Book Extract: Meet Me in Cockleberry Bay by Nicola May

A big welcome back to Nicola May. She is here with the blog tour for her latest novel, Meet Me in Cockleberry Bay. 

Here’s a little about the book:

The cast of the runaway bestseller, The Corner Shop in Cockleberry Bay, are back – including Rosa, Josh, Mary, Jacob, Sheila, new mum Titch and, last but by no means least, Hot, the adorable dachshund.

Newly wed, and with her inherited corner shop successfully up and running, Rosa Smith seems to have all that anyone could wish for. But the course of true love never did run smooth and Rosa’s suspicions that her husband is having an affair have dire consequences.

Reaching rock bottom before she can climb back up to the top, fragile Rosa is forced to face her fears, addiction and jealousy head on.

With a selection of meddling locals still at large, a mystery fire and Titch’s frantic search for the real father of her sick baby, the second book in this enchanting series will take you on a further unpredictable journey of self-discovery.

Nicola has shared an extract with us today. 

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

PROLOGUE

‘Oh Titch, why didn’t you just ring for an ambulance?’

‘I did, but they’re always so slow getting down to the Bay and I knew you’d know what to do. I’m sorry, Rose. Oooh . . .’

Hot Dog, Rosa Smith’s excitable mini-dachshund, was now running around the Corner Shop making whining noises similar to the ones coming from the young girl in labour.

Flustered, Rosa snapped at him, ‘Hot, will you just stop it?’ She reached for her friend’s
hand and said more gently, ‘Come on, we need to get you upstairs.’

‘No! No, I can’t move.’ Titch was bent over, clutching at the counter. ‘Oh no – I think I’m ready to push!’

‘Shit! OK, OK, don’t panic.’ Rosa hurriedly turned the Corner Shop sign to Closed, dragged the biggest, comfiest dog bed off a shelf and carefully eased her friend to the floor. She then darted into the downstairs kitchen and grabbed a whole handful of clean tea-towels from the drawer.

As she tried to remove Titch’s lower clothing without hurting her, Rosa said as calmly as she could manage: ‘OK, start doing the breathing you learnt at your anti-natal classes.’

‘Problem is, I didn’t go to any. Aaarrrggghhh!’ Titch writhed on the floor, tears streaming down her bright red face.

‘Look mate, hold on. The ambulance will be here soon and I’ve watched enough Sir David Attenborough to get us through this.’

‘Ow! So not . . . funny . . . at this minute,’ Titch panted, sweat standing out on her forehead. And as another earth-shattering contraction took hold of her skinny little body, she let loose with a string of words that would have made one of the local fishermen blush.

In what seemed like minutes, with the air now bluer than the autumn sky and with an almighty cry that even the circling seagulls couldn’t drown out, Theodore Ronnie Whittaker entered No. 1, The World, Cockleberry Bay.

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

About Nicola:

Award winning author Nicola May lives in Ascot in Berkshire with her rescue cat Stanley. Her hobbies include watching films that involve a lot of swooning, crabbing in South Devon, eating flapjacks and enjoying a flutter on the horses. Inspired by her favourite authors Milly Johnson and Carole Matthews, Nicola writes what she describes as chicklit with a kick.

For more information about Nicola, visit www.nicolamay.com, like on Facebook –https://www.facebook.com/NicolaMayAuthor, follow on Twitter – https://twitter.com/nicolamay1
and Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/author_nicola/

Meet Me in Cockleberry Bay is available to buy now electronically with the paperback release due in September. 

Click on the links below to buy the novel. 

Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk, and Amazon US – https://www.amazon.com

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.