Book Extract: Christmas at Snowflake Lodge by CP Ward
I am very happy to be welcoming CP Ward back to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for his novel, Christmas at Snowflake Lodge.
Plumber Jessica Lemond is determined not to follow in her parents footsteps by living off her famous grandfather’s fortune.
However, when the old timer himself elopes to Scotland with suspicions over the recent death of his much younger third wife hanging over his head and a private detective on his tail, it is left to Jessica to follow and clear up the mess. Happy to escape from her nightmarish lodger Doreen, she heads to the remote Snowflake Lodge with her young trainee Kirsten in tow.
However, Snowflake Lodge – with its oddball staff and very dodgy plumbing – is not how it appears in the brochure. Among the beautiful Scottish scenery, and with more hot chocolate and mince pies than she can possibly handle, can Jessica find something she didn’t even know she was looking for?
CP Ward has shared an extract from his novel with us today. Enjoy!
***** beginning of extract*****
With suspicions over the death of his ex-wife growing, Grandpa Lemond has fled to Scotland. However, his son is too busy with an upcoming cruise, so it is left to poor Jessica to track the old man down.
‘Jess, is that you?’ came Benjamin’s voice. ‘What happened? Are you in hospital or something? A car accident?’
‘My phone battery died. What’s up? Your message said to call you urgently. Have they found Grandpa yet?’
She could almost hear Dad umming on the other end of the line, wondering what to say. With Grandpa having gone on the run from police and been missing for two weeks now, both Jessica and her mum were convinced Mavis’s death had been murder. Doreen was certain old Ernest Lemond, a famous TV comedian from the nineteen-fifties, was set to kill again. Dad, however, wouldn’t hear of it. While Mavis had been a tyrant, a fitness freak with a penchant for spending her elderly husband’s money, Grandpa, in his advanced years, had held her in something like affection, even if the rest of the family despised her. And in any case, Mavis had outweighed him by twenty kilograms. There was no way he could have pushed her off that ladder.
‘No … the police haven’t found him.’
‘Okay. Is that good or bad?’
‘It depends on how you look at it. However, a postcard arrived yesterday.’
‘A postcard?’
‘Yes. From Scotland.’
Jessica lifted an eyebrow, her genetically inherited sense of humour unable to miss the opportunity for a bad joke. ‘Really?’ she said. ‘I didn’t know you and Scotland were such good friends.’
‘Jess … you’d put the old man into his grave with something as poor as that,’ Benjamin said, squeezing out a reluctant laugh. ‘From your grandfather in Scotland.’
‘What’s he doing there?’
‘Evading the police. And he told me he’s got a job over the Christmas season as the in-house comedian at a ski lodge.’
‘Do they have ski lodges in Scotland? I didn’t realise they had that much snow.’
‘Obviously his postcard didn’t contain much detail, but it seems they must do. Especially if they’re in a position to hire a professional comedian, even if he is ninety-two.’
‘Well, good luck to him.’
by 
Book Review: Horsing Around by Lexi Rees
Calling all pony fans!
This journal and activity book is bursting with pony-fuelled fun. Whether you’re preparing for your first lesson or out collecting rosettes every weekend, this book has everything you need.
✓ set your riding goals and track your progress
✓ record your best riding moments
✓ tackle the horsey games and puzzles
✓ test your equestrian knowledge
✓ giggle at the funniest horse jokes
✓ try the fun pony-themed arts and crafts
✓ save your precious pony memories
Can you complete all the challenges and become a riding superstar?
*****
I have become a big fan of Lexi Rees’s workbooks, journals, and fiction so I was delighted to be invited onto the one-day blog blitz for Horsing Around, a journal and activity book.
Horsing Around is packed with activities, trackers, to-do lists and planners relating to horses and ponies whether the child in your life is caring for one or just loves them.
With beautiful illustrations, it’s something I would have loved to have had as a child (even though I have never had access to a horse.)
It really gives the young horse lover in your life the chance to be creative especially as there are also colouring pages and ‘how-to’ for crafting projects.
by Upcoming Book Releases – November
I always like looking at upcoming book releases.
It could be that a premise of a book speaks to you and therefore, you discover a new author, or you could find out that your favourite writer is due to release a new novel.
Below are five novels that are due for release before the end of November. Which one gets your attention? I’d love to know in the comments.
The first one on my list is The Island We Left Behind by Kate Hewitt.
This is the fourth book in the Amherst Island series and is due to be released on 30th November by Bookouture.
I’m not familiar with this book series but this does sound like something I would love.
It’s New York, 1928. Ellen and Lucus have made the hard decision to leave Amherst Island behind for a new life – the island that’s so much a part of their history.
New York opens new opportunities including Lucus making money on the stock market. Ellen finds fulfilment as a mother.
When their son becomes ill, Ellen knows what she must do, even if it means being away from the man she loves and the new life they have begun to build.
Never Tell a Lie by Gail Schimmel is the next book on this list. It’s due to be published by Lake Union Publishing on 30th November 2021.
Again, this is another novel that sounds good and will be added to my TBR list.
After her marriage ends, Mary is happy. Her focus is on her twelve-year-old son.
However, when she finds an old postcard, it throws everything upside down.
She’s relieved when she has her high school reunion as a distraction and is even delighted when she reconnects with her old classmate, April.
As she forges a new bond with April, Mary finds herself drawn further into her friends’ life.
Is everything as perfect as it seems? Is her own past clouding her judgement or has she a reason to be distrustful?
Book three on this list is a new release by one of my favourite authors and I am looking forward to reading it.
Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult is due to be released this Thursday (25th November,) by Hodder & Stoughton.
Diana’s life is perfectly to plan. She’s 29, up for a promotion to her dream job at Sotheby’s and she’s convinced that her surgeon boyfriend, Finn is about to propose on an upcoming holiday.
Then the virus hits New York and Finn not only has to work, but the hospital also needs him to stay.
He convinces her to go on vacation without him. She reluctantly agrees.
Once she is there, the world then shuts down and Diana is stranded.
Isolated and getting only intermittent news, Diana starts to examine everything that has got her here.
But not everything is as it seems.
Mercy by David Baldacci is book four in the Atlee Pine series. It’s due to be released on 25th November by Macmillan. It sounds right up my street.
by Book Extract: The Custard Corpses by M J Porter
The Custard Corpses, a delicious 1940s mystery.
Birmingham, England, 1943.
While the whine of the air raid sirens might no longer be rousing him from bed every night, a two-decade-old unsolved murder case will ensure that Chief Inspector Mason of Erdington Police Station is about to suffer more sleepless nights.
Young Robert McFarlane’s body was found outside the local church hall on 30th September 1923. But, his cause of death was drowning, and he’d been missing for three days before his body was found. No one was ever arrested for the crime. No answers could ever be given to the grieving family. The unsolved case has haunted Mason ever since.
But, the chance discovery of another victim, with worrying parallels, sets Mason, and his constable, O’Rourke, on a journey that will take them back over twenty-five years, the chance to finally solve the case, while all around them the uncertainty of war continues, impossible to ignore.
M J Porter has kindly shared an extract from The Custard Corpses with us today so grab that tea and biscuit and enjoy!
***** beginning of extract*****
Chief Inspector Mason is about to meet the mother and father of the murdered boy whose case he thinks might be so similar to that of Robert McFarlane
Sam paused, watching the slow progress of the woman. She was so bent; it was almost as though her nose scraped the ground. He swallowed heavily, but perhaps this was too good an opportunity to miss. Especially as an upright man followed behind, his steps slow, but his eyes focused on Sam and Higham. It was evident he’d noticed their interest in the monument.
“Good day,” Sam took the initiative, startling the woman, if not the man.
“Who are you?” the man’s accent was rough, the sound like a stone being pulled over cobbles.
“My name’s Chief Inspector Mason, from Erdington Police Station.”
Two sets of tired eyes settled on him, and he knew whatever he said next might spark hope in them. Could he be so cruel when so much was as yet unknown?
Mrs McGovern puffed through her cheeks, and he noticed the fine hairs above her lip in an unwelcome flash of late sunlight. Her lip quivered, and in her hand, she clutched yet more bright red flowers for the graveside.
by Book Extract: Partner Pursuit by Kathy Strobos
When a workaholic lawyer meets a fun-loving music marketing executive for opposites attract, friends-to-lovers adventures, which partnership will she choose?
Workaholic lawyer Audrey Willems is not going to take any chances with her bid to become a partner at her New York law firm—especially with only six months until the decision.
Until she bumps into Jake—her new neighbor. Jake is a fun-loving music marketing executive who might just be The One.
He’s funny, caring, supportive—and able to kill water bugs in the bathroom.
But Jake will never date a woman married to her job. His father was a workaholic lawyer who never had time for family.
And she’s just got the case of a lifetime—the one she needs to win to make partner. Working 24/7 at the office may not even be enough hours to pull off a victory.
If only she had not met him now.
Audrey is determined to prove that she can juggle work and romance—even if managing court cases, candlelit dinners, and bike rides around Manhattan is a lot harder than it looks. She keeps canceling dates for yet another case crisis.
But when making partner is like a game of musical chairs and the last seat is a business-class alone, which partnership will she choose?
Kathy has shared an extract with us today. Enjoy.
*****beginning of extract*****
Excerpt: Pride & Prejudice
As they reached the green subway entrance in the traffic island in the middle of 72nd Street, Jake asked, “This is your subway, right? The daycare is over on West End Avenue a few blocks down, so we’ll make it in time.”
She nodded reluctantly.
“Say goodbye to Audrey,” he said to Luna.
Luna hugged her. Audrey loved those little arms holding onto her.
Then Luna said, “You should marry this one. Mommy says that if you marry, I might get cousins I can play with.”
by Book Club
