Today, Karen King drops by on her Blog Tour for her new novel, The Cornish Hotel by the Sea, to talk holiday reading...
Me: Hi Karen, The Cornish Hotel by the Sea sounds like an ideal holiday read. Can you tell us a little about it?
Karen: Ellie Truman’s widowed mum is struggling to keep Gwel Teg, the family hotel in Cornwall, afloat. Ellie is determined to do everything in her power to help her, even if that means moving back to the sleepy Cornish village she fled from broken-hearted a few years ago. Things go wrong from the start and she’s grateful for the help from hunky guest, Reece Mitchell. But does Reece have ulterior motives? Will Ellie’s efforts be for nothing?
Me: Definitely a book I'll be reading on the beach this summer.
What are your holiday plans for this year?
Karen: We’ve just got back from Spain, we’ve spent the last three holidays there, in the Costa del Sol region. I love the sugar cube houses built up the mountains, the spectacular views, the tang of the citrus trees, the luscious valleys and the calm, warm sea. My favourite place is Mijas Pueblo high in the mountains but I hate the narrow winding roads with barely-there barriers leading you up to it – I have to cover my eyes! The scenery is breath-taking and the people are so friendly. We love Spain and are planning on moving there soon, but we won’t be living in a house up the mountains!
Me: What is your favourite place to go on holiday?
Karen: In the UK it’s definitely Cornwall. It’s such a beautiful place, especially when the sun is out. I holidayed in Cornwall for years, and then lived there for almost a decade, in a bungalow ten minutes walk from the sea. Writing The Cornish Hotel by the Sea brought back so many happy memories. My favourite places were St Ives, Falmouth and Penzance. I’ll never forget being on a driving lesson in Penzance and driving down the seafront with the waves so high they were crashing over the wall and showering the car. It was a spectacular sight and very scary.
Me: What was your most memorable holiday?
Karen: If you asked me what was the most memorable place I’d been to I’d say Venice, as I was fascinated by it. It’s so picturesque with the houses rising majestically out of the water, and the numerous bridges straddling the canals.
I’ve had a few memorable holidays, there was Crete, where my now-husband proposed on a day trip to Santorini five years ago, and Mexico where we spent our honeymoon – which coincided with the ‘Day of the Dead’ celebrations and we often saw ‘skeleton’ bride and grooms in the shops and streets. So many happy memories.
But the most memorable holiday has to be Tunisia in June 2015, and not for happy reasons. We stayed in Sousse and often frequented the Port El Kantaoui area as we loved the town and the beautiful fountain there. We’d wanted to stay for two weeks but could only do one week because I had to come back to run a writing course. We had such a lovely time we didn’t want to leave. Imagine our horror the day after we returned home to hear of the terror attack where holidaymakers were shot and killed, in the very area we used to visit. It really shook us up and we were so grateful that we’d had to go home earlier than we wanted because we might have been caught up in that terrible event. It still gives me goose-bumps when I think about it.
Me: What are you planning to read on holiday this year?
Karen: I usually load a few romance novels on my kindle before I go away, and take one paperback to read on the plane. One of my favourite authors is Mandy Baggot and I’m planning to take her new release Single for the Summer (released 27 July) with me this year.
Me: Thank you for dropping by today, Karen. Enjoy the rest of The Cornish Hotel by the sea's blog tour.
A member of the Romantic Novelists' Association, the Society of Authors and the Society of Women Writers and Journalists, Karen King writes sassy, fun, heart-warming romance. The Cornish Hotel by the Sea is her second chicklit for Accent Press, her first – I do?... or do I? was published last year and there is another one in the process of publication. In addition, Accent Press have republished her earlier romance novels, The Millionaire Plan and Never Say Forever.
Karen has also written several short stories for women’s magazines and had 120 children's books published.
When she isn’t writing, Karen likes travelling, watching the ‘soaps’ and reading. Give her a good book and a box of chocolates and she thinks she’s in Heaven.
To purchase The Cornish Hotel by the Sea, please click on the links below, or copy and paste into your browser
Amazon:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B072275N5V/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1492527947&sr=1-1&keywords=cornish+hotel+by+the+sea&linkCode=sl1&tag=accentpress-21&linkId=35a6a696caa883a9fe825b75f94b0a3c
Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-cornish-hotel-by-the-sea/karen-king/9781786150714
W. H. Smiths: https://www.whsmith.co.uk/products/the-cornish-hotel-by-the-sea/9781786150714
To find out more about Karen and her writing visit...
Website: http://www.karenking.net/
Twitter: @karen_king
Karen King Romance Author Facebook Page
Karen King Young Adult Books Facebook Page
Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/karenkingauthor/
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