Tag Archives: #RespectRomFic

EVA GLYN’S HIDDEN CROATIA: ROMANTIC FICTION

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In celebration of the #RespectRomFic campaign, today I’m sharing some ideas of how you can visit Croatia from the comfort of your own armchair – and perhaps even fall in love.

The classic summer read: The Getaway by Isabelle Broom

This sun-drenched holiday book is set on the island of Hvar, loved by international jetsetters and backpackers alike.

When Kate’s life falls apart in a spectacularly public manner she joins her brother in Hvar to disappear from the world and lick her wounds. But then she meets Alex, a loner with a secret to hide. As he shows her the beautiful island she begins to have feelings for him that seem to be reciprocated. But will he ever be able to confront his demons and move on? And can Kate be there for him if he does?

 

The romcom: The Secret Cove in Croatia by Julie Caplin

Many people’s first experience of Croatia is on a cruise around the islands, and one of these small luxury boats setting out from cosmopolitan Split is the setting for this book.

When no-nonsense Maddie Wilcox is offered the chance to work on a luxury yacht for the summer, she can’t say no. She will be waiting on the posh guests, but island-hopping around Dalmatia should more than make up for it – especially when Nick, her best mate’s brother, is one of them. In this will-they won’t-they romance, sparks fly when they meet on board and Maddie can’t believe self-entitled jerk Nick is really related to her friend. But in a secret, picture-perfect cove, away from the real world, Maddie and Nick discover they might have more in common than they realise.

 

The biography: The Girl Who Left by Debra Gavranich

Set in a small rural village on the island of Korcula during and after the Second World War, this biography is a love story too.

The author’s mother Marija’s Yugoslavian childhood was tough but happy – until first the Italians, and later the Germans, arrived to occupy their island. Her older sister fled to join the partisans and she was left, frightened and hungry, to cope with the rest of the family when she should have been in school. After the war her best chance of a bright future was to travel to Australia as a proxy bride, married to a man who had emigrated from the village years before, but who she had never met.

 

The dual timeline: An Island of Secrets by Eva Glyn

The smallest of apologies for including my own book, but I would so love take you to the island of Vis in Dalmatia, and in particular the small fishing town of Komiza.

In 1944, British commando and SOE operative Guy Barclay is stationed there alongside Yugoslavian partisans. Not only does his war change when he witnesses a brutal execution, but he meets and falls in love with local fisherwoman Ivka. But can their love survive the war? Seventy years later Guy sends his investment banker granddaughter Leo to the same island. Battered and broken by a loveless marriage and her desire for a baby, she meets local travel agent Andrej. But are their worlds too far apart for their love to have a chance?

 

 

#RespectRomFic is a movement started by publishing luminaries to try to assure that romantic fiction is given the respect it deserves, and that matches its importance in readers’ lives – and its commercial value in the book market. For far too long the contribution to the literary landscape of the books written by the authors writing in the romance & saga space has been at best ignored, at worst dismissed. Show your support by using the hashtag to talk about your favourite romances.

 

 

 

ROMANTIC FICTION MATTERS

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To launch Frost magazine’s support for #RespectRomFic, Sara-Jade Virtue, Brand Development Director, Fiction, for Simon & Schuster UK explains why the campaign is important and reveals her favourite romance books.

There is NOTHING I enjoy as much as a Big Love Story. Preferably on the page rather than on a screen, whether the love is of the romantic, familial or friendship kind, I adore j’adore and have done all my adult life.

Which is why I feel so passionate (no pun intended) about the #RespectRomFic movement I’m leading, and why it’s so important to me. For far too long the contribution to the literary landscape of the books written by the authors writing in the Romance & Saga space has been at best ignored, at worst dismissed. And yet these are the books that dig into the very heart (every pun intended) of the human condition, love. Love is what makes the world go round and these ten novels from my all time favourite dessert island reads list, show love in all its glorious forms – escapist, romantic, heart-warming, heart-breaking, laugh out loud funny, moving, poignant and painful.

Lily and the Octopus (Steven Rowley) – a heart-breaking, charming and unforgettable novel about life, love and long walks.

These Days of Ours (Juliet Ashton) – a gloriously irresistible romance about what happens when the person you love can’t be yours.

Letters to the Lost (Iona Grey) – a poignant, absorbing and tender story of love and loss.

Together (Julie Cohen) – a bold, breath-taking and compelling love story that manages to be as complex as it is compelling.

Rescue Me (Sarra Manning) – heartfelt, funny and wonderfully uplifting, this is total joy from start to finish.

The Last Letter From Your Lover (Jojo Moyes) – passion, loss and romance, and arguably in my Top 3 Favourite Novels Of All Time.

Seven Days in June (Tia Williams) – an extraordinary novel that manages to be both utterly hilarious and completely heart-breaking.

The Photographer of the Lost (Caroline Scott) – a vivid story of forbidden love and longing, this took my breath away.

When We Were Young (Richard Roper) – incredibly moving, hilariously funny, utterly heart-breaking.

The Man I Think I Know (Mike Gayle) – redemption, love, trust and second chances. Incredibly moving, funny and clever.

The stats back up the importance of romantic fiction too – here are some figures taken from publishing industry bible, The Bookseller, with the numbers provided by Nielson.

In 2022 Romance & Sagas had its second best year ever at £53m, only bettered by the Fifty Shades bonanza of 2012 (£68.3m).

This is way up from the more normal value of £25m, which is still seriously significant in terms of the market as a whole.

These figures exclude love stories coded as General & Literary Fiction, for example Taylor Jenkins Reid’s The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (£2m), Marian Keyes’ Again Rachel (almost £1m), Elena Armas’ The Spanish Love Deception (£851k) and Beth O’Leary’s The Road Trip (£459k).

The Sunday Times bestseller list has no category for romance, yet in 2022 the top twenty contained no fewer than six books that could be regarded as romantic fiction; four by Colleen Hoover, including the top selling novel of all, It Ends with Us, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, and The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley.

 

 

 

SUNDAY SCENE: PENNY HAMPSON ON HER FAVOURITE SCENE FROM A PLETHORA OF PHANTOMS

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One of the perks of being a writer is being able to put one’s characters in dangerous situations and coming up with believable ways in which they can extricate themselves. A favourite example of mine occurs in my book, A Plethora of Phantoms, because it marks the point where my main character starts to become the man he wants to be.

Aristocrat Freddie Lanyon is not your typical hero; he’s reserved, doesn’t enjoy being the centre of attention, and is head over heels in love with Bath antique dealer Marcus. Sadly, Freddie thinks he’s blown his chance for love because he’s too timid about coming out. Marcus has gone missing, so, urged by Marcus’ distraught sister, Freddie stays the night with her in Marcus’ flat above the antique shop. Unfortunately, a quiet night’s sleep is not what Freddie gets.

Woken in the early hours by the sounds of a violent scuffle in the street outside, Freddie spies Marcus being assaulted by two thugs as they attempt to gain entry to the shop below. Freddie telephones the police for assistance and is instructed to remain where he is, but this is an instruction that Freddie chooses to ignore – it would be a pretty dull story if our hero did nothing at all.

Tiptoeing swiftly down to the first-floor kitchen and pausing only to pick up something heavy – a sharpening steel – Freddie carried on towards the ground floor entrance of the flat. The bolts slid back silently. The sound of muffled voices told him that the street door had been breached and the intruders were attempting to gain entry to the shop.

            “Hurry up!” A harsh voice ordered.

            There was a groan. Freddie knew it was Marcus. Anger rose in his chest.

            “Key in the bloody number or I’ll hammer you again and you wouldn’t want me to spoil that pretty face of yours, would you?”

            Another voice chipped in, “You’d have thought he’d had enough when we smashed his fingers. Must be something really special in that safe of yours, eh, Spender?”

            Freddie took a deep breath. Now was not the time to hesitate. He had to take them by surprise.

            Clutching the steel in one hand Freddie flung the door open and charged forward with a roar, but instead of aiming high he went low, landing a heavy blow across the legs of the assailant who had Marcus in a stranglehold. The guy screamed as his limbs buckled and he crumpled into a heap on the floor, freeing Marcus. Freddie leapt on to the thug’s back, determined to keep him immobile until the police arrived, and watched as Marcus slid to his knees making choking sounds. Bracing himself for an attack from the assailant’s accomplice, Freddie looked up to see this guy staring open-mouthed with terror, not at him, but at something behind him.

            The crook’s mouth opened and closed but there was no sound as he slowly backed away.

            If Freddie didn’t know better, he’d have sworn that this ugly customer had seen something awful, not just a bloke in pyjama bottoms wielding a steel.

I loved turning Freddie into an action hero. Seeing Marcus being threatened with violence galvanises him into doing something out of character to save the day, although he does have a little supernatural assistance – this is a ghost story, after all.

I had great fun with Freddie, especially in this scene where he changes from being a quiet man to action hero.

 

To discover more about my action-filled romance stories visit my website: https://pennyhampson.co.uk/

 

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY SCENE: JENNIFER BOHNET ON HER FAVOURITE SCENE FROM VILLA OF SECOND CHANCES

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Everyone deserves a second chance, don’t they? But sometimes other people and life itself gets in the way of that happening.

The scene I am about to share with you is from ‘Villa of Second Chances’. In this book several of the characters find themselves at a crossroads where their lives can only move forward when they fully embrace their past. But those long ago secrets and mistakes all conspire to throw complicated shadows from the past into the present.

Freya and Marcus are re-marrying after realising their divorce a few years ago, was a mistake. In this scene, Freya is remembering their first wedding as she drives to have lunch with her mother Effie, in Antibes.

. . . The chosen day had been bathed in blue skies and April sunshine. Her dad had been alive then and had proudly walked her down the aisle of St. Petrox Church – the ancient church out on the Dartmouth headland. Clemmie and Angela had been her bridesmaids, and Marcus’s boyhood friend, Rufus, had been his best man. Marcus’s fellow officers had formed the traditional archway of swords for the two of them as she and her new husband took their first steps together as man and wife. The reception at the now defunct and much-missed iconic Gunfield Hotel on the banks of the Dart had been a wonderful, relaxed affair. . .

Gunfield Hotel (Jim Cozens Photographer)

The Gunfield Hotel on the banks of the River Dart did actually exist years ago and was, let’s say bohemian, in its dealings with guests. If you wanted formal perfection, you went to another hotel. The Gunfield Hotel was a fun place that did its own thing and plays an important part in my story as it unfolds.

Over lunch Effie turns to Freya and ask the question . . . 

‘So, what’s happening with Verity?’

Freya stiffened. ‘I’ve sent her the invite, as you wanted me to, but haven’t heard anything. To be honest, I’m hoping that it’s too short notice for her to come. She’s probably spending the summer on some Greek island or the latest “in” place she’s discovered.’

‘She’s family,’ Effie said. ‘Hyacinth would be turning in her grave if she knew her daughter was persona non grata at your wedding.’

Freya sighed. ‘She’s not exactly persona non grata, but even you have to admit Verity can be difficult. . .

. . . ’If she does accept, she’ll expect to stay with you and the others at the Villa Sésame. Is there room?’

Freya hesitated before shaking her head. She knew Effie would be cross when she told her the truth, that she was deliberately not mentioning the villa arrangement to Verity because there was no way she wanted her cousin spoiling the run-up to the wedding for the others. . .

. . .  ‘Clemmie is definitely coming?’ Effie asked as she picked up her cutlery.

‘Yes, and Angela.’ Freya had her fingers firmly crossed as she answered. No way did she want Clemmie backing out because of Verity’s presence, if indeed, her cousin decided to show up.

‘I’m really looking forward to having time to catch up with them properly – especially Angela, after all she’s been through with the accident and Paul’s death. Clemmie says the last time she saw her she was still a shadow of her former self. Only to be expected, I suppose, and it will take time. I’m hoping the invitation to Villa Sésame has given her something to look forward to.’ . . .

 

Find out more about Jennifer on her Facebook page:  https://bit.ly/3qglPh4

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY SCENE: VIVIEN BROWN ON HER FAVOURITE SCENE FROM FIVE UNFORGIVABLE THINGS

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When I started to write my second novel, Five Unforgivable Things, I wanted to follow all the ups and downs of a family, from its beginnings when Kate and Dan first meet in the seventies right up to the present day, exploring the pivotal decisions and mistakes the couple make along the way and what impact they have on their children as they grow up.

Each of the now adult offspring is introduced in a way that reveals something important about their lives, and the ‘introduction’ scene I most enjoyed writing is the one featuring Natalie, the first of the siblings to appear on the page.

Natalie is entering a wedding dress shop alone. In the window she has spotted what could be the perfect dress for her Christmas wedding to childhood sweetheart Phil but, with no family or friends with her, how will she know if it’s the right one, with no-one ‘to oooh and aaah and spin her around in all directions and take sneaky photos on their phones?’

I well remember accompanying my own daughter to a bridal shop a few years ago, with her sister, the prospective chief bridesmaid, also in tow. That sea of long white dresses billowing on a seemingly never-ending rail right across one side of the room, and all the sparkling tiaras, floaty veils, beaded bags and very posh shoes – unforgettable! In the novel I describe the shop Natalie enters as ‘an oasis of beauty and calm. There was a deep cream carpet and floor-to-ceiling mirrors without so much as a smudge on their shiny gilt-edged glass. The sweet scent of jasmine drifted in the air…’

But it can be a bit daunting when the assistant hands out glasses of fizz and starts measuring and fussing. Ivory or white? Lace or satin? Shape? Style? How long a train? For Natalie, not only is she making these choices alone but the choices themselves are a lot more restricted. There are hints that something is different here as Natalie enters and a look of surprise flits across the shop assistant’s face before being ‘swallowed up in what was clearly a well-practised customer-friendly smile.’ It’s a look Natalie is used to, one ‘that told her she was not quite who, or what, had been expected to come rolling in.’

‘Sorry about the carpet,’ says Natalie, as her wheels leave a trail of dirt and leaves behind them. And so we learn that Natalie is in a wheelchair, and that the beautiful traditional dresses that sweep the floor as they flow along behind a walking bride will never be quite right for ‘someone like her’.

This is a very short scene but it gives the reader a peep into Natalie’s mindset as she ponders her sisters’ absence, realises that the last thing she really wants on her big day is to be the centre of attention, and that the dream dress in the window is never going to work for her.

Yet, I did not want the reader to pity her. Natalie is in many ways the happiest of the siblings, and the only one to have found true love with a man who adores her just as she is. Still, how she came to be disabled will form an important element as the story unravels, and is at the heart of the mistakes and tragedies that have rocked Kate and Dan’s marriage and family life and are so hard to forgive.

 

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