Archive for March 26th, 2010

Fleur O’Farrell thinks that she has a pretty great life. She’s got a little boutique in the sleepy Irish town of Lissamore that does very well, a wealthy boyfriend Corban who seems to dote on here, and wonderful friends in the Kinsella sisters Rio and Dervla. Dervla’s just enjoying her new marriage when suddenly her mother-in-law who suffers with dementia has to move in with them, and Dervla finds herself having to be her carer. She’s horrified at the things she has to do for the elderly lady, but gets on with it to please husband Christian.

Around them, the town of Lissamore has been transformed with the arrival of a movie set called The O’Hara Affair. Fleur’s boyfriend Corban has ploughed a lot of money into the project, and she’s happy because a lot of her friends have got jobs through it. But as the film progresses, dark secrets are revealed, and a young member of the cast finds herself in a situation she doesn’t know how to get out of. With everyone being taken in by the glitz and glamour of the film, have they lost sight of their own problems?

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This is a cover I’ve been waiting for for a while now and I’m pleased to say that it’s definitely lived up to my expectation. I’m a huge fan of Paige Toon’s books and I can’t wait for Pictures of Lily to be released on 8th July 2010. Isn’t the cover fab?

‘Will you marry me?’ I think of you, then. I think of you every day. But usually in the quietest part of the morning, or the darkest part of the night. Not when my boyfriend of two years has just proposed. I look up at Richard with his hopeful eyes. ‘Lily?’ he prompts. It’s been ten years, but it feels like only yesterday that you left. How can I say yes to Richard with all my heart when most of it has always belonged to you? I take a deep breath and will myself to speak…Ten years ago when Lily was just sixteen, she fell in love with someone she really shouldn’t have fallen in love with. Now, living in Sydney and engaged to another man, she can’t forget the one that got away. Then her past comes back to haunt her, and she has to make a decision that will break her heart - and the heart of at least one of the men who love her.

I absolutely loved Gemma Burgess’s debut novel The Dating Detox so when she offered us the chance of an exclusive sneak-peek to post to our readers, I jumped at the chance. If you haven’t yet read Gemma Burgess’s debut novel, then I ask you - why not? It’s fab, it’s funny and you’ll love it. Here’s Gem to introduce you to her extract of book two!

My first book, The Dating Detox, came out in January 2010, and the second is due out in December 2010. Book Deux still hasn’t got a confirmed title (The Dating Virgin? The Late Starter? The Bastardette? The Single Life? Ah, a thousand titles, and everyone has a different favourite, making a decision impossible – the basic premise: girl learns how to be single, rocks out). So it hasn’t got a cover, either. Those things are coming soon, I promise; the talented people at Harper Collins are in the book kitchen, cooking up something tasty. But as I’m dying to tell you about it, I thought an extract might be fun.

Love and other indoor sports,

Gem x

SNEAK PEEK! EXTRACT FROM THE SECOND BOOK BY GEMMA BURGESS

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