Hello again my loves,
Everywhere you look it's all looking a lot like Christmas isn't it? Well as we're almost halfway into November I'm going to join the Christmas fan club by taking part in a Blog Tour for TA Williams' new novel called Dreaming of Christmas.
As a blog tour host, today I have the privilege of bringing you an festive extract of this book and I for one have my cup of tea reading to sit down and have a read.
So we'll start by looking at what the books about in a book spotlight and then we'll cosy up and have a read together shall we?
Title: Dreaming of
Christmas
Author Name: T.A.
Williams
Previous Books (if
applicable): Dreaming of Venice,
Dreaming of Florence and Dreaming of
St Tropez
Genre: Women’s
Fiction, romcom
Release Date: August
2018
Publisher: Canelo
Book Blurb: It’s the dream Christmas: snow, mountains…
and, er, an ex-boyfriend. But can Zoe still find love in the Alps?
Dumped on Christmas Eve by her long-term
boyfriend, it's been a rough year for Zoe Lumsley. But then she gets an
invitation she can’t refuse: an all expenses paid skiing holiday with old
university friends.
The bad news: her ex, Grant, will be there
with his new girlfriend. But so will her former flatmate Billy, the organiser,
and in the meantime he’s done rather well for himself. As Christmas in the Alps
approaches, it'll be great to see the old gang. Some more than others...
Perfect for readers of Tilly Tenant, Holly
Martin and Philippa Ashley, this is the perfect magical Christmas getaway from
the bestselling T.A. Williams.
Well, doesn't this sound dreamy? Shall we take a look at the extract now? I think it's a real treat to read an extract so you can make a choice as to whether this book is something that is usually your cup of tea. Please enjoy!
The actor – whose name was Dan
Greenfinch – had come across the Atlantic to London to co-star in a low-budget
movie about zombies invading Canary Wharf. His face looked seriously weathered,
and when Zoë and Ron were shown into his trailer to interview him, her first
impression was that he had maybe already applied zombie make-up. It
subsequently transpired that he hadn’t and Zoë didn’t envy the make-up artists
if he had to appear in a non-zombie role. The actor – ‘Call me Dan’ – did his
best to be hospitable by asking her if she wanted a ‘line’. This was not the
first interview she had done with showbiz folk, and she now knew what was
intended by this invitation, so she hastily shook her head.
‘Thanks, I’m working.’
‘Mind if I do?’
‘No, go ahead.’
She then had to sit there while
Call-me-Dan snorted a line of cocaine up his nose. It wasn’t a pretty sight.
Subsequently, as he answered her questions, he spent most of his time rubbing
his nose, snuffling and sneezing. She shuddered surreptitiously.
The interview took about half an
hour, and then Ron spent another half-hour taking a load of photos of the
actor. Once she had finished and Ron had gone off with the PR girl to take some
shots of the set, Call-me-Dan indicated that he rather liked the look of Zoë. As
she was shaking hands with him, he gave her a lecherous leer and informed her
that sex with him would undoubtedly be the high point of her life to date. For
once, Zoë was grateful to Ron. This was the fifth time in four months that she
had been propositioned by celebrities, and the photographer had been happy to
provide her with a very effective way of refusing, without fear of being
bothered any further. Keeping a straight face, she told Call-me-Dan she
regretted she would not be able to accept his kind offer.
‘I’m afraid I haven’t had the
all-clear from the doctor yet.’
She didn’t say any more, but
comprehension dawned on the pockmarked face in front of her, and she was able
to leave unmolested. Unless she counted the sensation of disgust she carried
with her all the way back in the taxi.
She spent the next couple of hours
writing a two-thousand-word piece entitled ‘Zombies vs Canaries’. Just after
lunch, she sent it through to Damien, the editor, and waited for his verdict.
She didn’t have to wait long. The phone on her desk buzzed almost immediately,
and he was as succinct as ever.
‘Zoë. Get in here. Now.’
She made her way along the corridor
to his office, knocked, and went in without waiting for an answer.
‘You wanted to see me, Damien?’
As usual, he was sitting with his
back to the window so as to dazzle and intimidate anyone who came to sit
opposite him. He was wearing his usual blue striped shirt with a white collar
and cuffs, the collar open and the sleeves rolled up. He wore the same thing
every day, and opinion in the office fell into two camps. There were those who
believed he had a stock of the shirts,
one for every day of the week, while others – amongst them Zoë – felt sure he
had just the one and never took it off.
‘Yes, Zoë. Come in. Sit down.’ She
did as instructed and he immediately launched into a critique of her piece. The
crux of the problem could be summarised as ‘You didn’t like the guy, did you?’
‘Not in the slightest. He was a
slimy piece of pond life, and if the next time I see him is on my deathbed,
it’ll be too soon.’
‘Listen, Zoë, nobody says you’ve got
to like these people. I don’t like
many of them, but that’s not the point. His film company has just paid for six
full-page adverts in HC magazine and
two of our subsidiaries. That pays the bills, and that includes your salary.
While I admire your prose, describing him as having “the personality and
complexion of a fly cemetery biscuit” is not only insulting, it’s probably
actionable. So go back over it, tone it down, and for God’s sake try to sound as if you like him. All right? Got
that?’
Zoë spent the rest of the afternoon
doing as she had been instructed. At the end of the day, before going off to
meet Juliet, she emailed the piece to Damien with one line: Sanitised for your convenience. Zoë.
Please take time to visit the other blogs taking part in this tour as they will have undoubtedly have festive treats for you!
Links to Book:
Author Bio: T.A. Williams lives in Devon with his
Italian wife. He was born in England of a Scottish mother and Welsh father.
After a degree in modern languages at Nottingham University, he lived and
worked in Switzerland, France and Italy, before returning to run one of the
best-known language schools in the UK. He’s taught Arab princes, Brazilian
beauty queens and Italian billionaires. He speaks a number of languages and has
travelled extensively. He has eaten snake, still-alive fish, and alligator. A
Spanish dog, a Russian bug and a Korean parasite have done their best to eat
him in return. His hobby is long-distance cycling, but his passion is writing.
Author Social Media Links
Twitter: @TAWilliamsBooks
Posts
Sounds like the perfect Christmas read!😊
ReplyDeleteXoxo
Shirley | https://shirleycuypers.blogspot.be