Kate Hewitt: Celebrating Spring

Yesterday, here in the English Cotswolds, it snowed. Proper snow, a good inch on the ground, slush on the streets. The cherry blossoms quivered under the onslaught and I shivered in cold—and trembled with outrage. This wasn’t spring!

Unfortunately, in England, there are no guarantees when it comes to any season of the year. It’s why British people talk about the weather so much—it’s like a national obsession, and a warm, sunny day is something to celebrate. (And why a day in the 60s Fahrenheit is treated like a scorcher).

In any case, I want to celebrate spring even if I’m not feeling it in the air. My second romance in my small town trilogy, Falling Hard, has a gorgeous spring cover for the UK and is set amidst the cherry blossoms—and the maple trees, as making maple syrup plays a part in it. Having made maple syrup in Canada with my parents for many years, I loved writing about that aspect.

Falling For The Freemans follows three brothers as they each in turn return to the small town where they grew up—and where they lost their father in a tragic accident. In confronting past memories and hurts, they find forgiveness and also true love—of course!

Falling for Christmas, a prequel novella, and Falling Hard are both available now, and the following two books in the series, Falling Fast and Falling Forever, will be available in the autumn.

To celebrate spring, I’m giving away an ebook copy of Falling Hard as well as a print copy of my April Presents, Inherited By Ferranti, to two different readers. Just leave a comment telling me what you like about spring!

Happy Reading,

Kate

Kate Hewitt: Reading to Escape

 

As a reader as well as a writer I have different moods. Sometimes I’m up for a weighty, thought-provoking read, and at other times I prefer something to simply sweep me away. Lately life’s stresses and sorrows—my father died five weeks ago—made me want to escape with a good book into a world where a happy ending is guaranteed. I ended up reading several of Lucy Diamond’s chick lit books, which are not froth-only as they deal with some weighty issues, but do so with a light hand and a happy ending, and they were definitely the balm I needed.

There sometimes is an attitude in our culture that reading to escape is wrong, a ‘guilty pleasure’ it is often called. I’ve met countless woman who dismiss their reading choices as light or unimpressive with a shrug of their shoulders and a downward gaze, as if they’re ashamed they’re not reading War and Peace or the latest nonfiction bestseller every other day. I’ve even found myself doing it—when asked what I’m reading, I’ll pick the weightiest book I’ve read recently rather than the bit of frothy fun I’ve just devoured. And even worse, I sometimes do it as a writer, especially with some of the academic-types I meet living close to Oxford and its prestigious university.

‘What kind of books do you write?’ someone will ask me, and I will shrug my shoulders and dismiss my career as ‘the kind of book you find in the supermarket’—as if that makes it a lesser thing.

One of my (many!) New Year’s resolutions is to stop this bad habit of semi-apologizing for my reading and writing choices. Reading to escape, and writing to offer that escape, is not only acceptable, it’s necessary. 2015 was one of the most difficult years of my life and if I hadn’t had the reprieve from reality offered through various novels—Harlequin Presents, chick lit, and other ‘light’ books—I  think I might have exploded with stress. I’m grateful to the writers who give me books that take me away from my current worries and leave me with a smile on my face.

And if you’re looking for a new escapist read, you can try one of my releases: The Emigrants Trilogy is the kind of historical saga that hopefully sweeps you away, and my March release, Falling Hard, kicks off a series set in small town Upstate New York.

Also if you a book you’ve read recently that you’d like to recommend, let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear about it!

Happy Reading,

Kate

Falling For The Freemans By Kate Hewitt

I’m so excited to share my new series, Falling For The Freemans, with readers. The idea for this series actually came to me about ten years ago, when my husband and I was driving through Upstate New York on the way to my parents’ house in Canada. We unfortunately had engine trouble, and went off the highway in search of a garage. We drove through a town that looked as if it had once been a tourist destination, with beautiful old Victorian houses and a lovely village green and bandstand, but with a forgotten, dilapidated air over everything that made me curious. What had happened to this town, and why wasn’t it still a popular tourist destination, like other towns in the Thousand Islands region? I answer that question in my series, set in the fictional town of Creighton Falls, and the first novella in it, Falling For Christmas, came out  on November 9.

Falling for Christmas is Hannah Ford and Sam Taylor’s story. Hannah is a New Yorker running away from a Christmas house party where her snide ex unexpectedly showed up. Sam is the strong, silent type who has no idea what to do with a glamorous city girl. Fortunately they figure something out over a very special Christmas! And during her stay in Creighton Falls Hannah learns about the Freeman family, who once ran the town as well as the huge hotel on the village green, empty and abandoned for twenty years, ever since Peter Freeman fell through the ice and drowned in a fishing accident.

The next three books in the series, Falling Hard, Falling Fast, and Falling Forever, have a Freeman brother as the hero of each story. Each brother has had a different experience of and reaction to his father’s death, and what happened on that awful day. Each one will have to return to Creighton Falls and face his past and deal with his secrets. And meanwhile Creighton Falls will finally get the facelift it deserves.

I hope you enjoy Falling For The Freemans. I’m giving away one e-copy of Falling For Christmas—just leave a comment below, telling me what you think of small town series.

Happy Reading,

Kate

Writing Through Life by Kate Hewitt

A few blog posts ago I wrote about giving yourself permission not to write when life is hard. Or if writing is not your thing, giving yourself permission not to do whatever it is you feel pressure to do and instead to relax, to simply live and breathe and be. Sometimes life throws things at you and all you’ve got in you is to duck.

I still stand by that, but in the last few weeks I've discovered something else and that is that sometimes rather than being a pressure, writing—or whatever your hobby or passion or profession is—can be a relief.

Two weeks ago my life sort of exploded. No one is hurt, injured, or dead, so I can’t really complain. We’ll all safe and well, but the life I thought we would have is no longer a possibility. We moved to a very rural part of England’s Lake District from New York City four years ago intending to stay forever. It was a big move and we had four children we wanted to see through school in one place. Now we have five children, and we have to move in three months since the school where my husband works, my children attend, and that provides our housing just announced it is closing in July.

It is very discombobulating—I can think of no other word—to suddenly have all the assumptions about what your life would look like disappear. My children were devastated by the thought of leaving their friends, their home, the lives they’ve made for themselves here. My husband had to immediately start searching for another job at a time of year when school-based jobs are thin on the ground. And I had to look around the house we’ve made a home, had planned to stay in for decades, and think about what I’d take and what I’d keep.

In the midst of all this I had a book due, a very emotional book about living through loss and suffering. And amazingly, writing this book was a huge relief to me. I could take all my confusion and grief about what had happened to us and pour it into my book. It was an emotional bloodletting, and a much needed one. I think—at least I hope—the book is better for it.

The book, When He Fell, will be out in June, and we will be moving—somewhere—in July. I’m not sure where yet, or what will happen, but I know I will keep writing—and keep giving myself permission not to. 

Kate Hewitt: When Is It Okay Not To Write?

A piece of advice that is often given to aspiring writers is to write everyday, no matter what. This is, in it’s own way, good advice, because I think it’s important to write consistently, and also to write sacrificially. By that I mean you have to give up another activity in order to write—otherwise life will crowd writing out, guaranteed.

However… I didn’t do any writing yesterday. I had a grumpy toddler, four loads of laundry, and people coming to dinner. I didn’t even answer my emails. And that’s okay, because I recognize there are times when I cannot write. I just can’t.

Last month my father was seriously, even gravely, ill. There were a couple of days where I wasn’t sure what the outcome was going to be. Thankfully he’s better now, but when that was happening, I simply did not have the head space to write. Some people find writing an escape from the stresses and trials of life. Some don’t. In that situation, writing wasn’t an escape; it was just another demand on my time and energy. So for a week or so, I didn’t write anything. And I told myself that was okay.

I remember when I was in college I read the book Letters to a Young Poet by Rainier Maria Rilke. He writes: “Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depth of your heart; confess to yourself you would have to die if you were forbidden to write.”

I really hate that quotation. I love writing. My husband will tell you I get grumpy if I don’t write for more than a few days. But if I couldn’t write? Would I die? Would I want to die? No. I would find another creative outlet. And I hope you would too.

There is so much pressure on women today, to be supermoms, full-time career women, and take care of the house, bills, laundry, etc. We have to do everything, and we have to do it amazingly well. We put this pressure on ourselves as much as society does, and writing shouldn’t be part of that pressure-filled world. Yes, if you want to be a serious, ie commercially successful, author, you need to write consistently. You need to work really hard. That’s no joke.

But when life is hard? When too much else is going on? Give yourself permission to relax. To refill the well. And remember there is so much more to life than writing.

Kate Hewitt: Christmas Blues and New Year’s Resolutions

A few days ago my family and I were all sitting round the dining room table, toasting the holiday and reveling in good cheer. Fast forward to December 27^th or 28^th and the scene is a little different. Everyone is over-sugared, overtired, and grumpy because Christmas is over. Toys that were exulted over on Christmas Day are now kicked into the corner, forgotten.  Children bicker over who gets to use the last AA batteries in the house, or who gets to play the Wii first, or who hit whom. The dog hasn’t been walked, the toddler is teething, and I’m already looking at the calendar, wondering how long it is until they’re all back at school.

Does this sound familiar?

If it doesn’t, then I clearly need some tips from you! The week after Christmas, in our house, has traditionally been one of the hardest weeks of the year. The expectation and enjoyment has been replaced by dissatisfaction and disappointment. It doesn’t matter what the presents are, or how much family time we have, or even what we do. Dragging all the kids out on a walk sometimes has a restorative effect… for a little while. And then it’s back to the blues.

Which leads me to my New Year’s resolutions. I’m not going to resolve (usually fruitlessly) to lose weight, exercise, eat better, or anything like that. No, my New Year’s resolution is to enjoy life more. And by that I don’t mean to pursue things only for pleasure, or live for leisure, or something along those lines. No, what I mean is I want to live in the moment more—and enjoy it, for what it is. I want to enjoy peeling carrots for dinner while my six-year-old acts out Frozen around me. I want to enjoy cuddling my only-wants-mummy toddler. I want to enjoy life as a full-time writer and mother of five children whose husband works seventy hours a week. Does that sound like a difficult task? Maybe, but I do believe attitude is important. My attitude this week hasn’t been that great. Instead of being in the moment, I’m slogging through it. And I want to change that. This is the life God has given me, and I’m very grateful for it. I’m so very thankful for healthy children and a loving spouse and a career I love, writing books that people love.

What about you? What is your New Year’s resolution? Do you have any tips for living life in the moment?

CJ Carmichael: If You Could Spend Christmas Anywhere In The World...?

Where would you choose, if a generous fairy godmother offered to send you anywhere in the world for Christmas? Would you pick someplace sunny and exotic, like a beach or, say, Waratah Bay, Australia? Until I bought Marion Lennox’s Christmas at Waratah Bay,  I had no idea this place existed, let alone that it offers a pristine 20 kilometers of white, sandy beach. I have spent every Christmas of my life in Canada, with cold weather, evergreen trees and usually a fair amount of snow. There is no question that lights look prettier when they are sparkling against a blanket of fresh, powder snow. But I think I could do a beach at Christmas. I really do.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OSAWTSO/?ref=lee122014

Maybe you have a romantic, moody soul and you’re thinking the highlands of Scotland would suit the holiday better? If so, why not throw in a request for a castle while you’re at it? And...perhaps...a sexy Laird as well?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OZQONHQ/?ref=lee122014

If something more traditionally English is appealing, you could always try Yorkshire. Can you see yourself in a cute stone cottage, sipping tea from a porcelain cup while munching on traditional minced pies, or plum pudding, or tiffins? (Don’t ask me what these things are. You’ll have to check the recipe, referenced below.) 

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OZQOINK/?ref=lee122014 

For a truly magical and beautiful Christmas...could anything be more divine than Venice? Maybe being invited by a gorgeous Italian to stay at his ritzy palazzo apartment and experiencing Christmas Venetian-style: including gourmet meals,  seasonal markets and exquisite musical concerts. Sigh. 

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OZSED88/?ref=lee122014

If you’re a country girl at heart, perhaps you hanker to be out in the mountains for Christmas, snug in a comfy ski lodge, sitting by the fire with a cup of hot cocoa...and a rugged ski guide? Of course there will be snow. Lots and lots of snow! 

http://www.amazon.com/Snowbound-Montana-Carrigans-Circle-Book-ebook/dp/B00OJRQJJQ/ref=lee122014

I’m sorry I can’t wave my wand and send you to any of these amazing places. I really wish I could. But I can invite you to be transported by your own imagination and the wonderful joy of reading.

While these five Christmas Stories take place in very different areas of the world, there is one thing that unites them. The heroine of Snowbound in Montana, Eliza Bramble, owns a bed and breakfast in Marietta, Montana called “Bramble House.” This year she has done such a special job of decorating it for the holidays that she decided to write a blog about it. In each of these books, one of the characters finds this blog on-line and uses one of Eliza’s recipes or decorating tips in their own story.  If you read these books, see if you can spot all the connections. Then you might want to check out The Bramble House Blog on Pinterest where you’ll find the recipes and decorating tips from the books.

I hope you enjoy your holiday season. Wherever you may choose to spend it!

Very Warmest Wishes!

CJ Carmichael

The Fifth Avenue Trilogy Book Two: Scandalize Me by Caitlin Crews

I’m so excited to be a part of the Fifth Avenue Trilogy, a multi-author series featuring Maisey Yates (who wrote the prequel and the first book in the series, Avenge Me, out next week!), Kate Hewitt and me! 

I won’t spoil the first book for you because really, you need to read it!  My book is the second in the trilogy and it features two very strong, yet very damaged people…

Ten years ago, Hunter Grant failed the woman he loved.

So it seemed like a great plan to make sure he failed at everything else, too—as spectacularly as possible. 

In Scandalize Me, the second book of the Fifth Avenue trilogy, Hunter has finally moved back to New York City after a decade spent fighting his demons and letting them win.  He’s disgustingly wealthy but after his antics on the football field as the worst behaved quarterback in history, he’s also a national disgrace, which works out well—because a disgrace is the only thing he knows how to be.  He doesn’t want to dig deeper into what happened that night ten years ago.  He doesn’t want to help his old friends figure out what really happened or force a showdown with Jason Treffen, the man responsible.  He’s comfortable as he is: estranged from everyone, disgraced and disreputable, and alone.

Enter Zoe Brook.  She spent too long on the wrong side of Jason Treffen and she’s ready to take her revenge.  She just needs Hunter to play along—and she’s willing to do whatever she has to do to make sure he does. 

Neither one of them is ready for the passion that burns between them from the first glance—or the least bit sure what to do about it when each of them is hiding the most important parts of themselves from each other.  And the world.  Or when every touch seems to nudge them closer to the truths they least want to share.

But ghosts and secrets are the least of their problems when they put together a plan that will finally take Jason Treffen down—because a game stakes this high means only that there’s that much more to lose…

EXCERPT:

It wasn’t the first time a man had propositioned her.  But it was the first time she’d felt a burst of flame lick over her when he did, and she was terribly afraid he knew that, too.  That he felt the same slap of heat.

She couldn’t let that happen, it was impossible, so she shoved it aside.

“Is that caveman code for ‘sleep with me so I can put you back in your proper place?’” she asked, cool and challenging and back on familiar ground, because she knew this routine.  She could handle this.  Jason Treffen had taught her well, one painful lesson at a time.  “Because you should know before you try, dragging me off by my hair somewhere won’t end the way you think it will.  I can promise you that.”

Hunter looked intrigued and his head canted slightly to one side, but that wolfish regard of his never wavered—bright and hot and knowing.  Reaching much too far inside of her, deep into her bones, like an ache. 

It was that last part that made her wonder exactly how much control she was clinging to, after all.

 “I don’t want to drag you off somewhere by your hair and have my way with you, Ms. Brook.”

The smile on her lips turned mocking, but she was more concerned with the sudden low, slow thump of her heart and the heavy, wet heat low in her belly.  “Because you’re not that kind of guy?”

There was something more than predatory in his eyes then, hard and hot, a dark knowing in the curve of his mouth that connected with that deep drumroll inside of her, making it her pulse, her breath, her worst fear come true.

“I’m absolutely that kind of guy.  But I told you.  You have to ask me nicely.” 

He smiled, as if he was the one in control.  And she couldn’t allow it.

“No,” she said, furious that it came out like a whisper, thin and uncertain.  His smile deepened for a moment, like a promise.

“Your loss,” he murmured, and that aching fire swelled inside of her, nearly bursting.

And then he laughed again, dismissing her that easily, and turned to go.  Again.  For good this time, she understood, and she couldn’t let that happen.

Zoe had no choice.  She pulled out her best and biggest gun and aimed it right at him.

“I wouldn’t do that, Mr. Grant.”  She didn’t know why that dryness in her mouth seemed to translate into something like trembling everywhere else, when she’d known before she’d approached him that it would probably come to this.  She waited until he looked back at her, and pretended the blue gleam of his eyes didn’t get to her at all, with all that weary amusement, like he could see right through her when she knew—she knew—he couldn’t.  That no one could.  She made herself smile.  “I know about Sarah.”

Maisey Yates: Take Me

Sometimes to really understand an event you have to see it.

I had already finished work on the first 5th Avenue book, Avenge Me when I was approached about writing a possible prequel novella. I wasn’t sure what I would write, until one of the lovely editor suggested I take it back ten years, to where it all began.

That made Take Me different for me in a lot of ways. It was great to go back to the scene of the incident that ultimately kicks off the 5th Avenue books of decade later, and it was interesting to take on a pair of characters who were so young.

Travis and Sydney are in their early 20s, still in college, not yet out in the real world. But one night changes everything, when they are friend jumps to her death at an opulent Christmas party.

This is the first glimpse into the corruption that is at the core of this opulent world. The first bit of tarnish on an empire that will ultimately crumble as the series goes on.

But this is the beginning. And it isn’t only the beginning of the end for Jason Treffen’s kingdom, it’s the beginning of a change in Travis and Sydney’s relationship.

I'm a sucker for a friends to lovers romance. I can’t lie. So the idea of having a tragedy make two friends see each other in a different way was natural to me. Because it is a short story, Most of it takes place over one night, and the connection between Travis and Sydney is very intense.

There are a lot of emotions burning between them, and certainly for Travis, years of repressed desire now burning to the surface.

But when the night is over, and the sun rises, they both have to face what they’ve done. They have to face the loss of their friend, and the change in their friendship. And the fact that no matter how much they might want them to, things can never be the same again.

The question is, will they move forward without each other, or stronger than ever?

 And I have included, a short teaser for you:

There was one thing he wanted. One thing he’d always wanted. And taking it now would be...it would be the worst kind of betrayal. 
But he didn’t get up. He didn’t leave. Instead, he pulled her hard against him, wrapped his arms tightly around her body. 
She buried her face in his neck, her tears falling onto his neck. He’d never seen Sydney cry. She was too tough. Too guarded. But she was crying now, weeping like she was trying to cleanse herself of everything that had happened tonight. 
He wished he could do it too. But there were no tears for him. There was nothing but deep, yawning pain, and a need that he didn’t think could ever be entirely satisfied. 
She shifted against him, turned her face to the side, her lips brushing against his jaw. The soft, sweet contact shocked him, burned him. His heart sped up, blood pumping hard and fast through him, heating up the cold places inside of him. Reminding him that he was alive. 
She put her hand on his face, traced the line of his jaw with her finger. His breathing became labored, his heart raging so hard he thought he was having an attack. 
“Not a good idea, Syd,” he said, giving her a chance. One last chance, because if she took it any further he didn’t know what he might do. 
“No,” she said, “maybe not.” 
He gritted his teeth, his blood pumping hot through his veins, his shaft aching, getting hard. This was not the time for that. Not the place for that, and dammit, he’d made the decision years ago, she was not the woman for this. But he couldn’t stop himself from responding. “Definitely not.” “What if there was nothing else, Travis?” she whispered, a temptation he couldn’t ignore. “What if this was all there was? Tonight? This room? You and me. What if it started and ended here?” 
He closed his eyes, swallowed hard, his whole body on fire. “Then I know exactly what I would want to do. But the thing is, there’s more than this night, more than this room, and more than us. More than that...there’s a lot more to us than...this.” “There wasn’t more for Sarah,” she said, her words choked. “This was it, Trav. And I’m not going to...to jump off of a building, but what I saw tonight reminded me that...that we don’t necessarily have tomorrow. Unless we’re choosing to take tomorrow from ourselves, like she did, I think we all truly believe that tomorrow is going to be there, but we’re just making up stories.” 
He closed his eyes. “Is that all?” 
“Yes. Because until the sun rises we don’t really know if it will for us. It’s just...making fantasies for what we hope will happen when the only thing that’s actually real is...now.” “But tomorrow...”
“Screw tomorrow,” she said, her words fierce. “It’s not...I can’t...”
He angled his head and closed the distance between them, his lips pressing hard against hers. Cutting off her words, trying to cut off her thoughts, her pain, her desperation. And his own.  
And just like she’d said it would, everything burned away. There was only this moment, this room, this kiss.

Take Me is available FREE for preorder in most ebook stores.

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