Shocks, Sadness and Laughter - That's Life in Tippermere!

It's publication day for Country Rivals! I'm excited, anxious and slightly concerned as the third Tippermere novel leaves the safety of my computer and enters the world. I absolutely love this book, but writing it left me feeling wrung out at times. It touched on more than one nerve and brought back some sad memories - which is why I'm feeling slightly more on tenterhooks than normal as I wait to hear what you think about it.



I hope the story makes you laugh, because it is so important to me that when you pick up one of my books to read, you're left with that warm, fuzzy feeling and have a chuckle along the way. Country Rivals also has a slightly more serious side to it though, so I hope that resonates with you too.

There are a couple of slightly shocking happenings in Tippermere, that made me well up as I wrote them (so have the tissues handy) - when I first mentioned the details of one chapter to my editor she was initially horrified, but I hope that as you read you can see (like she did) that it had to happen. 

On the happy side, I'd like you to meet Samantha, Andrew and Ella (along with Henry who is photo-bombing the shot!) Ella, as the winner of our competition, has a starring role in Country Rivals (and hopefully will feature on the jacket of the paperback edition). She is a very lucky little dog as she is owned by one of the new characters, Xander, and gets lots of cuddles - as befits such an adorable dog!

Other new characters include Pandora, who was an amazing character to write and had me laughing and crying in turn at her audacity! She is one of those love her or loathe her characters, and I can't wait to hear which camp you fall in. I have been absolutely amazed at the support for Country Rivals so far - it became an Amazon best seller some time ago.  To hit that number one spot is a dream come true - and gave me another reason to celebrate! Massive, massive thanks if you ordered your copy in advance. It makes me tremendously happy, and proud, to know that you love Tippermere enough to order your copy so far in advance. This evening I will be celebrating with cava and cake in Barcelona. It seemed fitting to bake a carrot cake, like Lottie does for the village show in Tippermere, so if you'd like to join me check out the recipe which I shared HERE with my friend author Jane Linfoot.

If you've read the other novels in the series, then I hope you find Country Rivals is a fitting continuation, if you're a new visitor to Tippermere then be assured that you can read and enjoy the novels individually.

I do hope you will be joining in with my celebrations today -please feel free to share the news on Twitter and Facebook, leave a review if you have time, and spread the word!

​And now, I leave you with cake - thank you so much for joining me. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Happy reading!
Zara x