Guest Post & Giveaway - Writing Competition by Rachel Dove - Chances Fortnight

In 2015, I was a very stressed parent. My youngest son was struggling at home and at school, and I was convinced he had sensory issues. School were ringing on a near daily basis, my nights were filled with night terrors, juggling uni work and planning and marking for my teaching classes. I was working seven days a week, and although I was managing to juggle all the balls, I wasn't happy. Childcare costs were expensive, and my boys were struggling to stay in school for eight hours a day. Add in hospital appointments and helping my husband with his business, and it was all a bit too much at times.

I was writing, but it wasn't a regular thing, and I was frustrated by that too. I was due to complete my teaching qualification but still had my degree to finish and I loved my teaching job, but felt like I wasn't giving either job (teacher, mother) my best. 

2015 was the year of change for me. The first chance I took was entering the Prima magazine and Mills & Boon competition, which meant putting my submission out there into the world to go up against other hopefuls. I have entered lots of competitions over the years, but never placed anywhere before. When I won, I knew it was my chance. I always wanted to be a teacher and an author when I was a child, and I felt like I had ticked the teacher box, but now it was my turn to go for the author opportunity. 

I finished my teaching sessions and wrote The Chic Boutique on Baker Street over the summer. In December 2015, I handed my notice in to my teaching job and took the children out of childcare. 
Now, my weeks are a lot less stressful. I write full time, so I take the boys to school, run any errands I have and then write. I limit my social media a lot, because it is a huge time suck, but I do love to read blogs, and chat online with readers, blogger and authors. I have written two books since Jan 2016, and am now onto a new one. I also won the Writers Bureau Writer of the Year Award in 2016, and have had short stories published overseas. 

I work in school time, evenings and weekends, and when I am on deadline things get a bit hectic, but taking the chance to go self employed is the best thing I ever did. When the children are in high school, I will probably go back to teaching part time, as I miss it sometimes, but I love being my own boss. My house is a lot cleaner too! I am there to see my kids every day, and whilst they both have sensory issues, they are doing so much better. 

I firmly believe that we are here once in this life, so we have to go for what we want in life. Chase the dream, and make it happen. I have signed up to do my MA in Creative Writing in October too, so I need to get some more writing done to pay for it! 

This sounds all me me me, but the point I am making I guess is, that we read (and write) stories about men and women who run off to start new lives, have children, start new businesses, leave bad relationships, get over losses and find peace. We root for the character to dump the love cheat, to go for that course, or career, or dream life, but yet sometimes we are not happy in our own real lives. So perhaps our characters could inspire us to take that leap, chase that dream, and make those goals. I haven't looked back, and I can't wait to see what the future holds. 

Hopefully a lot more books! 

I know I am delighted that you took that chance Rachel, as I loved The Chic Boutique on Baker Street.

Giveaway to Win a signed copy of The Chic Boutique on Baker Street (UK Only)

In the spirit of taking Chances, Rachel Dove would love you all to take a chance and enter this giveaway to win a signed copy of her debut novel, The Chic Boutique on Baker Street, and hopes you will take a chance on a new author. 

Giveaway open to UK Only, all options are voluntary, but please do what they ask, as I will be verifying the winner. Giveaway closes 23:59 20/06/2017. Winner will be announced on twitter and emailed, and they will need to reply within 7 days, or forfeit the prize, and I will re-draw for a new winner.  Good luck everyone.

Win a signed copy of The Chic Boutique on Baker Street (UK Only)

About Rachel Dove

Rachel Dove is a former adult education teacher living in West Yorkshire with her husband and two lively boys. She is the winner of the Prima and Mills & Boon Flirty Fiction Competition 2015, which is the culmination of a lifetime of scribbling in notepads. Her debut traditionally published book, The Chic Boutique on Baker Street, reached #2 on the rural life humour chart and has been in the top #100 of the chart for a full year. Her story and work has been featured in magazines UK and abroad, newspapers and on the radio and she also won The Writers Bureau Writer of the Year Award 2017 and featured in their national ad campaign.

In between school runs and studying, Rachel writes romantic fiction novels and horror shorts with Inkslingers UK, with the proceeds going to cancer charities. Her next novel in the Westfield series is out this year and she is currently writing her fifth book. In her spare time she reads voraciously, binges on Netflix and feeds her zombie obsession.

https://www.facebook.com/RachelDoveauthor/

https://twitter.com/WriterDove

https://racheldoveauthor.wordpress.com/

Guest Post & Giveaway - Embracing Hygge by Rachel Dove - #CuteChristmas

I am going to shock you now, and tell you that Christmas is not my favourite season. I do love it, eventually, but I have to be dragged kicking and screaming into my woolly jumpers and eggnog chasers. 

I in fact, have a Christmas novel all planned out for my future writing schedule about a girl who..er...hates Christmas. I just never feel in the mood to write it, so the poor grump gets pushed to the bottom of the pile. 

This Christmas, I have decided to embrace Hygge. I now work from home as a writer full time, so I am going to embrace the season. Candles, throws, blankets (I do love blankets, year round) and all the twinkly, calm lights I can throw at my house. I shall channel my inner calm, and enjoy the festive period, and the run up. The run up is usually the part I don't like, with the dark nights and the cold right up there on my hit list. 

Christmas itself I love, for many many reasons, including gingerbread lattes ha ha! Although I love summer, when I am sat in the warmth of my house, family and fur babies curled up next to me, I shall be enjoying the season, and all that entails. Once the shopping is done, the journeys have been undertaken, and school and work are done, that's when I really love Christmas. 

And soon, next summer perhaps, when I am sat barelegged on a sunlounger in my garden, I shall write the story of the girl who doesn't like Christmas, and perhaps even she will learn to love it.

Enjoy the season everyone! 

To be in with a chance of winning a signed copy of The Chic Boutique on Baker Street read on!

Twitter @writerdove

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Thank you so much Rachel for explain what Hygge is, I keep seeing it mentioned online and never knew! 

Giveaway to Win a signed copy of The Chic Boutique on Baker Street (UK Only)

Rachel Dove has kindly donated a signed copy of The Chic Boutique on Baker Street for one lucky winner. 

Giveaway open to UK only, all options are voluntary, but please do what they ask, as I will be verifying the winner. Giveaway closes 23:59 3/1/2017. Winner will be announced on twitter and emailed, and they will need to reply within 7 days, or forfeit the prize, and I will re-draw for a new winner.  Good luck everyone.

Win a signed copy of The Chic Boutique on Baker Street (UK Only)

Book Review - The Chic Boutique on Baker St. by Rachel Dove - Rachel Reads Randomly Vote #28

Amazon UK

Title: The Chic Boutique on Baker St

Author: Rachel Dove

Format reviewed: Paperback

Source: Purchased

Publisher: Mills & Boon

Publication Date: 21st April 2016

Rating: 4.5 Stars

The perfect escape to the country…

Recently single and tired of the London rat race Amanda is determined to make her dreams of setting up an idyllic countryside boutique come true, and the picturesque village of Westfield is the perfect place to
make a fresh start.

Local vet Ben is the golden boy of Westfield, especially to resident gossip Agatha Mayweather, who is determined to help Ben get his life back together after his wife left.

When a chance encounter outside the ‘chic boutique’ sets sparks flying between Amanda and Ben, Agatha is itching to set them up. But are Amanda and Ben really ready for romance?

You can tell I'm a Londoner, when I first spotted this book, I was convinced based on the title that it would be about a chic clothes boutique on the famous Baker Street (home of Sherlock Holmes), and when I saw the town was Westfield, all I could think of were the two large shopping centres of that name. 

Regardless I am delighted to say that once I started the book (and read the blurb properly), I realised that I couldn't be more wrong, and that in fact Westfield is a delightful countryside village and Baker St just happens to be the name of the street where Amanda has bought a shop, after her life in London went wrong. 

The boutique in question is called A New Lease of Life and sells shabby chic items, home made items, and things that have been upcycled. However what really makes this book the brilliant story that it is, are "The Ladies". 

"The Ladies" are a group of good intention meddling women in the village, who are determined to matchmake Amanda, with the local vet, coming up with all sorts of relatively obvious schemes to get the pair together, with generally not fantastic consequences! 

With a great group of personalities as well as a keen eye for scheming, they also launch a campaign to save the local town hall, while using Amanda's shop as a base, under the guise of a craft club.  There are lots of crafty mentions, and at least one of them is always knitting, no matter what the situation is. 

I am incredibly impressed that this is a debut novel, although with the clear talent Rachel Dove possesses it is clear why she won the Prima Prize and this publishing deal. I am eagerly looking forward to see what else this author will write. 

The Chic Boutique on Baker St is a very easy read, and will have you smiling and enjoying yourself as you read it. I loved the book, and would love the various pets for myself, including Darcy, Pinky and Perky (and I'm not mentioning what animals any of those are!). 

Thank you to everyone that voted two weeks ago. It was a tie and I picked this one from the winning books, purely because Sheryl Browne voted for it, instead of her own book, and that the cover was staring at me from the pile as its so colourful. For everyone that said its great, I evidently agree, and I'm glad this didn't stay languishing in my TBR for ages. I as always look forward to seeing what you will pick for me this week. 

Funday Friday - Truth or Lie? - Rachel Dove - Month 1 Week 1

Welcome to the first ever edition of Truth of Lie. My name is Rachel and I will be your host, for this exciting new game show. Each Friday, I will have one contestant, and they will be answering 14 questions. There is of course one small twist, 

For three of the answers, they have to lie. It is your task as the viewer to guess which three answers are lies. You are allowed 3 guesses and I want them posted into the comments field. 

Every 4 weeks, I will close the guessing, count up how many correct answers each of you has, and create a leaderboard. 

Anyone who is top of the leaderboard, will go into a draw for a paperback of the winners choice (open internationally). 

Please do include a way for me to contact you (email or twitter or similar), so that I can let you know if you have won. 

The weekend after a 4 week period closes, not only will I produce a leaderboard, and announce a winner, I will also let you know into the true answers, and which were the lies.  

Closing date for the first month is 11pm on 19th May 2016. 

So without further ado, let's meet today's contestant. 

Good morning Rachel Dove, please tell me a little bit about yourself

I am a wife and mother living in Yorkshire, with a cat and dog who don't particularly like each other, two boys who never seem to sleep, and a husband who holds us all together. I used to teach adults, but I now write full time in between school runs, errands, and time spent under blanket forts reading books and stitching. I write romantic fiction, and last year I won the Prima and Mills & Boon Flirty Fiction Competition, changing my life forever. The Chic Boutique on Baker Street is out on 21st April 2016, and I can't wait for you all to meet the characters!
Congratulations on winning Rachel, and wish you every success with the new book.  

Now onto the show, and remember everyone, Rachel hasn't been entirely truthful with three of these answers, so it is up to you to guess which ones they are (only 3 guesses per person though). 

1) Who is your favourite author?

If I absolutely had to pick one, I would have to say Emily Bronte, the writer of my favourite book, Wuthering Heights. 

2) What book do you wish you had written?

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Love those books. Katniss Everdeen is who I want to be when I grow up.

3) Tell me about any really memorable dream or nightmare you have had

 I used to be terrified of the Thriller video from Michael Jackson. I used to have pretty terrible nightmares about the zombies when I was little, and I still can't bear to listen to the music.

4) What was your most memorable holiday ever?

Before we had children, Peter (my husband and I) went on holiday with family to Lanzarote. It was a fantastic holiday, and we were undergoing fertility treatment before we left, and I came back pregnant! I always tell Book Worm, my eldest, now 8, that we were going to call him Lanzarote Dove, like Brooklyn Beckham. He is always suitably horrified. 

5) If you could be an animal what would you be and why?

My favourite animal ever is an elephant, so that would be amazing. I love how graceful they are for their size. An elephant or a pet owned by me. Max the dog and Tilly the cat do nothing but sleep, eat and get pampered!

6) If you could be a fruit, what would you be and why?

A strawberry. Love them, and they make me think of Wimbledon, of summer. I used to pick them as a child with my grandparents, lovely memories.

7) What is the most annoying interview question you have ever been asked?

If you could be a fruit, what would you be and why? Ha ha!

8) Do you consider yourself to be an angel or a devil?

I used to be a devil, I was a bit of a wild one in my yoof! I did all kinds of jobs too, from nightclub manager to advertising sales for a newspaper. I am an angel now though, I like a nice quiet life, and I love every minute. Bring on the PJs and the woolly socks!

9) Besides reading, which I am guessing is a given, what other hobbies do you have?

I am a bit of an adrenalin junkie, so I tend to spend a few weekends a year out there white water rafting, abseiling etc. I am yet to try base jumping. 

10) If you could only look at one view for the rest of eternity, what or where would you like to be to see this view?

Tom Hardy's bedroom window, in a tree, with a stack of books (for when he goes out or sleeps) and a flask of tea. 

11) Who is the most important person in the world to you?

Aside from my kids, which is a given, I would have to say my husband. He knows me better than I know myself, scarily so at times, and he is my biggest champion. He silences my moaning and talks me off the ledge. He makes me belly laugh, and I love him to bits. 

12) Can you let us in on an embarrassing secret?

I like to watch You Tube videos of pimple popping and blackhead zapping, late at night when everyone else is in bed. I know it's gross, but I can't help it. I love them. 

13) If you won the lottery, how would you spend the money?

I would buy a place in the country with space for animals, see my family are looked after, and do some good with the rest. Plenty of charities out there needing help. A bursary for new writers would be pretty useful out there, I am sure. 

14) What are you most scared of?

Not much scares me to be honest, it's more the things not done that keeps me up at night. You get one life, so you have to get out there and do what you want to do. 

Thank you Rachel, for being our first contestant. I'm really sorry about the fruit question and yuck what a disgusting embarrassing secret, I suggest you keep that to yourself in future! 

I hope you have enjoyed this first edition of Truth or Lie? I will be back next week with another episode, and in the mean time...

Don't forget to guess the lies, to be in with a chance of a prize! 

Amazon UK

Rachel Dove can also be found on Twitter. 

Promo - The Chic Boutique on Baker Street by Rachel Dove - Blog Tour

Genre: romantic fiction

Release Date: 21st April 2016

Publisher:  Mills & Boon

The perfect escape to the country…

Recently single and tired of the London rat race Amanda is determined to make her dreams of setting up an idyllic countryside boutique come true, and the picturesque village of Westfield is the perfect place to make a fresh start.

Local vet Ben is the golden boy of Westfield, especially to resident gossip Agatha Mayweather, who is determined to help Ben get his life back together after his wife left.

When a chance encounter outside the ‘chic boutique’ sets sparks flying between Amanda and Ben, Agatha is itching to set them up. But are Amanda and Ben really ready for romance?

The Chic Boutique on Baker Street is the debut novel from Rachel Dove, winner of The Prima Flirty Fiction Competition. You won’t be able to resist this heart-warming romantic story set in an idyllic Yorkshire village, full of lovable characters and laugh-out-loud moments…as Amanda finds her way to a second chance at life and love. This is the reading escape you’ve been looking for!

BUY LINKS

AMAZON UK

WH SMITH

WATERSTONES

About Rachel Dove

Rachel Louise Dove is a mum of two from Yorkshire. She has always loved writing and has a had previous success as a self-published author. Rachel is the winner of the Mills & Boon Flirty Fiction competition

Her first novel, Crossing Life Lines is out now in Kindle and paperback format.

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