Mick Arnold

Mick reviews books and will also be chatting about his experience as a male author in the romantic genre. Mick is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association, New Writers Scheme. He lives in Northamptonshire and is the proud keeper of two cats, Gus and Elphaba. When he’s not trying to write books, Mick has a deep-seated love of reading that he’s brought from his teens to the current day with no signs of waning. He’s also mad on the music of the Beach Boys and enjoys the theatre and humouring his Manchester United supporting wife. Mick can be followed on Twitter: @mick859

Book Review: Magic Sometimes Happens by Margaret James

Published September 2, 2015 | By Mick Arnold

Book 5 in the Charton Minster Series, London-based PR and promotions consultant Rosie Denham has just spent a year in Paris where she’s tried but failed to fall in love. She’s also made a big mistake and can’t forgive herself.

American IT professor Patrick Riley ‘s wife has left him for a Mr. Wonderful with a cute British accent and a house with a real yard. So Patrick’s not exactly thrilled to meet another Brit who’s visiting Minnesota, even if she’s hot.

Pat and Rosie couldn’t be more different. She’s had a privileged English upbringing. He was raised in poverty in Missouri. Pat has two kids, a job that means the world to him and a wife who might decide she wants her husband back.

So when Pat and Rosie fall in love, the prospects don’t seem bright for them.

But magic sometimes happens – right?

Who doesn’t like a story with an opening scene that grips you and won’t let go!

This is my second Margaret James novel (the wonderful ‘The Wedding Diary’ was my first) and being a dedicated Choc-Lit follower I had a pretty good idea of what to expect and was certainly not disappointed, being up to the exacting standards set by the first novel I read by this lady.

Moving swiftly along from one viewpoint to the next, the pace of the story never gives up. With the added bonus of revisiting past members of the Dehham family, this is like curling up on the sofa with familiar friends and enjoying a cost night in.

Continue reading →

Mick’s Musings: Would You Call This ‘Procrastination’?

Published June 25, 2015 | By Mick Arnold

Arguably the most important part of any book written is the first chapter, in particular, the first page. Get this wrong, not only would you lose the reader, but more likely, you wouldn’t have had the novel published in the first place.

Now, for the latest story I’m writing I’m on the third different opening/prologue/first chapter. What this says about me as a prospective writer, I don’t know, but I suspect that it’s more of a common problem than I’m making it out to be. Have I hit on the opening? I don’t know. Two of my lead characters though are suddenly opening the book whereas before it was looking like they wouldn’t be making an appearance until at least the third chapter. But it feels right!

Does it read right though? Actually, yes and even more surprising since I had to decipher the scribbled notes I made before going to bed on Friday night! My Lady Wife is always saying I should have been a doctor, the state of my hand-writing. It’s short, just shy of 1,200 words, but just because it’s short, doesn’t mean to say it isn’t right. But, this is only a first draft, so undoubtedly there will be changes as the story progresses. At least it’s nice to meet these guys sooner rather than later.

So why did I bring up the dreaded ‘P’ word? Because it’s taken me a while to start up writing again. Yes, I know the old adage that you should write at each and every opportunity, no matter how rubbish it may come out. Continue reading →

Review: The Wedding Proposal by Sue Moorcroft

Published February 6, 2015 | By Mick Arnold

Elle Jamieson is a private person, in relationships as well as at work – and for good reason. But then she’s made redundant and with no ties to hold her, Elle heads off to sunny Malta.

Lucas Rose hates secrets – he prides himself on his ability to lay his cards on the table and he expects nothing less in return. He’s furious when his summer working as a divemaster is interrupted by the arrival of Elle, his ex, all thanks to his Uncle Simon’s misguided attempts at matchmaking.

Forced to live in close proximity, it’s hard to ignore what they had shared before Lucas’s wedding proposal scared Elle away. But then a phone call from England allows Lucas a rare glimpse of the true Elle. Can he deal with Elle’s closely guarded past when it finally comes to light?

Let’s get things straight from the start. There is only one thing wrong with this book – it has an ending!

Sue weaves her charms on this charming love story set mainly in Malta. Taking me back to my honeymoon in style, we follow Elle and Lucas as life and misunderstandings and sometimes misplaced pride try their best to keep the two of them apart. Continue reading →

Mick’s Musings: Jealous?

Published December 4, 2014 | By Mick Arnold

Jealous? Nope, not the right word. Envy? Getting closer, if I’m being honest, but certainly very happy and proud are correct words to describe what I’d like to chat with you about today. If you’re a regular, or even if you’re not, on this wonderful site, then you may be aware of my good friend Bella’s column, Bella’s Scribblings-https://www.novelkicks.co.uk/bellas-scribblings-christmas-shopping/ – click the link for updates folks! But the reason for my kind of cryptic start to this column is the wonderful news that she’s got a two book contract with Harper Collins and the first, ‘It Started at Sunset Cottage’ is set to go on sale in February next year. I first met Bella at the Romantic Novelist’s Association Convention in Sheffield last year. Two newbies to the New Writer’s Scheme, both nervous and not sure what was going on, nor what to do, but she’s become a good friend and now, if I may say, an inspiration to those of us still hoping to get published. She’s worked very hard on this novel and without giving anything away, I would put it on your wish lists for a nice Valentine’s Day (yes, I’m fully aware that Christmas hasn’t even come along yet) present to yourself. So, where does that leave me? Well, I’ve submitted to just seven Agents/Publishing companies so far and, sniff, the first rejection came through this week. I slightly surprised myself but not cracking up completely when that email came through; though it was tempting, but I didn’t think my boss would understand a teary bloke at work. It’s actually made me more determined to approach others. I still have a couple on the list I was given by the RNA, so will have to print (yep, I did say ‘print’) out a couple and see if I can get those off shortly. Continue reading →

Mick’s Musings – Feeling Sorry For Myself

Published July 4, 2014 | By Mick Arnold

Hi everyone and welcome to the week leading up to one of the most important dates of the year. Now, just in case my lady wife reads this entry, this does not include (in no particular order); your birthday, your sister’s birthday, our wedding anniversary (I am perfectly aware it will be 20 years next year btw) , the cat-who-must-not-be-named birthday, the multiple theatre dates on the calendar and of course, December 19^th, when we first met (or a day or so either side.)

So what am I on about today? Well, whilst sat in my chair, trying to dedicate enough concentration in keeping anything I eat inside. I’m not feeling too well at the moment, had to go home from work yesterday and had an interesting night which didn’t involve much in the way of sleep. Of course, that gave me plenty of time in which to do a multitude of other things. I could have read War and Peace (ok, ignore that, me being silly as usual), or I could have continued writing a short story I’ve had on the go for a while, but it’s a little hard to balance a laptop whilst constantly trotting to the littlest room to throw up.

What did I do then? Even in this digital age, most of us will still have shelves full of bound bits of paper called, books. How wonderful it is to open a crisp new (or in this case, has been sitting there unread for a good while) tome and start to lose yourself in a new story. So, this’ll be a bit of a plug I suppose, but I feel no shame as it was a lovely little story. You will likely have heard of Michael Morpurgo, but this isn’t one of his most recent stories. This is from 1996 and is called ‘The Ghost of Grania O’Malley’ and for the first time I can recall, the heroine has cerebral palsy. Now, it’s not high-brow literature, there’s no real romance involved (after all the 2 leads are both young children) but it’s a sweet little story that I just couldn’t put down. The story brings together such topics as preserving nature, human greed for gold and ghost pirates; all the usual. But you’re rooting for Jessie and Jack from page 1 and I can’t recall 212 pages whizzing by so quickly. Got a few hours and want to relax the mind? Search out this book people. I’ve been a fan of Mr Morpurgo for a while now and if you’ve never read any of his books, you could do a lot worse than to start with this one. Continue reading →