Book Extract & Giveaway: Mysteries at Sea: The Royal Jewel Plot by A.M. Howell
I am so happy to be welcoming A.M. Howell back to Novel Kicks with the blog tour for her latest novel, Mysteries at Sea: The Royal Jewel Plot.
Alice and Sonny are excited for their summer trip, sailing on the luxurious yacht the Lady Rose. They’re even more excited when they find out the King of England is going to be onboard too!
There’s also a precious jewel on the boat – a rare opal, kept in a tank protected by a poisonous octopus.
Until one morning, Alice discovers that the opal and octopus are both missing. The search is on to retrieve the priceless gem, before the ship reaches its destination, and everyone on board finds themselves in serious trouble.
As Alice and Sonny’s investigations take them closer to the truth, they realise that everyone on the Lady Rose seems to have a secret, maybe even the king himself…
You have a chance to win a copy of Mysteries at Sea: Peril on the Atlantic (book one in the series), below but first, A.M. Howell has shared an extract from Mysteries at Sea: The Royal Jewel Plot. We hope you enjoy.
*****beginning of extract*****
Chapter One
The Lady Rose
Alice glanced at her watch in dismay. They were going to be late for the king’s arrival! Tightening her grip on her suitcase as she hurried along the hot, dusty street, her head was full of the summer storms, landslides and train delays that had hindered their journey from England to the small port of Ăibenik on the Yugoslavian coast. A journey that should have taken two days had instead taken four.
by 
Book Extract: How To Start A Riot In A Brothel In Thailand By Ordering A Beer And Other Lesser Known Travel Tips by Simon Yeats
I’m pleased to be welcoming Simon Yeats to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for his book, How To Start A Riot In A Brothel In Thailand By Ordering A Beer And Other Lesser Known Travel Tips.
Book 1 of a hilarious series of travel misadventures and dubious personal introspection by Australian author Simon Yeats, who from an early age learned that the best way to approach the misfortunes of this world is to laugh about it.
Simon shares his comedic insights into the unusual and uproarious elements of living life as an Aussie ex-pat and having a sense of Wanderlust as pervasive as the Spanish Flu in 1918.
From how to keep yourself entertained when unwittingly forced to watch 11 hours of live sumo wrestling in Japan, to surviving heartbreak in India at the hands of a French flight attendant, to 48 hours spent in Nepal that qualify as the funniest most gut wrenching travel experience since Captain Bligh was set adrift in the Pacific, to his unsuccessful attempts at avoiding going to a brothel in Thailand.
Simon Yeats has gone into the world and experienced all the out of the ordinary moments for you to sit back and enjoy the experience without the need to break a leg or rupture a pancreas.
There’s a chance to win a set of all Three Books in Simon Yeats Lesser Known travel tips series in paperback and one set in ePub format below but first Simon has shared an extract from How To Start A Riot In A Brothel In Thailand By Ordering A Beer And Other Lesser Known Travel Tips. We hope you enjoy.
Content warning: Language
*****beginning of extract*****
If there is any unfulfilled wish in my life, and there is still a chance it could be fulfilled, it is this. This wish is for my old all boys’ high school in Brisbane to invite me to come and speak at the end-of-year graduation ceremony. Speech night, as we call it in Australia.
At these events, every guest speaker in history has droned on for 45 minutes about their achievements and accomplishments in business and how the current crop of graduating seniors is now ready to step out into the world and work their fingers to the bone to reach that same level of success in their lives.
I do not know why we did not just video tape the guy who spoke in my graduating year and replay that speech on a big screen every November after. It is always the same story. The same message. The same, do the same as every person who has gone before you has done.
But I am thinking of being a little different.
Prior to my speech, in front of alumni, parents, and students of my alma mater, the headmaster would cordially introduce me.
“I would like to introduce a former pupil who has gone on to achieve exactly zero success in his particular field of endeavor but who has graciously agreed to address us all tonight,” the headmaster would announce eloquently.
by Book Extract: Floored by Chrissie Harrison
I’m so pleased to be welcoming Chrissie Harrison to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for Floored.
FLOORED is a charming romantic comedy guaranteed to give you a lift.
Hannah and Drew work in the same office.
Hannah and Drew use the same elevator.
Hannah and Drew aren’t looking for love.
They haven’t even met.
Yet something is happening…
Amiable TV production accountant Drew has turned his back on love after the death of his fiancée, an incident which cemented his longstanding elevatophobia. When Drew moves towns and jobs for a fresh start, he hears a voice in the office lift telling him to “be careful”.
Is it his fevered imagination, the ghost of his fiancée, or someone playing a cruel prank? Quickly, he becomes desperate, foolish… and unexpectedly smitten.
Sweet and sassy Hannah wouldn’t mind finding love, but keeps choosing the wrong boyfriends. Her innate social anxiety, deepened by bad experiences with a preying boss, is a huge barrier to dating anyone new.
Yet, to expose her boss’ antics, she needs to be lucky as well as smart. However, talking to a sweet but hapless co-worker isn’t the answer… is it? After all, she could never imagine meeting him in person.
When Drew discovers the adorable girl behind the voice, a relationship blossoms alongside a shared determination to bring justice to their workplace, risking everything.
Will their daring plan succeed or will it jeopardize the happiness they’ve found with each other?
If you’re in the UK, there’s a chance to win a copy of Floored below. Chrissie has also shared an extract with us today. We hope you enjoy.
Content warning: Mention of Drugs.
*****beginning of extract*****
Our sweet but hapless MC, Drew, has been hearing a voice in the office lift. Desperate to discover who’s behind it, he goes to subtly quiz the CEO Kevin’s PA, Lotus.
He has a crazy notion that Lotus fancies him – crazy because she’s out of his league. However, she is the best candidate, and Drew is oddly protective of her, especially as the CEO seems to be suspected of sexual harassment around the building.
*****
At ten thirty, Drew strolled down one floor to Kevin Yates’ office like he didn’t have a care in the world. Inside, he was a bag of nerves.
Yates wasn’t really a “management by visibility” CEO. He was more of a “Friday is for golf” guy. Thanks to that stellar dedication to helming Park Productions, Lotus should be alone in the CEO’s anteroom.
She was. He took a deep breath. In for a penny.
by Book Extract: In the Shadow of War by Adrienne Chinn
Please join me in welcoming Adrienne Chinn to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her novel, In the Shadow of War.
One war may be over, but their fight for survival continues…
For sisters Etta, Jessie and Celie Fry, the Great War and the hardships of the years that followed have taken a heavy toll.
Determined to leave her painful past behind her, Etta heads to the bright lights of Hollywood whilst Jessie, determined to train as a doctor and use her skills to help others, is hampered by the men who dominate her profession. On the vast, empty plains of the Canadian prairies, Celie and her small family stand on the brink of losing everything.
As whispers of a new war make their way to each sister, each must face the possibility of the unthinkable happening again…
Adrienne has shared an extract from her novel with us today. We hope you enjoy it.
*****beginning of extract*****
The following excerpt from In the Shadow of War, takes place in July 1936 in Barcelona, Spain, where middle Fry sister, Dr Jessie Fry Khalid, has joined her journalist friend, Ruth Bellico, for a short holiday before continuing on to London to join her daughter, Shani, at her mother’s. The People’s Olympiad is about to begin, and tourists and journalists have arrived in the city to attend, oblivious to the storm of war about to break throughout the country.
*****
Hotel Colon, Plaça de Catalunya, Barcelona
Late that night, after an evening wandering with Ruth down the long pedestrian street of La Rambla past shops and buildings festooned with the red flags of the socialists, the red and black flags of the anarchists, and posters announcing the Olympiad, and chatting with tourists in the queues for the food stalls hawking golden tortilla de patatas, crunchy croquettes with creamy centres, or plates of crispy fried potatoes topped with spicy tomato sauce or garlic mayonnaise, Jessie stirs sleeplessly in the comfortable bed in her hotel room. She kicks off the sheet and wanders over to the glazed doors which she has left open in the hope of catching a breeze to cool the oppressive heat.
The night is moonless, and stars glitter in the black sky. In the plaza below, there is silence, the tourists sleeping off the evening’s beers, cavas, vermouths and sangrias. Despite the buzz of excitement in the air, she couldn’t help but notice the way La Rambla split the city in two – the medieval Gothic Quarter on the east side, with its towering churches and elegant hotels, restaurants, shops and clubs; and the shacks and tenements of the working class section of El Raval on the west side.
The tourists and athletes carried a thrum of excitement with them, but beyond that, leftist street corner orators espoused their beliefs, while locals debated the reports and rumours filtering into the city from the south. She’d experienced that same nervous energy before on the streets of Cairo. It had always been the precursor to violence. That energy was like a djinni released from a magic lamp. Once it had escaped, there was no getting it back in the lamp.
#
by Book Extract: Dying To Bake by Helen Golden
I’m pleased to be welcoming Helen Golden to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her novel, Dying To Bake.
Bake Off Wars is back! Get your aprons on and let the sleuthing begin!
Vera Bolt, Queen of Bakes, dies unexpectedly aged 66
In a shocking announcement this afternoon, Vera Bolt’s agent confirmed that the Bake Off Wars judge and national treasure died yesterday. Ms Bolt was in the process of filming the next series of the hugely popular television show at Francis Court, the home of the King’s sister and her family. It’s believed that the renowned pastry chef was stabbed in the heart, and the main suspect is rumoured new royal girlfriend, Summer York.
What am I supposed to do? Lady Beatrice has promised DCI Richard Fitzwilliam that she won’t get involved in the investigation into Vera Bolt’s death. But when her brother’s new love interest, Summer York, becomes the top suspect for Vera’s murder, Fred begs Bea to find out who the real killer is. In a race against time, can Bea navigate a labyrinth of secrets and lies, evade danger, and safeguard her friendship with Fitzwilliam? The answer may determine not only Summer’s innocence but also the fate of Bea’s and Fitzwilliam’s burgeoning feelings for each other.
Helen has shared an extract with us today. We hope you enjoy it.
*****beginning of extract*****
The hugely popular television show Bake Off Wars is being filmed on site at Francis Court and everyone is buzzing. Everyone, that is, except for amateur royal sleuth Lady Beatrice who is more interested in overseeing the refurbishment of her home, The Dower House. In contrast her best friend and business partner, Perry Juke, is gossip central when it comes to the show. But all is not well on set. Following the exit at the end of last season of the well-liked judge, Mark Jacobs, the remaining judge and national treasure, Vera Bolt, has been making herself unpopular with her critical snipes at both the crew and the new presenters. Insiders report that tensions are running high, and the atmosphere is toxic.
After Vera Bolt was found on set stabbed to death, Bea is confident that Detective Chief Inspector Richard Fitzwilliam, who is recuperating in a cottage on the estate after being shot during their previous case together, will be assigned to the case. She gets a call to come and ‘meet’ the DCI assigned to the case and assumes it’s Rich playing a little joke on her, but when she gets there it’s not Rich…
*****
Daisy, seeing a new person, rushed over to greet him, but he carried on walking, not even acknowledging the little dog. Bea frowned. What sort of person ignores a dog who wants to say hello? She lifted her chin and stiffened. Studying the stocky man in front of her, she realised he looked familiar. Hold on, isn’t he the surly sergeant who investigated the failure of the security system at The Dower House a couple of months before James died? She remembered him because, after he’d left, she and James had joked that he looked more like a criminal than a PaIRS officer, with his very short hair, bulging muscles, and a menacing scowl on his face.
by Book Club
