RRR presents... THE BEACH READS BOOK CLUB by Kathryn Freeman - REVIEW!

Hi there! 

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers. 

Today, we’re on tour with Rachel’s Random Resources latest book-abration featuring author Kathryn Freeman’s latest Contemporary Romance release! It’s a wonderful add to the genre and the perfect way to bid adieu to summer and hello to fall...because it’s coming, I can feel it (just not weather-wise as of yet)! Join me as we join a colorful collection of characters for what promises to be a fabulously good time in today’s ebook of choice… 

The Beach Reads Book Club 

by 

Kathryn Freeman 

About the book... 

Welcome to the Beach Reads Book Club…where love is just a page away… 

When Lottie Watt is unceremoniously booted out of her uptight book club for not following the rules, she decides to throw the rulebook out the window and start her own club – one where conversation, gin and cake take precedent over actually having read the book! 

The Beach Reads Book Club soon finds a home for its meetings at Books by the Bay, a charming bookshop and café owned by gorgeous, brooding Matthew Steele, and as the book club picks heat up, so too does the attraction between Matt and Lottie. 

If there’s anything Lottie has learned from the romances she’s been reading, it’s that the greatest loves are the ones hardest earned. 

A love letter to chicklit, romance, romcoms, whatever you want to call them! 

AMAZON US | UK 

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I meant what I said, it’s the PERFECT way to while away a late summer afternoon! You’ve got good friends, a great venue, a fabulous book club not afraid to read what they want, a great leading lady, and a hunky yet bookish leading man! There are smiles to be shared, awkwardness to get around, feelings that need revealing, and enough excuses thrown up as road blocks that a state trooper would have a hard time getting around them, but in the end, these folks are there for each other through think and thin. Once you’re a member of the Beach Reads Book Club, you’re a friend for life! 

Lottie was a doll! She was fiercely independent, stubborn, vivacious, and business smart. She led with her heart instead of her pocketbook and while it might not have netted her millions, everyone thinks a million of her. She can make a friend out of a stranger in no time flat...something experienced with a certain bookshop owners curmudgeonly father and samesaid owner’s sister. She can prize a smile out of the most unlikely candidates, yet has the backbone to demand to stand on her own two feet. Her heart takes the hit sometimes when it’s put out there first, but if she didn’t live that way, she wouldn’t be her and the world would be sadder for it. Matt was awkward, but sweet; hard to figure out yet trying so hard for everyone involved. He picked himself up after heartbreak hit home, and strove to make good on their family promise to his mother. It wasn’t easy, and there were more than a few bumps along the way, but he was determined to make it work and with a wing, a prayer, and Lottie’s help, he just might have a chance. Seeing these two come together, slowly but surely, was smile inducing, and the time it took might be frustrating to some, but I found it sweet and realistic. True, at one point I wanted to smack them both upside the head and be like will you please get it together, but things had to brew in their own time, making the final outcome that much sweeter. 

All in all, a fabulous bookish read for Chick Lit, Rom Com, and Contemporary Romance fans that I’d certainly recommend...and I wouldn’t mind imagining myself into their little group. Good friends, great laughs, and books...what more could you want! 

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About the author...

A former pharmacist, I’m now a medical writer who also writes romance. Some days a racing heart is a medical condition, others it’s the reaction to a hunky hero.

With a husband who asks every Valentine’s Day whether he has to buy a card (yes, he does), any romance is all in my head. Then again, his unstinting support of my career change proves love isn't always about hearts and flowers - and heroes come in many disguises.

SITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK

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Special thanks to Rachel at Rachel's Random Resources for the chance to bring this tour to you. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, this promotion, or those on the horizon, feel free to click through the links provided above. This title is available now, so click on over to your favorite online retailer to snag your copy today and be sure to check out the rest of the tour for more bookish fun!

Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!

RRR presents... ON THE ROAD TO LOVE by Melissa Baldwin - REVIEW + GIVEAWAY!

HI there, fellow readers!

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

Today, we're starting things off with a Rachel's Random Resources tour featuring a Contemporary Romance title that's an easy fit for both Chick Lit and Women's Fiction fans alike.  How so?  Well, it deals with life, love, and friendship, with a dash of humor and a pinch of long held anger just waiting to explode...and features three leading ladies you won't soon forget.  So, if you're ready, the car is packed and idling, as we set forth...

On the Road to Love

by

Melissa Baldwin

About the book...

From bestselling romantic comedy author Melissa Baldwin comes the road trip of a lifetime!

Successful Manhattan accountant Stacy Brown is shocked when her almost perfect life unexpectedly crumbles around her. Blindsided by her husband when he serves her with divorce papers and tossed aside by the women she considered her best friends, devastation and depression hit her hard. But when her mother sends her an old photograph of her and two childhood friends, Candace and Olivia, it fuels a desire in Stacy to find that person she once was. What starts as a chance to reconnect turns into an unforgettable road trip back to her childhood home and an encounter with a man from her past. 

Gavin Kingsley, son of Stacy's old piano teacher and former annoying boy next door, sparks something in Stacy that she hasn't felt in a long time…maybe never? Despite her hesitation to jump into a relationship, Stacy can't help being drawn to him as she and her girlfriends take a journey of self-discovery, laughs, tears, and hysterical moments. 

Can returning to her past give Stacy everything she's been searching for in her future? 

AMAZON  US  |  UK

💜   🤍   💜   🤍   💜   🤍   💜

An accountant, a model, and a self starter walk into a bar...

Okay, it sounds like the start to a bad joke, but what it REALLY is is the beginning of a reunion they never saw coming, and a second chance not only for each other, but themselves as well.

My jaw dropped when Stacy's "surprise" was delivered.  I mean, if I was there, after ushering her off to better surroundings, I would've popped that piece of work upside the head with the nearest tax table!  The nerve of that a**hat, and yet this terrible event ends up being the catalyst to so much good that you can't help but...no.  No.  I still can't stand her ex, regardless of what good came her way eventually.  *ahem*  Anywho...

Personal crisis loves company.  Meaning, the timing of the blast from the past photo and the beauty of how the world can connect in seconds, equated to Stacy's having the chance to get reacquainted with her besties from yesteryear.  The good news?  Both Candace (sorry, C.J.) and Olivia are thrilled to bits to hear from her.  The bad news?  They would both rather be bald than in the same room with the other...let alone in the same car...let alone without being told they were going to be so they could mentally prepare.  Yeah...Stacy definitely had some explaining to do, but all's well that ends well, right?  Well, even if it doesn't end on the highest of notes (which, spoiler alert, it does!), she can at least take comfort in catching up with an old acquaintance.  The fact that they are a HE and SMOKING HOT and SUCCESSFUL and so OBVIOUSLY INTERESTED it hurts but in the cutest way possible (and they have the best texts and conversations) is beside the point.  OH, did I fail to mention that Stacy does have a way of getting in her own way and if her former besties aren't there to make this meet and greet happen, it probably won't?   Good thing they were and still are her "ride or die" friends til the end...provided they don't off each other first!

I had a great time with this trio of friends and all the drama their road trip entailed.  I mean, if Olivia can "get lost" so her friends have to call in the cops, and Candace can passive aggressively control the driver/passenger situation, then Stacy is surely entitled to use waterworks and emotional meltdown warnings to bring them together!  (LOL!)  Seriously though, once they saw each other as they are and not simply as they were, the bonds they had were reformed anew, and something that any gal would love in a true life friend.  Speaking of bonds, Stacy and Gavin?  Whew!  A match I couldn't wait to happen, although I admit to waiting for the other shoe to drop at any time...call me a pessimist, but with all the other fireworks, who knew what would happen!

In the end, it was a trip down memory lane to the present that I wouldn't have had any other way.  It reminds us that true friendships are meant to last a lifetime, so being selective with who we let into our inner circle is A OKAY!  Oh and yeah...the annoying boy next door that you noticed, but only just, CAN turn out to be your person...one day.

💜   🤍   💜   🤍   💜   🤍   💜

About the author...

Melissa Baldwin is a planner-obsessed Disney fan who still watches Beverly Hills 90210 reruns and General Hospital. 

She’s a wife, mother, and journal keeper, who finally decided to write the book she talked about for years. She took her dream to the next level, and is now an award-winning, bestselling author of seventeen Romantic Comedy and Cozy Mystery novels and novellas. Melissa writes about charming, ambitious, and real women, and she considers these leading ladies to be part of her tribe.

When she isn't deep in the writing zone, this multitasking master organizer keeps busy by spending time with her family, chauffeuring her daughter, traveling, attempting yoga poses, and going on rides at Disney World.

AMAZON | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM

💜   🤍   💜   🤍   💜   🤍   💜

YOUR CHANCE TO WIN...

...a $20 Amazon Gift Card

 (Open INT)

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

💜   🤍   💜   🤍   💜   🤍   💜

Special thanks to Rachel of Rachel’s Random Resources for the chance to bring this tour to you as well as the ebook for review. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, this tour, or those on the horizon, feel free to click through the links provided above. This title is available now, so click on over to your favorite online retailer to snag your copy today.

Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!

RRR presents... WHAT NOW? by Shari Low - REVIEW!

Hi there!

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

Today, we've teamed up with Rachel's Random Resources to celebrate 20 YEARS of Shari Low!  Deja vu much?  You betcha, but in the best way possible!  The title we're featuring today a sequel that was TWENTY YEARS in the making, so let's break out the confetti, and don our party hats because there's nothing like a bookish party!  Am I right?  Let's get this blog tour post on the road as we focus in on today's ebook of choice...

What Now?

by

Shari Low

About the book...

The follow-up sequel to the bestselling 'What If?' from Shari Low 

Twenty years ago, Carly Cooper went on an epic quest to track down all the men she’d ever loved and lost in the hope that one of them was her Mr Right.

Now, two decades and two teenage sons later, she thinks she might have got it all wrong.

As the years have passed, lots of things have changed, leaving Carly asking ‘What Now?’

With a divorce and an empty nest on the horizon, Carly sets off once more to Los Angeles with her band of trusty girlfriends, to find the carefree, wild and adventurous Carly Cooper that she used to be.

On this latest quest, Carly discovers a few home truths and has to decide If her marriage is worth saving or is there a new happy-ever-after out there, just waiting for her…

~~~   SNAG YOUR COPY HERE   ~~~

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Carly and the girls are back for an epic adventure!  You thought mid-life crisis' were just for the fellas?  Think again...only it does in fact involve the male species in several respects, so yeah...okay, I'll commit to it being brought on my them, but not fully about them.  Anywho, back to Carly...

She's been living the dream with her presumed soulmate, two kids, a house, a career with dreams politely shelved and no (*cough cough*) regrets, until one day...she's not.  I mean, she still has the great kids, house, and career-type outlook in the works, but the soulmate has left the building.  What's a girl to do?!  Carry on, and so she does...until another monkey wrench comes flying her way and suddenly ducking for cover is no longer an option, and hiding away won't be tolerated by those who love her most.  Can we say ROAD TRIP?  Okay, well there is a road, but they take the skyway, and along the way discover oh-so-many-more things about themselves, each other, and the world around them...including the fact that love comes in many forms, not every soulmate results in a happily ever after, never take on a clan of "mama bears", and true love can strike twice!

If I've left you intrigued, GOOD!  You should be...and it's well warranted.  If you're a fan of Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction, or Chick Lit, this is definitely a book you won't want to miss.  By the turn of the final page, you'll feel like one of the gang...and I can't think of a better group to be counted as one!

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About the author...

Shari Low is the #1 bestselling author of over 25 novels, including One Day In Summer and My One Month Marriage and a collection of parenthood memories called Because Mummy Said So. She lives near Glasgow.  Sign up for her newsletter here.

SITE  |  FACEBOOK  |  TWITTER  |  INSTAGRAM

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Special thanks to Rachel at Rachel's Random Resources for the chance to bring this tour to you. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, this promotion, or those on the horizon, feel free to click through the links provided above. This title is available now, so click on over to your favorite online retailer to snag your copy today and be sure to check out the rest of the tour for more bookish fun!

Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!

Silver Dagger Book Tours presents... BELLA CIGNA by Wendi Dass - SPOTLIGHT + GIVEAWAY!

 

Bella Cigna

Foreign Endearments Book 1

by Wendi Dass

Genre: Chick-Lit, Contemporary Romance

Devastated by personal loss, Sarah Flynn escapes to Rome where she finds a job teaching English. Only the girls' school is like a nunnery and she's expected to speak fluent Italian overnight. What has she gotten herself into? While the beautiful sights rekindle her interest in art, not even her brush finding canvas can heal all the wounds she carries. She'll need the help of a meddling nun, a nutty mathematician, and a handsome Italian admirer. Can Sarah overcome the insecurities born of a shattered marriage? Will she again take a chance on love?

**On Sale for only $2.99 Dec 1st-13th!!**

Add to Goodreads

Amazon * Apple * B&N * Books2Read

Wendi Dass is a math professor and author from Charlottesville, Virginia. Her writing interests include literary short stories, flash fiction, and novel-length women's fiction and romance. Wendi's short stories have been published in several small journals, including Black Fox Literary and The Ocotillo Review, among others. When she's not devising deceptively delicious problems for her students she can be found drafting her latest story.

Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads

Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

$25 Amazon gift card + Author Swag

a Rafflecopter giveaway  

RRR presents... LIFE LESSONS by J.E. Rowney - GUEST POST!

Hi there!

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

Today, we're teamed up with Rachel's Random Resources to bring you a stop along their current promotion featuring the work of J.E. Rowney.  First, we'll shine a spotlight on their current release, and then, we'll take a look behind the scenes to learn more about the life behind the writer!  Ready or not, here comes today's title in the spotlight...

Life Lessons

Lessons of a Student Midwife series, Book 1

by

J.E. Rowney

About the book...

For fans of "Call the Midwife", "Hard Pushed" or "This is Going to Hurt".

Life Lessons is a new adult chick-lit medical drama, with splashes of clean romance.

Expect an unputdownable emotional page-turner that will take you deep into the life lessons of a student midwife.

Violet wants to be a midwife, but she has struggled with anxiety throughout her teenage years.

With her best friend Zoe at her side, she gets a place at University and starts training for her dream job.

Can she overcome her fears and find the self-confidence to make it through her first year?

Will Zoe's romance with their housemate spell dating disaster?

Book one of the Lessons of a Student Midwife series.

This book is a prequel to Ghosted, the bestselling novel.

!!!   GRAB YOUR COPY TODAY  !!!

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~~~   GUEST POST   ~~~

My journey into authordom...by J.E. Rowney

Although I always wanted to be a writer, I did actually start out my career as a midwife. I worked for ten years in midwifery practice, before moving over into a management position. It was while I was working in management that I found my way back to writing. I had to commute from my home in West Yorkshire to Manchester and London for work, and the long train journeys gave me the ideal opportunity to spend some time putting down the outlines of my first novel.

I changed job, moved down to the South Coast, and all the time I thought about writing. After I finally took the plunge and began to focus on writing, it was only a matter of time before my midwifery background started to nose its way into my books. They say “write what you know” – and what I know about is midwifery. Hopefully I know a few more things too, but it is definitely my specialist subject.

When I started to write “Ghosted”, my third novel, I introduced Violet Cobham as the main character. She is a midwife who works long, irregular shifts, suffers with panic attacks, and loves her best friend Zoe. The book was so well received that readers asked if I would write a sequel. I thought about that for a while, but I realised that the interesting story would come from Violet and Zoe’s backstory. There are brief mentions in “Ghosted” of people and events from the past, and exploring these in a prequel felt like it was going to be a lot of fun for me and my readers. The idea for “The Lessons of a Student Midwife” series was born!

The series runs over three novels – one for each year of the university course that Violet is undertaking. The first novel, available now, “Life Lessons” follows Violet and Zoe from their arrival at their university home through to the end of their first year. Will Violet overcome her anxiety to pass her exams? Will she have the confidence to deliver a baby? Will Zoe ever get it together with the man she has a huge crush on? It’s a light-hearted, but still emotionally, moving novel.

Books two and three will be available later this year, so readers won’t have long to wait after enjoying “Life Lessons”. You can buy “Life Lessons” now, and pre-order “Love Lessons”, which will be released on August 31st.

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About the author...

J.E.Rowney spent several years in the cold Yorkshire hills, which brings the flavour of the moorland countryside into her work. She now lives in Dorset, and the sun and sea are slowly creeping in as influences.

"Charcoal", her first novel, was published in 2012 to wide critical acclaim, and was a bestselling novel across the whole of Amazon within days of release.

Ms Rowney has recently been awarded the Dinesh Allirajah Writing Prize 2020.

Her third novel, "Ghosted", was released in January 2020 and quickly also became a bestseller.

She spends lots of time writing in coffee shops, so if you see her, say hello.

Ms. Rowney says: "I always dreamed of being a writer, until I realised that I was. Then I started to write."

You can find out more about JE Rowney on her website at jerowney.com, or follow on social media.

MAILING LIST

TWITTER  |  FACEBOOK  |  INSTAGRAM  |  PINTEREST

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Special thanks to Rachel at Rachel's Random Resources for the chance to bring this tour to you. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, this promotion, or those on the horizon, feel free to click through the links provided above. Be sure to check out the rest of tour for more bookish fun!

Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!

RRR presents... THE FIRST DATE by Zara Stoneley - REVIEW!

Hi there!

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

Today, we join Rachel's Random Resources for a stop along their current tour featuring a Romantic Comedy you'll want to commit to reading, despite the characters obvious inability to do the same in a relationship!  No, seriously though...it IS called THE FIRST DATE for a reason!  Ready or not, here comes today's title in the spotlight, ebook of choice, and blog tour guest...

The First Date

by

Zara Stoneley

One More Chapter/HarperCollins

About the book...

Right place.
Right time.
Wrong guy …

​After breaking up with her childhood sweetheart, clueless dater Rosie has found herself in a boyfriend-drought. So when she finally swipes right on a guy who seems interested, she can’t wait to meet up IRL.

​Until she’s left standing alone. In a bar. Ghosted.

Enter Noah. Confident, funny … and a serial first dater. Offering to give Rosie a crash course in seduction, this could be just what she needs. Until her matchmaker turns out to be the best date she’s ever had – and Rosie wonders if she wants the fake dates to be the real ones after all …

A hilarious, heartwarming romantic comedy about what happens when the wrong guy turns up at the right time, perfect for fans of Sophie Kinsella and Debbie Johnson.

AMAZON

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Oh this one has all the feels and then some!

You'll be laughing, on the verge of tears, ready to smack some sense into a few grade "A" you-know-whats, and making heart eyes at the one it should have been all along.

Honestly, Rosie was a dream...a smart, sassy, bookshop working gal who just wanted what everyone seemed to have...LOVE.  She had it, or she thought she did, until one day...quite suddenly, or so it seemed, she didn't.  Her heart broken, she wasn't ready to face the music and try, try again...until an errant call from a family member (that was DEFINITELY not chosen but was rather blood related...and might I say, an absolute shat type person who gave her major dating/love issues!) had her dipping her feet into the online dating pool.  One rotten date later, she was...in love?  Lust?  Oh heck, she was actually more set up to learn the rules of first dating like a champ FROM a champ, and though it may seem like this would be the last type of person to perhaps fall for, Noah was definitely easy on the eyes AND heart.  The care he takes, the gentleness he shows, the time he devotes to this "task" all certainly speak volumes for his dedication to her "schooling", however deep down, you can't help but sense that the one way street Rosie seems to be walking down, may actually be made for two.

All in all, a great Rom Com for Contemporary fans that'll give you some memorable one-liners, date prep activities at which to smile and/or blush, and ultimately, that special ZING that comes from possibly uncovering that special someone that's just right for you. 

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About the author...

USA Today bestselling author Zara Stoneley writes funny, contemporary romances that will whisk you away from the humdrum of everyday life and make you laugh out loud.

​

Growing up she wanted to be James Bond or UK veterinary surgeon James Herriot - instead she dallied with a career in IT consultancy, ran a dog grooming business, and had a brief spell teaching (variety is the spice of life!) before finally writing a bestselling novel and realising that at heart she'd always been an author.

​

She enjoys torturing (in a nice way) her characters for your pleasure and writes about friendship, pesky pets, troublesome relatives, hopes, dreams, love and happy ever afters. Her aim is to make you laugh a lot, cry a little, and occasionally say 'ahhh'.

​

Follow her Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/ZaraStoneley to find out more about her home life in a Cheshire village with her family, a (very) lively cockapoo called Harry, and a bossy (and slightly evil) cat called Saffron. Zara’s bestselling novels have been translated into several languages and sold around the world. They include 'Four Christmases and a Secret', 'Bridesmaids', 'No One Cancels Christmas', 'The Wedding Date', 'The Holiday Swap', 'Summer with the Country Village Vet', 'Blackberry Picking at Jasmine Cottage' and the popular Tippermere series - 'Stable Mates', 'Country Affairs' and 'Country Rivals'.

SITE | BOOKBUB | FACEBOOK 

TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | AMAZON

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Special thanks to Rachel at Rachel's Random Resources for the chance to bring this tour to you. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, this promotion, or those on the horizon, feel free to click through the links provided above. This title is available now, so click on over to your favorite online retailer to snag your copy today and be sure to check out the rest of the tour for more bookish fun!

Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!

RRR presents... A TRAIN FROM PENZANCE TO PARIS by Laura Briggs - EXCERPT!

HI guys!

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

Today, we're popping up with a spotlight on a new title via Rachel's Random Resources.  The tour features several excerpts of a title from Laura Briggs that you'll definitely want to follow along with the really wet your reading whistle!  Ready, set, let's read all about today's title in the spotlight...

A Train from Penzance to Paris

by

Laura Briggs

About the book...

When Maisie accepts a celebrated author’s invitation to mentor her, she finds herself leaving Cornwall behind on train tracks bound for the glitter city of Paris. Instead of making beds and serving coffee at the Penmarrow hotel in Cornwall, she’s making notes on her manuscript while sitting in a French cafe, meeting famous writers at private dinner parties, and trying to ferret the secrets behind the author’s unfinished future novel.

It’s glamorous, it’s breathtaking … but it’s also an ocean channel away from the place that she loves, and, more importantly, the person to whom she just recently confessed her deepest feelings. Separated from Sidney by distance and circumstances, Maisie fears that their connection will be lost despite her words to him – and maybe because of those words, and the ones she didn’t allow him to say in return.

Meanwhile, there are plenty of things in her new life trying to distract her – the professional editor hired to critique her novel, the eager young literary agent who sees pie-in-the-sky potential for Maisie’s talent, but Maisie finds solace in the eclectic group of amateur writers into whose midst she finds herself by accident. Their critique and advice is fast becoming as important as the editors – maybe even more important than the published author Maisie believed held the keys to refining her skill.

But it’s missing Sidney that fills Maisie’s thoughts the most, along with her life back in Port Hewer, and she can’t stop wondering whether his feelings are the same as her own. His unspoken answer has become one of the most important pieces of her life, even as she struggles to match the pace of her new life and keep her dreams in sight. And when she unwittingly becomes privy to a seeming literary conspiracy, she must decide what to do in light of its truth – and decide what’s most important in her quest to become a professional writer.

Join Maisie in a whirlwind tour across two of the world’s greatest cities, filled with questions, dreams, and a chance for fame that she believed far beyond her grasp, as she discovers herself as a writer, and how to embrace an unexpected future on her own terms.

!!! SNAG A COPY TO CALL YOUR OWN !!!

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~~~ EXCERPT ~~~

...from A Train from Penzance to Paris

Thank you so much to Gina for letting me share an extract from my latest book! It is the 5th installment in my Cornish romance series about aspiring author Maisie. The scene below finds Maisie enroute to Paris with her favorite author, who is also her writing mentor. But as the letter she’s composing reveals, Maisie’s thoughts are still back in Cornwall, with the charming local groundskeeper, Sidney Daniels.

I paused, tapping my pencil as I gazed at a distant cathedral, the points of its grand towers rising above the village like a crown. Across from me, Alli paged through her little Chinese silk notebook, jotting down something that I could only hope belonged to her long-overdue fourth novel. The one devoted fans like me had been dying to read and had been denied for the past six years.

The villages we pass seem to beg me to visit them, wander down little lanes and look for cottages draped in red ivy, sprawling oaks let to live in cobblestone main squares. I have a thing for villages now, thanks to Port Hewer. I'll never pass one without wondering what kind of life happens there, and knowing it's never as small as I used to imagine, with everyone a quaint clone from an episode of 'Cranford.' 

I'll feel a little homesick if I visit one, even though the place I'll be missing isn't technically my home. Just the sight of somebody riding a sky-blue bicycle might leave me with the need to curl up with comforting chocolates and a cup of tea, incapable of writing a single word of my manuscript's revisions for the rest of the day.

The train announcement for the Paris arrival time caught my ear, snatches of dual-language nouns. That was good, because I almost closed my eyes and pictured myself cycling down the hill with Sidney, me waving at those scornfully-staring neighbors who knew all the rumors about his dubious past long before I did. Because of that picture, I felt my heart squeezed tighter in the grip of that longing.

I could write something else here.  Am I crazy? Crazy to get on a train to Paris with a stranger, who promises that I'll brush shoulders with movers and shakers any novelist would be dying to meet? Or would I have been crazier to stay behind and clean rugs and clear tables as a hotel maid, my fingers crossed while my manuscript lay in some publisher's 'to review' heap? 

I think everything I've done may have been certifiable, since the day Wallace Scott told me I'd been turned down for the mentorship program. And I mean that down to the moment I said the words 'I love you' and then boarded this train twenty-four hours later, like I was running away from the one person who had kept me and my dream from growing stale and dusty, and getting hopelessly lost in that world.

My pen didn't write those words down in reality, but these were the questions my mind had turned over multiple times since leaving. Never in a million years would Sidney have let me make another choice, we both knew. But I watched it cut him deeply, knowing there was nothing we could do. It had always been coming, I tried to tell myself. One of us was always going to leave, as we both knew. But it didn't help one bit.

"We're coming into the station shortly," Alli said, shoving her little notebook into her leather satchel. "Don't forget to collect all your suitcases from the upper compartment. Silly me, I once fell asleep on the line from Reading to Bristol after an all-night sing and carouse in a pub near the old playhouse — I bolted off the train just before the doors closed, only to remember I'd left my handbag underneath me on the seat. Twenty perfectly good quid lost, which was all my worldly possession at the time."

In keeping with most of the stories she'd told me, it rambled on its own path and left gaping holes. I was curious to know just when and where any of this fit in the unusual past of the celebrated writer. 

"Fortunately, I travel light," I answered, since all my worldly goods were tucked in the suitcase above, including my stuffed carnival prize giraffe Mr. Bubbles and my scant souvenirs from life in Port Hewer. Everything except my red cloche hat, which lay on my lap beneath my open journal.

My pen returned to the page. The clouds traveling past on the horizon couldn't move more quickly than my thoughts, and even the scenery is slow compared to my revolving question. I ask myself every hour if I'm truly ready for this, for what it means to take this leap as a writer. 

A wise friend once told me I could never know the answer without trying — that no one but me will ever know if I'm ready; or, for that matter, what I should do when the time comes. So I won't trust Alistair's word, or anybody else's, more than I trust my own judgment in this process. That's a promise. 

Write me a letter soon and tell me how you are. Tell me how things are in the village, and what Mrs. Graves and the vicar are doing, and of Dean battling his nurses. If you see anybody from the hotel, Molly or Brigette or Riley, or even Norm in his grumpiest mood, then tell them hello from me. 

I miss you, Sidney.

Love, Maisie

The train's speed becomes a mechanical crawl as it eases into the Gare du Nord station, and I feel as if a breath of steam is about to be released by the train, a mist that will part in dramatic revelation.  Of what, I ask myself? A postcard city? The stage for my dream's first act? Or maybe an experience I truly can't face as a twentysomething year-old former waitress, whom only a year ago was wearing a sequined Mexican hostess dress while taking taco orders. Here I am now, in the company of one of the world's most critically-acclaimed writers, about to take the streets of Paris — and my first manuscript's revision stage — by storm.

I am excited, terrified, and exhilarated. I have no clue if this is how destiny feels.

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About the author...

Laura Briggs is the author of several feel-good romance reads, including the Top 100 Amazon UK seller 'A Wedding in Cornwall'. She has a fondness for vintage style dresses (especially ones with polka dots), and reads everything from Jane Austen to modern day mysteries. When she's not writing, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, caring for her pets, gardening, and seeing the occasional movie or play.

TWITTER  |  FACEBOOK

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Special thanks to Rachel at Rachel's Random Resources for the chance to bring this tour to you. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, this promotion, or those on the horizon, feel free to click through the links provided above. Be sure to check out the rest of tour for more bookish fun!

Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!

RRR presents... A SUMMER TO REMEMBER by Victoria Cooke - EXCERPT + GIVEAWAY!

Hi there!

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

Today, we're joining Rachel's Random Resources for a stop along their current tour featuring a new Romantic Comedy/Chick-Lit offering AVAILABLE NOW via HQ Digital!  It stars a single woman who's found a way to love her new life that's about to have things SHAKEN not stirred.  Sound good?  Oh, it gets better!  Ladies and gents, make way as today's title in the spotlight take the stage...

A Summer to Remember

by

Victoria Cooke

HQ Digital

About the book...
 Sam lives by the mantra that it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. 

After the tragic loss of her husband, Sam built a new life around friends, her cat Coco and a career she loves. Fending off frequent set-ups and well-meaning advice to ‘move on’, Sam is resolutely happy being single.

  But when Sam gets seconded to her firm’s Boston office for the summer, it is more than her career that is in for a shake-up. A spur of the moment decision to visit the idyllic beaches of Cape Cod could end up changing her life forever.

*** SNAG A COPY TO CALL YOUR OWN **

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~~~ EXCERPT ~~~

This is Sam’s first day in her dream secondment that she’d worked hard for. It doesn’t quite go to plan. . .

The next morning, I hit the ground running. Yesterday’s arsehole is today’s motivation to be professional and great at my job. Oh, who am I kidding? Ninety-nine per cent of my confidence was bought from Hobbs in the form of the smart black skirt and burgundy blouse I’m currently wearing. For added oomph, I’m carrying my ‘special occasion only’ black Marc Jacobs handbag in an attempt to feel every bit the city girl.

As I negotiate the revolving door to the office, my insides are jelly. The receptionist takes me up to the boardroom where I’ll meet the team. Four of them are my English colleagues, who left the apartment earlier than me because they wanted to go to Starbucks, and I wasn’t ready. They, being mostly bald men, had considerably less hair to dry than I did.

As we approach the glass-walled boardroom, I glance at them all sat around the table. My inner fire dies a little when it registers that they’re all dressed casually. The receptionist is smart in her cropped houndstooth pants and purple sweater, so it makes no sense, unless we’re kicking off with some practical hands-on work.

‘Hi,’ I say, feeling a little sick. ‘So, do you do casual Friday on a Monday here?’ I mean it as a joke to laugh off my blunder but soon realise that my British accent and power dressing probably made it sound like more of an underhand dig, a notion affirmed by a few raised eyebrows and a bit of uncomfortable throat clearing.

‘We always dress like this. Do you have a problem with that, ma’am?’ the man at the top of the table asks. I’m assuming he’s Patrick, the boss.

‘Er, no. No problem at all. I was j—’

‘Good,’ he says, before turning back to the rest of the table. I slip into a chair and take out my file. That wasn’t a great start, but I’m determined to make a good impression.

‘As I was saying before Victoria Beckham over here interrupted—’ he jabs his thumb in my direction, as if anyone was in any doubt, and heat rises up the back of my neck ‘—Rocks needs an international campaign for their sneakers, so we really need to our heads in the game. This isn’t a rebrand, this is a new brand so we have to get it just right.’

I glance at my watch and it’s only 8.55 a.m. My chest tightens. I can’t believe they started without me. How rude! I look around the table. Tony, Dave, Carl and Steve – my British colleagues – are all dressed down and look completely mortified by my intrusion. The other four men are the Americans; I’ve yet to learn names but they’re all equally unimpressed. But they started without me.

I keep my mouth shut for the rest of the day. Maybe it’s first day nerves or perhaps I’m still knocked by that awful man I met yesterday but I can’t seem to unravel the knot in my stomach. When the clock strikes five, I almost race out of the door. Tony catches me up. ‘Sorry, Sam, I thought you knew it was a casual office – I’d have said this morning if I saw you.’ He looks genuinely sorry.

‘It’s fine.’ I brush my hand through the air. ‘Nobody mentioned it, that’s all.’

‘It was in the itinerary email.’ He pulls out his phone and begins scrolling through.

‘Really, it’s fine.’ I don’t need him to prove it, I need him to drop it. I’m mortified enough as it is.

He looks up. ‘Here it is. “And remember, the Boston office is CW.” Casualwear.’

‘What? Give me that.’ I take the phone from his hand and read it for myself. ‘I had this email, but how was I supposed to know CW meant casualwear? I thought it was a direction, like “central west” or something.’

He furrows his brow. ‘I’m sorry. We all knew. At least you do now, and tomorrow is a new day. We’re going for beers; do you want to join us?’

‘No, thanks. I have some shopping to do.’

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About the author...

Victoria Cooke grew up in the city of Manchester before crossing the Pennines in pursuit of a career in education. She now lives in Huddersfield with her husband and two young daughters and when she’s not at home writing by the fire with a cup of coffee in hand, she loves working out in the gym and travelling. Victoria was first published at the tender age of eight by her classroom teacher who saw potential in a six-page story about an invisible man. Since then she’s always had a passion for reading and writing, undertaking several writers’ courses before completing her first novel, 'The Secret to Falling in Love,' in 2016.

Her third novel, Who Needs Men Anyway? became a digital bestseller in 2018.

GOODREADS  |  TWITTER  |  FACEBOOK  |  INSTAGRAM

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UP FOR GRABS...

A Summer to Remember by Victoria Cooke and Chocolates!

(UK Only)

*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Special thanks to Rachel at Rachel's Random Resources for the chance to bring this tour to you.  (THANKS!)  For more information on this title, the author, the publisher, this tour, or those on the horizon, feel free to click through the links provided above.  This title is AVAILABLE NOW via HQ Digital, so click on over to your favorite online retailer to snag your copy today!  Be sure to check out the rest of the tour for more bookish fun.

Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!