by Sue Watson
With her daughter Sophie going travelling, Laura knows the time is right to do something for herself for a change. One disastrous Zumba class later and Laura ends up at the feet (literally) of gorgeous dance instructor Tony Hernandez.
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A natural dancer and inspiring teacher, Tony rekindles in Laura a passion she inherited from her ballroom dancer father – and with it comes a dream… to make him proud.
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But when Tony enters them to perform at the National Dance Festival, can Laura’s new-found confidence survive the test? And with a once-in-a-lifetime chance to learn Flamenco in Spain, could Laura truly learn to dance like nobody’s watching… and love like she’ll never get hurt?
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Available now!
The Christmas Cake Cafe
Heart-warming and hilarious, a story that will make you laugh, cry and bring a smile to your face. Get ready for another deliciously amazing Christmas treat from Sue Watson….
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Available here!
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As the Prosecco chills and Bing Crosby croons, Jen Barker just knows that her long-term boyfriend is about to propose. But instead of a diamond ring nestled in her champagne flute, Jen finds cold flat rejection. Her once perfect life and dreams of a husband and family seem even further from reach.
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A working holiday to the Swiss Alps with her younger sister Jody might not be the Christmas Jen had it mind, but it offers her the chance to recharge her batteries and recover from heartbreak.
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When Jen meets handsome ski instructor Jon Zutter her hopes for a happy-ever-after seem within her grasp again. Jon is kind and gorgeous and as they bond over Sachetorte at the picturesque Cake Café, Jen thinks he might just be her perfect man. But a relationship with him comes with a catch – and there are some things even cake can’t fix.
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As the snow falls and Christmas approaches, could this be the place that restores Jen Barker’s faith in love?
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Get it here!
Acknowledgements
As someone who’s written twelve humorous books, often involving love, laughter and cake, I have, at times had a little ache to write something darker. In my previous novels I’ve sometimes tried to ‘kill off’ a character or turn a summery romance into something a little darker, only to have my editor tactfully suggest that violent deaths and sinister leading men don’t sit easily with love, laughter and cake. So when I offered the idea for this novel to my editor Isobel Akenhead, I was delighted that she loved it and wanted to publish it. Therefore I’d like to offer my eternal thanks to Isobel for her wonderful enthusiasm and for showing great faith in allowing this romcom writer with a cake obsession to unleash her dark side.
Big thanks to the Bookouture team, and as always Oliver Rhodes, who turned my writing dream into a career. Thanks to Claire Bord for listening, Jade Craddock for her forensic copy-editing and Kim Nash and Noelle Holten as always, for their amazing hard work in getting our stories out there. A special thank you to Kim for encouraging me to take the plunge into darkness and for helping me in her own rather magical way, to make it happen.
Huge thanks to my expert legal team, Glyn and Jan Newbold who talked me through knotty plot twists, legal issues, and police procedures. They went above and beyond the call of duty providing invaluable guidance and performing a dramatic reconstruction of murder after several bottles of red wine late into the night. Any mistakes are all my own. Thanks also to Jackie Swift, who cast sharp eyes over an early version of the novel, and along with discovering many of my errors, provided extensive and valuable feedback. Her insight has benefitted the novel greatly. Thanks also to Sarah Robinson for reading an early version, spotting those mistakes and most importantly – not guessing the end! I am truly blessed to have such kind, supportive and clever friends.
Thanks also to my medical ‘team’, Dave Watson, for helping talk me through the appropriate diagnoses, drugs and dosages over beers and burgers – again, any mistakes are all my own.
Hugs and thanks to my girls Lesley Mcloughlin, Sharon Beswick, Louise Bagley, Alison Birch and Kat Everett – you all rock.
Thanks to my mum, who always tells me ‘you can do it,’ and to my husband Nick, who came up with such brilliant, twisted ideas on how to commit a murder that I’ll be cancelling my life insurance immediately!
And finally, thanks to my daughter Eve who shares my passion for trashy true crime TV, and serial killer thrillers, and inspired me to write my own.
Published by Bookouture in 2018
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An imprint of StoryFire Ltd.
Carmelite House
50 Victoria Embankment
London EC4Y 0DZ
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www.bookouture.com
Copyright © Sue Watson, 2018
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Sue Watson has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work.
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.
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eBook ISBN: 978-1-78681-749-5
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.