…an emotional, dark and gripping suspenseful romance. The darkness increased as secrets were exposed, yet the romance built into a beautiful love affair.
Read the full review at Totally Booked Blog.
The Man in Room 423 reviewed by Chicks, Rogues and Scandals
This one is all about the suspense element, it’s all about the plot with the romance between Ben and Lizzie flawlessly riding alongside, which makes for a perfect and undoubtedly epic love story with a twist.
Read the full review at the Chicks, Rogues and Scandals blog.
The Man in Room 423 – out on 5th May
This one is all about the suspense element, it’s all about the plot with the romance between Ben and Lizzie flawlessly riding alongside, which makes for a perfect and undoubtedly epic love story with a twist. – Chicks, Rogues and Scandals
Published 5th May 2020 by Totally Bound. Available in paperback and ebook from Amazon and other retailers.
In a heady cocktail of passion and poison, who can you really trust?
When Lizzie Aspinall and her sister meet for cocktails in a high-rise bar, the last thing she’s expecting is to spend the night in the arms of the nameless man in room 423. As a one-night stand with a stranger turns into a steamy affair with a dedicated detective, Lizzie finds herself in the sights of a stalker.
Ben Finneran has spent ten years pursuing a ruthless serial killer who poisons victims at random before disappearing into the shadows. He wants to believe that the attraction he and Lizzie share is just physical, but when they find themselves falling for each other, is Ben unwittingly leading a murderer straight to her door?
Pursued by the past and threatened by the present, who can Lizzie and Ben really trust?
Excerpt
Lizzie saw him in the light of his uncurtained hotel window. He leant one hand casually against the pane, looking back at her across the dark December street.
She watched him over the rim of her glass. Office Christmas parties were loud in the bar around her, but she was barely aware of them. All she could see was the man at the window, immaculate in a dark-coloured suit, the white of his shirt as crisp as frost.
“Earth to Lizzie. Come in, Lizzie!” Long, coral pink acrylic nails snapped in front of her eyes and Donna set down two glasses of a bright red cocktail, a cherry bobbing on the surface like a drowning man. “You need a crowbar to get served in here tonight!”
She wasn’t going to tell Donna about the man in the window. She wanted him for herself, so that she could pass through what remained of this evening with her sister in the knowledge that she and she alone had seen him.
And that he had seen her.
The interested glance of a stranger.
Interview: Zoe Allison
Debut author Zoe Allison’s first novel, Impervious, is published on 14th April by Totally Bound. A busy medic by day, she took time out to talk to us about writing her first book and what draws her to paranormal romance.
Welcome to our blog, Zoe! Tell us about your journey to publication.
I started writing around 4 years ago. I was looking for a creative outlet and initially I wrote children’s picture books, because with two small children that was all I was reading at the time! After that I got back into reading romance and a few things spurred me on to start writing my own romances. It was partly being inspired by other writers and also the feeling that if I was to write my own, it would be satisfying to be the master of the story’s destiny. I decided to give it a go and wrote my first, contemporary, romance.
I read about the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s New Writer’s Scheme and felt it would be an excellent way to get professional feedback, which I felt I needed in order to grow as a writer. I therefore bided my time until the next intake of members and on the day in question sat with my finger hovering over the “send” button on my join request email, until the clocked ticked onto the time that applications would be accepted. As I had predicted it was an excellent opportunity. I had already started writing Impervious as that first manuscript went through the scheme and in my second year with the NWS, I submitted it. My feedback was so helpful and inspiring. I decided to make the suggested changes and resubmit the next year (2019). Whilst awaiting my critique another fantastic writer on the RNA Facebook group posted about Totally Bound accepting submissions in a few genres, including vampire and paranormal. I decided nothing ventured nothing gained, and submitted. They got back to me a few days later with the offer of publication and I ended up in shock for a number of days!
Interview: Morton S Gray
Morton S Gray popped by to have a chat with us about writing romantic suspense.
Can you tell us a bit about your journey to publication?
I have always written. I can remember the delight of learning to read and write words at infant school and I’ve enjoyed both processes ever since. My first novel closely resembled the Errol Flynn swashbuckling films I used to watch with my nan on Sunday afternoons. I gave this first novel to a school friend to read when I was fourteen. I still have the original typewriter written pages.
As with many writers, life then got in the way! I didn’t really write seriously again until 2008 when the need to tell my stories began to build. Of course, you could argue that by then I’d experienced enough of life to have something to actually write about.
I went with a friend to weekly sessions run by author Sue Johnson in Pershore and again discovered the delights of putting down words to tell stories and form poems. Sue mentioned the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s New Writer’s Scheme (NWS) and I applied and got a place in 2012. The NWS is invaluable as it gives a critique of a full-length novel for each year you are a member. I had fun and experimented with different sorts of novel – contemporary, historical and timeslip.
A Tale of Two Writers
Join us as we answer the perennial question– how do we write together? Get the inside scoop on where we write, how we come up with plots, the fun to be had in a sandbox, how we decide who writes who, and what happens when things don’t go so smoothly. And as ever, discover what’s crawling out of the inkwell, and who – or what – is putting the fizz in our gin!
You can listen to us on Anchor.fm, iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Castbox, Overcast, Breaker, RadioPublic and Pocket Casts. Other platforms are available!
The Desert Island Survival Kit
What books, music and films would you need to while away the time on a desert island? Discover what we’ve packed in our bags to help us survive until a dashing captain comes to our rescue. And find out who’s putting the fizz in our gin and what’s lurking in the inkwell this week. Only on Gin & Gentlemen!
Listen on Anchor.fm, iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts (Android only), Stitcher, TuneIn, Castbox, Overcast, Breaker, RadioPublic and Pocket Casts. Other platforms are available!
Christmas is made for travelling
Eleanor is over at Long and Short Reviews talking about travel and Christmas.
Comment on the blog before Saturday 4th January to be entered in the draw for a free copy of either our latest novel, The Captain and the Best Man, or our Christmas novella The Captain’s Cornish Christmas.
A top read for 2019
We’re really chuffed that Sammy at Diverse Reader chose “The Captain’s Flirty Fireworks” as one of her top reads of 2019! And we’re glad to see our chum CF White as Sammy’s best new-to-her author of the year.
