AFTERNOON TEA AND MEMORIES

Afternoon tea is such a civilised occasion that it’s always been part of my holidays and treats, and someday I may allow my husband to forget one particular day.

We were in Worcester, which is a beautiful old city in Worcestershire, and were staying in an amazing bed and breakfast in Gloucestershire in the days BC (which stands for before children) The owners seemed to view it as their duty in life to feed us up, so we went big on breakfast, then had lunch and a light tea in the afternoon. As an avid cook, it seemed to be my duty to sample as many regional cakes as I could. (It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it.)

Back then, I wrote short stories, so people watching was a big part of the creative process. It still is now, but I promise I don’t knowingly hang out with criminals and murderers. We do have very good eye candy in Poole though. Wetsuits. Mmm… Anyway, back to the story.

I was only going to write while we waited for afternoon tea to arrive. Honestly, I was, but I got a bit engrossed. My husband claims that he asked me if I wanted my cake, and I said ‘no.’ I’m sure he thought I did, but honestly, when did you ever hear of me saying no to cake?

So I put my pen down, pulled my plate towards me, and there were crumbs, and not many of them either. What’s more, someone had stolen half an hour and drunk most of a pot of tea.

Someday, I may let him forget that, but it’s long ago forgiven because we’ve been married for 40 years this coming Sunday, and he’s still my best friend and the prototype for all my heroes. Why? Because he’s kind and nice and sees the best in people and wants to help them. And he’s gorgeous too! I hope you can be as lucky…

And now here’s a picture of a cream tea to separate you from this week’s special offers… (99p in the UK and 99c in the US… go on, aren’t you a little tempted?)

Amy Hammond 4 Shadows 6 Anthologies 1 Windy Bay 6 to 25/3

A HANDMADE CRIME

Fifty-something avid crafter Amy Hammond used to live in a cosy little rut and dreamed of having an adventure after years caring for her elderly parents. Then, not as retired as he claims that he wants to be, former spy Brigadier Peter Cunningham moved in next door, and everything changed when she found her first dead body! Now she runs a craft centre at a local stately home, so she's got a job she loves, a man she loves, and she can't say that she loves finding trouble, but she's definitely not in a rut any more.

It's the height of summer, but Christmas is coming early to the Swansmere Manor Craft Centre, and Amy wishes that it wasn’t. Filming a Christmas special for a much-loved craft show is going to be brilliant for all the craftspeople who work there, but Amy doesn’t want to be on TV.  Her boss promised her that she wouldn’t have to be, but she’s been called away, so it’s up to Amy to make it all work, which isn't easy when they’re all dressed up in Christmas jumpers, and it’s the hottest July for years.

Still, what could possibly go wrong? Apart from arson, attempted murder, drug dealing, a yappy dog that seems intent on biting everyone and having to run a craft workshop at the last minute that’s being filmed and will be shown to people all over the world.

There are some things that even Peter Cunningham can’t sort out, but at least he’s right there beside her while things go from bad to worse.

AGING DISGRACEFULLY

Amy Hammond was determined to get out of the rut that she got stuck in when she took redundancy after the elderly parents she'd cared for most of her adult life died within six weeks of each other. She'll admit that she might occasionally have said that she wanted to be more adventurous but it wasn't her fault that nothing like as retired as he'd like to be spy Brigadier Peter Cunningham came to live next door or that they got to know each other while hey tried to persuade a pampered Persian cat to move along with her original owners before they gave in to the inevitable and decided to share her. Obviously, she's pleased that they became first friends and then lovers, but now she and this very complicated man can't seem to stop finding trouble. That trouble led her to her dream job managing the craft complex at a local stately home and to learn a lot about herself, so she can't say she regrets very much of it.

She's organising a new craft group at a sheltered living complex when one of the residents is found unconscious in the grounds on a bitterly cold night after tripping over a wire that’s been tied between two trees. Some of her favourite customers are convinced that something’s badly wrong so tthey want her to investigate and it's not long before she and Peter uncover a love triangle, a spot of bondage gone wrong, a pole dancing class and an attempted murder.

Amy realises that some people are determined not to grow old gracefully, and others will be lucky if they manage to grow old at all.

TWO GRAVES

Amy Hammond led a boring but blameless life while dreaming of adventure until nothing like as retired as he claims that he wants to be spy Peter Cunningham moved in next door to her and they became friends when they were adopted by the cat who has always lived in what Peter assumed was his house, Then he persuaded her to volunteer at a local stately home and she found a body and since then it's been one thing after another. Still, she has the job of her dreams and the man of her dreams so she's happy when she's not terrified.

It’s late January, and the Swansmere craft complex is gearing up for a busy new year. Amy's looking forward to her boss, the redoubtable Lady Fenton, getting a new personal assistant because life’s been getting busier and busier since the complex was featured in a successful craft series. She’s still shocked to find that her niece Callie has applied for the job, and a lot more shocked when she finds out why.

Add to that a guest at the self-catering complex who’s escaping an abusive and possibly criminal husband, drug and people smuggling and no wonder she’s glad that Peter Cunningham is as determined to be involved as he always is.

TO BE THE BEST - WRITING AS ELEANOR NEVILLE

Doctor Simon Jones is determined to prove that he's the best of the best, but his always fragile self-confidence has taken a knock after the life of adventure he was sure he was about to get when he was recruited to the ultra-secretive MI27 hasn't happened even though he came top of his intake. He jumps at the chance of a job with the new Hostage Recovery Team Two, but his first mission is far tougher than he’d expected.

A media magnate's family yacht has been hijacked in the Caribbean and his son has been shot. Simon goes aboard to provide urgent medical treatment then offers himself as a hostage so that the injured man can be taken to hospital. That leaves him responsible for beautiful It girl Melody and two small children, and things get worse still when they are marooned on a remote island as a hurricane hits. He gashed his arm while rescuing the little girl from drowning and by the time that rescue arrives it’s so badly infected that he’s expecting to lose it.

On top of that, Gareth Chance staged the hijack but was outsmarted and some very dubious people are behind him. Simon goes undercover while convalescing and uses the growing attraction between him and Mel to become accepted by the family. Increasingly, he’s aware that this goes against everything he believes in and not only is he nowhere close to being the best, but he’s in the wrong job. But someone has to care for Mel and the children and keep them clear, so he carries grimly on while redefining what ‘the best’ means to him.

Can he keep Mel and the children safe?

Can he uncover who’s trying to manipulate the media magnet?

Can he stay alive to decide what future he wants? And what will he learn about himself and Mel in the process?

What does being the best truly mean?

PROFESSIONAL HERO - WRITING AS ELEANOR NEVILLE

A politician kills himself in the House of Commons after screaming that he won’t let himself be used to kill the British Prime Minister. Soon afterwards, someone tries to snatch his daughter because they think she knows more than she should.

This is very definitely a job for the ultra-secretive MI27, but Protection Agent Ben Madigan isn’t happy about being assigned to play the role of boyfriend while Sam Rylance is pretty much being staked out as bait. He thinks she has already had more than enough to cope with, and she knows he’s right, but she also knows that the stakes are higher than most people would be prepared to believe, especially since her ex-fiance seems to be involved.

Can they find out how her father managed to be the first person to block a sinister mind control device and use the technique to stop the Prime Minister being murdered?

Can Sam find the future that she wants and persuade the man she’s realising she loves that falling in love isn’t more dangerous than any of his jobs could ever be?

ENEMY WITHIN - WRITING AS ELEANOR NEVILLE

Welcome to the Shadow world of British Intelligence’s most secret department because MI27 exists to do the jobs that no one would believe could happen if they were ever allowed to find out about them.

People definitely mustn’t realise that someone has invented a device that can let them beam instructions into other peoples minds and drive them mad or kill them if they won’t cooperate. They have to be stopped and agents Verity McKenzie and Colin Samuels have reactivated an old cover as lovers to help them to do it.

What happens when they want the cover to become real but are both too scared of messing it up to make the next move? Or when the Daymare device strikes far too close to home?

Compared to that, the Prime Minister being taken hostage by a Daymare victim doesn’t seem like too much of a problem…

SHE DIDN’T MEAN TO FIND TROUBLE

Amy Hammond is in her fifties, cuddlier than she'd like to be and stuck so deep in a rut that she can't see over the top of it. She's always wanted an adventure, but she's spent years caring for her elderly parents and time slid by without her noticing it. Then they died within six weeks of each other, she took redundancy from her job in her bank and moved house. Most of all, she got to know her new next door neighbour retired Brigadier Peter Cunningham when they ended up sharing ownership of a cat and suddenly she started finding dead bodies and getting involved in crime!

This is an anthology edition of the first three books

Wasted on the Young

Up the Garden Path

AND

A stitch in time

It's aimed at people who don't have Kindle Unlimited, or access to the individual books when they're discounted on Kindle Deals but would like to try a new series without spending too much.

LOVE BY THE SEA

This is an anthology of the first 3 Windy Bay books and contains

A Fresh Start

Starting Over

Second Chances

They're  set around a little village on the Dorset coast where life is slower, people are kinder and new beginnings and happy endings are waiting for anyone who’s brave enough to search for them. They're a sweet, gentle read, ideal for relaxing with on a hot summer's day, or reminding you that there will be good days ahead no matter what the weather may feel like.

This collection is an ideal way to try a new series, especially if you don't have Kindle Unlimited or live in a country where you don't get Kindle deals.

THE SCENT OF LAVENDER

This is an anthology of the first three Lavender House Cosy Romances - House of Dreams, Ghost of Dreams and Ghost of a Chance. It\s aimed at people who don't have Kindle Unlimited and who live in countries where they can't buy my regular 99p promotions but would like to try a new series at a bargain price.

An old house and outbuildings overlooking the beautiful Sandbanks beach in Dorset, where the millionaires gather needs to be brought back to life. Its resident ghost, Lavinia, has slightly different plans. In life, she lost her love at the end of World War Two and cut herself off from the world while she developed her beautiful gardens. In death, her mission is to give the people who find refuge at Lavender House the happy endings that she couldn't have; whether or not people believe in her or think they want them.

In House of Dreams Linnet and Nathan bring the house back to life

In The Ghost of Dreams, Ben and Miranda find shelter and second chances there

In The Ghost of a Chance,Cassie and Patrick are hiding from the past and need help to move on to the future.

THE CHRISTMAS ESCAPE

Widow Lucy Mitchell makes her living organising things for other people, but she'd fed up with people trying to organise her Christmas. She doesn't want to celebrate at all when it'll mark a year since her husband died, so she rents out her London home and books a cliff top cottage in Windy Bay, on the spur of the moment.

Her plan is that Santa is coming to town, but she's leaving town and him behind, but she's greeted by Father Christmas, three elves, and a handsome woodcutter called Will Farrar. Soon after that, she realises that she's in a place where life goes more slowly, people are kind, there's a welcome for anyone who needs it and things happen that couldn't happen anywhere else...

Can she get a happy ending? Oh come on, this is Windy Bay, and where better to find the right kind of Christmas for you?

TOO GOOD TO WASTE

Beth Allerton runs the New Druett Arms in the beautiful English village of Windy Bay. She knows how lucky she is that it's been freshly rebuilt, so it now has a gorgeous restaurant, she has 3 talented chefs and a good staff. It’s everything she’s ever dreamed of, and she loves the sound of the pub garden, until she finds out who’ll be designing and building it.

She and Josh Briggs were once in love. Then he sent his posh new girlfriend to tell Beth about it in public, which made sense because he’s as posh as she wasn’t. Now they have to work together, so she tries to convince herself that she’s not that shy girl any more. He’s probably changed, too, and it’s not as if she never got over him, is it? Okay, she hasn’t had many serious relationships, but you have to work hard if you make a dream come true

Add in illness, snow and a potential flood and January in Windy Bay is looking pretty normal. Still, at least people are having fun at the pub’s new get-together for single people who are too good to waste, Most of all, Windy Bay is a place where time goes more slowly, people are kind, there’s a welcome for anyone who needs it, and things happen that couldn’t happen anywhere else.

Can they happen for Josh and Beth?