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Sorry this newsletter's a little bit late. I had some techy bug problems, but all sorted now.
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Anyway, I need to know something. Are you planning your summer reading lists yet? I am! I'm not going on holiday until the end of August but I'm already putting aside reads just for then. Do you do this too?
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It might look like things are quiet, but behind the scenes things are moving along. I should have some exciting news to share with you soon, and until then, I'm working on edits for the last Palace Girl's book and, of course, watching Bridgerton!
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To get you in the mood for my next publication, which is The Palace Girl's Secret (written as Emma Royal), I'm sharing below some of the first chapter of book 1, The Palace Girls, to tempt you into grabbing a copy!
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Let me know what I should be adding to my summer reading list by tagging me on socials!
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Happy reading and lots of love,
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Buckingham Palace had its own post office, which was very handy for those with family to write to. Milly’s only family sat opposite her, wiping butter from the corner of her mouth. If Milly had written her a letter, Edie would have thought she’d gone mad.
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‘Here you are, ladies,’ the postboy said. ‘Thought I’d find you all here. Caroline, there’s two for you.’
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She took them eagerly, tearing the top letter open, her eyes scanning the words quickly. She received at least two letters every week and sent out goodness knows how many more. All her wages must go on stamps. Caroline’s lips moved, forming the words as she read, and Milly felt a stab of jealousy. No one ever wrote to her. There was no one outside the palace who needed to.
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‘Here’s one for you, Mrs Barnes.’ The boy handed over another letter to her aunt. She had friends up and down the country and wrote almost as many letters as Caroline.
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‘And last but not least, one for you, Milly.’
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‘Me?’ She sat up straighter, knocking her cutlery on to her plate with a clatter. ‘Who’s writing to me?’
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‘Birthday card maybe? We’re all looking forward to your little party. It’ll be nice to have something to celebrate. Goodness knows the mood’s dark enough around here at the moment.’
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Since the King’s operation on his lungs in September, he’d had to rest for four weeks, and though he was up and about, and performing some of his normal duties, the mood in the palace was sombre both above and below stairs. Doctors still haunted the hallways like ghosts, appearing and disappearing without warning. Everyone loved the King after the way he’d staunchly stayed at the palace all through the war, even when London was being bombed to bits. But the war had taken its toll on him, and an unspoken fear played on everyone’s minds that his recovery was taking longer than it should. No one wanted to think of exactly what that meant, and no one voiced their concerns out loud, especially in earshot of the senior staff or the royal family.
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Milly turned the letter over, inspecting it as if she’d never seen one before.
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Edie’s brow creased in concern, and she leaned forward, eyeing the letter in Milly’s hand as though someone had handed her an incendiary device. ‘What’s that then?’
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‘Don’t rightly know, Aunt. I can’t think of anyone who’d want to write to me. Can you?’
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‘Don’t just play with it,’ Caroline said. ‘Open it and see who it’s from.’
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Milly carefully lifted the flap on the envelope and pulled out a letter, scanning the thin pieces of paper. The writing was so messy it was difficult to read, and her face screwed up in confusion as she studied each line, slowly and carefully deciphering the scrappily written words. As she moved further and further down the page, her heart rate sped up just as it did when she saw Timothy, but this wasn’t a pleasant sensation.
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‘Milly?’ asked Edie. There was a note of tension in her voice. A slightly strangled tone that Milly had never heard before.
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‘Yeah, come on,’ added Caroline. ‘Don’t keep us guessing.’
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The muscles in Milly’s stomach tightened as she got to the end of the letter. Reading the signature on the bottom, her hands shook, and she had to force the words out through her tight throat.
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‘It’s from . . . It’s from my mum.’
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Or if you fancy something a little more contemporary...
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Two friends. One wedding. A love story that’s long overdue…
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Olivia and Nico were once inseparable best friends with shared hopes, dreams and plans for the future. But as life took its course, they took very different paths – leaving them with a challenging long-distance friendship.
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When Olivia receives an invitation to Nico's wedding in Italy, she can hardly believe it. Despite her happiness for him, she can't help but reflect on the roads not taken and the promises once made.
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As she arrives in the picturesque Tuscany, disaster strikes. The wedding venue has fallen through and Nico’s wife-to-be is a total Bridezilla.
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Love is definitely not in the air and Olivia is the only person who can help. Can she put her feelings aside for the sake of Nico’s happiness? Or will her presence cause more problems than it solves…?
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We’re going to need a bigger drink…
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Meet Frankie: fifty, divorced and getting back on the horse.
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After leaving Twatface – her husband of twenty years – she's starting again from scratch. And when her son also flees the nest for university, Frankie decides it’s time to throw herself back into the dating game with a vengeance.
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On best friend Bel's recommendation, Frankie signs up to two dating apps: one for love, another for casual hook-ups (because why the f**k not?!).
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However, as she navigates this new frontier of catfishing, kittenfishing, ghosts, GILFs and everything in between, she realises the whole dating thing has changed quite a bit – and it really is a bloody jungle out there…
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Will Frankie find love on the apps? Or the perfect shag?
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Or – if there’s any justice in the world – both?
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Follow me on Instagram!
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Don't forget to follow me on Instagram where I'm all about books, reading and general crazy life stuff!
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