New release: Last of the Summer Vines

I continuously remind ROSA members that they can use this blog to promote their new releases, but my own release day came and went and I didn't even think to post about it here! So, to set a good example for all our members, today I'm talking about my book Last of the Summer Vines, which released two weeks ago.

This wasn't a book I planned to write. I'd written a book set behind the scenes on a television series (which won't surprise readers of my previous books) and had just started work on its sequel. But I was struggling to find a home for the completed book, and with each passing month my motivation for writing died a little more. It's hard to write a sequel, no matter how passionate you are about it, when every agent or publisher you query rejects the first book in the series.

Thank heavens for my lovely editor at HarperImpulse, Charlotte Ledger. Though my new books were very different from the kinds of books HarperImpulse were currently publishing, she agreed to read it and give me feedback - and then she gave me the best gift ever: she suggested I write something completely different.

Charlotte suggested I write the kind of book that's currently selling really well in the UK, books I'd taken to calling 'cosy teashop' books. These are gentle books, in which the heroine leaves the big city to rediscover herself in a simpler, country setting - and they usually involve lots of tempting food. Charlotte also suggested Tuscany as a setting. And so I started researching both the genre and the setting. And through researching and then writing this book, I rediscovered my passion for writing again.

Last of the Summer Vines is now on sale, and the reviews that are coming in are very encouraging. But they are just the cherry on the top, because even if no one else likes this book, it's achieved a miracle in my life. It inspired me again, and showed me new possibilities for my career - all the things that the book's heroine, Sarah Wells, discovers when she spends a summer in Tuscany.

I don't expect readers to experience any life-altering revelations while reading Last of the Summer Vines. But if you read this book and get swept away for a few hours, then my joy will be complete.


Love grows where you least expect to find it…

When ambitious workaholic Sarah Wells discovers she has inherited her estranged father’s vineyard near Montalcino in Tuscany, the last thing she wants is to take time away from her busy schedule to sort out a crumbling mess of a palazzo. But, of course, life never runs smoothly and when she makes a rare error, her bosses decide a holiday is just what she needs.

When Sarah arrives in Italy, she learns that she is not her father’s sole heir. In fact, she only has a partial stake in Castel Sant’ Angelo because of a loophole in Italian law. Her father has left the vineyard instead to his business partner, the gorgeous and infuriating Tommaso Di Biasi – and Tomasso doesn’t want to sell.

At first, Sarah wants the deal done as quickly as possible so she can get back to her life in London, but it seems Italy has other plans for her. Under the warmth of the Tuscan sun, with a glass or two of the local vino rosso, and brooding Tommaso challenging her all the way, Sarah starts to realise that that there might just be something to la dolce vita…

Last of the Summer Vines is available from Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, Google Play and Barnes & Noble.