My featured book this week is the heartwarming novel Storybook Ending by Poppy Alexander. Poppy is going to tell us a little about the book, and what inspired her to write it. So grab yourself a cuppa, get cosy and let’s get chatting to Poppy.

BLURB:

In her books she can write “happily ever after”— but real life? That’s another matter…

For children’s book author Imogen, an idyllic life in the English countryside seems like the perfect fit for her and her husband. But when tragedy strikes, Imogen is left widowed, and finds herself moving into Storybook Cottage alone with only her monstrously narcissistic cat for company.

After discovering she is pregnant, Imogen grows determined to embrace a new start in Middlemass, with its duckpond, cricket matches and village fêtes. The only thing Imogen can’t seem to shake is her neighbor—a brooding, artisan blacksmith named Gabriel—who she can’t quite decide is friend or foe. That is until she realizes, thanks to an arcane clause in her deeds, that Gabriel— not just an artist, but lord of the local manor house— has the power to take her home and leave her completely broke.

Devastatingly, he seems keen to do exactly that. Yet, Imogen finds herself drawn to him nonetheless. And in her darkest hour, Gabriel may just be the bright spot to save Imogen in more ways than one.

Reviews:

“A charming and heartwarming novel! Poppy Alexander’s Storybook Ending brings us to an idyllic small town in the English countryside, where Imogen embarks on a journey not only of self-discovery, but of renewal. Recently widowed, surprisingly pregnant, and embarking on a new career in an unfamiliar setting, it would seem Imogen has set herself for quite a few challenges. But with the fabulous cast of characters she befriends in this cozy village, including one brooding hero who has the power to upend it all, she just might get the storybook ending that she deserves.” — Michelle Brandon, author of Rush Week

“Author Poppy Alexander builds a picturesque village… Storybook Ending explores one woman’s efforts to create her own future in spite of many detours.” — Novels Alive

‘Why did I wait so long to read this author? Poppy Alexander has a great sense of humor and it really came out in [STORYBOOK ENDING]… readers will find themselves smiling and giggling over and over.’ — Fresh Fiction

‘This contemporary romance has real heart as it provides a wonderful sense of place, determined main character and a brooding romance prospect. ‘ — Lovereading.co.uk

BUYING LINKS: https://poppy-alexander.com/books/storybook-ending/

Hi Poppy, welcome to my blog. Can you tell us what inspired you to write this book?

Hi Karen, delighted to be here.☺️ I have never met a novelist that wasn’t an insanely prolific reader first. When I was a child, sent to boarding school because my father was working abroad, I coped with my homesickness by burying myself in books. Luckily my little Sussex convent school – I was raised by nuns – had a well-stocked library set high on the battlements in a castle building with actual turrets. Yes, when the Harry Potter stories came along, they did remind me… Along with all the classic children’s books you would hope for – including an enormous set of books by Gerald Durrell that I adored- it had a significant collection of pious ‘improving’ books. I remember reading voraciously through a series about Christian martyrs where you might think the endings would get predictable – spoiler alert, not a HEA – but I was fascinated, as a much too young child, at all the horrible ways these men and women met their deaths! I also remember reading Camus’ La Peste (in translation), which was unspeakably gruesome and dark. I have often wondered since whether the nuns truly understood what they really had buried on those dusty shelves.

So, anyhow, by the time I discovered the world through the pages of books and had also grown up enough to experience some of it in real life, I found myself drawn to jobs that allowed me to write at least some of the time. In retrospect, I should have trained as a journalist rather than a musician, but it’s weird how many musicians I have met who now write books. We are a strange breed…

Storybook Ending, along with my other Poppy Alexander books, came from my desire to explore exciting new beginnings, overcoming adversity, finding love… all the stuff that life throws our way – but to do it in a setting I love. I am very lucky to live in Sussex, in a cottage with roses around the door and  village of Middlemass, with the nearby seaside town of Portneath, are drawn from this. I am extremely happy to live in my imaginary world with cream teas and cricket matches and village fetes set in beautiful houses. I love to write about the seasons and the countryside, about food and friendship and always, always pets! My heroine, Imogen, has the most appallingly selfish cat, Tango, although he inspires a character in one of her children’s books that subsequently achieve great success for her, so I suppose you could say he isn’t all bad. I had a lot of fun writing him.

Fun fact: Storybook Ending is my seventh book to be published (I also write as Sarah Waights and Rosie Howard) but a much earlier form of Storybook Ending was the first novel I ever wrote. I poured into it everything I think a cosy, funny, inspiring, romantic book should be. I hope you like it!

It sounds fabulous, Poppy. Thanks so much for popping by to tell us all about it. I hope it soars!

Meet Poppy

Author bio

Poppy Alexander wrote her first book when she was five. There was a long gap in her writing career while she was at school, and after studying classical music at university, she decided the world of music was better off without her and took up public relations, campaigning, political lobbying, and a bit of journalism instead. She takes an anthropological interest in family, friends, and life in her West Sussex village (think The Archers crossed with Twin Peaks), where she lives with her husband, children, and various other pets.

Contact links

Website: Poppy-alexander.com

Facebook: @PoppyAlexanderBooks

Insta: @PoppyAlexanderBooks

Goodreads: Poppy Alexander