Welcome to RomCom Author - Stefania Hartley

I’m delighted to welcome Stefania Hartley to my blog.

 

Stefania Hartley - Author

 

Hello Stefania – It was great to connect with you through the Romantic Novelists’ Association and I'm eager to uncover some of your writing secrets. But before we discover more about your latest release - Plenty of Fish in the Sicilian Sea – here are a few questions which will hopefully give your readers and followers an insight into some of the things that matter to you.

 

Arabella: When writing a novel are there any key traits, such as virtuously good or shamelessly bad, you like to give your characters?

Stefania: Good question. I never thought about it and I’ve just realised that my main characters are always very appreciative of nature. Serena and Enrico, the heroine and the hero of my new book, are marine biologists and are profoundly in love with the sea (and with each other, eventually). Also my current works-in-progress (plural, because I always work on multiple projects), have characters who are striving to protect the environment.

 

Arabella: A book has a beginning, middle, and an end. When penning your latest release, Plenty of Fish in the Sicilian Sea, which part did you find the hardest to write and why?

Stefania: At the beginning, all of it! Plenty of Fish in the Sicilian Sea is my second published book, but I started writing it well before Sun, Stars and Limoncello, my debut.

Back then, I wasn’t very clear on genre expectations. When I submitted it to agents, almost all of them told me that I needed to work out whether I was writing a romance, a thriller, or a romantic suspense. One agent suggested that I put it in my bottom drawer and got on with another project. We brainstormed this other project, but I didn’t click with it, so I wrote Sun, Stars and Limoncello and got a publisher. But Plenty of Fish in the Sicilian Sea was clamouring to be pulled out of my bottom drawer and see the light again. Once I had decided which direction to take with it, it was easy to write. But it took a lot of help from other people to get to that decision, not least that of my friend and critique partner, RB Owen, to whom I have dedicated the book. 

 

Arabella: We all have a long list of books we keep meaning to read but never have the time for --- which book is a must-read for you this season?

Stefania:  I’m absolutely loving Maggie O’ Farrell’s Hamnet.

 

Arabella: A slice of Chocolate Cake, a piece of Fruit, or Burger and Fries?

Stefania: I’d love to say a piece of Fruit, but I won’t be able to resist Burger and Fries. Unless there’s Pizza, of course, which is my absolute favourite!

 

 

Arabella: What advice would you give to someone who is starting out on their writing journey?

Stefania:  First of all, I would ask them why they write. My advice would be slightly different depending on their answers, but a common thread would be: read a lot and don’t give up.

Arabella: What about your future plans? Any books or series in the making?

Stefania: I have a few romances at several stages of development and I am also continuing to write short stories for magazines and, eventually, anthologies.

 

Thank you for joining me on Arabella’s Blog and Chit-Chat, Stefania. I’m all for protecting the environment and saving the planet…as for bundling it up in a romance…that’s another BIG TICK. 💖💖💖

All the best and wishing you lots of happy-ever-after writing…

Arabella

www.arabellasheen.co.uk

 

 

About  Stefania Hartley

 

Stefania Hartley - Author

 

Stefania Hartley, also known as The Sicilian Mama, was born in Sicily and immediately started growing, but not very much. She left her sunny island after falling head over heels in love with an Englishman, and she’s lived all over the world with him and their three children.

Having finally learnt English, she enjoyed it so much that she started writing stories and nobody has been able to stop her since. She loves to write about hot and sunny places like her native Sicily, and she especially likes it when people fall in love.

Her short stories have been longlisted, commended and won prizes. Plenty of Fish in the Sicilian Sea is her second novel, after Sun, Stars and Limoncello.

 

Website and Social Media Links

www.stefaniahartley.com

Twitter: @TheSicilianMama

Podcast: https://anchor.fm/stefania-hartley

Facebook: www.facebook.com/StefaniaHartley

Blog: https://sicilianmamaunsolicited.wordpress.com

 

Book Blurb   Plenty of Fish in the Sicilian Sea

Sicilian marine biologist Serena Ingotta has never understood men, but when she uncovers a mafia factory polluting the sea, it only adds to the things that confuse her.

Twenty-four-year-old Sicilian scientist Serena Ingotta has always misunderstood men, from her workaholic anti-mafia judge father to the Catholic seminarian she’s hopelessly in love with. Interning in a marine biology lab alongside her irritating colleague Enrico, she discovers an illegal polluting factory that is possibly connected with the mafia.

When it turns out that their boss is going to cover up the story, she publicly denounces him at a science conference and gets expelled from the lab. Alone and ostracized, Serena’s attempts to find love and expose the factory seem to be failing epically until she finally realizes that everything she has been searching for was just under her nose.

Reader advisory: This book contains instances of minors with firearms.

Release Date: 19th January 2021

Now available for pre-order from:

https://www.totallybound.com/book/plenty-of-fish-in-the-sicilian-sea

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08N6XNRFD/  

 

A Gentleman in Love - Arabella Sheen - EXCERPT 1

 

 

A Gentleman in Love

Arabella Sheen

 

A Christmas wedding and a growing passion. Will a political scandal destroy their love?

Desperate to exonerate her family name of any wrongdoing, Shelby Chesterfield gate-crashes the Foreign Office Christmas party to ask her father’s accuser for help. When Ambassador Samuel Hardwick refuses to cooperate, Shelby is determined to ruin his diplomatic career any way she can, and a chance to do so arrives sooner than she expected.

Caught in a passionate embrace, Shelby puts Sam on the spot and tells journalists they’re engaged. But her plan backfires when Sam turns the tables on her.

Sam wants no commitment to anything or anyone except his career. But when his best friends are killed in a violent terrorist attack, leaving their daughter orphaned and in his care, he has the daunting task of finding a wife and substitute mother, or he will risk losing his newly acquired ward into the foster care system. With time running out, when Shelby asks for help to clear her father’s name in a political scandal, Sam offers support in exchange for a Christmas wedding.

The trouble is…Shelby knows about his ongoing affair with Lady Donna Ruston.

Can Shelby and Sam work together to achieve their goals, or is their winter romance fated to fail before it’s begun?

Content Warning: contains sensual love scenes

 

Chapter 1

 

Shelby Chesterfield was familiar with the layout of the building. She had been to the Foreign Office many times before, but this time was different. This time she wasn’t there to see her father, and she didn’t have an invitation.

It had been a while since Shelby had stepped through the tall, oak doors of the Foreign Office, but the place was just as imposing as she remembered. Dark wood paneling, thick pile carpets, and gleaming brass fittings were everywhere. Looking around, she felt intimidated by the grandeur of her surroundings, but the building spoke of refinement, tradition, and history.

Lifting the long, billowing skirts of her black Dior evening gown, she climbed the imposing marble stairway to the second level and walked toward the visitor’s cloakroom where she left her floor-length coat. Taking a steadying breath, Shelby studied the reception area.

The cloakroom was crowded, and the place was buzzing with noise and laughter as friends were recognized and greeted. It was past eight o’clock, and although people were still arriving, Shelby had yet to find the person she was searching for.

Holding her clutch bag firmly in her hands, she bravely passed a security guard, and unimpeded, she moved through an arched doorway and entered a stately reception area.

Shelby was on the warpath. She was at the Foreign Office for one purpose and one purpose only. She wanted justice for her father. And if she couldn’t get that, then she was prepared to ruin Sam Hardwick any way she could.

Ready to face the consequences of her actions, she was willing to do almost anything to achieve the goal she so desperately desired. And if need be, she was prepared to tarnish Sam’s name in the same way her father’s name had been blackened and disgraced beyond redemption.

Excitement filled the air. Tonight was a formal affair, and as tradition and custom dictated, black ties and ball gowns were to be worn for the Christmas party. The men were attired in tuxedos while the women, dressed to impress, were wearing long, elegant, flowing gowns, with glistening jewels shimmering about their persons.

Overhead, crystal chandeliers were sparkling brightly, and Christmas tinsel trimmings were cascading down from the high, ornate ceiling. A fir tree, with tree lights and red ribbon packages, was strategically positioned in the corner of the room, and that evening, there was a sense of rich, festive lavishness about the place.

Surveying the room, Shelby estimated there were upward of three hundred guests present, if not more, yet the one person she’d expected to see was missing from the crowd…and then she saw him.

Sam Hardwick, the ambassador, based at the United Kingdom Embassy in Washington, DC, was standing at the bar with a drink in his hand. Surrounded by a group of affluent-looking people, he was deep in conversation with a stunningly beautiful woman, and Shelby could see quite clearly that the woman was none other than Lady Donna Ruston. Sam had a fixed smile on his face and appeared to be enjoying himself.

Sam Hardwick was the type of man you couldn’t miss. He was utterly gorgeous. His height and broad shoulders drew the eye, and then there was his elusive aura of power and authority that always captured people’s attention. Men envied his commanding presence, while women…well, they were usually after only one thing, and that was Sam.

Against her better judgement, Shelby had to admit Sam was sex on legs. And purely on the physical level, just the sight of him had her body reacting. She couldn’t help it. Whenever she saw him, her stomach flipped and her heart gave that extra beat.

But tonight, the shockwaves of excitement running through her lasted only briefly. As the memory of what he had done came flooding back, she knew that deep down inside, she hadn’t, and she couldn’t, forgive him…not yet. The respect and admiration she’d once felt for Sam had gone, and in its place, a cold, icy hatred had taken over.

A Gentleman in Love
Copyright © 2020, Arabella Sheen
ISBN: 9781949300642
Publisher: Beachwalk Press, Inc.
Electronic Publication: September 2020
Editor: Pamela Tyner
Cover: Fantasia Frog Designs

eBooks are not transferable. No part of this book may be used or reproduced without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations in articles and reviews.
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

BUY LINKS:  https://books2read.com/u/31qyk6 

About Arabella Sheen

Arabella Sheen

Arabella Sheen is a British author of contemporary romance and likes nothing more than the challenge of starting a new novel with fresh ideas and inspiring characters.

One of the many things Arabella loves to do is to read. And when she’s not researching or writing about romance, she is either on her allotment sowing and planting with the seasons or she is curled on the sofa with a book, while pandering to the demands of her attention-seeking cat.

Having lived and worked in the Netherlands as a theatre nurse for nearly twenty years, she now lives in the south-west of England with her family.

Arabella hopes her readers have as much pleasure from her romance stories as she has in writing them.

Social Media

Website: http://www.arabellasheen.co.uk/ 

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/ArabellaSheen 

Facebook Author: https://www.facebook.com/ArabellaSheenAuthor 

Newsletter: http://www.arabellasheen.co.uk/newsletter.html  

Welcome to RNA - NWS member - Alexis Jakes

I’m delighted to welcome Alexis Jakes, a New Writers’ Scheme member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, to my blog. 

Alexis Jakes

 

For those unfamiliar with the RNA - New Writers’ Scheme, the scheme offers unpublished writers the chance to network with fellow writers, agents and publishers...and includes many more membership benefits..

Hello Alexis – Thank you for joining me on Arabella’s Blog and Chit-Chat, today. As we whizz through a few Questions & Answers, hopefully, readers and followers can gain insight into some of the things that matter to you as a writer. It's a chance for all of us to get to know you a little as you make your way towards the publication of your novel. So, let's get started... 😊

 

Arabella:  How did you hear about or discover: The Romantic Novelists’ Association - New Writers’ Scheme?

Alexis:  I came across the NWS quite by chance. I decided to apply. Back then, I seem to remember we had to apply to the scheme just after the stroke of midnight. Sitting there with my finger poised on the send button felt very nerve-wracking indeed. Luckily for me, I was successful.

 

Arabella: Egg and Chips, Tea and Cake, or a Chocolate Treat?

Alexis:  This is a hard one. Egg and Chips is my favourite tea of all time, but I’m also a die-hard chocoholic!

Arabella: Name something on your to-do list…

Alexis:  At the moment? Unpacking forty-four boxes of our belongings. We’ve just returned to the UK after living in hot and dusty Saudi Arabia for eighteen months. Our eldest son remained in our property in the UK, so now we’re trying to squeeze two households into one. Not an easy task, I can tell you! We have so many possessions.

Arabella:  When and where do you write? Early mornings when the world is still sleeping? Late afternoons when you’ve time to relax? Or other opportune moments…?

Alexis:  My favourite time to write is early morning, but I have been known to pull an all-nighter when I’m in the zone. This has happened to me quite a few times. My husband is used to me by now.

 

Arabella:  Which season of the year do you most enjoy and why?

Alexis:  It has to be Spring. The big, fat buds sprouting on the branches never fail to lift my spirits. As do the bulbs popping up in the garden. This year, however, after returning from a place where the weather is constantly hot and sunny, I’ve loved Autumn’s riot of colour.

Arabella: You’ve arranged to meet up with friends and family for an afternoon of fun. Where do you go and what do you do?

Alexis:  My husband and I have two grown up sons, so, now we’re back from Saudi Arabia, our favourite Sunday afternoon activity is to go for a long walk together, and then back to ours for tea. We sometimes shoot up to the Lake District (about fifty miles from our home) or we might stay local. Two weeks ago, before the Ribble Valley got placed in level 3 of the COVID restrictions, we did a great nine miles around Chorley. That’s about my limit, though. I start to ache after that.

 

Arabella:  So…you are a member of the RNA’s – NWS which means you are in the throes of writing the next bestseller.

No spoilers and without revealing too much about your plot… (otherwise someone might pinch your great story ideas before they’ve been published… ☺ ) Tell us briefly about the romance you hope to submit to the RNA’s - New Writers’ Scheme for a free, friendly critique, before approaching an agent or publisher with your completed manuscript.

Alexis:  I’m about three chapters into a first person story set in a fictional Middle Eastern country. This is a new venture for me as I’ve never attempted first person before, nor written about a fictional country. It’s a marriage of convenience story with a difference!

 

Thank you so much for sharing something about yourself and your writing journey with us, Alexis. Best wishes for any NWS works in progress, and I hope your manuscripts find a home with the romance publisher of your dreams.

Arabella

www.arabellasheen.co.uk

 

About  Alexis Jakes

Alexis Jakes

I submitted my first book - Red Sails - to Harlequin Mills and Boon back in 1991 when I was 33 years old. The book got rejected, and after re-reading it, I’m not surprised. I didn’t write again until 2015 when I got through to the final 55 of Harlequin’s SYTYCW. The competition that year was different in that our stories were published on Wattpad for everyone to read and vote upon. There were thousands of entries so I was heartened to reach even that stage.

I’m a bit older than 33 now, and still on the path to publication. I’ve been married for 40 years to my own wonderful hero, and I’m the mother of two sons who I love to the moon and back.

Social Media Links

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/kim.e.lain

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/kim_lain

Blogposts:  https://alexisjakesdotcom.wordpress.com

A Bride for Lord Redfield - Arabella Sheen EXCERPT 2

 

A Bride for Lord Redfield

by

Arabella Sheen

A risqué regency romp enjoyed by both servants and masters as love and passion is discovered―above and below stairs―in his lordship’s household.

Chapter 1 – Emily

EXCERPT 2

Robert was handsome, tall, and shapely. And dressed in his uniform, he looked strikingly masculine. But until now, he had never really had the opportunity to approach her. Not like this. And she had purposefully kept him at a distance.

Of course, he had made advances. He had teased and flirted like all the footmen did, but he had never actually achieved anything except the occasional stolen kiss.

In the cellar or laundry room when no one was looking, he had cornered her and tried his luck, but she had always managed to fob him off and keep him at bay…until now. It appeared things were coming to a head, and she sensed he was beginning to want more than she was willing to give at present.

Girls in her position had to be careful. She couldn’t afford to lose her job. And any liaison―innocent or not―with another servant would be noticed and frowned upon.

“Are you going to let me take you to the traveling fair this weekend?” he asked. “Or are you going to watch the jesters and puppet shows with Cliff? I’ve seen the way he looks at you, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he hasn’t already―”

“Don’t you dare, Robert Manson. Don’t you dare think something like that has happened between Cliff and me.”

Cliff was the stable hand who looked after Lord Redfield’s carriages and horses. Nothing had happened between her and Cliff, and even if something had, that was no concern of Robert’s. Was it?

“Then give me a kiss to prove there’s nothing between you and Cliff,” he said with a grin. “And I mean a real kiss. You’re pretty enough to have all of us running around after you. You might look prim and proper with your fair curls covered beneath your lace cap and your shapely figure concealed under your dress, but you aren’t really prim and proper, are you?”

Without Emily realizing what was happening, Robert had captured both her hands in his. He was forcing them, twisting them behind her back until he was able to grasp them tightly in one hand. They were face to face. Torso to torso. And beneath her clothes, she could feel the hardness of his awakening manhood pressing against her thigh.

An ache was beginning to grow between her legs, and warmth spread throughout her. Robert always had the ability to set her pulses racing, and that was the case now.

With his free hand, he took hold of her face. Then, with the demanding firmness of his mouth, he once again lunged, ravishing her lips with his.

“Stop it, Robert,” she gasped breathless.

“Stop what?” he said between kisses.

She laughed cheekily. “You know what I mean.”

His kisses were deepening, becoming urgent. His tongue traced the outline of her lips, and he slowly pried them open before penetrating her mouth.

Emily could feel him, smell him, and taste him. And although she wanted to give in to her desire, she had to resist.

Robert released her hands, and somehow, of their own accord, they were now around his neck, pulling him down toward her. She was kissing him back. She couldn’t resist…her desire was ignited, and it was equal to his.

Pushing aside the neckline of her dress, he reached for the drawstrings on her chemise. He began playing with them, pulling on the ties, and as he tugged them loose, a glimpse of her breasts was revealed to him.

“You want me, Emily. I know you do.”

“I can’t. We can’t. Not now, Robert. I have things to do. Rooms to prepare. Lord Redfield will have a house full of guests this weekend, and nothing is in readiness. It’s going to be chaos if I don’t prepare the bedchambers.”

“And it’s going to be chaos if you do, especially in Mrs. Greenwood’s bedchamber,” said Robert with a laugh.

“What do you mean? What do you know?” Emily asked, curious.

Did Robert know something she didn’t?

“If you make it worth my while, I might tell you,” he said with a bold smile and a wink.

Emily’s heart skipped a beat. Not because of Robert’s veiled promise of lovemaking, but because over Robert’s shoulder, she could see the door to the breakfast room was being opened. Someone was about to enter.

Quickly, she turned away to conceal her flushed face and exposed cleavage from view. Then surreptitiously, sliding to one side, she stood in front of the service lift, pretending to be busy.

“Is there a problem?” said a low voice.

“Mr. Henderson, sir. I was just helping Emily finish up here.” Robert was taking the brunt of Mr. Henderson’s censorious glare. “Her ladyship is in the morning room, and she asked me to collect her shawl.”

Walking over to the chair, Robert retrieved the forgotten silk wrap.

Luckily for Emily, Robert had given her just enough time to covertly straighten her garments before turning back into the room.

“I’m nearly done here, Mr. Henderson,” she said, and gave her ruffled lace cap one last jiggle before tucking a few stray hairs neatly back into place. “And if Mrs. Clements doesn’t need me for anything urgent, I’d best get on and get the bedchambers ready for his lordship’s guests.”

“Then see to it,” said Mr. Henderson. “And be smart about it. The guests will be arriving anytime now, and they will want to unpack and rest before this evening’s entertainment begins.”

Emily knew only too well that tonight was going to be busy―for everyone.

About a week ago, a meeting had been held in the staff dining room below stairs. Mr. Henderson had called everyone together and explained that while at the town house, Lord Redfield intended to give a ball for his friends. But it was only when Mr. Stephens, Lord Redfield’s secretary, provided housekeeping with a list of guests and the rooms her ladyship wished to have made ready, that everyone, including the gardener, knew something big was happening.

The names on the list pointed to only one thing, and that was that Lord Redfield was about to propose marriage to Miss Rosalinda Mills.

It was known throughout the servants’ hall that the master had recently packed an overnight portmanteau and had driven his phaeton and grays to Lippon. According to Bishop, the head groom, who had accompanied the master on the journey, they had stabled the team at The King’s Arms and his lordship, having obtained lodging at the inn for the night, had then gone on to call upon his aunt, Lady Whitaker.

That act alone, according to speculation in the servants’ hall, could mean only one thing. His lordship had gone to Lippon to seek the hand in marriage of Miss Rosalinda.

His lordship’s aunt, Lady Whitaker, was Miss Rosalinda’s godmother. And as Miss Rosalinda had lost her parents at an early age and was raised by Lady Whitaker in Sir Whitaker’s household, it was assumed Lord Redfield had approached his aunt for consent to marry her goddaughter.

Of course, all this was conjecture, but Emily, sure that all would be proven true this afternoon when the guests arrived, was full of excitement.

After Mr. Henderson and Robert left the breakfast room, and when everything had been brought to order, Emily made her way upstairs to prepare the bedchambers for the visitors.

* * * *

A Bride for Lord Redfield

Copyright © 2019, Arabella Sheen

ISBN: 9781949300277

Publisher: Beachwalk Press, Inc.

Electronic Publication: February 2019

Editor: Lynne Sully

Cover: Fantasia Frog Designs

eBooks are not transferable. No part of this book may be used or reproduced without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations in articles and reviews.

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

About Arabella Sheen 

  

Arabella Sheen is a British author of contemporary romance and likes nothing more than the challenge of starting a new novel with fresh ideas and inspiring characters.

One of the many things Arabella loves to do is to read. And when she’s not researching or writing about romance, she is either on her allotment sowing and planting with the seasons or she is curled on the sofa with a book, while pandering to the demands of her attention seeking cat.

Having lived and worked in the Netherlands as a theatre nurse for nearly twenty years, she now lives in the south west of England with her family.

Arabella hopes her readers have as much pleasure from her romance stories as she has in writing them.

Social Media

Website: http://www.arabellasheen.co.uk/

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/ArabellaSheen

Facebook Author: https://www.facebook.com/ArabellaSheenAuthor

A Bride for Lord Redfield

Book Blurb: A Bride for Lord Redfield

A risqué regency romp enjoyed by both servants and masters as love and passion is discovered―above and below stairs―in his lordship’s household.

At Redfield House, everyone is busy with preparations for a ball, and rumor is rife in the servants’ quarters that the master is about to propose.

Lord Thomas Redfield realizes the time has come for him to take a wife and that this duty can no longer be delayed. The only trouble is…he isn’t sure the desire he once felt for Catherine, the woman he was previously betrothed to, is over and a new life with Rosalinda can begin.

Can Lord Redfield take Miss Rosalinda Mills for his wife, and will she agree to an engagement knowing he could still be in love with Catherine?

As the weekend unfolds and the fun begins, a bevy of illicit encounters are enjoyed between maids, footmen, grooms, and guests, while his lordship inwardly struggles with the problem of finding a wife.

Content Warning: contains passionate, sensual love scenes

UNIVERSAL BUY LINKS:  https://books2read.com/u/bzvgwD

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07NZ68XGK?tag=

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NZ68XGK?tag=

Apple: https://books.apple.com/gb/book/a-bride-for-lord-redfield/id1454008751?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/a-bride-for-lord-redfield

Arabella Sheen Website: http://www.arabellasheen.co.uk/