Book Extract: Under Vixens Mere By Kit Fielding
I’m so excited to be welcoming Kit Fielding to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for his book, Under Vixens Mere.
If poor Harry Jones hadn’t lowered himself into the water one freezing winter’s night, a long-buried secret would never have come to the surface.
If …
Big Ed and Milly had been able to have children,
Karen hadn’t longed for love and romance,
Lorrie hadn’t finally ditched Petra,
Dinah hadn’t found out the truth about Barry,
Jed hadn’t dealt drugs and got Anna pregnant,
Carl Thomson hadn’t come looking for him,
and Moses hadn’t heard the commotion …
then there would be no story of Vixens Mere to tell.
There’s a chance to win some books below but first, Kit has shared an extract from Under Vixens Mere with us today. Grab that beverage and the blanket. Find that comfortable chair and enjoy.
*****beginning of extract*****
The tenuous trail that brought them to Vixens Mere begins when Big Ed and Milly the Mystic wake up together in his roughly converted Transit van at the Reading Festival in the August of 1978. They’re on a lumpy and rather grubby mattress in the back of the vehicle and it must be about ten o’clock when Big Ed rolls himself over onto his back and encounters the soft prone body of Milly the Mystic. He yawns, looks at her curiously and says, ‘You been here all night?’
She says, ‘I think so.’
Big Ed studies her a bit more. ‘What do they call you then?’
‘Milly.’
She sits up, notices that her breasts are bare, lifts the covers, peeps down further at her naked nether regions. She looks at Ed, a question knitting her brow.
‘Did we …?’ she begins.
‘Must have, I suppose.’ Big Ed looks appreciatively at her breasts. ‘But we could make sure.’
by 
Book Extract: The Vision Board By Siobhan Murphy
Please join me in welcoming Siobhan Murphy to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her latest book, The Vision Board.
Two best friends. Two one-way tickets. And a future that might just surprise them.
Bex and Amy are best friends and total opposites. Bex is cynical, Amy is romantic. Bex is chaotic, Amy is organised. With the prospect of turning 34 just around the corner, neither is where they expected to be at this point in their lives.
Bex is exploring her sexuality and has a string of failed relationships, while Amy is newly single and desperate to fall in love. Armed with a photographic vision board of the future, Bex and Amy put their trust in ‘The Universe’ and fly from London to Bali, then on to Australia in search of adventure, cocktails on the beach and maybe even love.
Almost immediately, Amy finds someone who is the perfect fit for her dream life. While Bex is stuck playing double dates with his best friend, the most pompous man she has ever met, but also one of the hottest. Travelling via white sand beaches, lush rainforests and road trips through idyllic scenery, the images on their vision board begin to transform into reality.
However, people are not always what they seem, and first impressions are not always accurate. Add in a queer, charismatic love interest and a vindictive ex-girlfriend, and the path of true love begins to get a little more complex.
When ‘The Universe’ has its own agenda, is it possible to manifest a happy ever after?
An Enemies to Lovers destination romance with a sprinkling of Pride and Prejudice vibes.
Siobhan has kindly shared an extract with us today. Grab that beverage, find that comfortable chair. We hope you enjoy reading.
(Warning: Mild Language.)
*****beginning of extract*****
This section is the opening to the book. I hadn’t planned to write a romantic comedy but was woken up at 3 am with the character of Bex in my head, telling me about a bingo game. I had no choice but to drag myself out of bed, head to the sofa with a blanket, a cuppa and my laptop and find out exactly what she was banging on about. That is how ‘The Vision Board’ began.
*****
Amy and I are playing ‘Airport Bingo’, and we’ve just ticked ourselves off the list. ‘Get in.’ I shout, striking a flamboyant line through the words, loud, irritating girls who are already drunk, even though it’s first thing in the morning.
The bingo game is a ‘keep Amy calm’ tactic (along with the alcohol I insisted on buying at 6 am). Only one bar was open in the Departures area at that time of the morning. Dark, generic, and utterly soulless, the staff radiated either boredom or abject misery. Anything approaching even basic customer service had left the building. A pungent-smelling lad in a stained apron took our order begrudgingly. One glance at him made me doubt the high star rating on the bar’s hygiene certificate, so I went for liquid refreshments only. Amy was too nervous to eat, and I’d learned from bitter experience that long-haul flights and questionable food standards are a risky combination. The waiter dumped the G&Ts and the bottle of Prosecco unceremoniously on the table, then returned to his position behind the bar. Elbow propped on the counter, face slumped on his hand, his expression that of a semi-comatose hospital patient.
by NK Chats To… Caroline James
Hi Caroline. Thank you so much for inviting Novel Kicks onto your blog tour!
Thank you so much for inviting me to join you and your wonderful followers on your lovely blog. I do hope that you all enjoy my new novel, The Arctic Cruise.
Can you tell us about The Arctic Cruise and what inspired it?
I’ve always dreamed of seeing the Northern Lights, so when the chance arose to take a winter cruise to Norway, it felt like the perfect opportunity—and irresistible research for a new story. The fjords were breathtaking, with snow-capped mountains rising above icy waters, and the atmosphere was completely magical. As we sailed beyond the Arctic Circle, the idea for The Arctic Cruise began to take shape: a story about two people drawn together aboard the ship, while the lives of other passengers subtly and unexpectedly intertwine with theirs, shaping a journey none of them will ever forget.
What were the best and most challenging parts of writing this novel?
The most rewarding part was exploring the emotional connection between Henry and Joy as their chemistry grew and obstacles intensified. Portraying those vulnerable moments—where attraction, doubt, and hope collide—was satisfying. The biggest challenge was ensuring those emotions resonate with readers and keep them invested in the characters and story, which demands honesty and careful crafting.
What’s your typical writing day like? Do you have any writing rituals?
I start each day with coffee, then answer correspondence and check social media before working on my novel. My target is 2,000 words a day; reaching that gives me a strong sense of accomplishment.
How do you approach the planning, writing, and editing processes?
I tackle planning, writing, and editing with discipline. I honour my publishing deadlines and treat writing as both a profession and a passion by refining my work to its best and marketing it effectively.
What comes first for you, plot or characters?
Plot comes first. I visualise and research the setting, then add characters to fit the story.
What kind of scene do you find the hardest to write?
Emotional scenes at a character’s most vulnerable moments are the hardest, requiring complete honesty and authenticity on the page. Achieving this is a challenge I strive to meet every time.
What are you currently working on?
by Book Review & Giveaway: The Croatian Island Library By Eva Glyn
Please join me in welcoming Eva Glyn to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her latest book, The Croatian Island Library.
Where books are borrowed, and friendships are forged…
When her beloved grandfather dies, Ana Meštrović buys a catamaran in his memory, which she names Dida Krila – Grandad’s Wings.
For the summer months, it will be transformed into a travelling library, delivering books to children living across the Croatian islands.
Joined by crew members Natali, a young mechanic afraid of her own shadow, and Lloyd, an older widower who needs a fresh start, the newly-formed trio all have their own reasons for needing the floating library to be a success.
Embarking on an adventure that will change them for good, they each discover that a new chapter is only a boat ride away…
*****
Ana is a woman who is living with guilt when it comes to family expectations. Lloyd is trying to run from grief after the loss of his wife. Natali is a young woman who is fearful of many things and hides from the world.
These three different people are due to come together for one summer. Can they help each other find what they’re missing, are looking for and have lost? Can the power of books bring them together?
I am pleased to be welcoming Eva Glyn back to Novel Kicks. Despite featuring this author previously, The Croatian Island Library is the first of her books I’ve read.
by Book Extract: Assassins By Mike Bond
I’m excited to be welcoming Mike Bond to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for his book, Assassins.
Night drops, covert deals, and consequences that stretch across decades form the backbone of Assassins by Mike Bond. The novel opens the door to a world where intelligence missions rarely end when the operation does, and where personal history becomes inseparable from global conflict.
Jack is a CIA operative sent into the shadows of America’s longest and most complicated conflicts. His work begins with covert missions supporting resistance fighters and expands into intelligence operations shaped by terrorism, retaliation, and shifting political priorities. Along the way, personal bonds formed under humanitarian cover refuse to stay separate from his professional life.
As alliances shift and former partners reemerge as future threats, Jack is repeatedly drawn back into conflicts he helped set in motion. Militants he once trained resurface years later, and decisions made in secrecy return with devastating consequences. Spanning more than three decades, Assassins follows a man caught inside the machinery of covert war, where victory is never clean and the past never truly stays buried.
Mike has kindly shared an extract from Assassins with us today. We hope you enjoy it.
*****beginning of extract*****
An Evening in Paris
November 2015
IT WAS WARM for mid-November. They sat on the terrace of a little restaurant. Anyplace in France, she said, how wonderful the food, the delicious wine, the gentle harmony of others there for love, food, friendship, ideas, freedom, the joys of life.
They had been through the wars together, fallen in love amid the hail of bullets and thud of explosions in cities drenched with blood. Knowing, as the cliché put it, any moment could be their last.
It gave an intensity to love, that this person dearer to you than life itself could be extinguished at any instant. Someone you cherished so completely, composed of neurons, cells, muscles, bone, tissue and memories, could be blown apart, riddled with bullets, any second.
“I love you so much,” she said. “But I think I love you even more in Paris.”
by Book Club
