Happiness is a lasagne in the oven. I haven't made one in ages but it felt like lasagne weather. And happiness is the RELIEF of finishing off a work project I'd been dithering with for months, ie procrastinating and extending the deadline. Terrible me! But wonderful feeling, having finished it. Just wonderful.  And pottering along with life in general. Trying to stay well. Staying well is the best reason to be happy!  

First in series...! Free This Weekend!! Click the pic!

This year I've really been getting into the Formula One. It began about this time last year when I was staying with my brother and he's been big on motor racing since forever and so we watched Monaco together on the tv. So I followed the rest of the 2024 season and I'm following it this season. One of the things that impresses me are the women who now work in motor racing.  I tell you, if I had my time over again, I'd go hard on science and do engineering and work in F1. I find it just so fascinating. And the speed. Oh my gosh, the speed, it is manic. I can't even begin to imagine the life style of travelling the world like they do, being I am a home bod who looks forward to coming home from work every day and often having weekends when I don't even leave the house.  I also have not got my head around most of it but that doesn't matter. It is just so good to watch. Plus my favourites are doing well, and may they continue to do well for the rest of the season...

I was thinking about what drew me to writing the Bluebell Road series and it was, quite simply, getting some books online during the Covid lockdowns. Actual print books. I read an old Betty Neels, who for those who have never heard the name, was an author for Mills and Boon way back. She wrote very gentle romances with a heroine who often worked in a hospital or cared for people, such as elderly relatives, and who met the strong, heroic doctor (often from Holland, as her own husband I understand was Dutch.) The Betty Neels stories were very much the same in terms of plot and character, but there was something about them that was just the perfect read. The comfort read.  That's when I got the idea to write a series about three friends, sharing a flat in London, all not looking for romance in the slightest. Julia had broken up with her boyfriend who had led her along and had better things to do. Katie had been dumped by her fiance: he left her for her best friend, her bridesmaid, whi...

 I am so pleased to announce that THE GABARDI MEMOIR The third book in the Gabardi series is here!! It is exclusive to AMAZON and is enrolled in the Kindle Unlimited programme. Will helping old boyfriend Alberto Gabardi help Charlotte navigate the worst year of her life? Or will it only make it worse. When editor, Charlotte Appleton, agrees to help Alberto Gabardi with a family history memoir, she soon realises she has underestimated one thing: that after all these years, her feelings for him are still there. Her five-year marriage is over, she's still grieving the devastating loss of her mother. and her work life is under pressure. One of her authors is so late submitting her new manuscript that Charlotte fears for her job. Heading to London to help Alberto means she can track down her author for the manuscript, while helping an old friend out. Except for the disturbing shock of realising her feelings for Alberto are still there. Alberto Gabardi is intent on writing the ...

 Only a few sleeps to go until THE GABARDI MEMOIR They're former lovers, who come together to work on a project. He is troubled. She is grieving. But it seems that old feelings resurface - or did they ever really go away in the first place, in spite of all the years inbetween? To buy details coming soon...  

  The Gabardi Memoir is having its final proof rood and then it will be released THIS MONTH!   Yay, pop open the champagne and whip up a cake to celebrate! Book Three in the series. Wow. When I wrote the first one I had the idea of making sure that Alexi had brothers, in case I wanted it to be a series rather than just a standalone, and here they all are. Alexi, Angelo and Alberto. The Gabardi Brothers. In fact, I wrote the first one during a lockdown when I had already booked in annual leave from work and we were told, we still had to take it. Even though we couldn't go anywhere. Bloody brilliant, I thought. A week to do nothing except see if I can finish the first draft of this book that I wrote the first and only chapter for ages ago. This was truly amazing, thought I, and I would NEVER get this opportunity ever again. I couldn't go anywhere, see anyone, do anything.  And so for that week I wrote the book and finished it. So what is it about? When Alberto Gabardi decid...