How I joined the twenty first century!

I bought a selfie cam. Now, I’m not naturally a social media type, but people have asked for pictures of me, and they always go in my books, so it struck me as being time. Obviously, I chose the most retro-looking one I could find, and made sure it was marked as being suitable for 8-year-olds. Now all I need is an 8-year-old! Seriously, it’s quite intuitive, and I’m trying out functions this week as I enjoy being at home and keeping as cool as I can and leaving the crowded beaches to people who enjoy crowds. I have ice cream. I have cold drinks. I have clean loos. Does all that mean I’m getting old? If I am, then it’s massively better than the alternative.

So today’s picture to separate my little waffle from the special offers is of me, in the beautiful, peaceful dawn, where the birds were singing. Later on, I shall go and do battle with the beautiful yellow rhodoendron that’s supposed to be hard to grow. It was here when we came to live here long, long ago. We moved it when we took out the privet hedge, and it not so much took off as took over, so it’s time for me to prune it back again.

Oh, and the special offers are 99p in the UK and 99c in the UK. Whatever you do this week, I hope you enjoy it.

Me! A lttle happier about photos than I used to be.

BOOKS ON SPECIAL OFFER THIS WEEK

Guardian Angel - Eleanor Neville

Someone is threatening to kidnap  widow Laura Monroe's daughter and sell her to a paedophile ring unless she hands something over but he won’t tell her what he wants and she daren’t get the police involved in case he turns his threats into reality.

It's only a year since her husband died and she’s never really liked his best friend, international troubleshooter Ryan Saunders. But he's always said that he’d be there if she was in trouble, and she’s run out of other options so she rings him late one night. He comes right away, then whisks her and the children away after someone throws a brick through the living room window and her daughter is badly cut by broken glass.

That was bad enough, but then Laura finds out that her beloved husband was actually a strange sort of spy and so is Ryan. At least that explains why he’s always frightened her, but they still don’t know what the man wants, and the only way to find out is to use her as bait while the children stay safely behind in the heart of a Protection Centre that is so much more than it seems.

Life gets more complicated still when she and Ryan admit that they have feelings for each other and his partner Bel is the last straw because she’s everything that Laura isn’t and she wants Ryan for herself.

As drama turns to potential tragedy Laura and Ryan have to solve a mystery, come to terms with the past, and maybe, if they’re very lucky, find a way to build a future together.

Daymare - Eleanor Neville

The last person that protection agent Evan Lennox would ever have wanted to link minds with was investigative journalist Lee Clarke, but that’s what happens when his attempt to defuse the Daymare mind control device before it can be used on the Prime Minister goes wrong. He’s injured and captured, and Lee begins to doubt her sanity when she keeps finding herself in his prison. She can talk and interact with him, but it's as if he's a ghost in her head.

He’s convinced that he’s delirious and what he calls his Cheshire Cat girl can’t be real, but he still gives her a number to call to get help. Lee is so desperate to get him out of her head that she rings it and is glad she has even when she's  kidnapped by the top secret department of British Intelligence known to its operatives as the Shadows so that they can try to work out what’s going on and how to rescue Evan.

Can they learn to trust each other enough to be able to find a solution to Daymare? Can a spy and an investigative journalist find a happy ending? Because one thing’s certain. They literally can’t leave each other and they'll never be able to get as close to anyone else.

Wasted on the Young

AMY HAMMOND has spent her life doing what good girls and women do. She worked hard at school, then worked in a bank, and became a carer for her parents who died within six weeks of each other. Even then she did what she should have done. She sold their house and bought a new home on a new estate in an area where nothing ever happens, and took redundancy when it was offered,

Then, she was determined that everything was going to change so she decided to temp in the autumn and winter and find out who she was in the spring and summer. And, secretly, she longed to have an adventure...

She knows that's not likely, so settles for being happy to indulge her love of sewing and craft and make plans for a someday that never seems to come. Then her friend and next-door neighbour retired Brigadier Peter Cunningham recruits her to act as a guide at the failing local stately home. That's fun too, although she doesn't like the new house manager. She still didn't expect or want to find his dead body or end up as a suspect in a police investigation. The second murder makes things worse, and so does someone threatening to kidnap the cat she shares with her neighbour.

She knows she didn't do it. Now all she has to do is find out who did before anyone else ends up dead and suddenly being bored and in a rut doesn't seem so bad after all.

Up the Garden Path

Avid quilter and embroiderer Amy Hammond thought she wanted a more adventurous life until she found a dead body and ended up as a murder suspect while the death count mounted. Obviously, she didn't kill anyone, but she did help to catch the murderer and it was so horrible that she swore that she'll never do anything like it ever again.

She still wants to try new things so she crosses off an item on her apparently never-ending to do list by joining a gardening course so she can transform the dull garden of her new-build house. Things seem to be looking up despite the bitchy snobs who make up most of the other students when the gorgeous Mike seems to be interested in her even though she's older than he is. Then one of her fellow students' car is stolen from the college car park and soon afterwards another is attacked and brutally murdered after Amy fell out with her because she was spreading gossip.She didn't kill her either, but she's scared, so she  turns to her dear friend and neighbour, retired Brigadier Peter Cunningham, for help.

He shows another side of his nature when he rescues her from thugs who are out to terrify her into backing off and when they're kidnapped she becomes increasingly sure that he isn't all he's trying so hard to seem. Can they escape and bring the killer and his accomplices to justice?

And will she ever be able to understand why she's enjoying life so much more these days even though she's often terrified?

A stitch in time

Middle aged Amy Hammond wanted adventure when her life changed after her parents died within six weeks of each other and she happily took redundancy from the bank where she'd worked since she'd left school. She thought she wanted a more adventurous life but now she's been involved in solving new mysteries, she wants some peace and quiet.

What could be more peaceful than sorting out all the coats she hasn't worn for years one wet summer afternoon. That leads her to sort out all the unfinished sewing projects and 'why on earth did I buy THAT's' she's accumulated over a lifetime addiction to embroidery, knitting and quilting. How could that go wrong, and why has she started finding trouble and escaping from it with the help of her next door neighbour, the enigmatic retired Brigadier Peter Cunningham?  And who was his enigmatic visitor and why was she so angry with him?

The Prodigal Daughter

Middle aged avid crafter Amy Hammond is heading for an entirely different kind of trouble because her youngest niece is coming home for Christmas and she and her mother have always had an interesting relationship. It gets more interesting still when she arrives, heavily pregnant with twins and with a new boyfriend in tow. They end up staying with Amy, and it rapidly becomes clear that Miles Monroe is not what he seems, and nor is Amy's next-door neighbour and very good friend retired Brigadier Peter Cunningham.

Add to that organising her sister's joint sixtieth birthday and pearl wedding anniversary party, a very tempting job offer and a vanishing boyfriend on top of getting ready for Christmas and Amy is realising yet again that adventure isn't what she thought it would be.

The Wrong Twin

Juliet Saxon has always been happy to live in the shadow of her glamorous actress twin Justine and is happier still to be living in the sleepy little Dorset town of Oldcastle where she was born. She was much less happy when Justine came home with baby Ben, especially when she refused to say who his father was, and asked Juliet to bring him up so she go could back to her career. She's a nanny so she told herself that it was just another well paid job until Justine died in a car crash and Juliet discovered that she’d registered Ben’s birth in her name and masqueraded as her during her pregnancy.

Now Ben is almost one and Juliet loves him so much that she’s even prepared to marry Giles Lyndon to protect him. Giles’s half brother was Ben’s father but he died while Justine was pregnant and Giles’ father will stop at nothing to get custody of Ben if he finds out that he exists. After all, it'll only be while they formally adopt Ben between them and then they'll divorce so really, it's just another job.

At first, Giles seems to be n austere, almost emotionless man but as Juliet gets to know him and sees how he is with Ben she starts to wonder if the charade could become real, and whether she can stay with a man she loves, but who's using her a a means to an end?. Can the man who's never been loved learn how to love? And can they work together to keep him safe from his grandfather when tragedy occurs?

Kings of the Castle

Successful businesswoman Lauren King and TV self-sufficiency sensation Owen King have known each other all their lives because their fathers were best friends. They share a godfather but aren’t related despite their surnames.

Once, they were in love and Lauren was sure that they shared the same dreams, but her  world fell apart when Owen changed his mind, left University and followed what she was sure was a crazy dream. Ten years later, he's made a success of it, but they're both at crossroads in their lives. They're both more than ready for a fresh start but they're still horrified and delighted when their godfather buys the ruined castle that gave the Dorset town of Oldcastle its name and gives it to them as their inheritance. 

Once they dreamed of owning it and it could still be incredible, but  bringing it back to life means living and working with each other and the only way to happen is for them to face their pasts, overcome their pride and learn to trust each other. Their godfather hopes it'll become more, but life's getting more and more complicated and they don't even know what a happy ending looks like...

A woman to be reckoned with

Nadine Jordan is determined to stop being a brat and become someone who's competent, practical and most of all, kind. She never thought she'd want to come back to the little Dorset market town of Oldcastle, but she's lost her job and her boyfriend. Things aren't all bad because she's head over heels in love with Christmas Cottage, which she’s renovating with the help of builder Steve Grey and enjoying her new job more and more each day.

The downsides are that  she’s not sure what her relationship is with her former boyfriend Andrew Lawson, or what she wants it to be and local businessman Simon Apsley wants to get rid of her and is prepared to use some nasty tactics.

Can she make herself a new place in her old home town and prove that she's changed? 

Is she ready to find new love with an old friend?

Can she be that Woman to be Reckoned With that she longs to be when disaster strikes on a snowy night?