NEW RELEASES: Love Me Tinder by Nicola May

Love Me Tinder is the new novel from Nicola May (author of The School Gates, The SW19 Club and Working It Out), in which shy Carli embarks on a dating adventure with the help of a popular app...

Dull security or risky freedom - which would you choose? 

With her marriage in pieces, shy Cali Summers is faced with this decision and hits the world of fast love on an internet dating app. 

Using room 102 in the hotel where she works as her dating 'lair', she opens herself up to a world of sex, lies, deception, as well as personal discovery and passionate love. 

With a charming F1 engineer, a handsome army officer and her adulterous ex all on the scene, a predictable love match is far from on the cards.

Love Me Tinder is available now.

BLOG TOUR: Nicola May - The SW19 Club

Romantic novelist Nicola May joins us this week as part of her The SW19 Club blog tour! We interviewed her heroine Gracie Davies to find out exactly what it’s all about...

So Gracie, tell us about you and what Nicola’s new book is all about..
I’m 38 and the heroine of Nicola’s book, when I’m faced with the news that I can no longer have children after losing IVF twins I am at an all-time low. Finding the subject is almost taboo, I set up The SW19 Club, where women in similar situations can chat openly about the unspoken issues of fertility in a supportive and fun environment.

Do you think the author writes sensitively about what you are going through?
Very much so, Nicola actually went through the heartbreak of losing twins and having a hysterectomy herself, so is able to write straight from the heart.  She realised not enough is ever said or discussed about losing children or not being able to have children. And, just because those little people are never seen, it doesn’t make the pain of loss any less. In fact, ‘could have beens’ are so much harder. I think the reader will relate to my inner feelings and also route for me to find happiness, peace and understanding.

You have a few love interests in The SW19 Club, can you tell us about them and who is your favourite?
Hmm... so there’s Lewis, the love of my life and adulterous ex. His affair breaks my heart and is obviously not right, but Nicola also makes the reader realise he isn’t a bad person and was going through the grieving process himself.

I have a passionate fling with handsome landscaper Ed - his hidden secret mars my judgement of him and then thank you Nicola May for my fairytale encounter with a Hollywood film star! Getting whisked away to Barcelona by Leo Grant in his private jet was something special.

And, I’m not going to tell you my favourite, they all light my fire in one way or another, but you’ll have to read the book to see what happens!

Do you think women who haven’t been through a similar situation will still enjoy this book?
Oh yes, very much so. Don’t be put off by the base storyline; the novel is in fact a romantic comedy full of love, life lessons and triumph over adversity. Some of the love scenes will make you cry and some will make you wish you were me!

The fact that Milly Johnson has read the book and says it will both twang your funny bone and your heartstrings says it all really.

The SW19 Club launched on July 23rd and is available in both Kindle and paperback versions. You can find out more about Nicola and her books at her website, Facebook (Nicola May) or follow her on Twitter. 

INDUSTRY NEWS: Winners of the Romance Reader Awards announced

The winners of the 2014 Romance Reader Awards were announced at the Festival of Romantic Fiction in Leighton Buzzard over the weekend. Many authors were shortlisted, with some fantastic novels in the running! Congratulations to this year's winners.

Best Romantic Read - One Step Closer to You by Alice Peterson
After Polly ends her relationship with the father of her young son, Louis, she is determined to move on. All she wants is to focus on her job, her friends and to be a good mum. No more looking over her shoulder. No more complications . . . 

Then Polly meets Ben.

Ben is guardian of his niece, Emily. They become close, with Polly teaching Ben how to plait Emily's hair, and Ben playing football with Louis. Their friendship is unexpected. Polly’s never been happier. 

But when Louis's dad reappears in their life, all Polly’s mistakes come back to haunt her and her resolve weakens when he swears he has changed.

Will she give herself a second chance to love?

Best Historical Read - The Dress Thief by Natalie Meg Evans
Alix Gower has a dream: to join the ranks of Coco Chanel to become a designer in the high-stakes world of Parisian haute couture. But Alix also has a secret: she supports her family by stealing designs to create bootlegs for the foreign market. A hidden sketchbook and two minutes inside Hermès is all she needs to create a perfect replica, to be whisked off to production in New York.
Then Alix is given her big break - a chance to finally realize her dream in one of the most prominent Parisian fashion houses - but at the price of copying the breakthrough Spring Collection.

Knowing this could be her only opportunity, Alix accepts the arrangement. But when a mystery from her past resurfaces and a chance meeting has her falling into the arms of a handsome English war reporter, Alix learns that the slightest misstep - or misplaced trust - could be all it takes for her life to begin falling apart at the seams.

Best Short Romance - Taming Her Italian Boss by Fiona Harper
"So, Miss Lange with an e, will you take the job?" 

Ruby Lange might be unconventional, but her struggle to find the ideal career isn't from lack of trying! Now the latest option is "traveling nanny"—so she takes a deep breath, packs her vintage suitcase and heads for Italy.

Ruby's new boss, architect Max Martin, may be utterly gorgeous, but he's far too buttoned up for her liking! Yet traveling around Venice together, Ruby discovers that the man who took a risk on her is masking a huge heart—he just needs a reason to trust it again….


Best Ebook - The Oyster Catcher by Jo Thomas
Dooleybridge, County Galway. Population: 482 (or thereabouts). The last place Fiona Clutterbuck expects to end up, alone, on her wedding night.

But after the words 'I do' have barely left her mouth, that's exactly where she is - with only her sequined shoes and a crashed camper van for company.

One thing is certain: Fi can't go back. So when the opportunity arises to work for Sean Thornton, the local oyster farmer, she jumps at the chance. Now Fi must navigate suspicious locals, jealous rivals and a wild, unpredictable boss if she's to find a new life, and love, on the Irish coast. And nothing - not even a chronic fear of water - is going to hold her back.

Join Fi on her romantic, unpredictable adventure as she learns the rules of the ocean - and picks up a few pearls of Irish wisdom along the way... 

Best Author Published Romance - Christmas Yves by Nicola May
It’s two days before Christmas - and Evie Harris finds herself both manless and jobless. After a chance encounter with handsome Greg (and egged on by her toy-boy-eating friend, Bea) she agrees to work at a homeless shelter on Christmas Day. 

Striking up an unlikely friendship with homeless Yves, Evie begins an unwitting journey of spiritual awakening, all set against the sparkling winter backdrop of London landmarks. 

A New Year’s Eve revelation is on its way . . . but will it leave Evie with a happy heart, or will she allow the pre-Christmas past to dictate her future?