Hi everyone, we hope you’re all doing okay with all the current turmoil and upheaval to our everyday lives. Welcome to this new blog ‘Comfort Reads’. Throughout the cooler months we’ll be inviting members to come share with us their favourite comfort book and their favourite spot to relax, call their own, to retreat and escape the chill of the cooler months and the madness of the world.
Today, we’re joind by four RWA member authors, currently gearing up for the release of their dash of romance Historical Anthology ‘Easter Promises’. Welcome Sarah, Ava, Nancy and Clare, who can’t wait to share with you their favourite comfort read.
Sarah Fiddelaers
My go to for easy, snuggle up binge reading is Georgette Heyer. Fredrica, Arabella, The Unknown Ajax and False Colours are my favourites. For a serious, sink my teeth, heart and soul into the book read, then it is Pride and Prejudice. I’ve got a beautiful little gilt-edged, palm sized edition with sweet illustrations sketched between the chapters.
I like to bunker down under a blanket on the deep leather arm chair in the corner of the lounge with a lamp over my left shoulder and a wall of windows opposite looking out onto my garden. There’s also usually children crawling all over me wanting to look at all the sketches and asking endless questions about the finer points of the etiquette of nineteenth century courtships. But one day all the armchairs will be full, not just mine and hopefully there will be enough copies of Pride and Prejudice to go around.
Ava January
My favourite comfort read is Jill Mansell’s Staying at Daisy’s. I bought this for a holiday read in 2011 and reread it yearly. It’s a warm, funny, frothy English ‘chick-lit’ book set in a country house hotel and reminds me of my time working in similar places while on my big OE in my youth (with less drunkenness and better clothes).
There is nowhere more comforting than curling up in my soft, warm bed on a blustery day – Heaven is a quiet house, a good book and a cozy bed!
Nancy Cunningham
My favourite comfort read book is Jane Austen’s Persuasion – easily I think her best work. But any Georgette Heyer does the job too!
My favourite spot for a cosy read is in the rumpus room in the upstairs of our house. It’s a quiet spot, has a view from a balcony and lots of light. I like to lounge on an old couch that first belonged to my sister, then my brother and now me! It used to be white but thanks to my nephew’s trip up a chimney and dragging soot all over the place, it never recovered its brilliance despite many cleans. It’s super comfortable still and am loathe to get rid of it. Combined with my seaweed coloured knitted blanket and a cup of tea it makes for a perfect reading spot!
Clare Griffin
For years there has been one book series that I always go back to. It brings back fond memories of summer holidays with nothing to do but read. That series is Anne of Green Gables. I love smart Anne and all the scrapes she gets herself into and of course, I love Gilbert Blythe.
Comfort spot: I live in a 1930s house, that in true Art Deco style has a rounded corner on the outside, which creates the perfect nook on the inside for my arm chair. The arm chair was my nursing chair so it’s very comfy! Give me a blanket, Anne and my armchair – bliss!
About Easter Promises
Four remarkable women. Four unforgettable stories of hope, courage, faith and love.
Australia, 1912
Minnie Wyndam loves her beautiful island home, her fabulous clothes and her childhood friend Eric. But while Minnie is busy preparing for her first season, Eric uncovers a dark secret from his father’s past that sends him running from the life of privilege he and Minnie share.
Faced with losing the man she loves, Minnie must decide. Stay in her safe, glamourous world, or prove to Eric that she is capable of weathering any storm by his side.
France, 1916
In war and rebellion, all hope is lost…
Or so thinks Ivy O’Halloran, a dedicated British army nurse stationed in a medical casualty clearing station near the Western Front. And no one is exempt from tragedy and sacrifice, not even her.
Determined to push her tragic losses aside, the presence of newly arrived Australian doctor, Maurice Fletcher, draws her ire. But Maurice’s levity masks losses and sentiments similar to her own and Ivy is forced to confront her growing feelings for him.
Towards the end of the Battle of the Somme, and in their heart’s darkest days, will tragedy strike once more for Ivy and Maurice, or will hope finally return?
France, 1924
Twelve strangers.
One night.
A man on the hunt for an international art thief and a jewel that blurs the lines of obsession and desire.
A weekend at France’s most remote and luxurious hotel for an invite-only event sounds like a dream come true. But when a snowstorm cuts the hotel off from the outside world, twelve strangers are thrown together for a night that will change their lives forever.
Hollywood, 1943
Rosamund Winter is the darling of the Warner Brothers lot and has worked hard to get there. But now that the US is at war she wants to do more than serve food to soldiers. When she is invited to become a WASP she jumps at the chance to serve her country and use her skills as a pilot.
But then Rosamund breaks the rules and falls in love, and when her plane goes missing in the darkness of war everyone asks, what happened to Rosamund Winter?
Easter Promises is available through Amazon on April 9, just in time for Easter.
About the authors
Sarah Fiddelaers is a writer, blogger and mother. She has a deep fascination with history and loves writing stories filled with the intrigue and romance of the past. Sarah was longlisted for the 2019 Richell prize and the 2020 Romance Writers of Australia Emerald award.
Sarah lives in the Macedon Ranges with her husband and five children. Easter Promises is her first published work.
Instagram: @sarahfiddelaers
Ava January is a writer living in sunny Brisbane with her sons and a Spoodle named Stroodle.
When she isn’t breaking up fights over strangely shaped pieces of plastic, she can be found obsessing over Victorian era fashion (in the name of research, of course!) reading and writing stories with strong female leads.
Her first full-length novel, The Lady Detective – a light-hearted, romantic romp through Victorian England about a Lady Detective and London’s most scandalous rake- was longlisted for 2019 Richell prize and will be released May 2020.
Web: www.avajanuary.com
Facebook: @Ava January
Instagram: @authoravajanuary
Nancy Cunningham is a Research Scientist in entomology and writer who loves to write about history, science, nature and of course love! She lives in Adelaide with her partner and daughter and some Spiny Leafed Stick insects. Nancy has been a finalist in several RWA competitions. Keep an eye open for her second short story coming out in this year’s Sweet Treats anthology.
Web: www.nmcunningham.com
Facebook: @NancyMCunningham
Instagram: @nan_writes
Twitter: @Bugsie70
Clare Griffin is a freelance writer and copywriter who often starts sentences with “I love your shoes!” – often to complete strangers. Her debut novel Tumble was published in 2016 and since then has released the romantic comedy novella Happily, Ever After? and the historical novella The Hunt for Scarlett O’Hara. She will be releasing two more romantic comedies, Love Line and The Gap Year in 2020.
Web: www.claregriffin.com
Facebook: @claregriffinwriter
Instagram: @ClareGriffinWriter
Comments
Great suggestions for comfort reading. Now is the time! Look forward to reading Easter Promises! Best wishes!