Happy Monday all! Aw, come on, it’s not that bad! Especially as today I don’t just have a review, but I have an interview with author Elodie Parkes!
I live in Canterbury, United Kingdom. It’s famous for the Cathedral, Chaucer, and there is a UNESCO world heritage site, which includes the ancient ruins of St Augustine’s Abbey and St Martin’s Church. There is also a ruined castle. It’s a pretty place too and the coast nearby is great.
I work in an antiques shop and write. I have two dogs that keep me fit with their need for walks.
I am an indie author now, having tried querying a few years ago to no avail. I decided the eBook was the way to go and at least reach some readers.
I read heaps myself and love movies too.
I write romance, contemporary and erotic with a twist of mystery now and then. I like to make the story unusual in some way, by a quirk in the tale.
Hello Elodie, it’s a great pleasure to have you here, welcome to my blog! Your newest novel, Millie Reinvented, sounds really interesting. Can you tell us more about it?
Millie Re-invented is about a young woman who suddenly realizes that her husband has not really been kissing her for a couple of years.
Millie is kissed by a young man who works in the same firm as she does at their Christmas party, and the kiss is so different, and enjoyable it jolts her into the realization that she has been kissing her husband but he’s just been taking it. It’s not the only thing he’s been taking.
Millie finds herself assessing her relationship with her husband over the next months as the young man who kissed her at the party starts to pursue her.
The things Millie finds out about her husband astonish her.
She falls into a relationship with the young man, August. He is special and begins to love Millie entirely.
As Millie and August’s relationship deepens so do their love scenes.
There are some fun aspects to this erotic romance when Millie meets August’s friendship group from when they were all in university. There’s an instantly likeable group of women in this book and it’s easy to fall in love with August as a writer so I hope as a reader too. I tell his character journey with tenderness because he needs some healing as well as Millie. It’s a love story.
So what inspired this novel?
I was talking to a young woman who was in the antiques shop where I work and she was buying a little sculpture of two lovers kissing. She said she had to have it because it was so nice to look at, as her husband didn’t even kiss her anymore. I couldn’t say anything I just wrapped the item, and stored the thought until the story burst out onto my laptop.
What books do you read? Do you read books in your genre, or books very different from it?
I read all kinds of books. I read heaps of books too. Right now I’m reading, Fault Line by Robert Goddard that’s in hardcover, not a way I read many books now, usually they are Ebooks. I am also reading on kindle, a reference book, it’s about marketing.
I read an entire Science fiction series by an indie author last month, just had to read the whole series it was so good. I saw a feature on a blog and that me to it.
Lately when I read romance, which is the genre I write in, I ‘ve been reading paranormal romance just so I have something different to read from the glut of contemporary romance that is out there with basically the same plot, ‘someone meets a billionaire and they have sex’.
My books fall into the category of erotic romance because I do write the sex scenes
graphically and that’s because I want the love the characters feel showing. I write love stories.
Why do you write in the genre you’ve chosen?
I find the world harsh. There’s not enough love in it. Lots of people never find love. I write love stories with happy endings to spread a little lightness around.
What is the best part of publishing yourself?
When I was querying a few years ago it was such a cattle market. The publishers and agents holding the electric prod. You can’t have this and you can’t have that they would say and still do when I look at submission guidelines. I just wanted my stories read and I think if people found my books they would like them. So being able to put my books out there without the waiting and the general unpleasantness of the traditional publishing route is great. It’s a very fickle world too that of traditional publishing and lately I have thought of some best sellers in the romance genre how the h*** have they been published in the first place. You can become disillusioned when you see this and indie publishing gives you a chance to stay away from the incestuous and capricious traditional route.
If you could be a character from one of your books for a day, who would you be and why?
Wow that’s a question.
It’s hard to answer.
I’d like to answer it first as the female I am. In this case it would have to be Cassie from The Horoscope Writer. She’s a successful artist, very pretty, and Dominic falls in love with her in a forever kind of way. He’s a writer, adorable and hot. It would be nice to have.
If I was to be a guy in one of my stories it would have to be August from Millie Reinvented. He is great looking, healthy, sexy, intelligent, kind, and he’s in a creative job. In my next life I have to be a tall, great looking guy because it’s still their world, I believe, anyway. (Smiles)
Where can we find your novels?
On Kindle
http://www.amazon.com/Millie-Reinvented-ebook/dp/B008H5IF7U
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Millie-Reinvented-ebook/dp/B008H5IF7U
http://www.amazon.com/Two-of-Them-ebook/dp/B008RBJXOI
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Two-of-Them-ebook/dp/B008RBJXOI
What can we expect to see from you in the future?
I’ve just released Two of Them, a contemporary romance with a little twist of mystery.
I am currently working on a romance, The Horoscope Writer.
It’s a love story with a tiny twist of the paranormal.
You can find out more about Elodie Parkes on Twitter, Facebook and her blog
http://www.facebook.com/ElodieParkes
https://twitter.com/ElodieParkes
http://elodieparkes.blogspot.co.uk/
https://plus.google.com/u/0/100127
http://www.facebook.com/elodie.parkes.1
Thank you for being here, Elodie, any parting words?
Thank you for inviting me Miranda, it’s been lovely to be here.
What a fantastic interview from Elodie! Now scroll down to read an excerpt from her novel, ‘Millie Reinvented’, and my review of it!
She turned her face up to his and he kissed her again.
Millie was lost in the sensation. Drowning in need, she clung to him, and then as he moved back from her lips she followed them as if she was starving and he was offering food.
He smiled. “I know your name is Millie but I bet you don’t know who I am”.
Millie sought his name from her memory made foggy by desire. She had been on the human resource team that had chosen him from amongst other hopefuls for the new post in the advertising agency. His name was unusual, was it Christmas, or Noel? Then she remembered it was August.
“It’s August isn’t it. You’ve been with us a couple of weeks and you are running that new dog food campaign”.
He smiled again and it put enticing little crinkles by the sides of his dark blue eyes. Millie licked her bottom lip. She wanted to kiss his eyelids.
“So you do know who I am. I’m impressed”, he said softly, and he didn’t mean just about her remembering his name.
Millie smiled and looked longingly at his lips. August knew she wanted to kiss him and emotion flooded his eyes. It was amusement, desire, and kindness all at once. Millie hoped he would kiss her and not that she would have to show her need by pulling his head to hers.
Elodie Parkes Copyright 2012, All rights reserved
Millie suddenly realizes that her husband has not really been kissing her for a couple of years.
She is kissed by a young man who works in the same firm as she does at their Christmas party, and the kiss is so different, and enjoyable it jolts her into the realization that she has been kissing her husband but he’s just been taking it.
It’s not the only thing he’s been taking.
Millie finds herself assessing her relationship with her husband over the next months as the young man who kissed her at the party starts to pursue her.
The things Millie finds out about her husband astonish her.
She falls into a relationship with the young man, August. He is special and begins to love Millie entirely.
As Millie and August’s relationship deepens so do their love scenes.
This is an erotic romance with explicit love/ sex scenes and is suitable for 18 +years only. There is no bad or vulgar language.
Good Points
Okay, first of all, I want to say that Ms Parkes is true to her word. In a world where love is not always found, she writes a beautiful love story. But it isn’t too thick on the romance like some romance novels can be, and the female protagonist, Millie, is not the ‘slappable’ type. She is a normal woman, and very relatable. I did wonder if I would feel a bit strange about reading this story, as it does involve (in my eyes) a woman cheating on her husband. But first of all, her husband is not all that he seems, and you find yourself rooting for her, and even shedding a few tears. The story flows so well that you will be not be able to stop reading, and you are compelled to read onto the next page. On top of all this, the steamy scenes were hot. 😉
Bad Points
There were a couple of occasions where I felt it had been a little rushed, but it didn’t mean any information was left out, so it was still fine to read. I just would have liked to have seen a little more drama and length put into these parts.
Overall
I felt this was a fantastic first offering from Elodie Parkes, and I can’t wait to read her next one! The story was beautiful, and the writing was crisp and well-written. I urge anyone looking for a new romance novel with some steamy scenes to pick this one up, and devour it in one sitting.
I give this novel…….5/5 Stars!
Notes On A Page 