A trail (or tail) of mermaids.

Look what we found in the park! Aren’t they gorgeous? They’re also part of a mermaid trail that’s designed to raise cash for and awareness of Julia’s House which is a charity that runs a children’s hospice and does fantastic outreach You can find out more about it here. https://www.juliashouse.org/tail-trail Thankfully, this isn’t something I’ve had to experience but it’s one of the charities I support along with the Dorset Wildlife Trust and the RNLI.

And isn’t it a lovely way to do that? They’re so beautiful, especially in the sunshine and a visible reminder that the darkness that’s all over the news isn’t all of the news. My Dad, who contributed a lot to the character of Peter Cunningham in my Amy Hammond series, always used to say that history was like a raging river, while ordinary people like us lived along the banks and did the best we could and he was as right about that as he was about so many other things.

The sun has been shining here this week, but there’s still a cold wind and we’ve more rain to come next week, but that’ll be good for the flowers, the fruit trees and my husband and son’s allergies. It’ll also mean that I can get on with sorting out my clothes because little by little my weight is coming down for the second time. I want to lose about a stone and a half and to do it by cutting down on the things I know I shouldn’t have because no one needs to tell me that chocolate and baking when it’s too cold and wet to be out as much as I want to be isn’t going to help me lose weight.

On the other hand, being out in the sunshine and walking and redirecting my chocolate money into books and the sort of clothes that the person I want to be wants to wear will help, and that leads me neatly on to this week’s special offers.

There are only two books at 99p in the UK and 99c in the US this week, but if you put Tia Brown anthologies into the search engine you’ll find some sets of 3 books at £2.99 that anyone can buy any time they like, because otherwise it’s not fair on my lovely readers in other countries.

‘The Toddler and the Tough Guy’ is an Oldcastle sweet and cosy romance about a Royal Marine who thinks he’s tough enough to tackle anything until he leaves to take on responsibility for his orphaned niece. The man who's used to being in charge now needs her amazing childminder as well as someone to love. I’m sure you’ve worked out what happened in the end but it’s a fun gentle journey towards new beginnings and possibilities

The second one is ‘The Unlikeliest Spy’ which is part of the Shadows series that I write as Eleanor Neville and the first of the Kit Meredith trilogy. It’s Austria in the 1960s and diplomat Cristin Meredith is coping with harassment and boredom when she comes up against spy Miles Kinsella and starts a life-changing adventure when her chameleon-like abilities make her the unlikeliest spy. If you enjoy it then the second book ‘Sweeter than Honey’ came out last Thursday and is available on Kindle Unlimited. (Hint, hint!)

So that’s about it for today. Take care, have fun and see you on Sunday.