Friday 28 March 2014

The beauty of covers- Sara Sheridan's Mirabelle Bevan series

Regular readers of Books with Bunny will be aware that I have a bit of a love affair going on with Mirabelle Bevan.  Sara Sheridan's super sleuth is sharp, enigmatic and completely beguiling- I just love her.  The mysteries themselves are top drawer too, well written, historically accurate and not too grisly.  They are like the classical stories of the genre, driven by character and plot rather than the shock tactics and 'how vile and disturbed can I make this story?' style of some other modern day detective books.
 
 
However, I must admit that the first thing that drew me to Brighton Belle was its delicious cover.  Mirabelle dominates the cover, her ruby red lips striking and alluring, her hair perfectly coiffured. The fur collar and pearl necklace set her out as being somewhat well-to-do, yet her smoky eyes seem to be taking in everything, dangerous and powerful. 

It has the reference to the setting by showing Brighton's iconic pier, and the birds in flight represent freedom and escape.  The red trim is eye-catching and daring, and the overall vintage feel appealed to me (I'm a bit of a 1950s geek, truth be told). 

Everything about this cover shouted out 'Buy me!  Buy me!', and buy it I did.  Maybe I'm the target audience for the Mirabelle books in every sense, but this cover gave me an accurate taste of what to expect from the books (indeed, the series too). 


 
London Calling, the second book in the Mirabelle series, went with a cover that complimented Brighton Belle.  This time Mirabelle is shown in the shadows of the Houses of Parliament with the added detail of a London bus heading through the mist over the Thames.  The jazz saxophonist gives potential readers a flavour of the underground London music scene which dominates this mystery, and the cover very evidently suggests this is a book set in a bygone era. 
 
Mirabelle is still wearing her trademark fire-engine red lipstick, this time accompanied by a red beret and jacket.  Mirabelle is colourful and vibrant in comparison to the rest of the cover which is dark and murky-she is clear whilst everything else seems to be hidden in a smoky haze. 
 
The peacock blue trim is very vintage in feel and is beautifully in keeping with the essence of the Mirabelle mysteries.
 
 
England Expects is the forthcoming Mirabelle mystery and I am so excited to be able to have a review copy of this book!  The fan girl in me knows no bounds and the cover is just as astoundingly beautiful as that of the two previous Mirabelle books.  
 
Mirabelle hasn't changed much in appearance, her lipstick and smoky eyes still prominent features on her porcelain face.  Her dark hair is still immaculately groomed and brought out by her bottle green clothing.  The ornate turrets of Brighton Pavilion provide a stunning backdrop and the golden yellow trim is striking whilst still holding with the distinctive style of the Mirabelle covers.
 
England Expects promises to be another enthralling read.  It is released in hardback and ebook on Thursday 3rd April and is available for preorder at Amazon.co.uk
 
I was also fortunate enough to speak to Sara Sheridan about how much input she has into the beautiful cover art.  Here's what she had to say-
 
'In all my contracts I’ve always had the right to see the cover, but never I’ve had cover approval. With the Mirabelle books, I’ve had more input to them than ever before, though. My editor, Alison, is as obsessed with 1950s fashion as I am and we have long conversations about what Mirabelle will get to wear on each book (HAT OR NO HAT?). We debate her make up too (what we have ended up with is slightly too pearlised to be absolutely authentic for the 1950s - especially the early 1950s - but we ended up going with it because it looks better.) I love those conversations… I think Alison does too. And I also love the covers – I’ve seen people pick up the books on bookshop shelves because they’re drawn to them… it’s a special kind of story magic. In British Bulldog (next year’s book) Mirabelle goes to Paris and we’re already thinking Eiffel Tower or Arc de Triomphe. It will be a glorious debate!'
 
Something for me to look forward to in 2015!  If you are interested in finding out more about Sara Sheridan, you can read other Books with Bunny blog articles about her here or follow her on twitter, @sarasheridan.
 

Saturday 22 March 2014

Chocolate Dreams at the Gingerbread Cafe- Rebecca Raisin

 
One of my favourite festive reads of 2013 was Rebecca Raisin's Christmas at the Gingerbread Café.  I raved about it until I was blue in the face, tweeting about it as much as possible and recommending it to anyone who would listen (you can see my review of it here , if you happen to have missed out on it).

Chocolate Dreams at the Gingerbread Café is the sequel I longed for.  Infact, I begged Rebecca to write more about Lil, Damon and CeeCee.  They were more than characters in a book, they became friends- I cared enough about them to want to know what happened next in their lives, wishing them all the happy ending they deserved.  So when Rebecca tweeted me to say she had written a sequel partly because of my encouragement (or nagging, depending on how you look at it) I was absolutely thrilled.  I also started hyperventilating when I saw that my review of Christmas at the Gingerbread Café was at the start of the book!  This is the first time one of my reviews has ever made it into print, so on a personal level I was over the moon.

The Gingerbread Café is the same cosy, welcoming place as it was in the first book, and the tempting treats now include more chocolatey goodness...mmmmmm.  One of the reasons I loved this so much is that there is a huge sense of community spirit, and as Lil, Damon and CeeCee face challenges the love and respect they have for each other is obvious.  It's heart warming.  It renews my faith in humanity, even if it is 'just fiction'.  It's happy and cheerful and uplifting, and most of all it is written in Rebecca Raisin's charming style.

I don't want to give too much away, but the difficulties faced within this book are ones that unfortunately many people go through, and that is why I love these books so much.  They are sweet reads, but don't shy away from issues, in much the same way as Lorraine Wilson's Chalet Girl books.  They show how life moves on and that as humans we are resilient and strong.  I felt inspired as I read this book, particularly by CeeCee's actions.

I absolutely loved this novella, and am very pleased to learn there is going to be a third instalment later in the year so I can catch up with my old friends Lily, Damon and CeeCee.  I hope that the Gingerbread Café will be going from strength to strength then...and Rebecca Raisin's writing career too.  She deserves it.

Chocolate Dreams at the Gingerbread Café is out now, published by Carina.

9
/10

With thanks to the author for providing me with a review copy of this book in return for my honest opinion.

Thursday 20 March 2014

Hopelessly Devoted to Holden Finn-Tilly Tennant



 
Blurb: 
There’s only one man for Bonnie, and that’s Holden Finn. The problem is that Holden Finn is a twenty-three-year-old pop megastar with his boy band, Every Which Way, who doesn’t even know she exists. Not only that, but half the women of the world want to be Mrs Finn, including Bonnie’s teenage daughter, Paige. But the real men in Bonnie’s life only let her down, and a man that you can never have can never let you down… right?  When Paige wins a radio competition to meet Holden and his band, it seems all that is set to change. Bonnie is about to find out that you should be careful what you wish for, and that happiness can come in the most unexpected shape…
Review:

I make no bones about the fact I am a fangirl.  I love boybands.  I always have, I probably always will.  So when I was asked to review this book I felt a little bit like this could be my story.  I'm in my mid-thirties like Bonnie.  I have a slight obsession with Louis and Liam from One Direction, like Bonnie does with Every Which Way's frontman Holden Finn.  Infact, I am convinced Tilly was looking inside my mind as she wrote this book. 

Hopelessly Devoted to Holden Finn is an easy read and one of those books that you are halfway through before you know it.  I found it was fast paced and the action kept moving on, although my preference was definitely for the boyband element rather than the other aspects of the book.  However, you certainly don't need to be a fangirl to appreciate this book.  Although there is the 'celebrity lust' element, there is more to it than that- friendship, community and family.  It was touching to read a book which delights in the unique bond between mother and daughter, both in Bonnie and Paige's and Bonnie and her mother Jeanie's relationships.  The love between the females absolutely radiated from the page and gave me the warm and fuzzies.  I also enjoyed the sense of struggle between being a responsible mother and being a person in their own right that both Bonnie and Jeanie have- something I am sure many Mums out there will appreciate!

This would be a great beach read or perfect for those lazy weekend mornings where you don't want to get out of bed. It is a sweet romantic comedy (think Richard Curtis film in novel format), charming and cute.  I will definitely look out for more books by Tilly Tennant.

Hopelessly Devoted to Holden Finn is out now.

7.5/10

With huge thanks to Tilly Tennant and, as ever, the lovely girls at GG Book Tours.


Author Bio:

Tilly Tennant was born in Dorset but now lives in Staffordshire with her slightly nutty family.  Tilly is married to Mr Tennant (not that one, though a girl can dream). She likes nothing better than curling up in a quiet corner with a glass of wine watching the world go by, but can more usually be found taxiing her daughters to parties or taking them on emergency shopping trips. After a huge list of dismal and disastrous jobs over the years, including paper plate stacking, shop girl, newspaper promotions and waitressing, she began working as a temporary secretary in a hospital to boost her income whilst doing a degree in English and creative writing. This job lasted nine years. Not terribly temporary. But it does mean that she knows just what it’s like to make monumental admin cock-ups, spend the month’s wages in the hospital coffee shop and fall in love with all the doctors. As she’s a smug married, however, it’s fortunate that the doctors in question don’t usually feel the same way.
Tilly is represented by the wonderful, gorgeous Peta Nightingale at LAW.
 
 
And to end- gratuitous pic of Liam climbing a lamppost and Louis with no socks.  It's my blog, I'll do what I like.  And I like LiLo.
 

Tuesday 18 March 2014

Hannah Emery talks about her influences for new book Secrets in the Shadows

Visit
 
 
My influences for Secrets in the Shadows
 
Family: I can’t do storytelling without bringing in families, because families leak into so much of who we are.  When I was writing Secrets in the Shadows, I loved presenting different generations of daughters, and a set of twins, whose actions and experiences were foreshadowed and echoed by one another.
 
Maggie O’Farrell’s books are, without doubt, my favourite reflections on the complexities of family relationships.  I love reading about families and will always write about them: their secrets, their luck, their tangled pasts. 
 
Magic: I think the connection between now and the past is quite magical, in the loose sense of the word.  But I wanted to take the idea of magic and gifts slightly further.  I like a hint of enchantment in books: the whole point of reading and writing is to enter another world. But for me, there’s a fine line: plots and characters still have to be relatable and believable. 
 
Magic realism has always appealed to me: books by Isabelle Allende, Audrey Niffenegger, Cecelia Ahern and Kate Atkinson’s early stuff, all make me think, what if that happened to me?
 
Blackpool: My hometown is a place that has a bad reputation, but there’s still a soul there that speaks of a much grander past. Whilst I was researching Blackpool’s history, I found out that a fire devastated North Pier in September 1921. I wanted to use the fire - to explain it with my own characters and link them to the real history of the town.  When I’ve finished a novel and then read a note at the end about how the whole story was sparked from a real person or event, it makes the book stay with me for even longer.
 
The Two Men: I think there are, amongst others, two types of men in the world: the Eliots and the Noels.  Noel is subtle; Eliot is expressive. Eliot is a bit of a show-off; Noel is quietly confident. They are both attractive in their own ways and neither is flawless or a simple villain.  I’m not going to give anything away on who I would choose, or who my characters choose.  But I will be very interested to see which one readers are drawn towards the most.
 
There are other things that are important to me as a writer, of course, and they’re the same things that are important to me as a person: friendships, motherhood, homes, the pull of the past and the future.  Oh, and eyeliner…
 
 
Bio
 
I studied English at the University of Chester, and have written stories for as long as I can remember. I love writing about how fragile the present is and how so much of it depends on chance events that took place years ago. The most important things in my life are my family, my friends, books, baking on a Saturday afternoon, getting glammed up to go out for champagne and dinner and having cosy weekends away. I live in Blackpool with my husband and our little girl. 
Blog: hannahcemery.wordpress.com
Twitter: @hannahcemery
Book Blurb
In 1920s Blackpool, eleven year old Rose wanders away from her parents and has a unique gift bestowed upon her. This gift will leave a haunting legacy, seeping down through the generations…
Decades later, Louisa has a vision of her mother walking into the sea. This isn’t the first time it happens and it won’t be the last, but what she sees isn’t always what she wants. The rest of her life is spent trying to change the future that haunts her.
In present day Blackpool, Grace is going to be married someday. She knows this because she’s seen it; a vision of a white dress, daisies embroidered on the sleeves, the groom by her side, vowing to love her forever. Except the man in her premonition doesn’t belong to her- he belongs to her twin sister, Elsie.
Haunted by what they know and what they are afraid to find out, all three women must make a choice: in the face of certain destiny should you chase the outcome that’s “meant to be”, or throw away fate and choose your own future?

Monday 17 March 2014

Just Between Us- Hayley Oakes- COVER REVEAL

 

How Not to be Starstruck- Portia MacIntosh

 

The Blurb:
 
Nicole Wilde’s life is one of sell-out gigs, bunking on tour buses, trashing hotels and partying with the band all night long. But she’s not in the band. She is a music journalist, paid to be the world’s greatest groupie– and she loves it!
Nicole has the party lifestyle – and the hangovers to prove it – but no one stops her in the supermarket on a bad hair day. Until she is papped in an incriminating position with recently married mega-star Dylan King of The Burnouts and the tabloids start hounding her. This isn’t so fun. Especially when her make-up is a mess and she hasn’t yet had a chance to clean her teeth.
Dylan accuses her of ruining his marriage. His handsome PR agent, Charles, calls her a tart. She has to take gorgeous Luke from Two For the Road to hospital after a drug incident. And she’s dropped her mobile phone in the bath! Too much celebrity lifestyle for one week? Time to slow down and take stock? Maybe for somebody else. But Nicole Wilde is going to come out fighting!
Don't miss Portia MacIntosh's linked novella Between a Rockstar and a Hardplace to see where Nicole started out!

The Review:

I read and loved Portia MacIntosh's Between a Rockstar and a Hardplace earlier in the year (you can read my review here ) and had been eagerly awaiting How Not to be Starstruck.  As a self-confessed fangirl myself I knew I'd enjoy the tales of rock star decadence and debauchery.  Although this is fiction, Portia MacIntosh has had first hand experience of band life, and it shows.

Two for the Road are lucky to have the people around them that they do because as a band they are on the path to self destruction.... Their headline making antics make for an amusing read and don't even get me started on Dylan King and the celebrity wedding of the year-hilarious and cringeworthy in equal measure. 

I absolutely adore Nicole, the journalist who seems to have blurred the lines between her job, and being a fan and friend of the hottest bands around.  She's a great, likeable character and makes a fabulous protagonist.  Other characters are also entertaining, particularly Crystal Slater who had my blood boiling on many an occasion!  The men in the book are all uber attractive too- Luke who is like a mid-nineties Robbie Williams who everyone wants to mother, Dylan, who is out of control and needs a firm guiding hand....And Charles, oh Charles... I think there might be flashing red lights around now and a siren sounding out *bookcrush alert! bookcrush alert!*  He's not perfect, but he's adorable.

Personally I enjoyed Between a Rockstar and a Hardplace slightly more than How Not to be Starstruck, but if you are looking for a fictional tale of outrageous excess and the rock star life it is well worth a read.

7.5/10

With thanks to Portia and GG book tours.
 
The Bio:
When she was fifteen-years-old, Portia MacIntosh fell in with a bad crowd… rockstars. 
After disappearing on tour and living the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle for a few years, Portia landed a job in the music industry – but only so that she didn’t have to join the real world just yet.
Now in her twenties, Portia is ready to spill the beans on the things she has witnessed over the years. Well, kind of. If her famous friends knew that she was borrowing their lives to inspire her fiction, they would stop inviting her on tour and banish her from the inner circle. Then she really would have to rejoin the real world, and she’s still not ready.
Portia only started writing novels to share her secrets, but then she realised she actually quite liked writing – maybe even more than she likes living on a bus with a bunch of smelly boys – and has since tried her hand at writing about other things.
 

Thursday 13 March 2014

The Perfect Match- Katie Fforde BLOG TOUR STOP: Review and giveaway

 
 

Katie Fforde is one of those authors who rarely disappoints.  The Perfect Match is her 20th novel and I've read pretty much her whole back catalogue.  Her style is fun and fresh, often with slightly more mature protagonists than in 'chicklit' titles but still with an emphasis on romance, community and friendship.

The Perfect Match introduces us to Bella Castle, an estate agent who ran away from her home town to escape the feelings she harboured for married man Dominic Thane.  She's happy enough with her lot- country life with boyfriend Nevil- but when Dominic turns up looking to buy a house she starts to have doubts.  Is she settling for less than what she really wants?

I loved this book!  I found Bella a likeable character and I desperately wanted her to have a happy ending.  And Dominic...I definitely developed a bit of a book crush on him.  He isn't the perfect, clean cut type- he's a bit moody and enigmatic at times- but he won me over with his charm and I could totally understand why Bella found herself bewitched by him.  The country setting of the book made for a cosy environment and I loved getting to nosy around other people's houses when Bella was doing the viewings.  I am one of those weird (for weird read nosy) people who love looking around houses.  I was actually a bit disappointed when we found the house we eventually bought as I knew that meant an end to my househunting adventures, so to find a book where I can see dated kitchens, decorating disasters and overgrown gardens was quite a thrill to my inner house-viewing geek.

I just love Katie Fforde.  She deserves all the success she has for her beautiful, easy to read writing style- her books are accessible tales about believable characters.  They are full of heart and spirit, and The Perfect Match is one of her best.  Not only is she a wonderful writer but she is a genuinely lovely person-check her out on twitter @katiefforde. 

If you have read and enjoyed her books before I am sure you'll enjoy The Perfect Match.  And if you haven't, I highly recommend trying her books.  Books with Bunny has 2 copies of The Perfect Match to give away (UK only unfortunately), so enter below and you may be lucky!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Perfect Match is out TODAY!  Available in hardback from all good bookstores and at Amazon.

8.5/10

With thanks to the publisher for giving me a review copy in return for my honest opinion.

 

Wednesday 12 March 2014

The Right Side of Mr Wrong- Jane Linfoot



The Blurb:

One-off, moving on sex, wasn’t meant to be this hot…

When ultra organized workaholic Shea Summers is asked to become the “wife” of the Lord of Edgerton Manor, the last thing she wants to do is play house with a stranger… but maybe it’s time she did something off the clock?

Brooding playboy, Brando Marshall is far from happy when Shea turns up at his sprawling manor with production crew in tow. Surely she’s just another woman after his wallet? Then again, after catching an unscheduled glimpse of her knickers, Brando’s inspired to teach this “gold-digger”a lesson!

The Review:

Being totally honest, I wasn't sure whether or not I was going to like this book based on the blurb. The cover grabbed me though- I completely wanted those purple shoes- and I'd enjoyed Jane Linfoot's last book so was keen to give it a try. I was reeled in quickly when I picked it up, it was like entering the TV programme The Batchelor, and I am a big fan of trashy reality TV (I know, I know- disown me if it bothers you that much).

Funny, flirty, out and out sexy, The Right Side of Mr Wrong is a great example of a modern romantic chicklit novella.  It's not very likely to be something that would happen in real life (although who am I to say what goes on in these big country houses, I live in a midterrace in South Yorkshire) but as escapist easy read I really enjoyed it. 

Brando was the kind of man I really wanted to hate, but he had this weird badboy charm that meant I couldn't out and out dislike him! 

If you are after a sizzling, racy read then The Right Side of Mr Wrong could be just what you are looking for. 

The Right Side of Mr Wrong is out now, published by Harper Impulse.  Find out more by clicking on the banner below.

8/10

I received a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Visit

Saturday 8 March 2014

Broadchurch: The Novel- Erin Kelly and Chris Chibnall REVIEW OF THE TASTER!

I, along with the majority of the UK, was completely hooked by Broadchurch in the spring of 2013.  Murder, mystery, suspense, small-town living and a strong sense of community, along with a cracking script and all star cast made the drama a must-see show.

When I heard there was to be a Broadchurch novel, co-written by screenwriter Chris Chibnall and crime author Erin Kelly I was delighted. The TV drama had been so wonderfully constructed, so highly visual and emotive, that I felt sure it would transfer well to the page.

I was fortunate enough to nab a taster of the Broadchurch novel from the lovely people at Sphere, and my appetite is now well and truly whetted.  It is well written, captivating and transported me to the seaside town hit by the ultimate tragedy-the death of a teen.  If there is anyone out there that didn't watch the TV drama, you absolutely must read the book.  If the taster is anything to go by it is true to the plot and promises to be just as gripping.  It has a lot to live up to in order to compare to the ITV show, but the rich text and highly descriptive style in the taster suggests it has the potential to rival the screenplay.  If you were a fan of Olivia Colman and David Tennant in the show, you will be able to hear their acidic tones flooding from the page as the plot unravels.  I cannot wait to read the rest.  Roll on August!

Pre-order from Amazon now.

Broadchurch : The Novel is due for release on August 14th 2014, published by Sphere and is available for pre-order now.

Tuesday 4 March 2014

Zara Stonely and Eve Devon ... Find out more about their new releases and GIVEAWAY on the 'Her Best Four Letter Word Blog Hop'


 

Welcome to Her Best Four Letter Word Blog Hop, celebrating the publication of two HarperImpulse titles:  Eve Devon’s ‘Her Best Laid Plans’ (contemporary romance) and Zara Stoneley’s ‘Love is a Four Letter Word’ (erotic romance).

Look out for the deets for TWO GIVEAWAYS via Rafflecopter and using the comments section on this blog at the end of the post. 

ABOUT ‘HER BEST LAID PLANS’ by Eve Devon

 

Blurb: Love is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans…

The Totally Perfect Life Plan of Amanda Gray

Step 1 – Take total control of own destiny and avoid getting too wrapped up in the details.

Step 2 – Definitely do NOT kiss gorgeous bad-boy businessman who doesn't know how to live life without scheduling it six months in advance, even if he is absolutely irresistible.

Step 3 – Don't even THINK of accompanying him to London as his PA to enjoy steamy encounters in a metropolitan paradise.

Step 4 – Absolutely, positively, whatever you do- do NOT fall in love with him…

Over to Eve...



I feel very privileged to write romantic fiction and the absolute best part is creating sexy heroes, sassy heroines and happy ever afters! There’s a lot written about sexy heroes because, well, yum! But then, what about the heroine who captures the hero’s heart? These women are just like us (by no means perfect!) but…there is always something special about them, that appeals to the hero.

Everyone, I’d like you to meet Amanda Gray from Her Best Laid Plans

Name: Amanda Gray

Age: 24

Height: 5ft 7”

Occupation: Temporary Personal Assistant to her brother’s best friend Jared King.

Motto: Tomorrow has a nasty way of sneaking up on you and upsetting any plans you’ve made, so live for the moment.

About: So, okay, she was a novice at changing the course of her life. And maybe the plan read a bit like a list. But for Amanda it was more of a resolution anyway. A New Year’s resolution to participate in her own life story. Scary as that felt. Unsafe as that felt. Tempting fate as that felt. She had to try.

Description: Shock could do strange things to a person. Something Jared knew for a fact when he turned his head slightly at the woman doing the siren-like slow-mo walk through the maze of tables towards him, and briefly imagined that it was Amanda. Cataloguing sexy high heels, black pencil skirt and form fitting black sweater, long chestnut hair and flawless creamy skin… all his thoughts lurched to a stop when he zeroed in on the pair of twinkly, button brown eyes.

Inspiration: for a sneaky inspirational peak click: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1740092/

Amanda’s reaction after joking to Jared she could come up with a plan to seduce him:

She bit her lip at the delicious thought of testing that famous control of his.

Bit down a little harder at the thought of Jared losing all that famous control.

With her. Because of her.

Disgusted with the lack of her own self-control she plumped her remaining pillows and turned over again.

She was so not going down this road. She was here to kick-start her life. Not give either of them a problem that followed them back to New York. She closed her eyes and tried emptying her mind of all thought.

Ever since joking about coming up with the stupid seduction plan, it had been virtually all she could think about. It meant she spent a large portion of her day and night feeling edgy and unfulfilled. She wasn’t pleased to have her needs and wants highlighted like nothing else in a long, long time.

And she wanted Jared King. Big Time.

Just one of the reasons Jared starts falling for Amanda: He’d told himself over and over that the kiss had been a fluke. There was no possible way that someone, so opposite to him in outlook, could produce such a primal response from a place so deep inside of him he’d forgotten it even existed.

 

Her Best Laid Plans – Love is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans…

 

 
 


Available from AMAZON or click here for other retailers.

ABOUT EVE DEVON:

I love connecting with readers. Find out more about me or stop by for a chat:

 Website    Facebook   Twitter

ABOUT ‘LOVE IS A FOUR LETTER WORD’ by Zara Stoneley

 

Take one rich girl who has a thing for the bad boys.

Take one tough guy who thinks possession is nine-tenths of the misery law.

Mix generously with a land dispute and a whole lotta lust…. And what have you got?

Sometimes being bad can be just too good to miss.

Available from AMAZON or click here for other retailers.

 Over to Zara...




Every time I start writing a new book I get to meet a new, sexy hero – and so does my heroine! And it usually takes a special kind of girl to capture his heart…

So, here’s the one girl who might just be able to win bad boy Jake over, meet: Georgie Hampton from Love is a Four Letter Word!

Name: Georgina Hampton

Height: 5ft 10”

Occupation: Front of house at the Veneto restaurant, and location scout for photo shoots

 

About:  Georgie used to be one of the good girls, until her mother left the family without warning, and her father insisted they leave the family home, her friends and her horses. And with a new step-mother on the scene she’s packed off to boarding school and a life she hates. But once she grows up, she can do just what she wants… Chasing the bad boys means she doesn’t have to commit, or think of the future. Chasing the bad boys means she can live exactly how she wants to!

Motto: Being bad is a hell of a lot more fun than being good.

 

Jake’s first impression of Georgie: He let his gaze drift over her lazily again. A black sheath dress that fitted where it touched, caressing every curve of her toned body. It was modest at the neck, but dropped low at the back and where it sat high on her thighs it was just crying out to be nudged that inch or two further. There wasn’t much left to the imagination, but enough. Enough to make him desperate to go there. Explore.

 

Georgie’s reaction when she finds out where Jake lives:

Swallowing the pang of sadness down, she blinked hard to clear the mist from her eyes. It was too long ago, she shouldn’t let an autumn day and walking down this oh so familiar lane affect her like that. It was just a road. It could be anywhere. But when she glanced up, the white puff balls of cloud scudding across a clear blue sky made her ache inside. A lump that hadn’t been there for a long time clutched at her chest, tightened her throat until it was hard to swallow.

 

Just one of the reasons Jake starts falling for Georgie: She tilted her head on one side, surveyed him through dark eyelashes and a tangle of hair. A whisper from the past that sent an ache of longing deep inside him. He’d wanted that sweet little girl lost a long time ago, and he still wanted her now. Whatever.

 

Love is A Four Letter Word, by Zara Stoneley – Sometimes being bad is just too good to miss…
 


ABOUT ZARA STONELEY:

To find out more about Zara and her books, please follow the links:

Website    Facebook   Twitter   

GIVEAWAY:
 

Goodie Bag Contents: All the perfect ingredients for a girlie reading experience…

10.00£/$ Amazon Gift Voucher (to purchase delicious ebooks)

Her Best Laid Plans Beaded Bookmark (for a touch of book bling)

Love is a Four Letter Word Beaded Bookmark (for a touch of book bling)

Her Best Laid Plans/Love is a Four Letter Word Linen Bag (to keep all your reading experience ingredients together and handy for those urgent date night clothes shopping trips)

Bottle of Bubbly (for if you don’t like hot chocolate/tea)

Hot Chocolate/Tea Drinking Goodies (for if you don’t like bubbly)

Chocolates (no explanation required!)

Nail Varnish/Nail Files (for that break between reading books!)

And it’s all inside a lovely HarperImpulse bag!

Due to the content of the prizes, all entrants must be over 18. If the winner does not reside in the UK, some items may be substituted with others of an equal or greater value due to individual country restrictions

No purchase is necessary, all answers will be available on the publisher’s blog, retailer sites, or the authors’ blogs, websites or Facebook Pages.

 

GIVEAWAY ONE: Answer Eve and Zara’s questions using the Rafflecopter:

To be in with a chance of winning the Goodie Bag you need to answer the two questions below.

Question 1: Which city does Amanda live in?

Question 2: Which county in England does Georgie live in?

Don't know the answer? Check out Eve and Zara’s facebook pages for snippets from their books                             

All correct entries will be put into the grand draw for the Goodie Bag. Winners will be announced on March 6th HERE

To gain extra entries in the Rafflecopter follow us on our blog hop and answer each new set of questions – you can find a full listing of where we’ll be on our websites, Zara’s blog or: HERE

GIVEAWAY TWO: Win an iBook Voucher every day of the hop by taking part in:

Her Best Four Letter Word…to describe dating

Leave your best four letter word (no profanity, please) to describe dating in the comments section and a winner will be chosen to receive an iBooks Voucher for a HarperImpulse title (please note if your first choice is not available you may have to pick another!). The winner of today’s competition will be posted at the end of the blog hop on 6th March. Only ONE iBooks voucher is available each day, if the Blog Hop is visiting more than one blog then ALL entries for the day, from all participating blogs, will be entered into the daily competition.

Good Luck and we hope you enjoy Her Best Laid Plans and Love is a Four Letter Word