Tag Archives: Choc Lit

Morton S. Gray: Writing Romance.

Guest Post, Writing & Reading, , , , , , , , ,
This week, I am delighted to be joined by my good friend Morton S. Gray as she talks about writing romance. Over to you, Morton…

Thank you for having me on your blog, Carol. My seventh romantic novel, A New Arrival in Borteen Bay, was published on 23 January 2024 with Choc Lit Publishing, an imprint of Joffe Books.

I sometimes find it quite funny that I’m listed as a romance author. Very often, when I’m writing, I get so carried away with the mystery or the plot of a book that when it comes to the editing stage, I’m often asked to make it much more romantic. I guess it’s the other relationships that make up the story that interest me most.

It’s also a source of fascination to me that we only see people as they appear in front of us, as they are right now and not their history or backstory. We all have our own path through life that makes us who we are, and I think that’s what intrigues writers.

For example, someone looking at me will see a happily married woman with an older son with a lovely partner who has just made me a grandma and a younger son at university. The fourteen years as a solo parent working full time after my divorce from my first husband isn’t visible on the surface at all, and yet those years have had such a huge influence on who I am as a person. But then, taking that a step further, my second marriage is why I believe romance is possible and second chances do come along. I personally have probably lived the plot of many a romance novel!

To give a bit more insight into my take on romance, I thought I would share my favourite romance film, novel, and song. However, it’s tough to choose just one for each of these, so I will give you a selection for each.

Film: Finding You, The Holiday, The Wedding Date.

Novel: Wintercombe by Pamela Belle, Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts by Lucy Dillon, Starting Over by Sue Moorcroft (I’ve read all of these titles many times over).

Song: Breathless by The Corrs, Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift.

Thank you for your post, Morton. Despite watching a lot of films, I haven’t seen Finding You, so I will check it out. I do remember you recommended Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts to me, and I greatly enjoyed reading it, too, as I have each of your romance novels.

About A New Arrival in Borteen Bay: 

FALL IN LOVE WITH AN UTTERLY IRRESISTIBLE, BRAND-NEW ROMANCE ABOUT FRESH BEGINNINGS AND LETTING GO OF THE PAST.

Skye knows it’s now or never. It’s time for her to reveal herself to the father she’s never met.

So she hops on a plane from Dublin to the English seaside town of Borteen.

But between the father she’s just getting to know and her worried mother, Skye realizes that the past is never that simple as a whirlwind of secrets turns their world upside down.

And now Skye has Adam, the hunky guy next door, to contend with. He’s determined to show her there’s room in her life for love.

Skye thinks they’re better off as friends, but Adam has other ideas. Even when she reveals a secret of her own.

Will Skye allow history to repeat itself? Or will she let go of the secrets of the past and open herself up to the future?

This uplifting and feel-good romance is perfect for fans of Beth Moran, Shari Low, Jessica Redland, Sue Moorcroft or Isabella Connor.

Purchase or discover more here: A New Arrival in Borteen Bay

My review:

I enjoyed returning to the enchanting setting of Borteen Bay and spending time in the company of Buzz, Skye and Adam. While Adam’s actions sometimes seemed impetuous, I felt this was explained as I discovered more about his character and motivation. For me, Buzz was the real star of the story, emerging as a compelling figure with his poignant creation of a labyrinth on the beach, only for it to be erased by the tide – encapsulating both the fragility of life and the enduring spirit of optimism (something he certainly embodies). As the characters come together, the narrative weaves their individual stories, creating a tapestry of resilience, healing, and acceptance. It’s a lovely, gentle read to cosy up with.

Morton’s books are a delight to read and always have a great hook. If you are looking for a new series to fall in love with, I recommend checking them out: The Secrets of Borteen Bay

About the author:

Morton S. Gray lives in Worcestershire, U.K. She has been reading and writing fiction for as long as she can remember and penned her first attempt at a novel at the age of fourteen. She is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and The Society of Authors.

Morton worked for many years in the electricity industry, developing and training staff. She is a qualified hypnotherapist and Reiki Master. She enjoys crafts and history and loves tracing family trees. Having a hunger for learning new things is a bonus for the research behind her books.

You can find out more about Morton and her work here: website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Meet Three Characters from The Secret Sister.

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It is always a pleasure to welcome Jan Baynham to my blog, but I am especially delighted today as I have recently finished reading her wonderful book, The Secret Sister, from which she is going to share three characters. 

Thank you, Carol, for inviting me onto your lovely blog to introduce three characters from The Secret Sister. Any author will tell you that by the time a novel is published, the characters in the story have become firm friends and we know everything there is to know about them.

Firstly, I’d like to introduce you to Sara Lewis; we meet her right at the beginning of the novel as she accompanies her little boy, Aled, to school on his first day. Her abusive husband, Fred, is away undergoing army training before being posted abroad for active service. They live with Fred’s mother at Graig Farm in the rural mid-Wales town of Pen Craig, and we very soon learn that she is unhappy living with her insufferable mother-in-law. Coming from an academic background, Sara is estranged from her own parents, having got herself pregnant at sixteen by a much older Fred. She was flattered that the local bad boy should have eyes for her and was taken in by his charms. She does have support from her elder sister, Menna, who offers her a lifeline in the form of working in the office of her building business, much to the disapproval of Fred’s mother. When news comes through that Fred has been killed in training, although sad for their little son, she is secretly relieved that she will never have to suffer any more abuse. A group of Italian Prisoners of War begin work on building an extension to the office where she works and there is an immediate attraction between her and one of the builders. Despite knowing that fraternisation between the prisoners and local women is forbidden, their love grows.

The prisoner she falls for is handsome Carlo Rosso from Porto Montebello in Sicily. As he writes to his mother when he first arrives at the prison camp, there are hints that Carlo carries a secret. He is one of several POWs who leave the camp each morning to work either on local farms or on building sites. Before being conscripted into the Sicilian army, he was a painter specialising in ecclesiastical art. Because of this, he is chosen to lead a team to transform an old Nissen hut within the grounds of the prison camp into a beautiful Italian Chapel where the prisoners may worship. There was no money allocated for the task, so it was down to the ingenuity and creativity of the prisoners to use found and natural materials to do this. As his and Sara’s relationship develops, they are both in danger for being found out. He stays in Pen Craig when the war ends and works for a local builder.

The final character I’d like to introduce you to is Claudia Rosso, the daughter of Sara and Carlo. She is very close to her father and has followed him into the world of art by studying painting. She is heartbroken when her beloved papà is critically injured in an accident at work. When she holds his hand as he takes his last breath, he whispers the name of Giulietta. Like her mother, she knows nothing about his life in Sicily but learns from Carlo’s friend that he had been wrongly accused of a wrongdoing and that is why he could never return to Sicily. Claudia travels to the island in search of the truth in order to try to find out who Giulietta is and to clear her father’s name. What she finds is a shock and she has to find ways of dealing with the discovery.

The characters were a joy to create, and I hope readers will enjoy their stories.

About the book:

The Secret Sister

Wales, 1943.

Sara Lewis should be heartbroken when her husband doesn’t return from war. But he was never the kind husband she hoped for. And now she’s stuck with her cruel mother-in-law on the family farm. Sara must do what is best for her young son. So she leaves the farm for the safety of her sister’s home.

Despite herself, she begins to notice Carlo, an Italian prisoner of war. Longing looks soon turn into love letters and a connection neither of them can sever.

But fraternisation between the prisoners and local women are forbidden. As their love grows, so does the danger all around them . . .

Twenty-five years later, their daughter holds her father’s hand as he takes his last breath and whispers a name: Giulietta.

But who is Giulietta, and who are the young woman and baby in an old photograph?

The secrets of the past collide as the family are shaken to their very core, forced to revisit memories they’d rather forget to uncover the truth.

Links to purchase: Amazon UK | Amazon.Com

My review:

In this wonderful novel, I was transported between two captivating timelines and immersed in the rich tapestry of Wales at the end of WWII and 1960s Sicily. The author’s skilful storytelling effortlessly evokes a brilliant sense of time and place, bringing the contrasting settings alive with vivid detail.

The narrative introduces us to Sara, trapped in an abusive marriage, and Carlo, an Italian prisoner of war whose forbidden love defies the odds in post-war Wales. Fast forward to 1968, and we follow Claudia, their daughter, as she unravels family secrets in Sicily, where she also meets the charming Alessandro.

Romantic, heart-wrenching, and heart-warming, “The Secret Sister” is a captivating tale of love, resilience, and the enduring bonds of family (I greatly enjoyed the bond between Sara and her sister, Menna). Baynham’s meticulous attention to setting enriches the narrative, bringing both Wales and Sicily to life in a way that resonates long after the final page is turned. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel from beginning to end.

About the author:

Originally from mid-Wales, Jan Baynham lives in Cardiff. After retiring from a career in teaching and advisory education, Jan joined a small writing group in a local library where she wrote her first piece of fiction. From then on, she was hooked! Her stories and flash fiction pieces have been longlisted and shortlisted in competitions and several appear in anthologies both online and in print. In October 2019, her first collection of stories was published by Black Pear Press. Fascinated by family secrets and ‘skeletons lurking in cupboards’, Jan writes dual narrative, dual timeline novels that explore how decisions and actions made by family members from one generation impact on the lives of the next. Setting and a sense of place play an important part in all of Jan’s stories and as well as her native mid-Wales, there is always a contrasting location. She is published Choc Lit, an imprint of Joffe Books.

Having joined the Romantic Novelists Association in 2016, she values the friendship and support from other members and regularly attends conferences, workshops, talks and get togethers. She is an active member of her local Chapter, Cariad.

Find out more about Jan Baynham and her novels here: Website/Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Bookbub

Paws and Prose with Anni Rose.

Guest Post, Paws and Prose, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Today, I am very happy to welcome fellow Choc Lit (Joffe Books) author Anni Rose to my blog – especially as she is here to talk about her adorable dogs. Over to you, Anni …

Thank you for inviting me on to your blog today to talk about my pets and my writing. I know we both have a soft spot for Labradors. I had a yellow Lab, Henry, from the age of about eight and was delighted, more recently, when work commitments finally meant I could have another dog.

These days my constant writing companions are Brian, a Labrador with absolutely no brains at all. He sleeps on his back and usually with his tongue out! And likes to carry two balls or two sticks around. He hasn’t really got the idea of fetch or drop but will sit and stare at you happily with two balls in his mouth. Then we also have Rockstar, a Romanian street dog, who came to us after a major operation to put pins in both back legs. He’d been hit by a car and left on the side of the road for dead and was the inspiration behind Miss Phyllis in my fourth book, Recipe for Mr Ideal.

We’d never homed a rescue dog before and it was a very daunting prospect, we knew nothing of his history, only that he would need patience, time and a huge amount of love. I can still remember the day when this terrified creature turned up. Three years on, he has settled in beautifully, he still has a very odd gait – the pins are still in his leg, but these days he will happily jump in and out of the car or to catch treats. In fact, there is little he won’t do for cheese or bacon – a dog after my own heart!

He is, however, very much the boss in this house. A fascination with shoelaces, he can untie the trickiest knot and has his favourite chairs in the house – don’t try and sit one of them! If it ever comes down to a battle of wills, it’s best to give in gracefully, Rocky can be very stubborn, but he is immensely protective of Brian, and he has stripped the squeaker out of all Brian’s balls (for which we are very grateful!)

All my books have at least one animal; I feel they add more depth to the story. They are as important to me as my hero and heroine and always fun to write.

I like to be able to picture all my characters before I start writing a book, and the dogs, cats or horses are no exception. But, when I say that none of my human characters bear any relation to somebody, living or dead, the animals always do.

Charlie Brown in Recipe for Mr Super was really a Shetland Pony with a thing about Wellington boots and who upended me more times than I care to remember. Dragon was a beautiful horse with asymmetrical hips who needed constant vocal reassurance when faced with a jump. Elvis from Recipe for Mr Banksy was a tribute to our two previous black Labradors, who we lost during Covid before Rocky and Brian came along. Up and coming books have a Lurcher-Weimaraner cross called Fergus, who I met on a walk one day, and a Harlequin Great Dane called Colin. Then there’s also a book in the pipeline with more to come from Miss Phyllis.

I love having animals around me. They get me out for walks in the morning without complaining, whatever the weather, and are both great cuddlers. What’s more, they never complain when I read chapters to them over and over again. Who could ask for more?

Thank you for inviting me onto your blog Carol, and I look forward to reading more about Luna in your books to come. Anni x

You are very welcome, Anni. It was lovely to hear about your dogs. They are both gorgeous; Brian is, of course, Labradorable! Thank you for the great post. x

Anni Rose’s books are all available via Amazon.

About the author:

Born and raised in Berkshire, Anni Rose emigrated to Wiltshire six years ago, where she lives with her husband, sister, two dogs, a cat and Midge, the grey, speckled hen.

As a child, she could usually be found either reading or writing fiction, producing reams of stories over the years.

On leaving school, the need to earn a living sort of got in the way, and her writing was limited to financial reports or employees’ handbooks, but a local writing course and an encouraging group of writing friends re-ignited the fiction flame many years later, and Anni went on to have several short stories published in various magazines.

Anni would describe her writing these days as mainly modern romantic stories with a healthy dollop of humour thrown in. Away from writing, Anni can usually be found behind a camera, walking the dogs, enjoying one of her husband’s curries or one of her sister’s bakery treats.

Discover more about Anni Rose and her work here:  Website | X (Twitter) | Facebook

Writing Wednesday: Tips for Writing Love Scenes.

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As this Writing Wednesday falls on Valentine’s Day, I have joined forces with my fellow Choc Lit (Joffe Books) romance writers to share top tips for writing love scenes …

Carol Thomas (that’s me). I write feel-good contemporary romance and romantic comedy novels that will make you smile.

  • Having a strong emotional connection between characters, built in earlier chapters, adds to the moment.
  • Building physical tension through anticipation, subtle gestures, longing glances, and dialogue hints adds to the satisfaction of the love scene when it happens.
  • Physical intimacy needs to be consensual and driven by shared enthusiasm.
  • The love scene itself should involve a balance of passion, emotion, and sensuality, some of which will be played out before the audience, while some won’t.
  • I like leaving readers space for their imagination to take over; the things that fulfil the desires of my characters might be a turn-off to the reader, and I wouldn’t want to jolt them out of the moment.
  • Love scenes should never appear for the sake of being there, they should enhance character development and add to the story.

Discover more about me and my novels here.

Lucy Keeling is the author of fun, sexy stories with all of the happily ever afters.

  • If you’re writing your first ever steamy scene and it reads a bit like flat pack assembly instructions (insert part A into part B ), go back and remember to use all the senses.
  • This is an opportunity to show off a deeper understanding of your characters.
  • Oh, and keep an eye on the logistics.

Discover more about Lucy Keeling and her work here.

Ella Cook writes emotional, heartwarming romance that will lift your spirits:

  • I’m going to be controversial and say that, much as the best moments of intimacy in life aren’t planned, neither were the ones that got the best feedback from readers for me. I guess what I’m saying is let the characters go with the flow. If they’re the type of people – or at least one of them is – minded to privacy, then don’t feel like you have to fling the door open and show the ins and outs of their love life.
  • But equally, if your lead character is the type who thinks nothing of keeping her (admittedly rather more subtly shaped than most) vibrator in her bathroom, then she’s probably not going to shy away from talking about sex, either. So, if you want to write about it – write in line with our characters: get into their head spaces and let the reader see what they’re thinking, how they’re reacting and feeling.
  • Oh, and avoid biological terms – it’s a romance novel, not a biology textbook!

Discover more about Ella Cook and her work here.

Kirsty Ferry is the writer of spellbinding timeslips, unforgettable romantic comedies and uplifting contemporary romance novels.

  • I always leave the reader at the bedroom door. I’d never try to write a scene like that!
  • It’s nice to do an ‘almost kiss’ scene and have them get interrupted by a phone or something. I was told they’d kissed too early in my first book, so I usually try to hold off a bit for them.

Discover more about Kirsty Ferry and her work here.

Liv Thomas is one half of the writing duo who writes the utterly enchanting love stories set in Ireland by Isabella Connor.

  • It depends on the context and the relationship between the couple. If it’s a solid relationship, I tend to make it emotional as much, or more, than physical and let the reader feel a slow tempo.

Discover more about the work of Isabella Connor here.

Sue McDonagh writes uplifting, unputdownable romance novels:

  • Hilariously, the sex in my first novels had to be toned down as they were a bit too explicit. The pivotal sex scene in my last book was so toned down (less is more) that my poor editor wasn’t entirely sure whether they’d actually had sex or not, and I had to re-write it several times. I’ve learned that balance is the key.

Discover more about Sue McDonagh and her work here.

I hope you enjoyed our tips and they prove useful next time you write a love scene. Have a wonderful Valentine’s Day, and happy writing!
Carol x

Location, Location, Location with Jan Baynham!

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Today, I am joined by fellow Choc Lit author Jan Baynham. I love Jan’s novels and the locations her stories take me to, so I am delighted to hear there is another coming soon. In this post, Jan reveals the setting of her forthcoming novel and shares her wonderful research; over to you, Jan…

My novels are all partly set in rural mid-Wales, the area where I was born and brought up, and partly in a contrasting location. Creating a sense of place and an authentic world for my characters to live in is one of the aspects of writing I enjoy. As well as visiting beautiful Radnorshire in my latest novel, readers are transported to the Mediterranean island of Sicily with its stunning scenery, magnificent ecclesiastical buildings, fascinating history and, of course, its wonderful weather. It’s where my character, Carlo, an Italian POW who is interned in a camp in the heart of the Welsh countryside, is from. He’s left behind a secret, and after his death, his daughter travels to Sicily to find out why her father could never return. I’ve tried to capture what it was like for Claudia visiting the island for the first time.

Last summer, my first visit to Sicily proved an excellent way of experiencing what it was like for Claudia. The city of Porto Montebello is fictional but based on the real places I visited, with the presence of Mount Etna in the background. As Claudia walks to find the pensione where she’ll be staying, she’s struck by the city’s straight streets and their tall buildings with shuttered windows and balconies so different from her home village.

The area has stunning architecture and churches everywhere you look. In the novel, Claudia has enrolled on an art history course so I made sure I visited the beautiful duomos in Catania, Taormina and Ortigia where I found examples of the type of paintings she’d be studying.

In the early part of the novel in WW2, Carlo’s mother shelters from the bombing in tunnels under the duomo. A highlight of my research was to visit one such shelter and try to experience how she must have felt night after night. The tour guide, Roberto, was excellent in giving so much information about what life was like down there for the inhabitants of Ortigia.

Another tour I booked in advance was a visit to Casa Cuseni in Taormina. The villa was built at the beginning of the twentieth century by Englishman, Robert Kitson and became an international artistic centre hosting celebrities from the world of literature and painting. This stunning villa is the inspiration when I imagined Casa Cristina in my book. The garden was full of symbolism in its design and the sea views from the villa were amazing.

No visit to Sicily would be complete without a boat trip. After the underground tour of the tunnels, I ended my day with a trip around the island of Ortigia. Our boat man pointed out places of interest, the heart-shaped cave and took us to admire the stalactites, stalagmites and corals in another. This experience inspired how Claudia feels when taken on boat trips.

I hope that being on location in Sicily will have made the setting more real for readers. Visiting the places that Claudia does, eating the same foods and enjoying the hot sunshine as she did all came back to me as I wrote those scenes.

About the book:

With the working title of A Tale of Two Sisters, my fourth novel is due to be published by Choc Lit, an imprint of Joffe Books, in July.

Set in rural mid-Wales and Sicily in different eras, the novel deals with secrets, forbidden love, sibling relationships and forgiveness. There’s an immediate attraction between young widow Sara Lewis, and Carlo Rosso, an Italian POW, even though fraternisation between the POWs and local women is forbidden. At the camp, former artist, Carlo, is tasked with leading a team of prisoners to create a chapel in a disused Nissen hut using scrap and found materials. He busies himself with that intending to forget about Sara. Can he succeed? Prisoners are given more freedom in September 1943 when Italy capitulates and is no longer an enemy of the Allies, but a relationship between Sara and Carlo is still not allowed. After the war, when it’s eventually safe to leave Wales, Carlo stays on as he’s harbouring a secret that means that he cannot return to Sicily. After his death in 1968 and finding letters he’d kept from his mother, Claudia travels to the city where he grew up to find out why. She is shocked by what she finds out but discovers that Carlo has been framed for a crime he didn’t commit. Can she succeed in clearing his name? Who does she get to help her?

This sounds like another great read, Jan. I wish you every success with it and look forward to it landing on my Kindle in July. xx

All of Jan’s novels are available on Amazon. Click here to find out more.

Her Nanny’s Secret is also available at all good bookshops.

About the author:

Fascinated by family secrets and ‘skeletons lurking in cupboards’, Jan Baynham’s dual narrative, dual timeline novels explore how decisions and actions made by family members from one generation impact on the lives of the next.

Setting and a sense of place plays an important part in all of Jan’s stories, and as well as her native mid-Wales, there is always a journey to a contrasting location from the heart of Wales, where my characters are always from.

Originally from mid-Wales, Jan lives in Cardiff with her husband.

Find out more about Jan Baynham and her novels here: Website/Blog | Twitter | Facebook |