ROMANTIC SUSPENSE – JO LAMBERT

**Due for publication on 25th April, 2023.** **Currently available to pre-order on Amazon.Com and Amazon.Co.UK**

Yes, I guess this is the most important news to come out of March. The third and final instalment of my Cornish Coastal Romance trilogy is finally ready to meet the outside world. Given the kind of health issues that have seen me yo-yoing in and out of hospital for clinic appointments during 2022, it became a bit of a battle to complete The Secrets We Keep. Yes, there were times when I felt like abandoning the whole project, but looking back at how far I had come, I knew I had to keep going, no matter how difficult that final stretch would prove. Thankfully I managed it and can happily confirm I have the all clear and am now looking forward to getting back to regular writing.

Not sure how everyone else feels, but for me the move into summertime with the clocks being put forward an hour is a time for celebration. We’re eventually pulling away from those dark evenings and hopefully can now look forward to brighter, lighter days. Not that the weather is currently playing ball. We’ve had a few really lovely spring days full of sunshine, but there are moments, like today, when winter’s keen to tell us it hasn’t yet left the building!

Next month is a double for me. Birthday and the first of our holidays. We’re returning to Wells Next the Sea on the Norfolk Coast. This will be our fourth trip to this lovely part of the UK. Friendly locals, big skies, sea air, long walks and fabulous food…what more could you want?

MY READ AND REVIEWS FOR MARCH 2023

This month has delivered a great selection of books. I have a quite broad taste when it comes to reading. Despite preferring psychological thrillers, I often opt for something completely different if I know it’s an author whose work I enjoy, or if the synopsis interests me. Four of this month’s choices proved exceptional –

The Last Party at Silverton Hall (a wonderful dual time line read) The Hidden Letters (Lorna Cook being a favourite author of mine, didn’t disappoint with this), The Loch (atmospheric and suspenseful) and The Night She Vanished by Wendy Dranfield, another author who I know always delivers an exceptional read.

So that’s it for now. Hopefully by the time I’m back with my April update, we’ll be in a better place with the weather, with many of us looking forward to our 2023 holidays.

Take care everyone…

Another month over and a milestone reached. Yes, at last I’ve arrived at the point in my writing where I can finally type THE END. At just over 103,000 words, it’s the smallest book I’ve written so far. And it has been one of the toughest. Some books almost write themselves. This one hasn’t. Part of the problem has been I’ve had one or two health issues. They have been irritating rather than worrying ones but nevertheless distracting enough for my writing to go into stop-start mode. Not a good thing when you have a timetable to keep to.

This month has seen another trip – a mid-week break to Alderminster, just outside Stratford Upon Avon. The Bell is a favourite stop over of ours. I can highly recommend this as a place to stay if you’re planning to visit Stratford. Not only is the accommodation first class, it has a really good restaurant if you fancy staying put for the evening. And if you want to leave the car behind, there’s a good bus service into Stratford with a bus stop right outside the pub.

We had a two night stopover, giving us a whole day to ourselves. Deciding to make use of our National Trust membership, we decided on a trip to Coughton Court, near Alcester (about 12 miles away). A Tudor Country house with extensive grounds and gardens, we spent a few hours there before returning for a late lunch in the pub garden.

Book News – The manuscript has left the building, which you would think leaves me with a huge amount of time on my hands. Not so. In fact I seem to be busier. As a great fan of period drama, I managed to get some chill out time watching Jane Austen’s Emma and Persuasion. I loved Anya Taylor-Joy in the lead role of Emma Woodhouse and Bill Nighy did a great job as her father. Netflix and Persuasion not a good mix. Not only was this my set book for English Literature ‘O’ level, the action takes place in Bath (my home town) and Lyme Regis. That means I’ve always had a special affection for it. I’ve also carried with me my own idea of what Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth should look like – which as any reader knows is dangerous once a book finds its way onto the screen. I have seen two previous versions, one with Ciaran Hinds (1995) and the other with Rupert Penry-Jones (2007) taking the role of Captain Wentworth. Although Hinds was quite imposing as a senior naval officer, I preferred Penry-Jones (far more handsome), and was keen to see how this twenty first century version compared. Unfortunately, all I managed to watch was 33 minutes then sadly, I gave up. Maybe my expectations were too high, who knows? The whole thing simply didn’t work for me, particularly having Cosmo Jarvis as Frederick Wentworth.

JULY BOOK REVIEWS

And finally, when I next post, I will be including a cover reveal for my new romantic suspense novel Secrets That We Keep. It is the third part of my Cornish Estuary series set in the fictitious town of Kingswater. When I finished the first book Shadows on the Water I had no plans to turn it into a series. However, with three young women featuring, I soon saw the potential for two more stories. What happens next? Well, that’s all in the lap of the gods at the moment. We’re staying in Fowey during September so perhaps I’ll pick up those Cornish vibes and return home with the inspiration for another book. Who knows?

Until next month, take care and enjoy August…