NEW RELEASES: Maggie Does Meribel by Nicola Doherty

Maggie Does Meribel is the latest novel in the five-part Girls on Tour series by Nicola Doherty (author of The Out of Office Girl and If I Could Turn Back Time). In the latest installment, Maggie is off to the French Alps for a couples' skiing holiday...

Maggie can't wait for her first ever skiing holiday. New Year's Eve in the French Alps with her boyfriend Leo and two other couples: what could be more romantic? She's picturing hot chocolate, romantic snowball fights and evenings snuggled together in front of the log fire. What she didn't picture is near-death experiences on the mountains, falling out with Leo and sharing a chalet with the unbearable Jenny. When she meets Sylvain, a gorgeous ski instructor, the line between harmless flirting and full-on misbehaviour becomes ... well, blurry. Will Maggie stay on the nursery slopes, or go seriously off-piste? Girls on Tour is an irresistible series of interlinked stories about five friends, ordinary girls who have extraordinary fun in faraway places. Expect the unexpected, the utterly hilarious and unforgettable, on this rollercoaster ride of love, laughs, surprises and sparks. You have a VIP pass to join each girl's adventure, so pack your bags and buckle your seatbelts, because just about anything is possible...

HOLIDAY READS: Robyn Neeley shares an excerpt from Holiday Wedding

This weekend, Batter Up author Robyn Neeley stops by to share an excerpt from her new festive romance, Holiday Wedding.

Happy Holidays Romance Readers!

I’m so excited to stop by and share an excerpt from my Christmas romance, Holiday Wedding. This is the sequel to Destination Wedding and reunites all the characters from the first book including my handsome twins, my feisty and fun heroines and the best wedding planning friend on the planet!

This time it’s Drew’s story to tell, and he’s been waiting over a year for it! Check out the character interview I did last year on Drew’s take on his twin brother’s Happily Ever After. Then read an excerpt below from Holiday Wedding.

Holiday Wedding
Going home for Christmas this winter just might turn Drew Cannon into a real Grinch. When his college sweetheart, Lauren Kincaid, broke off their engagement a year ago, Drew retreated to Tokyo to run the Asia-Pacific division of the family’s toy company and lick his wounds. If that weren’t enough, his attempt at a high-profile holiday doll for the company was a bust. Now he’s headed back to New York City to spend the holidays with his lovestruck dad, his pissed-off twin brother, and an ex who broke his heart.

Lauren isn’t exactly keen to spend Christmas with her former flame, either. But as JDL Toys’ marketing director, she’s forced to deal with their doll problem, holiday or not. Things take a turn when she and Drew are tasked with planning surprise nuptials for his brother.

With all their focus on happily ever after, Lauren and Drew soon discover things might not be so settled between them after all. Can a holiday wedding offer them a second chance at forever? 

Excerpt

Drew leaned back in the steamy Jacuzzi, letting the hot water jets do their magic. There was something to be said about relaxing in a hot tub in the brisk outdoors.
     He breathed in the fresh mountain air. Today had started out a little weird, but touching Lauren’s sugary lips, even if it was only with one finger, had been a highlight. If the bakeshop owner hadn’t appeared, would they have kissed? He was all but sure of it.
     If only the whole day had been about flirting with Lauren. But no, his brother had turned them into elves. Why had Luke sent them to Santa’s Workshop to make toys?
     Didn’t he want them to plan his wedding? Losing three hours this morning to paint train sets didn’t seem like the best way to hit the ground running.
     Today should have been devoted to the task at hand as they would spend the weekend pushing the Happily Ever After dolls at the festival.
     The dolls. Drew had beelined it to his laptop when they got back to the cabin. Only two more boy dolls were registered for the site to meet their matches. Two. Freakin’. Dolls.
     His head dropped to the left in frustration and his gaze lifted up to Lauren’s bedroom window. She had disappeared when they returned, saying she needed to get the rest of the frosting out of her hair. That was a couple of hours ago.
     Selecting the cakes—and then wearing them—had been the best part of this day. She had been absolutely right about their not choosing their own wedding cake. He let out a heavy sigh. Maybe if they had been more involved in all the different pieces of planning their wedding, things would be different.
     He should have given into his feelings and pressed his mouth to her frosted lips. But what if she’d pushed him away? Would he then have his answer to the question he didn’t have the balls to ask? Did she no longer love him?
     He sank down into the tub, letting the hot water massage his shoulders. Then there was Olivia. She’d sent three text messages earlier saying how much she missed him before going radio silent this evening. He wasn’t quite sure when he’d do it, but they wouldn’t be a couple for much longer. It was not only the right thing to do; it was the honest thing to do.
     “Hey, is there room in there for another?”
     His head flew up and his heart raced as he watched Lauren glide over in a white cotton bathrobe. She held her iPad in one hand and large ruby red towel in the other. “Depends.”
     “Oh, really.” She lifted an eyebrow. “On what?”
     He pointed to the iPad. “As long as you promise we’re not Skyping with Miles.” He drew an imaginary circle around the hot tub. “This is an annoying wedding-planner-free zone.”
     She giggled. “I can’t make any promises, but I’m pretty sure he has no desire to see us exposing so much skin.”
     His groin tightened as he waited for her robe to hit the ground. Was Lauren wearing his favorite lavender bikini? Three seconds later he had his answer as she removed her robe and slid into the Jacuzzi. Hello, string bikini. I’ve missed you.

Holiday Wedding is available on Amazon and other e-retailers.

About Robyn
Robyn Neeley is an East Coaster who loves to explore new places, watches way more reality TV than she cares to admit, can’t live without Recess Peanut Butter Cups and has never met a Christmas cookie she didn’t like. (Her favorite cookie made it into Holiday Wedding!) She writes romantic comedy, sometimes with a hint of magic, but always with a happy ending.

You can find out more about Robyn Neeley by visiting her website, Facebook page, or by following her on Twitter.

UNCOVERED INTERVIEWS: Emily Benet

Emily Benet's new novel The Temp was released in paperback yesterday. Emily, who gained a book deal with HarperCollins after The Temp became highly successful on Wattpad with over a million hits. Emily is also the author of Shop Girl Diaries and Short Stories for Busy Adults, and after hearing about The Temp being published, we couldn't wait to find out more!

Tell us about your latest novel in 15 words or less.
A broke temp finds a sack of bananas and decides to become a conceptual artist.

What inspired you to write The Temp?
Like my main character, Amber, I've visited art shows where I've been baffled by how seriously some of the pieces have been taken. Some artists just to need to hang a dirty sock from the ceiling to attract a crowd. I think we live in a society where you can be famous for just about anything if you make enough noise about it. I thought, why can't a bored, broke temp take the world by storm with a sack of bananas, some spray paint and some friends to egg her on?

Where do you do most of your writing?
I write in my bedroom. I've had the same £19 Ikea desk for about 10 years and it's the perfect shape, round-edged and wide! I don't know how people afford to write in coffee shops in London!

What is your favourite book?
That's an impossible question! It depends on my mood. I am very fond of Starter for Ten, as it really made me laugh.

Which part of The Temp did you enjoy writing the most?
I had a giggle most of the way through. I did get a little stuck in the middle, but then I had an idea involving body paint... I won't say anymore.

Who is your favourite literary heroine?
It has to be Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. 

Do you have any tips for readers who are looking to become published writers?
Get your work out there. Start a blog. Test your work out on Wattpad. Don't be precious. Don't get stuck on one thing either. I've written full drafts of three books that I had to accept weren't going to work. Nothing is wasted. The more you write, the better you get!

Are you working on anything else at the moment and if so, can you tell us?
I'm working on a new novel called #PleaseRetweet. It's about a young woman who runs the Twitter accounts belonging to celebrities who can't control themselves online. She tweets as if she were them. It gets messy as real life and virtual reality clash!

Thanks, Emily!

You can find out more about Emily Benet by visiting her website, Facebook page, or by following her on Twitter.

The Temp by Emily Benet
Twenty-something Amber is fresh out of university with a degree she has no clue what to do with… so she temps in order to earn enough money to cover the cost of living the good life in London.

While scrounging free wine from a wacky modern art gallery (her favourite life-hack) she looks at the ‘art’ and thinks ‘if they can do it, why not me?’. Enter a drop-dead gorgeous gallery promoter and a bunch of unlikely friends, including her housemate Egg (short for Egbert), to help – and hinder – her crazy idea to unleash spray painted bananas across the capital.

Laugh out loud with this fun romantic comedy and follow Amber as she literally spray paints the town red – and blue – and yellow – and pink… 

NEW RELEASES: The Anti-Ageing of Harmony Richards by Fiona Jane Collins

The Anti-Ageing of Harmony Richards is the fabulously funny debut novel from Fiona Jane Collins, in which forty-something Harmony, insecure about her looks and her marriage, finds herself with an unexpected love rival...

What would you do if you discovered the real reason for your husband’s proposal…and she was younger than you, prettier than you and out to get him back?

Harmony Richards is forty-five, swallowed whole by a marriage she’s insecure in and a chore-ridden motherhood she can’t escape from, and dismayed that her looks are beginning to fade. If all that isn’t bad enough, she finds out her husband of twelve years has a Lost Love. A one that got away. Except she’s not away; she’s back. And her arrival makes Harmony feel her life is in faster free-fall than her face.

Surely stalking the lost love, flirting with a man young enough to know better and taking on an unexpected new challenge can’t possibly make things worse?

NEW RELEASES: New Shopaholic short story from Sophie Kinsella

Shopaholic on Honeymoon, a short story by bestselling Shopaholic author Sophie Kinsella, is available to download now. Sophie's last novel, Shopaholic to the Stars, was released in September, and now Becky Brandon (formerly Bloomwood!) is back in this short tale, which takes places shortly after Shopaholic Ties the Knot.

The new Mr and Mrs Brandon are on honeymoon, and Becky has big plans! They’ve got a whole year to explore Venice, learn yoga in India, sleep in little wooden huts in South America… maybe even see penguins in the Antarctic. And of course they’ll need to buy just a few essential souvenirs along the way (everyone needs a set of Murano glass goblets, after all).

They’re not just tourists, they’re travellers. Becky is sure it is just the thing that Luke needs – time to unwind. He’ll come back a changed man… with all the good bits still intact of course.

But it soon becomes clear that Luke has different plans entirely. Can Becky help him let go, or will this little disagreement threaten their whole honeymoon?

NEW RELEASES: Marriage to Measure by Talli Roland

Talli Roland's latest novel is now available from Amazon! After Build a Man and Construct a Couple, heroine Serenity Holland is back in Marriage to Measure, and things aren't exactly going to plan...

When Serenity Holland proposes to her long-time boyfriend Jeremy, she’s certain ‘forever’ is a perfect fit. As the wedding train steams forward, though, Serenity starts to wonder if they really are an ideal match. From a crusty old ring to a dilapidated house she’s left to renovate on her own – not to mention the appearance of Jeremy’s clingy ex-fiancée – engagement feels more like disengagement. 

Even worse, wedding planning’s like a bad hangover as Serenity juggles the wishes of family and friends with her bossy mother-in-law-to-be, resulting in a Frankenwedding nothing like the simple ceremony she envisioned. 

Can Serenity knit her relationship back together and fashion a celebration that suits, or will ‘I do’ become ‘I don’t’? 

BOOK NEWS: The Awakening of Miss Prim by Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera

The Awakening of Miss Prim is a new novel heading our way in January, in which an academic young woman decides to work away in a small village. But there are some challenges ahead...

Prudencia Prim is a young woman of intelligence and achievement, with a deep knowledge of literature and several letters after her name. But when she accepts the post of private librarian in the village of San Ireneo de Arnois, she is unprepared for what she encounters there. Her employer, a book-loving intellectual, is dashing yet contrarian, always ready with a critique of her cherished Jane Austen and Louisa May Alcott. The neighbours, too, are capable of charm and eccentricity in equal measure, determined as they are to preserve their singular little community from the modern world outside. Prudencia hoped for friendship in San Ireneo but she didn't suspect that she might find love - nor that the course of her new life would run quite so rocky, would offer challenge and heartache as well as joy, discovery and fireside debate. The Awakening of Miss Prim is a distinctive and delightfully entertaining tale of literature, philosophy and the search for happiness.