November sees my second book release of 2021. Following Book 2 of The Dark Harbour Tales that came out in May (Night Shines), comes something a little different… Fairytale of the Other New York is a contemporary romance set in my part of the world, the yellowbelly county of Lincolnshire.
Not far from where I live is a tiny village that shares its name with a famous American city, but our New York is the antithesis of that place where King Kong hung out. Yeah, there ain’t a lot there at all.
Why the change of genre? Well, why not? I’ve never been the best at fitting neatly in a box. Fairytale drew on a lot of personal experience: the rural life of my home county, the world of filmmaking, caring for an elderly relative with dementia. The themes of the book also sent me on a fascinating journey as I investigated what all my grandparents did in the Second World War. I share many of their wartime stories as an addendum. A feel-good festive story and a familial look at the war all in one book.
When London film critic Hazel Nightingale returned to her childhood home, she had not expected romance to be written in her stars. Hollywood are in town, shooting a war film in nearby Woodhall Spa, and Hazel signs up to be a background extra. Top of the bill is a movie star heartthrob, and serendipity sees him and Hazel drawn together again and again. It seems he’s taking a shine to her. But such fairytale romances don’t happen in this New York, do they?
