Samantha Tonge

Mistletoe Mansion

November 16, 2014 Leave a Comment

“Mistletoe Mansion” by Samantha Tonge

Blurb:

Kimmy Jones has three loves: cupcakes, gossip magazines and dreaming of getting fit just by owning celeb workouts.

When Kimmy’s Sensible Boyfriend told her he didn’t approve of her longing for the high life or her dream of starting a cupcake company Kimmy thought she could compromise – after all, she did return those five-inch Paris Hilton heels! But asking her to trade in cake-making for a job sorting potatoes is a step too far.

So, newly single – and newly homeless – Kimmy needs a dusting of Christmas luck. And, masquerading as a professional house sitter, her new temporary home is the stunning Mistletoe Mansion. Soon she’s best buds with glamorous next door golf WAG Melissa, and orders are pouring in for her fabulous Merry Berry cupcakes! The only thorn in her side is handsome handyman Luke, a distraction she definitely doesn’t need. And talking of distractions, something very odd is going on at night…

Kimmy is finally living the life she’s always wanted. But will her glimpse into the glittering lifestyle of the rich and famous be as glamorous as she’s always imagined…?

**Buy links: Amazon UK Amazon US

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Author, Samantha Tonge

Bio: Samantha Tonge lives in Cheshire with her lovely family, and two cats who think they are dogs. When not writing, she spends her days cycling and willing cakes to rise. She has sold over 80 short stories to women’s magazines. Her bestselling debut novel, Doubting Abbey, was shortlisted for the Festival of Romantic Fiction best Ebook award in 2014. Its fun standalone sequel is From Paris with Love. Mistletoe Mansion stars a new set of characters and is for fans of cupcakes and Christmas!

Contact: Website Blog Facebook Twitter

INTERVIEW

What motivated you to write “Mistletoe Mansion”? Society’s obsession with celebrity – how we all love reading the gossip magazines; how some youngsters aspire simply to “be famous”. I wondered what a wannabe celebrity would really think of the dream lifestyle, if she got to live it for a short time. Would it meet her expectations? So my main character cake-making, celebrity-loving Kimmy Jones, finds herself housesitting a mansion, next door to a very famous golfing couple…

Do you have any holiday traditions? We always eat out on Boxing Day which is wonderful – after cooking your heart out on the 25^th, it’s great knowing you can kick back you heels the next day, then enjoy the cold cuts in the evening.

Also , we open ALL our presents as soon as we get up on Christmas day!

What was your writing process like for this book? After deciding on the initial idea, I cannot move forward until I have a title! Then I plan the plot, next I look at the characters in depth. Next, a first draft usually takes 4 to 5 months. Then I will rewrite/edit it several times. All of this is broken up with very regular visits to Facebook and Twitter – am, um, lots of snacks!

What is your favorite Christmas song? Ooh, it has to be White Christmas, which features regularly in Mistletoe Mansion, every time a supposed ghost wants to make his presence felt! It is such a cosy, nostalgic-feeling song.

What do you want for Christmas? It’s corny, but happiness and good health – and I wouldn’t say no to some good books and chocolate either!

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**WIN A NEW PARTY DRESS**

From Paris with Love

July 31, 2014 Leave a Comment

FromParisWithLoveCoverPic

“From Paris with Love” by Samantha Tonge

**This is a sequel of “Doubting Abbey**

Blurb:

Every girl dreams of hearing those four magical words Will you marry me? But no-one tells you what’s supposed to happen next….

Fun-loving Gemma Goodwin knows she should be revelling in her happy-ever-after. Except when her boyfriend Lord Edward popped the question, after a whirlwind romance, although she didn’t say no….she didn’t exactly say yes either!

A month-long cookery course in Paris could be just the place to make sure her heart and her head are on the same page… And however disenchanted with romance Gemma is feeling, the City of Love has plenty to keep her busy; the champagne is decadently quaffable, the croissants almost too delicious, and shopping is a national past-time! In fact, everything in Paris makes her want to say Je t’aime…. Except Edward!

But whilst Paris might offer plenty of distractions from wedding planning – including her new friends, mysterious Joe and hot French rockstar Blade – there’s no reason she couldn’t just try one or two couture dresses is there? Just for fun…

SamanthaTongePic **Contact Samantha Tonge:

Website Facebook Twitter Doubting Abbey blog

Samantha Tonge

December 3, 2013 1 Comment

SamanthaTongePic

About author, Samantha Tonge: Samantha Tonge lives in Cheshire, England with her lovely family and two cats who think they are dogs. She spends her days writing, willing cakes to rise and avoiding housework. She has sold over 80 short stories to mainstream women’s magazines. Doubting Abbey is her debut romantic comedy novel, out now from digital-first CarinaUK Harlequin.

INTERVIEW

Describe your writing style in five words: fun, accessible, fast-paced, readable, punchy

What do you love most about writing? The thrill of making a sentence sound just right and the buzz from getting reader-feedback.

Who or what inspires you? For short stories, everyday life and the tabloids inspires me – just tales of ordinary life that have an unexpected twist to them. For novels, it tends to be bigger issues like society’s obsession with celebrity and looks, or why a show like Downton Abbey has become so popular.

What is your writing/editing/publishing process like? I usually need six months, all-in, to write the first draft and then go over it several times looking at different aspects to improve on, and continuity. I enjoy both processes. My first drafts aren’t really rough, but always need a good polishing.

If you could meet another author, who would it be? Jane Austen – I would love to tell her how much her books still mean to women, all these decades on.

Where did you get the idea for your book, “Doubting Abbey?” The public’s obsession with a period drama, the series Downton Abbey, really intrigued me – it has become massive on both sides of the pond. This made me wonder how a thoroughly modern girl, like my main character Gemma, would cope with suddenly being thrust into a stuffy, aristocratic atmosphere where she would have to reign in her care-free behaviour and emotions…

Hard/paperback or eBooks? E-books – I love my Kindle. The books are cheaper and it is brill being able to read with just one hand and snack with the other! Plus there are some great bargains to be had on e-readers, with free books and heavily reduced ones – at the moment, Doubting Abbey is only 79p/$1.28!

What was the most difficult part to write? The detail of the setting – I wanted to get it just right so did a lot of online research into stately homes and visited one.

What are you reading right now? Mad about the Boy by Helen Fielding – it is brilliant!

What time of day to do you seem to work best? Morning, definitely – if I can keep away from social media!

Every writer must have a…: an online group of fellow writers they can turn to when they need support, eg after getting rejections. I wouldn’t still be writing nowadays, if it wasn’t for my writer friends who’ve picked me up and brushed me down!

Can you tell us about any of your upcoming projects? I have just started a sequel to Doubting Abbey! I can’t say much but in this one Gemma is more bonkers than ever!

DoubtingAbbeyCoverPic “Doubting Abbey” by Samantha Tonge

Blurb of “Doubting Abbey”:

Swapping downstairs for upstairs… How hard can it be!?

Look up the phrase ordinary girl and you’ll see a picture of me, Gemma Goodwin – I only look half-decent after applying the entire contents of my make-up bag, and my dating track-record includes a man who treated me to dinner…at a kebab shop. No joke!

The only extraordinary thing about me is that I look EXACTLY like my BFF, Abbey Croxley. Oh, and that for reasons I can’t explain, I’ve agreed to swap identities and pretend be her to star in the TV show about her aristocratic family’s country estate, Million Dollar Mansion.

So now it’s not just my tan I’m faking – it’s Kate Middleton style demure hemlines and lady-like manners too. And amongst the hundreds of fusty etiquette rules I’m trying to cram into my head, there are two I really must remember; 1) No-one can ever find out that I’m just Gemma, who’d be more at home in the servants quarters. And 2) There can be absolutely no flirting with Abbey’s dishy but buttoned-up cousin, Lord Edward.

Aaargh, this is going to be harder than I thought…

**Contact Samantha: Website Doubting Abbey blog Facebook Twitter

**Buy “Doubting Abbey”: Amazon – US Amazon – UK