I’m trying very hard to decline blog tours and especially posting on a Sunday because I’m inundated at the moment so you might wonder what I’m doing here today! Well you see, I am very fond of lovely Julie Stock both as an author and a person so when Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources asked me to participate in a mini blog blitz for Julie’s Starting Over at the Vineyard in Alsace, I had to agree!

Julie has featured here many times before, partly through the Deepings Literary Festival and including when she wrote a smashing post about happy endings here to celebrate The Vineyard in Alsace. I’ve also reviewed Julie’s The Bistro by Watersmeet Bridge here and From Here to Nashville here.

This time Julie has agreed to stay in with me.

Staying in with Julie Stock

Welcome back to Linda’s Book Bag, Julie. Thank you for agreeing to stay in with me.

Thank you very much for inviting me, Linda! It’s lovely to talk to you after not seeing you for so long.

It seems ages since you gave a talk at the Deepings literary Festival last year Julie. Tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

I’ve brought along my latest release, Starting Over at the Vineyard in Alsace, which is book 2 in my Domaine des Montagnes series. It was published on 14 July so it really is very new.

Oo. A belated happy publication day! I love how the cover of Starting Over at the Vineyard in Alsace picks up from The Vineyard in Alsace.

What can we expect from an evening in with Starting Over at the Vineyard in Alsace?

In the first book of the series, The Vineyard in Alsace, Lottie and Thierry have just met and started a fledgling relationship, and this book tells their story following on from that. She’s pregnant by someone else and he’s still getting over the death of his wife, so there are lots of obstacles in the way of their happy ending. It’s a poignant story about how to let go of pride and grief, and of learning to love again with someone new.

It must be interesting to return to previous characters.

It was lovely for me to be writing about the characters from the vineyard again. Readers will be able to catch up with Fran and Didier from the first book, and also Ellie and Henri, although the next book will be all about them. Each book works on its own but if you’ve read the first book, you will have the benefit of knowing what brought all the characters together.

As this book ends, Ellie and Henri go off on their travels, so the final book in the series will hopefully see everyone reunited, but I haven’t started writing it yet so we’ll have to see!

When you have, you’ll have to come back on Linda’s Book Bag and we can find out!

What else have you brought along and why?

I’ve brought along a couple of glasses of Alsace pinot blanc and a home-made Tarte Flambée or Flammekeuche, one of the region’s signature dishes. Please help yourself!

Oh I will. Thanks Julie. You can have my share of the wine but I’ll certainly be having some of that Tarte.

I’ve also brought along a photo of the little church in Alsace and the surrounding vineyards which got me thinking about writing this series in the first place. It’s such a romantic setting. My two characters from the first book attend a wedding at that church, and I might make a return to it in the final book…

That looks so atmospheric. No wonder you decided to write about the region. 

I first visited Alsace with my husband in 1993. I’d just got a job with The Wine Society and we went on a touring holiday of France before I took up the position. We already loved Alsace wine but on that holiday, we fell in love with the place, its people and its food. We’ve been back many times since and it really does hold a special place in our hearts now. I hope we get to go back again before too long.

Oh, I hope so too Julie. In these uncertain times at least we can travel there through your books. Thanks so much for staying in with me to chat about Starting Over at the Vineyard in Alsace. I think it sounds delightful.

Thank you so much for having me on your blog today, Linda. It’s been lovely chatting with you and catching up. I look forward to meeting up with you in real life again soon.

Gosh I hope so Julie – perhaps at next year’s Deepings Literary Festival. Fingers crossed.

Starting Over at the Vineyard in Alsace

It’s springtime at The Vineyard in Alsace, a new season and a new beginning.

After being abandoned by her partner when she falls pregnant, Lottie Schell goes home to live on The Vineyard in Alsace, where she has started a new relationship with the estate’s winemaker, Thierry. Now about to give birth, Lottie’s determined to raise her child and to provide for them both on her own without having to depend on anyone else.

Thierry Bernard is still dealing with his grief and guilt following the death of his wife two years earlier, for which he blames himself. When he meets Lottie, the instant attraction he feels towards her gives him hope that he can move on from the tragedy of his past, as long as he can tell Lottie the truth of what happened.

When circumstances force Lottie and Thierry closer together, they both find it hard to compromise – she’s proudly independent and he’s fiercely protective – and they’re both wary about trusting someone new with their heart.

Can Lottie and Thierry take a chance on each other, move on from their pasts and start over?

Escape to The Vineyard in Alsace once again with this romantic read set in the heart of Alsace’s wine country.

Starting Over at the Vineyard in Alsace is available for purchase on Amazon.

About Julie Stock

Julie Stock writes contemporary feel-good romance from around the world: novels, novellas and short stories. She published her debut novel, From Here to Nashville, in 2015, after starting to write as an escape from the demands of her day job as a teacher. Starting Over at the Vineyard in Alsace is her ninth book, and the second in the Domaine des Montagnes series set on a vineyard.

Julie is now a full-time author, and loves every minute of her writing life. When not writing, she can be found reading, her favourite past-time, running, a new hobby, or cooking up a storm in the kitchen, glass of wine in hand.

Julie is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and The Society of Authors.She is married and lives with her family in Bedfordshire in the UK.

You can find out more about Julie via her website , by finding her on Facebook or following her on Twitter @wood_beez48.