Random Jottings

Random on Romance

At the Felixstowe Book Festival this July I am hosting An Afternoon of Romance (will give more details in another post). I love romantic novels and am not ashamed to say so though there is a feeling that these books are not worthy of being classified in with the litterati literature and that makes me cross. Marketed with pink and pastel covers and aimed at the female market, I suppose it is inevitable that this will happen but there are so many good writers out there who go unappreciated.  I was therefore delighted to receive, in the last few weeks, two press released of events celebrating Romance and I am very pleased to feature them on Random.

UK’s leading publisher of romantic fiction returns to roots, taking #RomanceOnTheRoad for Valentine’s Day

Mills & Boon partner with The Reading Agency to champion mobile libraries- Over 70 mobile libraries around the UK to take part in #RomanceOnTheRoad campaign, 6^th - 20^th February.   Mills & Boon to celebrate origins of success, rooted in mobile libraries.

Mills & Boon sell more than 200 million novels a year around the globe, but how many of us realise that its success was rooted in the mobile library where Charles Boon worked before co-founding Mills & Boon in 1908. (The publishers was not totally given over to romance as it is today, but published books of all kinds, including school text books and, also, was the publisher of Call of the Wild by Jack London - my note).

Working with the mobile library Boon knew what his market wanted and he developed a brand that was not only awarded special status in World War 2 for its boosting benefits, but has continued to be loved worldwide up to day.  Mills and Boon appreciated the cultural importance of mobile libraries and are demonstrating their support to deliver the love of reading to everyone, especially those who do not have access to a static library.

When I worked as a librarian I used to go out on the mobile library and it was my favourite day of the week as I met so many lovely people and got to know their likes and dislikes and used to put books to one side for them.  These days mobile libraries are even more important as local libraries are being shut down on a regular basis which I think is criminal stupidity of the worst kind. This is what Lisa Milton, executive publisher at Mills & Boon has to say about mobile libraries:

"We are really excited to be working with the Reading Agency once again, particularly on this campaign to recognise and reward the work of mobile libraries......growing up I visited my mobile library every week on Fridays after school and even now I can remember climbing up the steep steps into the van and the joy I felt when the librarian handed me a book I had ordered..."

That feeling is one I still feel today - so check it out #RomanceontheRoad.

Also popping up in my In Box as week or so ago was another email re a Romantic Event. Details are as follows:

On Monday 13^th February four romance writers will get together at Tottenham Court Road Waterstones and discuss the Romance genre; how it has evolved over time - the impact of feminism and Self-Publishing - and where it is heading now. Audiences will also be offered a free glass of wine upon arrival!

Our four writers are Isabelle Broom (My Map of You) – writer and books editor of Heat Magazine – Sarah Morgan (New York, Actually) - the USA Today bestselling author who specialises in traditional "chick lit" and well-crafted happy endings - Nicola Cornick (The Phantom Tree) – international bestseller of historical fiction and vice chair for the Romantic Novelists Association - and Jean Fullerton (Wedding Bells out to Fanny) – writer of the well-loved East London Nurses series. They will be interviewed by Fanny Blake, books editor for Woman & Home.

More details for the event can be found here https://www.waterstones.com/events/what-is-romance-a-valentines-panel-discussion-on-this-timeless-genre/london-tottenham-court-road

This sounds great fun and very interesting and if I can manage to drag myself out of my comfy armchair I will try and attend. All these writers are being interviewed by Fanny Blake, who appeared at the Felixstowe Book Festival last year alongside Veronica Henry, and was just lovely and lively and interesting.

So lots of Romance coming up and, as I said earlier, I am hosting An Afternoon of Romance at Felixstowe this year and I am really looking forward to it. Hope to see you there...

Hope t

Two Lady Writers - Eleanor Prescott and Fanny Blake

These two authors will have to forgive me reviewing you both in the same post, but my review pile really needs to be tackled and there are good reasons for reviewing these two books at the same time.  Both Eleanor and Fanny tackle the perennial problem of finding true love, hence my linking them together..

I reviewed Fanny's first novel What Women Want here, and had the pleasure of meeting the author at the top of the Oxo Tower in London whence I, and several other bloggers, were being treated to a delicious Not Afternoon Tea (ie it was cocktails and desserts rather than Early Grey and cucumber sandwiches) by the publishers HarperCollins. I hasten to add that this largesse in no way affected my review....I loved her book straight away.

And here is her second, Women of a Dangerous Age, and, at the risk of sounding like a character from Miranda, this is What I Call Romance for mature ladies.  Lou is off to India. Her marriage is an empty one and she wants to start a new life and a new business venture.  It is in India, having her photograph taken on 'that bench' where Princess Di posed that she meets Ali.  She feels frazzled and uncomfortable, in comparison 'Ali was taller than Lou, younger, trimmer (not hard) and more elegant than her too.....her oval face was framed by bobbed dark hair whose neat shiny finish gave away a small fortune spent on hairdressers and products'

Seemingly the polar opposite of each other they find a friendship forming.  Lou confides in Ali about her marriage and, in turn, Ali tells her all about her latest boyfriend.  Ali only dates married men, it is less messy and safer, but now her latest lover has offered marriage '...perhaps it's time to make a commitment to someone else'

Now experienced readers will already have sussed that this is not going to work out.  The Lover will turn out to be a Cad, a Rat and a Bounder and Ali is heading for disaster.  So it proves, BUT not in the way one anticipates.  There is a real twist slap bang in the middle of Women of a Dangerous Age which I did not see coming and you can either view as sad or funny whichever you prefer.  The fledgling friendship between Lou and Ali is in danger of foundering on the rock of this discovery, but as all sensible women will appreciate and cheer (this one did), No Man is going to get in the way of a good friendship.

They go into business together and gradually their entangled lives begin to sort themselves out but not without lots of self doubt along the way. 

Fanny has been working in publishing for over twenty years and is currently Books Editor for Women and Home Magazine.  She won't be offended, I know, when I say she is a mature lady and her maturity and understanding of human nature and all its daftness and foibles, comes through in this and in her previous book.   As I feel I may be at the Dangerous Age described in this book (OK I am well beyond it, let's be honest), I loved every page and know you will too.

I hope No 3 is already being written.

Alice Brown's Lessons in the Curious Art of Dating by Eleanor Prescott had me curled up in an armchair all one afternoon reading this straight through. I am pretty sure that the reading demographic for this book does not include a twice divorced grandmother cynical and disbelieving that the Man of Her Dreams exists, so when I picked it up I was not expecting to be totally engaged from the first page - which I was.

Our Heroine is Alice Brown. She works for a dating agency, Table for Two, and despite her vague air and drab appearance, she is a romantic '.....she was forever staring out of a window...underneath the cardigans and the corduroy there was probably a decent figure....whatever her age Alice was too old for plaits'

Into this agency comes Kate with a list as long as your yard arm of all the attributes she expects in her perfect man.   She is five years behind in her life plan and the knows what she wants but Alice soon realises she has set her standards too high and is being too demanding.  Alice is determined to find her a true mate.

Alice's boss is Audrey, the boss from hell  'At fifty one years old and a bracing five foot ten, Audrey was what was kindly described as 'solid'. Her bosom was a large and heavily bolstered shelf. Sturdy underwear ensured it rarely, if ever, moved...'   She is wildly jealous of her rival in the business, Love Birds, run by Sheryl Toogood whose awfulness is going to be hard to describe in this post without quoting the whole book and if I do that, then you may not buy it as I so want you to do.

Audrey has a devoted husband. John sends her flowers every day to the agency and is attentive and loving when Alice and her staff meet him at public functions.   They seem to have the perfect marriage.  Please note I said seem....

The lovely thing about this book is that there is not a character in it that the reader will not like. OK, well apart from Sheryl - each of them is portrayed and described in such warm terms, one feels that Eleanor had a soft spot for all of them (not going to mention Sheryl again) and I suspect she had a soft spot for Audrey, deep down.  I know I did.

Lovely gorgeous read.   This twice divorced grandmother has tried internet dating in the past and even for one mad moment did go to an agency like this, but sadly there was no Alice around to find me the Perfect Man and after a few disastrous dates decided to retire from the lists.  All the men I met were laden with baggage and either self obsessed or incredibly boring and losers all.  And before anybody accuses me of being too damning, I will say here and now that it did cross my mind when I went home after one of these evenings, that they might not find me so wonderful either....

This is a debut novel and I am already very much looking forward to her next.  Simply delightful, warm, witty, engaging and full of happiness. What's not to love?

Romantic Fiction round up

Rather a sombre Titanic weekend hence my silly Ramblings yesterday which I thought might lighten things up a bit.  I am getting behind in my reviews, so am doing one of my Round Ups in order get as many done as possible and not muck those publishers about who send me books to read.   I love getting review copies but they do come with a hefty helping of guilt, mine nor theirs, I hasten to add when I realise I have yet to write about them.  So here goes:

The Village Vet - Cathy Woodman. I gather there is a series of books set in the village of Talyton St George with a cast of characters who I have yet to meet.   After reading this simply delightful book, I see I am going to have to suck up to Random House big time and see if they will send me some more.  I was lucky enough to meet Cathy at a Mother's Day evening in London last month,but it was only a brief meeting and I would be surprised if she remembered me at all.  Probably just as well we did not have a long chat as my ignorance re her books would have soon been picked up...

OK - Tessa is engaged to Nathan who, though she does not yet know it, is a cad and a bounder and not to be trusted.  Swept off her feet by a swift romance Tessa is on the way to church on her wedding day and half way through the ceremony the entire thing comes grinding to a halt when one of her oldest friends, Jack, interrupts just as they get to the I Do bit.   Chaos ensues but Tessa then realises that she doesn't want to marry Nathan after all and flees the church.

"Not stopping to pick up the shoe that I let fall, I speed up, tearing along the street, past the terraced houses, past the police station and the pub, towards the river....I continue to follow the road, passing cars and caravans....a couple of children wave from a motor home "Mummy, look at the lady in the princess dress"

She finds out later that she is saddled with debt and has bills run up on her credit cards by the ghastly ex and, with no job and no home, she is offered a position managing Talyton Animal Rescue Sanctuary (Tessa is a vet nurse).   Turns out, naturally, that Jack is in the offing as he is also involved with the Sanctuary and no guessing what happens.

Read this tucked up in bed one night, lovely and warm and relaxed and simply loved it.

The Runaway Actress - Victoria Connelly.  I took to Victoria's writing big time when I read The Perfect Hero, reviewed here, so was delighted when this one arrived.   Connie Gordon is a beautiful, rich and famous actress who, on the surface, has everything going for her.  Living in LA, wonderful house, five cars, designer dresses, jewellery blah blah but something is missing from her life. 

"I'd like to thank my agents past and present.  The ones who have ripped me off thinking I'm too busy and thick to notice and those who have put me forward for inferior jobs because they'll bring in the big bucks.  I'd also like to thank the men in my life - all the slime balls and the cheats I've had the misfortune of dating. I can safely say that they have behaved even worse than some of my stalkers....and finally I'd like to thank my fans.  Some of the letters I receive are truly mind blowing and I'd just like to settle some matters here and now if that's all right.  No I won't drop everything and marry you Mr Complete Stranger, nor will I sent you photographs of myself naked. So will you please stop asking me and leave me alone"

Fed up with ghastly ex-boyfriends, double crossing agents and the glitz and fakery, she flies to Lochnabrae in Scotland where her mother was born and where Maggie, who runs the village shop, also runs the Connie Gordon Fan Club.  She had written to Connie several times inviting her to come and stay and is totally shocked when she actually turns up and stays in the bed and breakfast down the road.

Mistrusting everyone and wary of friendly overtures, Connie gradually relaxes and begins to realise that the villagers, whilst loving the fact they have this famous beauty in their midst, also like her for herself.  She agrees to take part in the local amateur dramatic society performance of Twelfth Night which scares her out of her wits as she has never done 'real' acting before.  The director of the play is Alastair McInnes, a playwright who has fled London for reasons of his own, and who has vowed never to become involved with an actress again.

Another witty and delightful book from this author.  Alongside the romance between Connie and Alastair, there runs the story of the shy but sweet Maggie and her long unrequited love for her brother's friend, Mike.  With no idea of how to dress and totally unaware of her attractiveness, Connie takes her in hand and transforms the slightly ugly duckling into a swan.  

And does Connie find happiness? Well, what do you think?

"Don't go ever" Alastair said. There was a silence as Alastair and the others stared at the beautiful woman before them who suddenly didn't look like a movie star at all but very much like a friend who they didn't want to lose....Alastair swallowed and took a deep breath "We all love you" he said.

Warm, witty and delightful. A gread read.

One of my very favourites - Katie Fforde

I have a list of about half a dozen authors whose books I always buy. I do not wait for the paperback and I do not pester publishers for review copies - I just buy them. Katie Fforde is one of these authors and I look forward each year to her next book.  

I have every single one of her titles, see picture below and if I am feeling fed up or miz, for whatever reason, I know if I sit down and read a Katie or two I will feel much better. It never fails. When I had the 'flu in January and was feeling a tad pissed off with everything, I retired to bed with a pile of them next to me and embarked on a re-read. OK I fell asleep after a while, but this was because I was relaxed, not because I was bored.

I came across Katie's book, The Rose Revived, by sheer chance in my local Waterstones. I liked the cover, picked it up, read a couple of pages and that was it. Bought it, loved it and have been a fan ever since.  The first four books had simply gorgeous covers, paintings which caught my eye and which I thought were quite lovely.  My favourite out of these early covers was Wild Designs - I would love to have a print of this picture as it is so sunny and vivid and would cheer anybody up, even on the darkest winter day.

But then the covers changed.  I remember reading that sales increased when this new style came in and though I was really disappointed to see the familiar chicklitty pastels arriving, authors don't just write for the love of it, they have to sell their books and if a new cover achieves this, well that's that. But I do miss them.

No matter, the content is still terrific fun. Love stories are by their very nature formulaic. Girl meets boy, they fall in love, then a misunderstanding or a quarrel separates them, but in the end all is sorted out and they are reunited.   Non-lovers of romantic fiction turn their noses up and sneer, but let them. There is nothing more comforting that a fail safe happy ending which happens in real life as well as in fiction.  Yes, it does. Has not happened to me personally but when I spend a day with my daughter and her husband and my darling Florence and see how happy they are together, then I know that this is true. So ye of little faith, hence away and wallow in your misery.

What I like about Katie's heroines are that quite a few of them are of a 'certain age'. They have been married and divorced, have grown up children, or are not in the first flush of youth.  Some of her later books have featured younger characters, but my favourites are those that feature older women. Well, they would be wouldn't they seeing as I have just celebrated a birthday which I gather is called a 'Medicare birthday' in the USA...........

I think my favourite out of all Katie's books is Stately Pursuits.  Hetty, our heroine, finds her lover in bed with somebody else rushes off home to her mother, who being a wise woman (as are all mothers) arranged for her to take care of a crumbling house owned by her Great Uncle Samuel who is in hospital. Her mother feels she will be too busy to pine and that this will help her recover from her broken heart.  The house is dilapidated and dirty and Hetty has to get it ready for the season when it is open to the public.   Of course she gradually falls in love with the house and then the future owner turns up who has every intention of selling off the house as soon as he is able.  Well, Hetty has other plans and there follows a love hate relationship with Connor:

"He was tall wide and crumpled. His rugged features were screwed into a combination of extreme fatigue, irascibility and irritation. He had the touch, roughened look of a man who could wear Shetland wool next to the skin and not itch"

Oooo-er.

And later:

"I promised Samuel not to seduce you"  Hetty swallowed. He was leaning so close to her she could see a tiny thread caught into a loop in his lapel. She could see the movement of his breathing as he leaned on the cupboard. It seemed fast for someone who was so fit..."

You want to find out what happens next? Well, get your own copy and stop looking at mine.

Witty, warm, amusing and delightful and a variety of settings from a stately home to a barge to the Scottish Highlands to an antique show room to a house boat to New York, I love every single one.

I said at the start of this post that I always buy Katie's books and never try to blag a free copy so I can only say a big thank you to the lovely kind person at Random House who sent me her latest title, Recipe for Love.  I arrived home today from my stay in London and there were a pile of parcels waiting for me and when I opened the first one, there it was.   I have had a simply lovely time this week celebrating my birthday and this was the icing on the cake.

So thank you thank you thank you.  I am saving this up for the weekend and am looking forward to reading every single word and I know I will love it.