Happy New Year! Welcome back to my ‘Meet the Characters’ blog. I love to know about the characters behind the stories I read, so every week I’m asking an author to interview a character from their book. Author and publicist, Kim Nash, is going to kick off the first blog of the year by interviewing one of her characters, Liz, from Sunshine and Second Chances. First, let’s take a look at the cover and blurb:
It’s never too late for second chances.
Liv wants her friends to think she has the perfect life. But honestly? She’s running on empty. Desperate for a break from her needy family, Liv is determined that as she and her three life-long friends turn fifty they will honour their promise to each other – made on a beach at sunrise twenty-nine years before – to celebrate this milestone together.
And what better place to celebrate than a gorgeous villa in the Algarve? They’ll enjoy the stunning beaches, picturesque fishing towns and glorious climate, and maybe be spoiled by the gorgeous Eduardo, who’s making one particular heart unexpectedly flutter…
Liv’s friends can’t wait to escape with her: Debs is newly single, Fiona is caring for her mum, and Samantha is grieving. But does time away make the heart grow fonder? Is the thought of returning to reality too hard to bear? Is what they have really all there is to life?
It begins as a reunion in the sunshine, but little do the four friends know what life-changing decisions they’ll all be making before their flight home…
A heart-warming, feel-good summer read about friendship, love and second chances. Perfect for fans of Nicola May, Jo Thomas and Fern Britton.
It’s never too late for second chances.
SUNSHINE AND SECOND CHANCES
Shortlisted for the 2020 Kindle Storyteller Award
‘Totally warm and absolutely lovely.’ Claudia Winkleman
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Gorgeously warm, uplifting and inspiring’ The Book Babe
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘It’s just lovely, lovely, lovely!’ Crooks on Books
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Should be prescribed to everyone.’ BookMark!
Now over to Kim’s interview with Liv.
So Liv, tell me a little bit about yourself.
I’m Olivia, Liv to my friends. Wife to self-made millionaire George, and mother to ten-year-old Sebastian and fourteen-year-old James, and dog mother to Hector, my tri-colour English Setter who I absolutely adore. I do adore my family too, I should probably add, but to be honest, most of the time they really take advantage of me and walk all over me. I’m the family gopher! I feel like I’ve lost all my own identity and am just George’s wife, or the boy’s mum. I’ve simply lost myself a little along the way and need to have more of a purpose in my life.
Why did you arrange a holiday to Portugal?
On a beach at sunrise, when myself and my friends Debs, Samantha and Fiona were 21, we made a promise to get together for our 50th birthday year. We don’t see each other as much as we’d like to, life is just so busy, so I thought it would be great idea to organise a holiday in a villa where we can all really get to know each other again and spend some proper, quality time together. I wanted to organise it to make it happen and make sure that it wasn’t something that we never got round to.
Tell us a little about your friends and where they are at in their lives now
Debs has recently split with her husband and she’s feeling really down at the moment. She’s put weight on over the years and is finding it really hard to like herself. It’s such a shame, because she’s beautiful inside and out and doesn’t see what the rest of us see. Fiona is in a difficult place right now, her mum has dementia and is getting worse and worse and we think she needs a little more help than she’s letting on. She’s so caring and I know that she feels she’s letting her mum down if she’s not caring for her herself. And then there’s Samantha. She lost her husband a few years ago and had to bring up her son Peter alone, while keeping from him the real issues that her husband had left behind. Peter is now at Uni and she hardly hears from him unless he wants something and she’s really lonely. I think what we all needed was a break from our lives, some great food and wine, wonderful company and a whole lot of Vitamin D to give us all the boost that we need to move forward.
Tell us about the villa
Ah! The beautiful Villa. It’s a dream. I always think that you should always go on holiday somewhere that is better than where you live. Luxury is the order of the day for me, so I picked somewhere stunning, huge, that overlooks the sea, has a gorgeous swimming pool, lots of outside terrace space and a wonderful sweeping staircase that leads up to beautiful bedrooms which mostly overlook the garden and pool areas. The villa is just outside of Vilamoura on The Algarve, close to the vibrant and cosmopolitan marina. We even had the luxury a chauffeur on call if we wanted to go somewhere. It was a little extravagant, but I wanted them to experience a wonderful time and make memories together that we would never forget.
What do you love about The Algarve?
I love the fact that it’s got an amazing climate with over 300 days of sunshine each year. The food is amazing, with freshly caught seafood around every corner, the delicious Pastel del Nata, which I can’t resist and there’s so much to see and do. I love the marina at Vilamoura, I could sit there all day people watching and dreaming of being able to afford one of those luxury yatchs, wondering who they must belong to and the lives those people live. I love cobbled streets and local markets in Albufeira and of course, there’s so much gorgeous scenery with from stunning long sandy beaches to smaller more secluded coves and that gloriously clear turquoise sea. I just love it.
And what memories did you ladies make on this holiday?
Ah, so many wonderful memories. We laughed till we cried, we supported each other, we listened to our needs and wants and we made plans to change our lives.
What did you learn about yourselves on this holiday?
It’s amazing what can happen when you throw strong women today. We support and spur each other along to be the best version of ourselves that we can be. We lift and inspire each other. We motivate and encourage each other and we love. Hard! Friendship is an amazing gift and I am so lucky to have these ladies in my life.
It sounds a fabulous read, doesn’t it? It was shortlisted for the 2020 Amazon Kindle Storyteller Award and is at the top of my tbr list. If you fancy reading it you can get a copy here:
Meet Kim
Author bio
Kim Nash is an author of uplifting, funny, heartwarming, feel-good, romantic fiction.
She lives in Staffordshire with son Ollie and English Setter Roni, is Head of Publicity for Bookouture and is a book blogger at http://www.kimthebookworm.co.uk.
Kim won the Romantic Novelists Association’s Media Star of the Year in 2016, which she still can’t quite believe. She is now quite delighted to be a member of the RNA.
When she’s not working or writing, Kim can be found walking her dog, reading, standing on the sidelines of a football pitch cheering on Ollie and binge watching box sets on the TV. She’s also quite partial to a spa day and a gin and tonic (not at the same time!) Kim also runs a book club in Cannock, Staffs and organises reader/blogger/author events.
Amazing Grace was her debut novel with Hera Books and came out in April 2019.
Escape to Giddywell Grange is Kim’s second novel and was published in September 2019.
Sunshine and Second Chances is Kim’s third novel and is out now!
You can read Kim’s Blog here: www.kimthebookworm.co.uk
Connect with Kim on Social Media here:
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Thanks so much for dropping by to tell us about your fabulous book, Kim. Wishing you many sales!
Treat yourself to a heartwarming festive read, set in gorgeous Cornwall.
https://t.co/RXBM2lD3yR?amp=1 and https://tinyurl.com/ycvlxfm6
Karen King: Author 