdrop by taking it on our walk in the local woods.

It’s been lovely chatting with you and once again, thank you for having me.

Josie Bonham xx

Thank you, Josie! Good luck with your first novel, and we look forward to hearing more from you in future. 

 

Interview: Vanessa Robertson

It’s publication day for Vanessa Robertson’s second novel, and the first in her Kate Carpenter series – Don’t Blink. Vanessa popped by the blog to tell us more.

How long have you been writing? Can you tell us a bit about your journey to publication?

I’ve written since I was a child – I had a blue Silverette portable typewriter which I loved. Took it seriously too – I might have been ten but I made carbons of my work in case I wanted to submit to publishers! As I got older, I realised that being a writer wasn’t a thing that people actually did – or so I thought – and I stopped writing. When I was in my twenties and early thirties I didn’t know what to write.

After years in the book trade, we sold our bookshop and I finally had time to write and – crucially – knew enough about the business to feel confident that there was a market for what I wanted to write. The rise of indie writers and faster-paced digital-first publishers also meant that I felt less constricted by genre.

I entered Bloody Scotland’s Pitch Perfect event—not a singing event, fortunately—and pitched the idea for what was to become my first book, Death Will Find Me, a crime novel set in 1920s Edinburgh with a heroine who was a former spy and the only suspect when her estranged husband was murdered. I was one of the winners, picked by a panel of agents and publishers, and that gave me the confidence to keep writing.

In early 2019, Death Will Find Me was published, and although that’s a world I want to get back to very soon, I was also having fun writing a series that had been brewing for years and so Don’t Blink, the first of the Kate Carpenter thrillers will be out in May. I’ve also released a short novella, Vanishing Point, to introduce Kate to readers and that’s available free via my website as well as to purchase. The second full-length book, Trace Evidence, will be out in a few months and I’m currently writing the third.

What do you enjoy about writing crime fiction?

I write crime fiction for many reasons. I’m fascinated by what pushes people over the edge to commit a crime, why some people have that brake on their actions and others don’t. Is it morality? But then, what’s morality? Sometimes good people do bad things for reasons that we can all sympathise with. Readers have told me that in Death Will Find Me, they cried for the murderer and the victims and I’m pleased by that.

The Kate Carpenter thrillers are set against a backdrop of art crime and that fascinates me. It’s a huge area of criminal activity—second only to drugs and illegal arms dealing in monetary terms—but it still has the image of being somehow high-class when in actual fact it’s a long way from the Thomas Crowne Affair image of bored billionaires stealing Monets to hang secretly in their Bond villain-style lairs.

And there are other areas of art crime that interest me—forgeries are the obvious area, but also looted art, and there’s a lot of dirty money laundered through the trade. But again, my novels aren’t solely concerned with the details of the crimes, it’s about the characters, so although Don’t Blink centres on a stolen painting by Mark Rothko it’s really about power and revenge and what it takes to face up to your tormentor.

That’s a long-winded way of saying that I write crime fiction because I’m fascinated by what drives people to extremes. I’m also horribly well-behaved so maybe it’s a way of exploring that darker side of my personality without the risk of ending up in prison?

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?

I have a folder on my computer labelled ‘Random Ideas’ and every so often I rummage through that and see if there’s anything I want to go back to, but actually, I’ve been pretty focused so far this year. A publisher asked to see some ideas I had for a series—she loved Don’t Blink and my writing but wasn’t sure readers were interested in art crime—and so I’ve been working that up. And I’ve been concentrating on getting the Kate Carpenter series going well. I should have at least two plus the novella published this year and possibly even three if the current manuscript comes together soon. Then I really want to write the next 1920s one, but there’s also this series the publisher was interested in, and if Kate sells well then the fourth of those will be beckoning… Essentially no—I have enough projects on the go and really need to concentrate on finishing those off rather than getting distracted by shiny new ideas!

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

Currently, I’m working on the third Kate Carpenter book—Smoke and Mirrors—and making notes on endless post-its for the potential new series of police procedurals and for the second 1920s novel.

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 generally write in the morning—sometimes I’m up and at my desk by 5am—and do admin-type stuff, and interviews like this, in the afternoon. Very occasionally I write in the evenings. I vary between plotting and pantsing and I’ve read every book and listened to every podcast going about the merits of both methods. The difficulty I have with plotting in lots of detail is that it seems to take away the fun of writing. But if I go with pantsing—or “discovery writing”, I can drift off on a tangent and then it can take a lot of work to get the novel back on track. Lately, I’ve been trying to pin down the key moments of stories so that I have waypoints that I know I’m aiming for and then see where it goes. That way I won’t get lost along the way but I still have opportunity for surprises.

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 write mostly at home where my office is on our open-plan landing. I have a desktop computer there and a laptop that I take with me when I’m out and about. I used to write in cafes a lot more when I lived in the centre of Edinburgh but now that we live in the country trips out are less frequent and more planned. I have a couple of local writing friends and we often meet up and combine writing sprints with coffee and chat, and that’s good fun. If I’m stuck on a plot point, it’s amazing how helpful it is to bounce ideas about over piece of cake!

Tell us about your latest release.

Don’t Blink is the first in a series of thrillers centring on Kate Carpenter, advisor to a number of wealthy art collectors with a discreet sideline in the recovery of stolen and looted artworks. Life is busy—her clients have money to spend, her violent ex-boyfriend has stepped his stalking up a notch, and she’s in the midst of a complicated transatlantic love affair. She’s called in when a canvas by Mark Rothko is stolen and soon realises that neither the theft nor the painting is quite what it seems. But she’s cost the owner a fortune and he’s going to make her pay for that. Soon Kate finds herself having to dig deep to find a way to defend herself and to find out the truth behind the missing painting.

Find out more about Vanessa and her books – and download a free prequel novella, Vanishing Point – at her website: www.vanessarobertson.co.uk. Don’t Blink is out now, available from Amazon.

Interview: Angela Addams

Say hello to author Angela Addams who’s visiting the blog today. Her latest novel, Wicked Disclosure, is out now.

How long have you been writing? Can you tell us a bit about your journey to publication?

Oh, I’ve been writing since I was a kid. I have “novels” that I wrote when I was six or seven, complete with pictures. They weren’t very good. But for some reason I was committed to writing stories and I’ve been lucky enough to have quite a few of them published. I started writing for publication when I was on maternity leave with my daughter about thirteen years ago. I spent at least eight months writing an urban fantasy, paranormal romance mashup that ended up getting me my first agent. It never got published but it was the start of my publishing journey. I ended up selling my first few books to a small micro press which was my gateway to other publishers. It’s taken a whole lot of perseverance and thick skin over the years. There’s so much rejection to tackle when you’re trying to get published for the first time and it doesn’t stop after that. You have to be okay with the let downs that happen and not let those things keep you down. I’m passionate about telling stories and I wouldn’t be able to stop writing even if I wanted to, trust me, I’ve tried over the years.

What genres do you write in, and what do you enjoy about them?

I write in a few different genres. Paranormal/Urban Fantasy Romance, Contemporary Erotic Romance and YA Thrillers and Fantasy/Magic Realism. I try to be versatile because that gives me more opportunity to explore my strengths as a writer. It helps me learn new things with each project and it keeps me from getting bored. I enjoy writing, period. Creating new worlds, developing interesting characters, getting the voice just right in a project, it’s all stuff I enjoy doing. I do not enjoy outlining, at all, but I do it because it helps hugely to know what my plot beats are before I start. I’ve learned over the years that if I don’t outline, I’ll get stuck midway through Act 2 and that’s never a good thing.

Are you planning on spring-cleaning your bottom drawer? Any manuscripts or ideas you plan to dust down and revisit?

I have a number of YA thrillers that need a romance subplot, so I’ll be returning to those eventually. Right now I’m working on new projects for one of my pubs and edits for another so I’m pretty busy as it is.

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

At the moment I’m plotting a novella for a Christmas anthology. It’s looking like it’s going to be a reverse harem experience which is new to me, and will be set in the world of my latest release, Wicked Disclosure, Wicked Distractions series. Things are definitely going to get HOT!

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”?

Since I work at a day job full time, I have to organize my writing time around that. Every night I write or do writing related work from seven to at least nine. I also get to the day job an hour early so that I can squeeze in some writing time there. If I’m on a deadline, I will also write during lunch. I can’t afford waiting for inspiration to strike. I find that the more I’m writing, the more creativity flows and that leads to more writing and more creativity. I rarely take time off, not even on Christmas day or my birthday!

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 write wherever, whenever. I have a laptop so I have the freedom to go anywhere. I don’t need quiet necessarily; white noise is fine. I can’t listen to music and write though, that’s too distracting. I have a loft that my husband built me fifteen years ago that I’m just using now (long story) because I’m working from home thanks to this virus.  I’ve been doing a lot of writing up there lately. Usually though I’m sitting in bed or in the living room in my “writing” chair. I always take a notebook with me wherever I go just in case I have time to write. It sounds like I’m obsessed with writing, which I guess I am!

Wicked Disclosure
Book one in the Wicked Distractions series

Pushing his boundaries was always her plan. What she didn’t expect was how much she’d love it when he pushed back.

Trent Brooks is young, hungry and on his way to the top as a newly appointed Lead Communications Officer at Morgan and Miller, a conglomerate of family brands. After the death of the company’s CFO, Trent is dispatched to navigate a delicate situation involving the deceased executive and an escort agency known as Kitty Calls.

Sabine Cowan is the take-no-prisoners owner of Kitty Calls, who has no use for men other than for her business and her personal pleasure. When Trent presents her with the confidentiality agreement, she dismisses it. But instead of dismissing him, she decides he may be just the type of fun she’s been hungry for.

When compromising photos of Sabine and Trent together are leaked to the media, both of their worlds explode, just in very different ways. Sabine is used to being painted as a sexual deviant. Trent, not so much. With his reputation and his career hanging in the balance, he’s determined to figure out who’s behind the leak.

Screwing Sabine Cowan is every man’s wet dream, including Trent’s. Falling in love with her, however, is not what he bargained for. Exploring the depth of their passion in whatever way she wants could destroy him completely, but his quest for the truth may be something worth dying for.

About the author

Angela Addams is an author of many naughty things. She believes that the written word is an amazing tool for crafting the most erotic of scenarios and likes telling stories about normal people getting down and dirty and falling in love. Enthralled by the paranormal at an early age, Angela also spends a lot of her time thinking up new story ideas that involve supernatural creatures in everyday situations.

She is an avid tattoo collector, a total book hoarder, and loves anything covered in chocolate…except for bugs.

She lives in Ontario, Canada in an old, creaky house, with her husband, children and four moody cats.

Where can you find Angela?

Sign up to her newsletter, check out her blog, and follow her on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Find Wicked Disclosure at:

Totally Bound, Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.uk, Amazon.au, Kobo, Barnes and Noble and Apple.

The Man in Room 423 – out today!

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 today 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?

Captivating Captains and Dishevelled Dukes

Join Catherine and Eleanor as they welcome dashing captains and a dishevelled duke to their stable. Meet an airline captain in a tropical paradise and a former soldier with a surprising new job on Downing Street, not to mention a saucy oarsman making waves in a village  with more than its share of secrets. And if that’s not enough, there’s a magical Valentine’s in London too!

Find out what’s emerging from the inkwell this week, and discover who’s putting the fizz in the Curzon and Harkstead gin. Only on Gin & Gentlemen!

You can listen to us on Anchor.fm, iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Castbox, Overcast, Breaker, RadioPublic and Pocket Casts. Other platforms are available!

Interview: Rebecca Cohen

Rebecca Cohen dropped by the blog to tell us about her latest release, her historical m/m novel James, Earl of Crofton.

How long have you been writing? Can you tell us a bit about your journey to publication?

I wrote a lot in my teenage years, but going to university changed that as I went off to study science. A couple of degrees later, and after starting a career in my area of expertise, I was bit by the bug to write again. I felt something lacking and that was my creative storyteller wanting to get in on the action. So after several iterations I wrote what was to become my first novel (published in 2011). Servitude was a high fantasy mm romance, which is currently out of print having parted ways with my old publishers (Dreamspinner), but will return at some point. My first historical came along in 2012, what was meant to be a short novella to get a brain itch out of my system, became a full-length novel. That book was The Actor and the Earl and it spawned two more in the same series and two spin off series, with several more stories still to come.

What do you enjoy about writing in your chosen genres?

I write in multiple sub-genres of mm romance with historical being the one I’m playing in most at the moment. As well as the joy of crafting characters I get a real kick out of building the world they inhabit. For my historicals I like to be as accurate as possible, although there are elements of poetic license and enabling the romantic arc, as we don’t know everything about what happened hundreds of years ago. I love uncovering titbits of information of every day life which I can feed into a story, but it’s a fine balance as too much makes it feel like a text book and that’s not what I want for my romances.

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

I’m in the process of working through my back catalogue and re-publishing the ones I received the rights back for. There are a couple of shorter stories I want to expand, and novel length beasties that need a re-edit before being released back into the world. Some will have to wait until their sequels have been written as I’d like to be a position to have those in place first. So yeah, it’s a spring clean of a fashion, and I have several waiting for attention.

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

One of the spinoffs of The Crofton Chronicles was Saving Crofton Hall, about Ben, the current (modern day) earl, needing to save his stately home. This will need to be re-published but I am working on the sequel, Making History at Crofton Hall, where the new in-house historian helps uncover several family secrets and, thanks to a few strings being pulled, Ben and his home end up on a TV documentary where some familiar characters from the family history become centre stage once again.

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 a writing schedule, I write when I can, and when I have spare brain capacity. My day job can be pretty full on at times and I have a little boy, so I really have to grab the opportunity whenever. I like to plot the story out, writing certain sections while researching others, and try not to do too much editing until the first draft is done. I can’t force the words, if I do I tend to end up with something I can’t use, so it’s no real wonder why my latest novel James, Earl of Crofton took three years from first word to publishing.

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?

My office in our house is for the day job when I work from home, and I don’t tend to write in there as I want to keep a work life balance by being able to close the door on the day job. That means I tend to sit cross-legged on the sofa with my personal laptop for writing, usually with a notebook close to hand for making additional scribbles or notes.

Tell us about your latest release.

James Earl of Crofton is my latest novel, which is a new adventure in the Crofton Universe. Here we meet James, the great-grandson of Anthony from The Crofton Chronicles.

A historical romp through the court of Charles II with a new earl, a chivalrous highwayman, and a potential suitor playing hard to get. Full of intrigue and romance, you can lose yourself in the beauty of the Restoration, while peering into the underbelly of a society where everything has changed….

About the author

Rebecca Cohen spends her days dreaming of a living in a Tudor manor house, or a Georgian mansion. Alas, the closest she comes to this is through her characters in her historical romance novels. She also dreams of intergalactic adventures and fantasy realms, but because she’s not yet got her space or dimensional travel plans finalised, she lives happily in leafy Hertfordshire, England, with her husband and young son. She can often be found with a pen in one hand and sloe gin with lemon tonic in the other.

Find out more about Rebecca on her blog, and follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

Find Rebecca’s novels on Amazon.

James, Earl of Crofton

James Redbourn, Viscount of Crofton, enjoys all the pleasures King Charles II’s Restoration court affords him. His encounter with the enigmatic Chivalrous Highwayman in Epping Forest, sets the court aflame. Tales of the charming rogue treating his latest victim with his usual gentle hand has ladies’ fans quivering with every whisper.

While the Chivalrous Highwayman is a delicious fantasy, it is the intriguing Adam Dowson, the son of one of the greatest Cavalier generals, who is firing James’s daytime desires. Their friendship might be growing stronger, but Adam seems to be one of the few men who is impervious to James’s charms, no matter how hard James tries.

When James’s father become deathly ill, James races home. He is ill-prepared to become the 4th Earl of Crofton, and his father’s vague but dire warnings on his deathbed only make matters worse. Now the earl, James must discover what is happening at Crofton Hall that had troubled his father so deeply.

James turns to Adam for help. Despite Adam’s own secrets, James trusts him. James hopes he’s not making a mistake, risking his family estate, and his already bruised heart. Together, they need to work to clear out the rotten core at Crofton Hall, and along the way secure a happy future for them both.

On Top Down Under reviews The Captain and the Squire

A very happy book. Five stars.

Listen to the review:

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