New Release Excerpt: FORGIVEN by Garret Leigh

    

Title: Forgiven
Author: Garrett Leigh 
Series: Forgiven, #1
Imprint: Carina Press 
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Romantic Leads: Male/Female
On-Sale: January 25, 2021
Format: eBook
Price: $4.99 US
ISBN: 9780369700100

Book Description:

High school sweethearts Mia and Luke get a second chance at love in this brand-new contemporary romance from award-winning author Garrett Leigh.

When Mia Amour returns to England to open a florist shop, all she wants to do is put her lousy ex behind her and never look back. But getting a fresh start is easier said than done when her first love, the boy who once broke her teenage heart, strolls back into her life. He’s every bit as sexy as she remembers, and the urge to melt back into his arms almost makes her forget how devastated she was when he took off without a word. Almost.

 Left with no choice, Luke Daley did what he had to do, leaving town to earn enough money to save his broken family, though it just about broke him, too. But now he’s back, running his uncle’s business and trying desperately to forget about Mia, the girl he left behind all those years ago. When he runs into her in town, the shock of seeing her again brings an intense rush of emotions: love, guilt…and an overwhelming urge to find out if it’s still as amazing between them as it used to be.

 It doesn’t take either of them long to give in to desire and discover the fiery passion they once shared burns hotter than ever. With each new touch, each moment of forgiveness, old hurts heal and the future they’d hoped for ten years ago becomes possible again. But their fragile connection is tested by a threat neither of them saw coming—a threat that could end their second chance before it even gets started.

EXCERPT

Mia Amour. Her name had haunted me so much my bunkmate had once found me sleep-scrawling it on our cabin wall. He thought it had meant something—that I was writing a message from another dimension in a language he didn’t understand—but the reality had been far more simple: even on the other side of the world, I couldn’t get her out of my head.

Somehow, though, over time, I’d forgotten what her eyes did to me. How they could root me to the spot with a single glance and empty my mind of anything but her. Mia. I counted my heartbeats as they thundered in my ears. One, two, three, four. And then she tore her stormy blue gaze away from mine and walked out of the chip shop.

I reached for the empty space she left behind, and my faculties slowly returned to me as her footsteps echoed in my shell-shocked brain. As drawn to her as I’d al­ways been, I drifted after her, but when I got outside, she was gone.

A thousand emotions warred in my gut, but the age-old frustration was so familiar I felt sick. Fucking Mia Amour. Deep down, I’d always hated her as much as I’d loved her, because there was no one else on earth who could make my heart pound like she did, my palms sweat, and my fingers tremble.

Cursing, I hauled myself back into the van. Gus followed a moment later, an open bag of chips in each hand. “Where’d you get to? It was your turn to buy tea.”

I tossed him a crumpled-up fiver. “Why didn’t you tell me your sister was in town?”

“Oh fuck.” Gus held out a bag of chips, then set it on the dashboard when I made no move to claim it. “Are we really doing this?”

I gave him a flat look.

He sighed. “Fuck’s sake. Why would I tell you? You two aren’t exactly friends, and you haven’t been a cou­ple since I was fourteen and nicking Mayfair Lights from her school bag.”

Shit, had it been that long? Why was it that just a glimpse of her face could set me back a decade? The weight in my chest increased and I started the van, gunning the rickety diesel engine with a roar. “Either way, a fucking heads-up would’ve been nice.”

“But why, though?” Gus pointed a chip at me. “You want her number so you can catch up on old times?”

I wondered if he’d actually give it to me. Then pictured myself calling Mia and her reaction to hearing my voice for the first time in ten long years.

A legit shudder passed through me. I was done torturing myself for putting my family first, for giving up my entire life to keep a roof over my mum’s head, but that didn’t make the obvious anger in Mia’s eyes easier to bear. Her temper had fascinated seventeen-year-old me—sometimes I’d wound her up on purpose, just torevel in her flushed skin and sharp tongue—but I didn’t have the stones to take it now. My Mia angst tolerance was at an all-time complacent low.

“Luke?”

I spared Gus another glare. “What?”

“Can I eat your chips?”

 

Add Forgiven by Garrett Leigh to Goodreads now!

*

Buy Forgiven by Garrett Leigh

Harlequin.com: https://www.harlequin.com/shop/books/9780369700100_forgiven.html 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Forgiven-Second-Romance-Garrett-Leigh-ebook/dp/B08B4SQ1JP/ 

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/forgiven-garrett-leigh/1137525022 

Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/forgiven/id1518391601 

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Garrett_Leigh_Forgiven?id=fFHrDwAAQBAJ 

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/forgiven-57 

*

About Garrett Leigh

Garrett Leigh is an award-winning British writer and book designer.

Garrett's debut novel, Slide, won Best Bisexual Debut at the 2014 Rainbow Book Awards, and her polyamorous novel, Misfits was a finalist in the 2016 LAMBDA awards.

When not writing, Garrett can generally be found procrastinating on Twitter, cooking up a storm, or sitting on her behind doing as little as possible, all the while shouting at her menagerie of children and animals and attempting to tame her unruly and wonderful FOX.

Garrett is also an award winning cover artist, taking the silver medal at the Benjamin Franklin Book Awards in 2016. She designs for various publishing houses and independent authors at blackjazzdesign.com, and co-owns the specialist stock site moonstockphotography.com with photographer Dan Burgess. 

Connect with Garrett Leigh

Website: http://www.garrettleigh.com/ 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5893561.Garrett_Leigh 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/garrettleighauthor/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Garrett_Leigh 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/garrett_leigh/ 

*

Blog Tour Host

 

Book Review: RACHEL, OUT OF OFFICE by Christina Hovland

Rachel, Out of Office 

by
Christina Hovland 

Out of reach, out of touch, out of her mind.

Single mom, Rachel Gibson seriously needs a break. Between an absent ex-husband, rowdy twin boys, managing the PTA, and running her own business, her candle isn't burning at both ends, it's a full-blown puddle of wax. She's the go-to girl for other entrepreneurs, handling all the tasks they dread. Social media posts? She's got it. Website updates? She's on it. Light bookkeeping? Oh, yes.

Thank goodness she's about to get a reprieve when her in-laws plan to whisk her boys away for a summer of fun at the family lake house. But when her ex backs out of the family retreat, and her former inlaws insist she attend their yearly vacation summit with her munchkins, she finds herself in a pickle. Even though she's drowning in to-dos, she's horrible at saying no -- especially when it comes to her kids.

Once Rachel arrives at the lake house, she struggles to keep up with work and balance the demands of family all the while fending off pesky new feelings about her ex-brother-in-law. Which makes her start to wonder... Is falling for her ex-husband's brother just one more messy complication added to the dumpster fire?  Or is anything possible when she's out of office...



My Thoughts  

 ‘Are you really that good of a guy, Travis Frank?’

That is the big question in Rachel, Out of Office by Christina Hovland. Rachel Gibson concedes her ex brother-in-law is one good looker. But he’s also immature and irresponsible. As a single mum to twin boys, a woman trying to keep a business running, plus having an ex husband who is not pulling his weight in the parenting stakes, any attraction she feels for Travis is way, way down the list of things to think about.

I think Hovland has done a great job in portraying life as a single parent. Rachel’s family turned their back on her when she became pregnant, so it’s just her, her ex and his family. And while the Frank family offer help, it’s not something Rachel can regularly rely on; it’s not their responsibility and Rachel dislikes feeling obligated. Is it any wonder her way of coping involves trying to control as much as she can?   

A romance between Rachel and Travis does develop. They are certainly hot together, and I like how both Rachel and Travis grew as individuals and certainly as a couple as they began to navigate what a relationship between them might look like. I often found myself nodding my head and laughing at some of the interruptions they experience.

I would categorise this book more as women’s fiction than a straight-up romance. There is plenty of time spent learning about Rachel’s life, her relationship with her friends, and her relationship with all members of the Frank family.  

April’s story is up next, and I am looking forward to learning more about this ‘Calm Mom’. 

Download your copy today!
Amazon: http://mybook.to/racheloffice
Apple Books: https://apple.co/33WSaiB
Nook: http://bit.ly/racheloof
Kobo: http://bit.ly/koborachel
 
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/3goFsxP

***

Meet Christina

USA Today Bestselling Author Christina Hovland lives her own version of a fairy tale--an artisan chocolatier by day and romance writer by night. Born in Colorado, Christina received a degree in journalism from Colorado State University. Before opening her chocolate company, Christina's career spanned from the television newsroom to managing an award-winning public relations firm. She's a recovering overachiever and perfectionist with a love of cupcakes and dinner she doesn't have to cook herself. A 2017 Golden Heart® finalist, she lives in Colorado with her first-boyfriend-turned-husband, four children, and the sweetest dogs around.

 
Connect with Christina
Goodreads | Goodreads.com/hovlandwrites
Facebook | https://bit.ly/3qFlMuG
Instagram | https://bit.ly/36Qtz0H
Twitter | https://bit.ly/3qB657s   
Newsletter | https://bit.ly/3gmC072

Book Review: EXIT by Belinda Bauer

EXIT

by

Belinda Bauer

IT WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO BE MURDER . . .

Pensioner Felix Pink is about to find out that it’s never too late . . . for life to go horribly wrong.

When Felix lets himself in to Number 3 Black Lane, he’s there to perform an act of kindness and charity: to keep a dying man company as he takes his final breath . . .

But just fifteen minutes later Felix is on the run from the police – after making the biggest mistake of his life.

Now his routine world is turned upside down as he tries to discover what went wrong, while staying one step ahead of the law.

Exit is the heart-pounding, heart-breaking, and often hilarious new novel from Sunday Times bestselling author Belinda Bauer.

***

My Thoughts

Belinda Bauer, you’ve done it again! EXIT is simply a marvellous read.

For a book dealing with the sombre subject of euthanasia, I found myself often laughing out loud. The dark comedic theme running throughout deftly showcases that droll, understated British humour that I so love.  

Felix Pink, a 75 year old widower, is fastidious, has excellent manners, and talks as often to his dead wife Margaret, as he does his dog Mabel. Felix is also an exiteer – someone who sits with a terminally ill person during the last minutes of their life, a life they have decided to end by suicide using nitrous oxide (laughing gas). Exiteers are not involved in any way in assisting the suicide, thus making what they do technically legal.

When a visit to a client’s home with a new exiteer results in the wrong person dying, Felix is convinced he’ll soon be imprisoned. The police are on the case and the well plotted mystery contains a goodly number of twists that kept me interested from start to finish. But there’s also Felix, who has his own ideas about how to solve the mystery and somehow make amends to the wronged family.

As good a role as the other characters played in this book, Felix is definitely the star. He often reflects on his life – past and present. He is perceptive about what it means to be noticed and remembered and thought of once you are old or have died. Felix escapades and internal thoughts were often comical, especially since Felix, in his earnestness, is unaware of how funny he is.

EXIT is definitely one for the keeper shelf. 

Review copy courtesy of Netgalley and Bantam Press

About the Author

Belinda Bauer grew up in England and South Africa. She has worked as a journalist and screenwriter, and her script THE LOCKER ROOM earned her the Carl Foreman/Bafta Award for Young British Screenwriters, an award that was presented to her by Sidney Poitier. 

She was a runner-up in the Rhys Davies Short Story Competition for "Mysterious Ways," about a girl stranded on a desert island with 30,000 Bibles. Belinda now lives in Wales.

Book Review: THE SILK HOUSE by Kayte Nunn

   

THE SILK HOUSE

by

Kayte Nunn

 Weaving. Healing. Haunting. The spellbinding story of a mysterious boarding school sheltering a centuries-old secret by the bestselling author of THE BOTANIST'S DAUGHTER.

Australian history teacher Thea Rust arrives at an exclusive boarding school in the British countryside only to find that she is to look after the first intake of girls in its 150-year history. She is to stay with them in Silk House, a building with a long and troubled past, where the shadows hide more mysteries than she could ever imagine.

In the late 1700s, Rowan Caswell leaves her village to work in the home of an English silk merchant. She is thrust into a new and dangerous world where her talent for herbs and healing soon attracts attention.

In London, Mary-Louise Stephenson lives amid the clatter of the weaving trade and dreams of becoming a silk designer, a job that is the domain of men. Arriving in the market town of Oxleigh, she brings with her a length of fabric woven with a pattern of deadly plants that will have far-reaching consequences for all who dwell in the silk house.

Intoxicating, haunting and inspired by the author's background, THE SILK HOUSE is the exceptional new gothic mystery by Kayte Nunn.

***

My Thoughts

THE SILK HOUSE is such a satisfying read. This is the first Kayte Nunn book I have read, and it certainly won’t be my last.

This story moves between the present day and the latter part of the 18^th century. Thea Rust arrives from Australia to take up a teaching post at Oxleigh College. She’s given residence at Silk House, a property once owned by a prosperous silk merchant some 250 years ago. Rumours of ghosts and strange occurrences have plagued the house since its early days, resulting in occupants feeling unsettled. Thea finds herself experiencing things that go bump in the night . . . but are they real or just a result of an overactive imagination?

As Thea starts researching the history of the house, readers are transported back into time when Rowan Creswell, arrives at the house as its newest maid. Rowan is not immune to the undercurrents of the house; a master, a mistress, and a small number of servants create an intimate atmosphere where secrets can’t stay hidden for long and jealousies quickly arise. Rowan is not only skilled in plant medicine but she has The Sight, and exposing her abilities to others would leave her vulnerable. She knows to stay quiet.

It’s clear that Nunn has done her research, and it was instructive and enlightening to read about plant medicine and silk fabric design. This is done mainly through the lens of women’s experiences in these vocations. The fact that women were easily branded as witches and that women struggled to be taken as serious professionals in industry are not new concepts to me so I appreciated Nunn’s choice in giving us more than superficial information about these topics. I appreciated learning about specific plants and their uses. I appreciated learning more about fabric design.    

Nunn has done a great job in weaving several stories across time and distance. The story never lagged, the plot wove nicely between past and present, and every character played an important role in the continuation of the story. Highly recommended!

Review copy courtesy of Netgalley and the publisher.

*
About the Author

I grew up in England and the US, and then lived in Sydney, Australia for more than 20 years, working as a book, magazine and web editor and writer. I’ve more than two decades of publishing experience and am the former editor of Gourmet Traveller WINE magazine.

I had always written – terrible poetry, short stories and angst-ridden diaries – and have an enduring love of books and stories. I remember being so hungry for words that I would scour the cereal packets over breakfast and prowl my parents’ bookshelves in search of something new to read.

At boarding school, I read my way through the junior library before being given special permission to read from the senior library – and went straight from pony books to Solzhenitsyn and John Wyndham. Discovering Jilly Cooper is one of the abiding happy moments of my teenage years.

Ironically, when I changed jobs, it was almost always in pursuit of more writing, until finally I gathered my courage and began to write fiction – something I thought only people far cleverer than me could do. I am somewhat astonished that I am now the author of six novels.

http://kaytenunn.com/

 

 

Book Review: THE GREAT ESCAPE FROM WOODLANDS NURSING HOME by Joanna Nell

  

THE GREAT ESCAPE FROM WOODLANDS NURSING HOME

by

Joanna Nell

At nearly ninety, retired nature writer Hattie Bloom prefers the company of birds to people, but when a fall lands her in a nursing home she struggles to cope with the loss of independence and privacy. From the confines of her 'room with a view' of the carpark, she dreams of escape.

Fellow 'inmate', the gregarious, would-be comedian Walter Clements also plans on returning home as soon as he is fit and able to take charge of his mobility scooter.

When Hattie and Walter officially meet at The Night Owls, a clandestine club run by Sister Bronwyn and her dog, Queenie, they seem at odds. But when Sister Bronwyn is dismissed over her unconventional approach to aged care, they must join forces -- and very slowly an unlikely, unexpected friendship begins to grow.

Full of wisdom and warmth, The Great Escape from Woodlands Nursing Home is a gorgeously poignant, hilarious story showing that it is never too late to laugh -- or to love.

My Thoughts

I don’t know if such fiction books have a collective name, but I’ve had a lot of fun reading books featuring older people that live in aged care homes, such as The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman and The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson. It doesn’t take much scratching below the surface to realise these places are not an ideal place to live, but what appeals to me is the often plucky and remarkable characters you meet in the story. The Great Escape from Woodlands Nursing Home by Joanna Nell introduces us to several such characters, focusing on Hattie Bloom and Walter Clements. They’re both 90-odd, are steadfast in their desire to go to their real homes, but are at the mercy of people who supposedly know best.

I think Nell has done a good job in illustrating the disingenuousness of the aged care system. Nell’s words are never aggressive, but certainly provocative, as she weaves into the story multiple examples of how aged care is managed to run efficiently, and with little money. The independence and desires of residents is, at best to be ignored, and at worst, to be threatened with guardianship by those in authority.

Enjoying all this, I did still feel there was something indefinable missing in the story. The blurb mentions residents banding together to help Sister Bronwyn, but this plot seemed weak, given it wasn’t properly addressed until late in the book. Much of the book has the characters making a fuss – if you will – before immediately backing down. It’s not until the final stages of the book, when the great escape happens, that the story is elevated into something that had me loudly cheering for the residents instead of just feeling melancholy.    

I would also like to mention the set up of the Woodlands Nursing Home itself. It’s based on the game Monopoly. Resident rooms are labeled with one of the game streets, from ‘Go’ and collecting your $200, onto Whitechapel Road and around all the corners to Mayfair. So clever! Hattie Bloom, makes the observation that ‘depending on how you landed on this particular Monopoly square, the foyer and reception area represented either IN JAIL or JUST VISITING.’ Such insight really says it all.

This was my first Joanna Nell novel. I am glad I chose to read this book and I will be looking to add her other books onto my to-be-read pile. 

Review copy courtesy of Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton

*
About the Author

Joanna Nell is a Sydney-based writer, GP and advocate for positive ageing. Her bestselling debut novel The Single Ladies of Jacaranda Retirement Village was published in 2018 with rights sold internationally. Her second novel The Last Voyage of Mrs Henry Parker was published in 2019.

Joanna's award winning short fiction has been published in a number of magazines, journals and short story anthologies including Award Winning Australian Writing. She has also written for The Sydney Morning Herald's Spectrum and Sunday Life magazines.

https://www.joannanell.com/