Book Extract: Joyful June Journeys by Stephanie Wood

I am delighted to be welcoming Stephanie Wood to Novel Kicks as we celebrate the publication day for her book, Joyful June Journeys. 

Chrissie is escaping to the Greek Retreat to avoid some of the issues her parents have left her to deal with at home. She hopes that visiting a new location will give her a different perspective and help her to find a way forward.

The Greek island of Kynos is an idyllic hideaway, offering its visitors the space and time needed to truly appreciate the traditional hospitality. The locals are always friendly and ready to entertain their guests, while the daily activities offer many different ways to explore the island and its heritage.

Chrissie is hoping The Retreat will help to focus her mind and stop her procrastination, but will she become distracted by the friendly locals?

The Greek Retreat is a trilogy of standalone tales full of sunshine, surprises and love.

Stephanie has shared an extract from Joyful June Journeys with us today. We hope you enjoy. 

*****beginning of extract*****

Chrissie has decided to go on a bike ride to discover what lies further out from the local village where she has been spending most of her time.

The first part of the journey was familiar, as she took the road towards the village, but then she just kept going once she passed the usual turning.

Soon afterwards, she climbed a slight hill without too much effort and from there she was blessed with a 360degree view of the nearby fields, full of leafy goodness in all directions. There was an abundance of fruit and vegetables as far as she could see and as the breeze blew across the tip of each plant, she was bombarded with a remarkable mixture of aromas which were both tantalising and mysterious.

She didn’t know exactly what kind of produce was hidden under some of the foliage, but she understood that each and every item was bursting full of goodness and flavour under the relentless sunshine. She presumed that most of the things which were growing naturally in this verdant landscape, were items that she enjoyed on a regular basis, but hers came from a bag or a tin and she never considered what process they had endured to reach that destination.

The thought that she could pick something, maybe a cucumber, from the plant in front of her and eat it, still smelling of the soil from which it had evolved, made her head spin. She knew it was how things were in the natural world, and she fully understood that there were many of her neighbours who had greenhouses or allotments which produced all manner of goodies, but it had never been part of her life when all she’d had time for was a weekly shop and a trolley full of necessities.

*****end of extract*****

About Stephanie Wood –

Stephanie writes contemporary fiction in the form of novels, novellas and short stories and her books explore a wide range of life’s challenges, dreams and responsibilities. The stories are all character based, so she has fun expressing each unique personality and the reasons behind their actions in a setting which always has a strong sense of community.

She published the Aegean Sun series of books as a fly-on-the-wall vision of life in a Greek resort during the summer season, the Christmas On The Close series is set in a British suburban cul-de-sac over the festive period and the Greek Retreat trilogy is planned for publication in 2025.

Stephanie lives in Lancashire where, apart from reading and writing, she loves gardening and cycling and is a huge fan of the soaps Emmerdale and Neighbours.

Say hello to Stephanie on Facebook, X, Bluesky and Goodreads. 

Joyful June Journeys is book two in the Greek Retreat series and was published on 22nd may 2025. Click to buy on Amazon UK and Amazon US. 

by

Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.