Tuesday March 11th was a big day in the literary world: My third novel for ChocLit/Joffe Books hit the Amazon shelves!

But I was away from my laptop and most of social media. I was in Athens on a trip booked long before the publication date for Out of Control was announced. Being on holiday was a happy, lovely experience which I’m grateful for but it did mean I missed my chance to do much proud shouting about my brand new book. So I’m going to make up for it now! (Close your eyes or look away if you’re averse to a bit of book publicity).

Out of Control was inspired by my (winning!) entry for the 2023 RNA Elizabeth Goudge Award. The brief had been to write the opening chapter of a novel with the theme, Absence Makes the Heart grow fonder. I created the character of Fiona. She’s sixty years old and enjoys seeing Joe, her man friend, just once a week. She doesn’t have to do his washing, put up with his snoring or tolerate any of the other annoying things that run alongside living with a partner. His absence for six days a week makes her grow more fond of him. Then he turns up on her doorstep with his suitcases – his house is flooded and he needs somewhere to live. Soon after, Joe’s daughter turns up eight months pregnant with nowhere to go. Fiona has no choice but to let them both stay. Suddenly Fiona has a full house and is way out of her comfort zone. But just as she starts to regain control, an unexpected revelation shakes everything she thought she knew about life and love.

Now Fiona must decide: does she stay in control, or surrender to the chaos of love?

Out of Control is billed as a later-in-life, feel-good, friends-to-lovers romance. And it’s currently only 99p on Kindle (it will go up but I have no control over when) or free if you have Kindle Unlimited. 

P.S. There are also book group discussion questions in the back of the book if that helps to persuade you that its worth downloading!

And here I am on publication day!