Hazel Gaynor: A Memory of Violets

Today we welcome, Hazel Gaynor to the RNA blog to tell us something of the research into her latest book.

Roses are pink …

The idea for A MEMORY OF VIOLETS was first planted back in 1988, when I was seventeen years old and played the role of Eliza Doolittle in the school production of My Fair Lady. There was something about this character and about London in 1912 that really struck a chord with me. Many years later, I started to write notes for a novel set around London’s flower sellers, and began to research street life in the early 1900s in the hope of discovering the real Eliza Doolittles. I was

astonished to learn just how many young children and women were selling flowers and watercress, many of whom were orphaned, blind or physically disabled.

 

Early in my research, I discovered the fascinating history of Christian preacher and philanthropist, John Groom. Groom wanted to find a way to help the flower sellers who sold bunches of flowers and watercress on the streets near his Clerkenwell home. He established the Watercress and Flower Girls Mission (commonly known as the ‘crippleage’) housing the young women in a row of terraced houses in a street in Clerkenwell, North West London and establishing an orphanage in Clacton for the youngest children.

 

With a dozen occupants in each home, under the care of a Housemother, these women and young girls lived and worked together making artificial flowers in a nearby factory. It took them off the streets, gave them employment that wasn’t dependent on the seasons or the weather, and improved their quality of life immeasurably. The artificial flowers produced were mostly sold to the wealthy to decorate their homes, but the work of the ‘Flower Girls’ was eventually noticed by the Dowager Queen, Alexandra of Denmark (widow of King Edward VII).

 

Queen Alexandra was to commemorate fifty years since she had first arrived in England from her native Denmark and rather than the usual processional drive through London, she wanted to use the occasion to raise funds for the city’s hospitals. Aware of the work of the girls at Groom’s ‘crippleage’ she commissioned them to make thousands of artificial pink roses for buttonholes which would be sold all over London.

The event on 26^th June, 1912, was a huge success, supported by a thousand titled ladies who took to the streets to sell the roses. As The Times reported of the event, ‘the most noticeable sight was the enormous number of men who wore [a rose]. In the City and West End, at any rate, nearly every second men had at least one bloom and often had two or three in one buttonhole.‘ In total, over £30,000 was raised for charity (several million pounds in today’s equivalent). This was the very first ‘flag’ day of its kind, known as Queen Alexandra Rose Day, and the capital had never seen anything like it.

 

From its inauguration, Alexandra Rose Day became an annual event in London and was greatly supported for one hundred years. The flower girls also went on to make some of the first poppies for the Royal British Legion after the Great War. Although ‘Rose Day’ is no longer held annually, Alexandra Rose Charities is still running today, and from 2013 has focused on food-related issues affecting lower-income families. The charity’s Patron is Princess Alexandra, the Honourable Lady Ogilvy – great granddaughter of Queen Alexandra of Denmark. John Groom’s work also continues to this day under the organisation known as Livability, the UK’s largest Christian disability charity. Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal, is the charity’s patron.

 

As we approach the annual Daffodil Day on March 27^th (an annual fundraising event for Marie Curie Cancer Care in the UK and the Irish Cancer Society in Ireland), I will think about the blind, crippled and orphaned girls and young women who made those first little pink Alexandra roses, and started the concept of selling artificial flowers for charities. It is quite incredible to think that their legacy lives on over one hundred years later.

 

To get involved with Daffodil day, contact

 http://www.mariecurie.org.uk/en-GB/events/ in the UK.  

http://www.cancer.ie/get-involved in Ireland.
 

Link to hazel’s blog: http://www.hazelgaynor.com/books/memory-of-violets/
 

Thank you, Hazel for the informative insight into the world of the flower girls.
 

The RNA blog is brought to you by,

Elaine Everest & Natalie Kleinman

If you would like to write for the blog please contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com

HELEN J ROLFE: The Friendship Tree

Welcome to the blog, Helen and many congratulations on the publication of your first novel.

The Friendship Tree is a delightful title. Can you tell us how you came to choose the title and what came first, the title or the book?

The idea came first. I initially wanted to write a book set in a small town and I wanted a way for the town to come together in times of need, and so the idea for a friendship tree was born. Thank you so much for saying that it’s a delightful title.

Would you like a friendship tree in your own life?

I’d love to live somewhere like Brewer Creek, the fictitious town in my novel, and at the moment as we have recently moved back to the UK, a friendship tree would be fantastic! I think I’d even volunteer, like my character, Tamara, and be the coordinator. It’s a wonderful way to bring people together socially and in times of trouble.

Some writers carry an idea with them for a long time before putting words to paper. How was the process for you and did it take long to write?

I don’t remember having the idea for that long. I think once I thought of it, I couldn’t wait to get going and write the story. I was in a good position to do so, because my first novel was very much a learning experience. I put that novel completely aside and somehow I knew that I’d never go back to it, and with everything I’d learnt I had time to focus my efforts on The Friendship Tree.

It took me a couple of months to do the first draft, but the editing process took much longer. I put this novel through the NWS twice and had many rejections along the way, but I used my time to rework the book so it ended up a much better version of what it was initially.

You are a member of the well-known writing group, The Write Romantics. How important do you feel it is for a writer to belong to such a group?

I honestly think that my journey to publication would’ve been so much harder without my writing group. We met, via the RNA, and for a while only knew each other online. Most of us met at the conference in Shropshire in 2014 and it was amazing to meet all these women who have supported each other in the low times and toasted one another’s successes, not only with writing but with anything else going on in our lives too.

There are ten members of The Write Romantics and we have a closed group on Facebook which acts as our virtual office. Most of us are in the ‘office’ seven days a week, if only to say a quick hello, and having that support there is the most amazing thing a writer can have. I’d recommend it to everyone.

What do you have planned to celebrate the publication of your book?

When I signed my contract initially, it was champagne and oysters on Sydney Harbour. On publication day, Tuesday 24th February, I’ll be opening champagne and making some very special cupcakes. I’ll enjoy celebrations with my family who have never let me give up on the dream of being published, there’ll be celebrations at my online launch party and of course online with The Write Romantics, and next weekend I’m getting together with extended family for more celebrations, more cake and more champagne.

So what is next for Helen J Rolfe, author?

I have another novel which is almost ready to go for submissions, then another after that which I’ll be passing onto my beta readers in a couple of weeks. I’m hoping that both of these can be out during 2015 or at least, early 2016. I’ll keep you posted!

I already have my next idea in my head and in various notes on my phone and computer, and I’m itching to start that one but I’ll focus on the launch of The Friendship Tree and finalising my other two for the next few weeks … until I can’t resist any longer!

About Helen:

Helen J Rolfe worked as a computer programmer until her passion for writing refused to be ignored any longer. She studied journalism, left the I.T. industry and embarked on a career as a freelance journalist. In 2011 the fiction bug bit and Helen has been writing fiction ever since. 

In the year 2000 Helen answered her call to adventure and bought a one-way ticket from the UK to Australia, but after fourteen years of calling Australia home, Helen decided to return to the UK with her husband and two children. She now lives in Bath.

Links:

Amazon.com

Amazon UK

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Goodreads

Thank you, Helen, good luck with The Friendship Tree and enjoy your celebrations.

The RNA blog is brought to you by:

 Elaine Everest & Natalie Kleinman

If you would like to appear on the Blog please contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com

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 [EE1]Portant is the group to you and would you recommend 

Amanda James: Time Travelling Author

Today Amanda James tells us about her journey:

I first started writing when I was eight and never stopped. Well, I did have a rest now and then or my hand would have dropped off. J I mostly wrote short stories and then songs and poems particularly when I was a teenager. After that adult life got in the way but I never stopped writing. It wasn’t until around 2002 that I decided to try and write to get published, but even then it was a bit pie in the sky and haphazard. I was teaching full-time and it was a triumph to just have actually finished it.

I completed my first novel, Severe Weather Warning – now published as Dancing in the Rain and sent it off to agents expecting to get signed within the week! Yes, I was that naive and unprepared. Needless to say I was rejected many times and looking back at that first draft I can totally see why. It was awful. I wrote another and had the same response, but by now I was beginning to take the whole thing more seriously and thought perhaps short stories might be the way forward. In 2010 I had my first short story published in an anthology to raise awareness for the Born Free Foundation and read an extract to an audience of a thousand people on stage next to Virginia McKenna at the Hay Festival. I decided I could get used to that!

In terms of genre I hadn’t really thought of where I fitted in. My writing hero is Dean Koontz and Dancing in the Rain is a thriller/mystery/romance with supernatural elements as many of his are. My second novel, Nature’s Grace, still unpublished, followed this trend as did my third – Righteous Exposure. For this, I did have the help of a fantastic editor who told me about ‘show, don’t tell’ and something just clicked. I was over the moon when Crooked Cat Publishing took it on at the end of 2011.

My fourth novel was still a romance but a big departure from the others as it was time travel. I had the idea and then wrote it within six weeks – never wrote one as quickly before or since! I adored writing it as I could travel back in time with Sarah (a time travelling history teacher) to all my favourite bits of history. At the time I too was a history teacher so the whole thing was a bit surreal. A Stitch in Time was requested by four agents but then ultimately it wasn’t for them. I had also sent it to publishers and I was beside thrilled to bits when Choc Lit took it on in 2012. After that I went back to romantic suspense with Somewhere Beyond the Sea, but returned to time travel with my latest, Cross Stitch, the sequel to A Stitch in Time. Readers have already asked for a third! I have no plans to write one as yet, but you never know. Watch this space J

About Amanda:

Amanda left her teaching job in Bristol to write full time and now lives in Cornwall with her husband and two cats.

When she's not writing, she enjoys singing in the local choir, spending time with her family and two lively grand-children, and walking along the windswept clifftops plotting new stories.

Links:

Amazon author page

Blog

Thank you for joining us today, Amanda.

The RNA Blog is brought to you by

Elaine Everest and Natalie Kleinman.

If you would like to write about the craft of writing or perhaps be interviewed about your writing life please contact us at elaineeverest@aol.com

Rachael Thomas: Second Book Wobbles

Today we welcome, Rachael Thomas to the blog to talk about that second book. So many of us recall the thrill of our first published book but does it get any easier?

I’ve always loved reading romance and writing is something I’ve done since I was a child. I live and work on a farm in Wales, a far cry from the glamour of my stories, but that makes slipping into the world of my characters all the more appealing. When I’m not writing or working on the farm, I love nothing more than to visit grand historic house or ancient castles.

Book number two!

Finally achieving my long awaited dream and getting ‘the call’ was an amazing moment. I was going to be published! In 2013 I had entered my latest completed manuscript into Harlequin’s So You Think You Can Write competition and had made it to the Top 10 – the public voting round. This fantastic achievement, lead to an even better one and in January last year, I was offered a two book contract. But after the elation and the celebration came the doubt. Lots of it! I was at that point, working on a new story, but suddenly that story went from being just something I was writing for fun, to being the second book of my contract. Writing was no longer something I did if I wanted to or could fit it into the busy life of running a farm. I had to write the book.

So what did I do? Probably what most authors who are about to be published for the first time do - panic! The story idea and the characters I’d developed were suddenly under the spotlight and doubt circled overhead like threatening storm clouds. Instead of asking myself what was different about the story which led to publication to the previous eight completed manuscripts I had languishing on my computer, I wobbled. Thankfully, with encouragement from my editor and a fantastic group of friends, The Write Romantics, I managed to overcome this.

Add to this, the fact that everything about becoming published was new and there was so much to learn – and of course the small matter of deadlines. I felt like a very small fish which had been set free into a massive pond. It was thrilling and terrifying all at the same time, but I wouldn’t change it at all. Through working with my editor and making the revisions to that story, I learnt so much.

So what was different with the competition entry which brought about my dream come true? It was the story I had to tell, the story from my heart. All of my previous manuscripts were written with a ‘checklist’ of what to do and what not to do and I thought it was necessary to adhere to completely. Of course there are certain boundaries within all genres, but learning to work within them and still allow you, the author, onto the page is what matters.

Thankfully I made it through those days of self-doubt and my second book; Claimed by the Sheikh, for Mills and Boon Modern is out now.

For anyone who is having those ‘second book wobbles’ all I can say is don’t panic, enjoy the moment of knowing you are writing for real, but never lose that writing for fun feeling. Once I’d told myself this, everything settled down.

If you have tips on how to deal with that second book, I’d love to hear them!

Links:

Amazon: Claimed by the Sheikh

So you think you can write

The Write Romantics

Rachael’s Website

Thank you, Rachael and good luck with book number two!

The RNA Blog is brought to you by,

 Elaine Everest & Natalie Kleinman

If you would like to be featured on the blog please contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com

Gilli Allan: Writing from experience

Today we welcome Gilli Allan to the blog.

At school, as soon as we’ve mastered writing, we’re told to ‘Write about what you know’.  But what do children know?  Their world is necessarily limited, their experiences - hopefully - benign.  To a young child, the imagination can be almost more real than reality. My imaginary world was peopled with princes and princesses, red Indians, knights in armour, fairies, witches and magic.

As a teenager I was fascinated by the gothic. I sought out books about cavaliers, highwaymen and pirates; stories where the heroine is imprisoned by an evil relative; books about houses riddled with secret passages and priest holes.  To be set an essay about ‘what you did in the holidays’ was not only boring, it was also divisive.  I would have spent most of my summer in prosaic occupations - drawing, reading and writing, and taking our dog for a walk, then holidaying in Cornwall. Lovely though it was, in the one-upmanship of the playground, Cornwall was no match for sailing around the Greek islands, flirting with waiters in Majorca or camping near the French Riviera. Always far safer and more interesting, to invent something

. 

For most of us, it isn’t until there are at least 3 decades under your belt that you can understand what writing from experience really means.  By then you will have been touched by one or more of life’s big events - falling in love, marriage, childbirth, divorce, heart-break, illness, bereavement - and now have the maturity to draw something deeper from the life you have lived.  But ‘write about what you know’ is still a misleading adage.  If you were only ‘allowed’ to write truthfully about what you had personally experienced, you wouldn’t be producing fiction: you’d be writing autobiography.

Fiction is fiction because you’ve made it up.  It’s a story!  There are some authors who almost make it a point of principle to set their novels in countries they’ve never even visited.  I admire their chutzpah, but I haven’t the courage, or energy necessary to do the research. I set my stories in a world I know, but seen through the distorting glass of my imagination.  And I draw on events from my past, but only after a passage of time has filtered the rawness of the emotions as well as the irrelevant detail.  The experience is then trimmed, tucked, tailored and embroidered, to fit my story.

But ‘writing what you know’ isn’t just taking events from your own past and reimagining them. It can be a far more subtle and nuanced than that.  When creating your protagonists, you also invent a landscape to set them in; you give them their own problems and their own hopes and fears. In doing so, you are mining everything you have absorbed about life, about people, about motivation and instinct. And to make your invented characters’ experiences come to life, you call up your sense memories of sight, sound, smell, taste and touch.  These may be nostalgic - a hill top in early summer, the fields below gilded by a sheen of yellow buttercups; the scent of may blossom, lady’s lace and nettles;  the feel of the chill, dewed grass against skin; the song of a skylark; a distant tractor.   But there are some sense memories you recall which may be horrific, like the jarring impact of a car crash, the screeching tear of metal, the smell of petrol, singed rubber and asphalt, and those long, cold moments of stunned silence, before the first cry of a baby. 

Nothing is forbidden to the writer’s palette.  Everything you have ever known, seen, felt, smelt, suffered, is there to be used, to turn your imaginary world into a world the reader believes in.  

About Gilli:

As a child writing and art were Gilli’s hobbies. Writing was side lined in adulthood, when she worked in advertising as an illustrator.It was only after having her son that Gilli began writing seriously. Her first two novels were quickly published but her publisher ceased to trade. After years in the wilderness Gilli went independent with the emergence of E-book. Still a keen artist, she designs Christmas cards and has begun book illustration. Gilli is delighted to have secured a three book deal with Accent Press.

LINKS:

Amazon: Torn

TORN  by Gilli Allan

Jess has made a series of bad life choices and all have let her down. 
Escaping London, she sets out to recreate herself in the idyllic countryside, and this time she wants to get it right! 
She wants to lead a responsible, tranquil life with her young son Rory, but soon discovers stresses which pull her in opposing directions – conflict over a new bypass, between friends, and worst of all, between lovers. 

Educated, experienced, and pragmatic, James is a widowed farmer whose opinions differ from, and enrage, Jess. His young shepherd, Danny, is an uneducated and inexperienced idealist. Jess is attracted to them both, and realises if she wants her idyllic countryside life to survive, she must choose her Mr Right. 

Thank you Gilli and good luck with your novel.

The RNA blog is brought to you by

Elaine Everest and Natalie Kleinman

If you have a book to promote or would like to write a piece for the blo please contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com

RNA Romantic Novel Awards: Shortlist for 2015

 The Romantic Novelists' Association announces shortlists for

The RoNAs (Romantic Novel Awards) 2015

including

The Romantic Novel of the Year 2015

Barbara Taylor Bradford to present the awards on 16^th March

£5000 prize for winner of Romantic Novel of the Year

The contenders are announced today for the RoNAs (Romantic Novel Awards) 2015 and the overall, most prestigious, award – The Romantic Novel of the Year 2015.

The awards comprise six categories – Contemporary Romantic Novel, Epic Romantic Novel, Historical Romantic Novel, Romantic Comedy Novel, Young Adult Romantic Novel and the RoNA Rose Novel (for shorter and category romance) – with six authors shortlisted for each one.

Barbara Taylor Bradford, herself the author of thirty novels, will present the Romantic Novelists' Association (RNA) Awards for 2015 during a glittering ceremony in the Gladstone Library, One Whitehall Place, London SW1 on 16th March.

Once the category winners have been announced, and elegant star-shaped crystal trophies presented to mark their success, the winner of each category will go forward to compete for the overall prize of The Romantic Novel of the Year Award.  Barbara Taylor Bradford will reveal the author whose book has won the RNA's most prestigious and coveted award.

In addition to a special glass trophy, which is passed on from the previous year’s recipient, the winner of the Romantic Novel of the Year will also receive a cheque for £5000 (five thousand pounds).

There were a record number of entries this year and 2015 also sees three male authors amongst those contesting the awards. Novels submitted cover a wide spectrum of topics and subjects. Readers can expect anything from ditzy romantic comedies, and hot steamy contemporary romance to intrigue, suspense and bold, fearless heroes in highly charged dramatic or historical situations.

Each book was read by a panel of three independent readers drawn from an ever-growing list of over 100 volunteers. The readers, who are not members of the RNA, come from a variety of backgrounds and range in age from 18 to 85. All have one thing in common: they are passionate about romantic novels.

Since its inception in 1960 the RNA has promoted excellence in romantic fiction and its Chairman, Pia Fenton, commented, “The shortlists show that romantic fiction covers an amazing array of different sub-genres, all equal as far as we are concerned.  I love the diversity of the shortlisted books and authors, and I am thrilled that we had such a high number of entries this year, showing the popularity of this type of fiction. We are very grateful to all the publishers who supported these awards by sending us their entries.  Huge congratulations to all the authors who are shortlisted this year, it’s a great achievement!”

In previous years winners have included such well known and much loved names as  Joanna Trollope, Freya North, Rosie Thomas, JoJo Moyes and Rosamunde Pilcher.

The 2015 RNA Awards will be announced and presented by Barbara Taylor Bradford on 16th March in the Gladstone Library, One Whitehall Place, 2 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EJ.  The event starts at 6.00 pm and the awards presentation will start at 6.45 pm and will take approximately 45 minutes.

The Category Shortlists

Listed in alphabetical order

 The Contemporary Romantic Novel category is for mainstream romantic novels set post-1960 and includes genres such as chick lit, paranormal and romantic suspense.

 Julie Cohen, Where Love Lies, Bantam Press

Jenny Colgan, Christmas at Rosie Hopkins’ Sweet Shop, Sphere (Little, Brown)

Lucy Dillon, A Hundred Pieces of Me,  Hodder & Stoughton

Ciara Geraghty, Now That I’ve Found You, Hodder & Stoughton

Jill Mansell, The Unpredictable Consequences of Love, Headline Review

Katy Regan, The Story of You, Harper Fiction

The Epic Romantic Novel category contains serious issues or themes, including gritty, multi-generational stories.

 Elizabeth Buchan, I Can’t Begin to Tell You, Penguin Michael Joseph

Barbara Erskine, The Darkest Hour, Harper Fiction

Emma Fraser, We Shall Remember, Sphere (Little Brown)

Ella Harper, Pieces of You, Avon

Rosanna Ley, Return to Mandalay, Quercus

Alison McQueen, Under the Jewelled Sky, Orion Fiction

The Historical Romantic Novel category is for novels set in a period before 1960.

 Charlotte Betts, The Spice Merchant’s Wife,  Piatkus, (Little, Brown)

Stephen Burke, The Good Italian, Hodder & Stoughton

Marina Fiorato, Beatrice and Benedick, Hodder & Stoughton

Hazel Gaynor, The Girl Who Came Home, William Morrow, (Harper Collins)

Susan Lanigan, White Feathers, Brandon (O’Brien Press)

Isabel Wolff, Ghostwritten, Harper Fiction

The Romantic Comedy Novel is for consistently humorous or amusing novels.

 David Atkinson, Love Byte, Buried River Press

Jane Costello, The Time of Our Lives, Simon & Schuster

Lucy-Anne Holmes, Just a Girl, Standing in Front of a Boy, Sphere (Little, Brown)

Milly Johnson, The Teashop on the Corner, Simon & Schuster

Mhairi McFarlane, It’s Not Me, It’s You, Harper Fiction

Laura Tait and Jimmy Rice, The Best Thing That Never Happened To Me, Corgi

The Young Adult Romantic Novel features protagonists who are teenagers or young adults.

Cat Clarke, A Kiss in the Dark, Quercus

Keren David, Salvage, Atom, (Little, Brown)

Imogen Howson, Unravel, Quercus

Sarra Manning, The Worst Girlfriend in the World, Atom, (Little, Brown)

Joss Stirling, Misty Falls, Oxford University Press

Joss Stirling, Struck, Oxford University Press

The RoNA Rose Award recognises the best in category/series and shorter romance that focus on developing a love affair between the hero and heroine.

Louise Allen, Scandal’s Virgin, Harlequin Mills & Boon Historical

Caroline Anderson, Risk of a Lifetime, Mills & Boon Medical Romance

Fiona Harper, Taming Her Italian Boss, Harlequin Romance/Mills & Boon Cherish

Margaret McPhee, The Gentleman Rogue, Harlequin Mills & Boon Historical

Carol Townend, Unveiling Lady Clare, Harlequin Mills & Boon Historical

Scarlet Wilson, The Heir of the Castle, Harlequin Romance/Mills & Boon Cherish

The RNA has been giving out awards for excellence in romantic fiction since the organisation was started in 1960.  For a list of past winners please see our website.

Here follows a brief description of each novel in category order:

Contemporary Romantic Novel 

Julie Cohen, Where Love Lies, Bantam Press

Felicity believes she’s happily married, until she starts to experience a strange phantom scent, closely followed by the overwhelming feeling of being in love—with a man who’s not her husband. The feeling is so strong and urgent that she begins doing things that no one can understand.

Jenny Colgan, Christmas at Rosie Hopkin’s Sweet Shop, Sphere (Little Brown)

Rosie Hopkins is looking forward to Christmas in the little Derbyshire village of Lipton, buried under a thick blanket of snow. Her sweetshop is festooned with striped candy canes, large tempting piles of Turkish Delight, crinkling selection boxes and happy, sticky children. But when a tragedy strikes at the heart of their little community, all of Rosie's plans for the future seem to be blown apart. Can she build a life in Lipton? And is what's best for the sweetshop also what's best for Rosie? 

Lucy Dillon, A Hundred Pieces of Me, Hodder & Stoughton

Gina’s sorting out her life so she can make a fresh start; only the hundred possessions that mean the most can stay. Each item holds a memory, and letting go is hard, but what comes into the space Gina creates in her house – and fragile heart – changes her world forever.

Ciara Geraghty, Now That I’ve Found You, Hodder & Stoughton

Vinnie is a single father, struggling to raise his children on his own. One day, Vinnie has a panic attack while driving Ellen – a weekly taxi fare – to her physiotherapy session. Ellen reluctantly drives Vinnie to the hospital. It’s the first time she has driven a car since an accident a year before. The pair embark on a cautious friendship.

Jill Mansell, The Unpredictable Consequences of Love, Headline Review

Set in a stunning seaside town in Cornwall, this is the story of photographer Sophie, a secret she has harboured for years, and hotelier Josh and a small dog he can't control. When they meet, a series of events is triggered and lives will be changed ... forever!

Katy Regan, The Story of You, Harper Fiction

The summer Robyn King and Joe Sawyer were sixteen, things happened that changed their lives forever. When their lives collide again, fourteen years later, it feels like it’s all happening again. Can they get over the traumatic events of their past to have a future together?

Epic Romantic Novel

Elizabeth Buchan, I Can’t Begin to Tell You, Penguin Michael Joseph

In 1942 Denmark has been invaded by the Germans and Kay Eberstern, a British woman married to a Dane, has to decide which side she is on. In London, the undercover organisation, SOE, is working hard to get the Danish resistance up and running – work that engages coders, listeners and the agents in desperately secret and dangerous work. Will Kay join them and risk destroying her family, her marriage and her life?

Barbara Erskine, The Darkest Hour, Harper Fiction

Sussex 1940. The Battle of Britain has begun. Spitfire pilot Tony and would-be war artist Evie meet. She resents him; she loves him; she paints his portrait. 70 years later art historian Lucy tries to find out what happened to this enigmatic couple in a story of secrets, lies and restless ghosts.

Emma Fraser, We Shall Remember, Sphere (Little Brown)

Moving between occupied Poland in the Second World War and 1989, We Shall Remember is the gripping, poignant and honest story of the choices a young medical student is forced to make while under fire, and the repercussions of her decisions for future generations.

Ella Harper, Pieces of You, Avon

Lucy was always sure of one thing – life with soulmate Luke. But after eight heartbreaking years craving a baby, that future is crumbling. With Luke in a coma Lucy is forced to reassess everything. Especially when she meets Stella. Because Stella has a secret that will change Lucy’s world forever ...

Rosanna Ley, Return to Mandalay, Quercus

Set in Burma, land of scorching heat and monsoons, green paddy fields and golden temples, Eva Gatsby searches for the truth of her grandfather’s past. Caught between love, loyalty and integrity, Eva finds herself in the centre of a conspiracy dating from the final Burmese dynasty ...

Alison McQueen, Under the Jewelled Sky, Orion Fiction

London 1957. In a bid to erase her past, Sophie Schofield weds an ambitious diplomat, but nothing is quite what it seems. Under The Jewelled Sky unravels the fragile construct of a dysfunctional British family’s disintegration in the wake of World War II, India’s shocking partition, and a scandal with devastating consequences.

Historical Romantic Novel

 Charlotte Betts, The Spice Merchant’s Wife, Piatkus, (Little Brown)

Kate Finche’s spice merchant husband drowns after the Great Fire of London destroys their livelihood. Destitute, she seeks refuge in The House of Perfume, where blind perfumer Gabriel Harte awakens Kate's senses to a new world. But as she flees from forbidden love, her husband's murderer comes looking for her …

Stephen Burke, The Good Italian, Hodder & Stoughton

Enzo Secchi, harbourmaster for Massawa, Eritrea’s main port, is a loyal Italian civil servant. His only problem is that he is lonely. When Mussolini decides to invade neighbouring Ethiopia, a new law is introduced, prohibiting relationships between Italian men and local women – for Enzo, both events will have far-reaching consequences.            

Marina Fiorato, Beatrice and Benedick, Hodder & Stoughton

Hidden in the language of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing are several clues to an intriguing tale.  The text suggests that the lovers Beatrice and Benedick had a previous, youthful affair that ended bitterly. But how did the two meet, why did they part, and what brought them together again?

Hazel Gaynor, The Girl Who Came Home, William Morrow, (Harper Collins)

Inspired by true events, this New York Times bestseller is the poignant story of a young Irish woman, those she travels with aboard RMS Titanic, and the sweetheart she leaves behind. This story is a seamless blend of fact and fiction that explores the tragedy's impact and its lasting repercussions on survivors and descendants.

Susan Lanigan, White Feathers, Brandon (O’Brien Press)

In 1913, Eva Downey is awarded a legacy to attend a finishing school in Kent. Escaping her suffocating family, she finds kinship and love. But when war breaks out and her fiancé refuses to enlist, Eva’s family force her to make an impossible choice, one with devastating consequences.

Isabel Wolff, Ghostwritten, Harper Fiction

Jenni, a ghost writer, is asked to pen the memoirs of Klara, who, as a child, was imprisoned on Java during the Japanese occupation of World War II.  But the harrowing details compel Jenni to confront her own devastating memories, and a secret she’s spent a lifetime burying.

Romantic Comedy Novel

David Atkinson, Love Byte, Buried River Press

If your dead wife emailed offering to find you a new girlfriend, what would you do? Andy Hunter receives delayed emails from his late wife, leading to all sorts of trouble. This funny, heart-warming and moving romantic comedy is a bitter-sweet tale of second chances and self-discovery.               

Jane Costello, The Time of Our Lives, Simon & Schuster

When Imogen, Meredith and Nicola win a VIP holiday at Barcelona’s hippest new hotel, they plan to switch off in unapologetic luxury. But between a robbery, a run-in with hotel security staff and an encounter on a nudist beach, the friends stumble from one disaster to the next.

Lucy-Anne Holmes, Just a Girl, Standing in Front of a Boy, Sphere (Little, Brown)

Jenny Taylor is rollicking along in life, with a steady job, great friends and her handsome, driven fiancé, Matt. But suddenly she falls in love at first sight with Joe King, her mother comes to stay in order ‘to bond’ and she’s forced to face a past she’d rather forget.

Milly Johnson, The Teashop on the Corner, Simon & Schuster

A motley band of misfits, all craving companionship, find a haven of conversation, cake and literary-themed goods at lovely Leni Merryman’s ‘Teashop on the Corner’.  As their hearts are slowly mended by Leni, will they return the favour when she needs it most?

Mhairi McFarlane, It’s Not Me, It’s You, Harper Fiction

Life seems pretty good for Delia Moss, Newcastle City Council press officer. She lives in her home city with her long term partner, publican Paul. But when she proposes, and shortly after receives a panicked text message from Paul meant for The Other Woman, her world as she knows it falls apart. A strange and exciting odyssey of self discovery follows, where Delia must learn to say: it's not me, it's you.

Laura Tait and Jimmy Rice, The Best Thing That Never Happened To Me, Corgi

A brilliantly funny, feel-good story of first love, second chances and everything in between, written in alternative chapters by Laura Tait (who writes as Holly) and Jimmy Rice (as Alex).

Young Adult Romantic Novel

Cat Clarke, A Kiss in the Dark, Quercus

When Alex meets Kate, the attraction is instant. Alex is funny, good-looking, and a little shy – everything that Kate wants in a boyfriend. Alex can't help falling for Kate, who is pretty, charming and maybe just a little naïve ... But one of them is hiding a secret, and as their love blossoms, it threatens to ruin not just their relationship, but their lives.

Keren David, Salvage, Atom, (Little, Brown)

Siblings Aidan and Cass were separated twelve years ago, when Cass was adopted by a wealthy family. Now her picture is on the front page of the newspapers, and Aidan tracks her down via Facebook. But will their reunion bring joy – or uncover old secrets which threaten both their lives?

Imogen Howson, Unravel, Quercus

Lissa has found her long-lost twin – and exposed the horrifying reason why the government imprisoned her. Running for their lives, Lissa and Lin discover more escaped twins, allies at last. But a terrifying threat waits in the shadows ... Can Lissa protect Lin in a world that wants to destroy her?

Sarra Manning, The Worst Girlfriend in the World, Atom, (Little, Brown)

Franny Barker’s best friend, Alice, is the worst girlfriend in the world according to the many boys of Merrycliffe-on-Sea. She toys with them, and dumps them. But she’ll never dump fashion obsessed Franny. Nothing and no one can come between. Not even wannabe rock-god and sultry-eyed manchild, Louis Allen, who Franny’s been crushing on hard. Until Alice sets her sights on Louis. Suddenly, the BFFs are bitter rivals. Is winning Louis’s heart worth more than their friendship? There’s only one way for Franny to find out.

Joss Stirling, Struck, OUP

Behind the walls of an exclusive boarding school lurks a sinister web of corruption. Raven Stone doesn’t know where to go for help.  She is drawn to enigmatic Kieran Storm – a fellow student with a killer intellect. Is he a potential ally or yet more trouble?

Joss Stirling, Misty Falls, OUP

Misty is a one-girl disaster zone, born with a Savant 'gift' that means she can never tell a lie. So when she meets Alex, Misty thinks someone so perfect could never be hers. But a serial killer is stalking young people and soon one of them will be taken to the edge of death –and beyond.

RoNA Rose Award

Louise Allen, Scandal’s Virgin, Harlequin Mills & Boon Historical

Lady Laura Campion, the infamous Scandal’s Virgin, hides heartbreak beneath a brittle mask. Then she discovers that her lost child is the ward of Avery Falconer, Earl of Wykeham. Laura will use any weapon against Avery to recover her daughter, even as she falls in love with her enemy.

Caroline Anderson, Risk of a Lifetime, Mills & Boon Medical Romance

Ed and Annie are doctors with reasons for staying single. He might have a potentially fatal genetic disorder, she’s had a messy relationship and twin daughters. Nothing to say they can’t have a fling – but then things get serious and Ed realises he can’t run away from the truth forever.

Fiona Harper, Taming Her Italian Boss, Harlequin Romance/Mills & Boon Cherish

Free spirit Ruby Lange is packing her vintage suitcase and heading for Venice to become Max Martin’s travelling nanny. But as the city works its magic, Ruby discovers her buttoned-up boss is masking a huge heart – and that she just might be the woman to help him trust it again!

Margaret McPhee, The Gentleman Rogue, Harlequin Mills & Boon Historical

Emma Northcote stares in amazement. For across the ballroom is Ned Stratham – who once held her heart. But that was another life in another part of London. Gone forever. For only now does Ned realise their deeper connection – one that could destroy them both if Emma ever discovered the truth …

Carol Townend, Unveiling Lady Clare, Harlequin Mills & Boon Historical

THE SECRETS BEHIND HER EYES …

Sir Arthur Ferrer notices her at the Twelfth Night joust. Something about her eyes captivates him, but when he goes to find her she's disappeared! Clare has been running from a dark past, but this handsome knight seems determined to unveil her secrets. Dare she let him glimpse her real self?

 Scarlet Wilson, The Heir of the Castle, Harlequin Romance/Mills & Boon Cherish

Tycoon Callan McGregor is bereft when the closest person he has to a father dies, and it's down to him to organise the inheritance of Annick Castle. And the most suitable candidate seems to be stunning lawyer Laurie Jenkins.  Even though she makes the usually brooding Callan's pulse race, this is business – he cannot afford a distraction. But she's a bubbly breath of fresh air who shakes the castle and Callan to its foundations. This time, he's not going to walk away – from either his home or from Laurie ...