Having been a recipient of a Romantic Novelists Association Media Star award in the past, I’m delighted to feature contenders for this year’s Joan Hessayon Award here on Linda’s Book Bag. Today I’m delighted to welcome Jennifer Bibby to stay in with me to chat about The Cornish Hideaway which has been shortlisted for the award.

First, let’s find out more about The Joan Hessayon Award:

The Joan Hessayon Award

Sponsored by Dr. David Hessayon OBE in honour of his late wife, Joan, who was a novelist, RNA member and supporter of its New Writers’ Scheme, the award showcases a variety of debut novels within the romantic fiction genre. The novels are judged by a panel of published authors from the RNA and publishing industry professionals. Previous winners include Jo Thomas, Charlotte Betts, Lorna Cook and Caroline Day.

The New Writers’ Scheme provides support to unpublished writers of romantic fiction. Manuscripts can be submitted for assessment and are critiqued by published authors. In addition, the members of the scheme can attend RNA events and participate in members-only activities and networking opportunities.

The ceremony to announce the winner will be held at 6.30pm on Saturday 16th July 2022 at Harper Adams University, Newport, Shropshire, as part of the RNA’s annual conference.

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Luton author, Jennifer Bibby, is a contender for the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s (RNA) annual Joan Hessayon Award for 2022 with her novel, The Cornish Hideaway. The award is for authors whose debut novels have gone through the RNA’s New Writers’ Scheme and are subsequently accepted for publication.

Staying in with Jennifer Bibby

Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag Jennifer and thank you for agreeing to stay in with me.

It’s been a real treat to be invited along, so thank you.

You’re very welcome. Tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

I’ve bought along my debut novel The Cornish Hideaway because it’s the perfect summer escape. With all the predicted travel chaos, it means you can while away an evening in Cornwall without leaving your sofa / garden. With these light evenings its certainly reading outside weather.

That sounds just perfect. I think we could all do with an easy escape!

What can we expect from an evening in with The Cornish Hideaway?

Well, as it’s about Freya fleeing from the collapse of her life in London following failing her Masters degree and her boyfriend dumping her you can expect the usual sort of commiserations over heartbreak – wine, cake and good company with her friend and café owner Lola. By the end of the night your spirits will definitely be lifted and if Lola gets out her tarot cards then you may have a glimpse of what is waiting for you in your future.

So is The Cornish Hideaway all girls?

No, don’t expect it to just be a night in with the girls, you’ll probably find local retired fisherman Alf and his dog Scruff coming along to dish out some advice. But watch out – Scruff will definitely be after your cake!

Scruff sounds like a ‘person’ after my own heart!

Everyone has loved their journey to The Cornish Hideaway and hanging out with the Polcarrow crew so I’m sure you’ll also have a wonderful time. I’m over the moon with how well the novel has been received.

I’m delighted to hear that Jen. What else have you brought along and why have you brought it?

You couldn’t have a night in with The Cornish Hideaway without having a cream tea, Lola wouldn’t hear of it! Freshly baked scones, clotted cream and sticky strawberry jam, the works!  Since we’re also celebrating being a contender for the Joan Hessayon award I also think it’s only fitting that we crack open a bottle of fizz, don’t you?

I do indeed! Fizz and a cream tea – you’re talking my language! Thank you so much for staying in to chat about The Cornish Hideaway and all the very best with the RNA Joan Hessayon Award. Whatever happens, you’ve done brilliantly to get this far. I look forward to reading The Cornish Hideaway Escape for myself and I’ll just give readers a few more details: 

The Cornish Hideaway

All Freya has ever wanted to do is paint. So when she fails her Master’s Degree in Art, on the same day that her boyfriend decides he needs a ‘more serious’ partner, to Freya it feels like the end of the world.

Luckily, she has a saviour in the shape of best friend Lola, who invites her to the sleepy Cornish village of Polcarrow, to work in her café. With nothing keeping her in London, Freya jumps at the chance of a summer by the sea.

Freya needs time to focus on herself. But then dark and mysterious biker Angelo blows into town on a stormy afternoon, with his own artistic dreams and a secretive past, and Freya’s plans of a romance-free summer fly straight out of the window…

Heart-warming, heartfelt and romantic, The Cornish Hideaway is a novel of community, friendship and learning to love again, for fans of Jenny Colgan, Cathy Bramley and Heidi Swain.

Published by Simon and Schuster on 22nd March 2022, The Cornish Hideaway is available for purchase through the links here.

About Jennifer Bibby

As a lifelong lover of stories, Jennifer Bibby spent her teenage years wowing various teachers with her historical epics before finding her feet exploring the everyday lives of modern women through literature. In addition to being a bibliophile she loves classy cocktails, cake and medieval history. She’s happiest by the sea and loves to travel, and firmly believes that dinosaurs improve everything. The Cornish Hideaway is her debut novel.

For more information, follow Jennifer on Twitter @jennyfromthewr1 and Instagram.

Having recently interviewed John Marrs in his one and only in person interview at the Deepings Literary Festival, how could I resist taking part in the blog tour for The Vacation? My thanks to Anne Cater and Tracy Fenton for inviting me to participate.

I’ve been a fan of John’s writing for years and he’s appeared on Linda’s Book Bag several times. Most recently I interviewed John about The Minders, here.

You’ll find John on the blog when I reviewed What Lies Between Us here. I reviewed John’s The One here, and interviewed him about The One here. When John’s The Good Samaritan was published he provided a superb guest post that you can read here too.

Published by Pan Macmillan on 23rd June 2022, The Vacation is available for purchase through the links here.

The Vacation

Longlisted for the 2022 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize, The Vacation is a compulsive, holiday-set thriller from John Marrs, the author of The One, now a Netflix Original Series.

How far would you run to escape your past?

Venice Beach, Los Angeles. A paradise on earth.

Tourists flock to the golden coast and the promise of Hollywood.

But for eight strangers at a beach front hostel, there is far more on their mind than an extended vacation.

All of them are running from something. And they all have secrets they’d kill to keep . . .

Originally published as Welcome to Wherever You Are, this is a re-edited release perfect for fans of T. M. Logan.

My Review of The Vacation

Life in a backpacker’s hostel isn’t quite what it seems.

Having been used to John Marrs’ intense, claustrophobic, psychological thrillers, I was taken by surprise by The Vacation as it roams across time frames and settings and is very different to other of his books. What works so well is the way the different time frames are woven like a tapestry so that there’s an almost visual uncovering of the action in this fast paced, absolutely gripping narrative.

The Vacation is a cracker of a summer read. I loved the way the plot ebbed and flowed like the tide on Venice Beach and the manner with which John Marrs gradually fed information to both the characters and the reader makes it so engaging. Something about the episodic quality took me back to the days of watching television series like Dallas where there’s intrigue, deception, crime and manipulation all rolled into a breathless, engaging story. It’s not possible to say too much about the plot of The Vacation as it is intricate and so full of brilliant surprises that anything more would spoil the read.

I loved meeting all the characters and the way John Marrs explored and gradually uncovered who they were and why they found themselves at the hostel. I usually struggle to keep multiple characters clear in my head but here the cast of The Vacation is so cleverly presented that every single person feels distinct. The themes of identity and trust build these people into totally convincing characters to the extent that reading The Vacation has made me question how well I know anyone in my life.

Themes of love, family, life, death, race, sexuality, greed, estrangement, guilt, blame, trust, revenge, loyalty and so on are so inextricably linked in the story that it really is a fabulous read.

I thought The Vacation was brilliant. It’s quite bonkers at times with so many twists and turns that it leaves the reader’s head in a total spin. However, that insight into the human psyche I’ve come to expect from John Marrs’ writing is absolutely present alongside the hugely entertaining story so that The Vacation is a total corker of a read. It’s great fun, filled with drama and surprisingly emotional. I loved it and if you’re looking for a read with everything from murder to mothers, broken hearts to broken noses, duplicitous characters and a fabulous plot, you will too.

About John Marrs

John Marrs is an author and former journalist based in London and Northamptonshire. After spending his career interviewing celebrities from the worlds of television, film and music for numerous national newspapers and magazines, he is now a full-time author. He is the bestselling author of: The One, The Passengers, The Minders, What Lies Between and When You Disappeared.

You can visit John’s website for more information, or you can find him on Facebook and Instagram.  Follow him on Twitter @johnmarrs1,

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

Having been a recipient of a Romantic Novelists Association Media Star award in the past, I’m delighted to feature contenders for this year’s Joan Hessayon Award here on Linda’s Book Bag. Today it’s my pleasure to welcome Lissa Morgan to stay in with me to chat about The Welsh Lord’s Convenient Bride which has been shortlisted for the award.

First, let’s find out more about The Joan Hessayon Award:

The Joan Hessayon Award

Sponsored by Dr. David Hessayon OBE in honour of his late wife, Joan, who was a novelist, RNA member and supporter of its New Writers’ Scheme, the award showcases a variety of debut novels within the romantic fiction genre. The novels are judged by a panel of published authors from the RNA and publishing industry professionals. Previous winners include Jo Thomas, Charlotte Betts, Lorna Cook and Caroline Day.

The New Writers’ Scheme provides support to unpublished writers of romantic fiction. Manuscripts can be submitted for assessment and are critiqued by published authors. In addition, the members of the scheme can attend RNA events and participate in members-only activities and networking opportunities.

The ceremony to announce the winner will be held at 6.30pm on Saturday 16th July 2022 at Harper Adams University, Newport, Shropshire, as part of the RNA’s annual conference.

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Dolgellau author, Lissa Morgan, is a contender for the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s (RNA) annual Joan Hessayon Award for 2022 with her novel, The Welsh Lord’s Convenient Bride. The award is for authors whose debut novels have gone through the RNA’s New Writers’ Scheme and are subsequently accepted for publication.

Staying in with Lissa Morgan

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

Thank you for inviting me, Linda, it’s great to be here!

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 debut novel for Harlequin Historical-Mills & Boon Historical, The Welsh Lord’s Convenient Bride, which is one of the contenders for the Joan Hessayon Award this year. It’s my first historical novel, after several years of focussing on contemporary romance for HM&B but never quite making it to publication. It is a book very close to my heart for this and many other reasons.

How exciting – especially when switching focus. Congratulations. What can we expect from an evening in with The Welsh Lord’s Convenient Bride?

Well, as the title suggests, it’s a ‘marriage of convenience’ story and is set in my native Wales in the late 13^th century. It’s a dramatic love story played out against a factual and fierce Welsh rebellion against the Crown. This broke out in 1294 and raged for a year before the rebels were finally defeated by the military might of King Edward I.  The external political events are mirrored by the internal conflict of the two main characters, Rhun and Eleanor, who carry deeply rooted scars and inner fears that make their marriage a difficult as well as reluctant one. As I’m a passionately Welsh writer, readers can expect quite a bit of authentic medieval history – and to learn one or two Welsh words and even a piece of poetry! – and an intensely emotional journey to the hard-earned happy ever after.

This sounds fabulous. I’ve just come back from a trip to Wales so next time I visit I may have to take The Welsh Lord’s Convenient Bride with me.

What else have you brought along and why have you brought it?

I’ve brought along an image of Dolwyddelan Castle in North Wales. This was the inspiration for the home of my hero, Castell y Lleuad, which means Castle of the Moon. My heroine finds it a gloomy, unwelcoming and forbidding place at first but soon discovers that it is totally magical.  Castell y Lleuad almost became a character itself, and it plays a significant part in the bonding of my two characters in an emotional and spiritual as well as physical sense.

Dolwyddelan Castle is a place I’ve visited Lissa! Thank you so much for staying in to chat about The Welsh Lord’s Convenient Bride and all the very best with the RNA Joan Hessayon Award. Whatever happens, you’ve done brilliantly to get this far. I look forward to reading The Welsh Lord’s Convenient Bride for myself and I’ll just give readers a few more details: 

The Welsh Lord’s Convenient Bride

Enjoy the drama that unfolds in this medieval marriage of convenience…

A wedding between enemies

A marriage to heal their scars

Hiding a disfigurement, Eleanor de Vraille is already lacking confidence when she arrives at her future husband’s cheerless Welsh castle. And Rhun ab Owain’s open disapproval of her does nothing to make her feel at ease. Their union is to seal peace between their families, nothing more.

But Eleanor’s heart rebels–is she a fool to hope for any affection from this strong-willed nobleman with the dark glittering eyes?

Published by Mills & Boon/Harlequin on 24th May 2022, The Welsh Lord’s Convenient Bride is available for purchase through the links here.

About Lissa Morgan

After several unsuccessful attempts at contemporary romance set in far flung locations, Lissa’s acquiring editor, Linda Fildew, asked her if she’d ever thought of writing historical romantic fiction. Lissa studied History at Aberystwyth University, and history has always been a passion, so she doesn’t know why she didn’t go down that route sooner!  Because it all suddenly fell into place when she set The Welsh Lord’s Convenient Bride in the Middle Ages – her favourite historical period – and in her own neck of the woods, mid and north Wales. Lissa says she guesses there’s a right time and a right place for everything!

For more information, visit Lissa’s website, find her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter @LissaMorganAuth. Lissa is also on InstagramInstagram.