It gives me very great pleasure to welcome Lorna Cook to Linda’s Book Bag today. Both Lorna and I belong to The RNA (Romantic Novelists Association) albeit at very different levels as I’m a member of the NWS (New Writers Scheme) and Lorna won the Joan Hessayon Award  last year. With the RNA celebrating 60 years and February being designated Romance Reading Month what better way to begin the month than by staying in to chat to Lorna today?

If you’d like to find out more about the RNA celebrations, follow the #RNA60.

Staying in with Lorna Cook

Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag Lorna and thank you for agreeing to stay in with me as we celebrate #RNA60.

Any excuse to stay in is a winner so I’m especially pleased to be staying in here!

Speaking of being a winner – congratulations on your RNA Joan Hessayon award. How did it feel to win?

Fantastic, after I’d let the fact sink in. Alison May, the chair, announced my name and swivelled to look at me and I think I just stared blankly at her for far too long before clapping my hand over my mouth. Still I sat there. Eventually I got up and lumbered forward gracelessly and took the award and said thanks and then I lumbered away again, still in disbelief. I didn’t do a speech, I didn’t have one ready. Instead…I just cried. Yes, I am that girl.

Now it’s sunk in and I have the beautiful, shiny, polished winner’s cup to keep safe until I hand it to the next lucky winner later in the year. It sits on my mantle and I see it daily as a great reminder of what I managed to achieve. And all those recognisable names engraved before me. Such inspiration.

That must have been a wonderful experience. So, tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

I’ve brought my new novel The Forbidden Promise, which is out this March.

Oh yes! 19th March isn’t it? I was so disappointed not be part of the blog tour but I shall be touring India then.  Tell us, what can we expect from an evening in with The Forbidden Promise?

Readers can expect to curl up with a dual-narrative set in WW2 and present day in the beautiful Scottish Highlands, a mystery with a twist, romance, and a promise made in the midst of war.

That sounds so lovely. 

What else have you brought along and why?

I’ve brought along the few things I need to have the perfect reading experience. I’ve brought along a babysitter, who will whisk away any small people you may have for a few hours.

Thankfully I don’t have children – or, at my age, grand children! I’m really not keen on anyone under 16 or so!

I’ve brought a good bottle of chilled white wine, a cozy pair of new pajamas and a Super King size bed with memory foam mattress and a nice thick duvet. I know…rock and roll right? Tuck yourself in. Happy reading!

That sounds perfect. Thanks Lorna! And thanks for staying in with me. You pour a glass of wine and I’ll tell people a little bit more about The Forbidden Promise.

The Forbidden Promise

The Forbidden Promise will be published by Harper Collins imprint Avon on 19th March 2020 and is available for pre-order through these links.

Can one promise change the fate of two women decades apart?

Scotland, 1940

War rages across Europe, but Invermoray House is at peace – until the night of Constance’s 21st birthday, when she’s the only person to see a Spitfire crash into the loch. Rescuing the pilot and vowing to keep him hidden, Constance finds herself torn between duty to her family and keeping a promise that could cost her everything.

2020

Kate arrives in the Highlands to turn Invermoray into a luxury B&B, only to find that the estate is more troubled than she’d imagined. But when Kate discovers the house has a dark history, with Constance’s name struck from its records, she knows she can’t leave until the mystery is solved . . .

About Lorna Cook

Lorna Cook is the author of the Kindle Number 1 Bestseller ‘The Forgotten Village’, which was her debut novel. It sat in the Kindle Top 100 for four months, has sold over 150,000 copies, has ten overseas/foreign language editions and won the Romantic Novelists’ Association Joan Hessayon Award for New Writers.

You can follow Lorna on Twitter @LornaCookAuthor and visit her website for more information. You’ll also find Lorna on Instagram.