Congratulations to Jane Cable, whose captivating time-shift romance, The Lost Heir, is published today!
The Lost Heir is the second book in the Cornish Echoes Dual Timeline Mystery series.
Cornwall, 2020
Teacher Carla Burgess is using her time in solitude to revaluate her life. She loves living on the beautiful Cornish coast, but she no longer enjoys her job, and it’s certainly time to kick her on-off boyfriend, Kitto, into touch.
With lockdowns forcing her to spend most of her days indoors at her parents’ family farm, she joins her father in researching their family history, and she discovers the first Burgess to farm Koll Hendra was actually a smuggler. And when Carla finds a locked Georgian tea caddy in the barn, the secrets of the past start to encroach on the present…
Cornwall, 1810
Harriet Lemon’s position as companion to Lady Frances Basset has been the ideal cover for their clandestine romantic relationship. But when Frances is raped and falls pregnant, their perfect happiness is shattered. The lovers are desperate to remain together, but they will need to conceal Frances’s baby.
They hope to hide the pregnancy and place the baby with adoptive family, but the only person who may be able to help them is Frances’s childhood friend, William Burgess, a notorious smuggler. William has secrets of his own he needs to protect. Will he be willing to risk his own neck for the sake of the two lovers?
Jane Cable is the author of ANOTHER YOU and ENDLESS SKIES, modern romantic sagas that draw on the Second World War.
Although I hated history at school, in my adult life I have become a total history buff. Not history about royalty, wars and politicians though – the history of ordinary, everyday people. A history I feel connected to and is more often than not local.
For my contemporary romances the history I choose is sharply focussed, linked to the setting. For Another You, the most gripping part of Studland’s past was its role in the practices for D-Day, and for Endless Skies I decided to stay with World War Two. The book is set in Lincolnshire, so to my mind is inextricably linked with Bomber Command.
The wartime setting for Endless Skies is RAF Hemswell, now an industrial estate best known for its antiques centres and markets. In fact, that was the reason I went there in the first place. But wandering around the old barrack buildings, I could almost see the airmen on the stairs and hear the stamp of their boots in the parade ground. This had to be the place.
The staff at Hemswell Antique Centres were able to give me a leaflet with a short history of the base, and that set me off on my research. While we were in Lincolnshire I walked its buildings and roads then drove around the area, so I was totally familiar with the terrain, and once we were back at home I started to dig deeper.
Here the internet is invaluable, and there are a number of websites giving the history of RAF bases. Hemswell was one of the first to be operational right at the beginning of the war, but as I dug deeper I found two Polish squadrons had been based there in 1942-3 and had suffered huge losses. I knew exactly where to focus my research.
This is where local history becomes exceptionally localised for me: one place at one point in time. In Endless Skies my protagonist, Dr Rachel Ward, is an archaeologist and my own work made me think of hers: researching a site, carrying out a survey, opening a trench, trowelling into every corner then digging out a single artefact. She finds … well, it would be spoiling the story to tell you. I find words.
Hemswell War Memorial
But sometimes before you focus down you need to pan out, so I read around the subject: first-hand accounts from wartime bomber crews; memoirs of civilian life on RAF bases. For background on Hemswell itself I was very lucky – it was where The Dam Busters was filmed in the 1950s, and there was both a book and documentary about making the movie so I could watch almost contemporary footage.
There was also a treasure trove on the internet about the Polish airmen who crewed the station, and seeing photographs of them was quite an eerie experience. In fact, I ended up with far more information than I could possibly – or would want to – use in the book. But the level of detail gives me confidence my historical details are correct.
But equally interesting to me were the ghost stories associated with Hemswell: a pilot in flames on the runway, the echoes of 1940s music and the sounds of bombers taking off and landing. And having researched them, it would have been such a shame not to use at least one of them as well. Although my ghosts, of course, are completely fictional.
Click here to order ANOTHER YOU.
Click here to pre-order ENDLESS SKIES.
Celebrate Valentine’s Day with a timeless love story! We’ve chosen four of our favourite romantic reads for you this February.
Summer at Hollyhock House, Cathy Wallace
After breaking up with her long-term boyfriend, Faith Coombes is looking for a new start. Her search leads her back to where she began: the village where she grew up, home to her best friend and an old flame. As the summer wears on, Faith finds solace in her familiar surroundings, and her feelings for the boy she once adored begin to rekindle. But as memories of hurt and heartbreak start to resurface, Faith must decide whether she can put the past behind her and give love a second chance.
A charming and heart-warming tale of missed opportunities, self-discovery and the bittersweet sting of true love, Summer at Hollyhock House is sure to bring both tears and laughter.
Girlfriend, Interrupted, Patricia Caliskan
After a whirlwind romance, Ella Shawe takes the plunge and moves in with her boyfriend, Dan – plus his two children and pet dog. Far from domestic bliss, Ella must now learn to cope with a resistant family, a hellish mother-in-law and Dan’s impossibly perfect ex-wife. But with the future of her blossoming relationship on the line, Ella is determined to find a way to fit into the chaos…
Full of modern dilemmas and sparkling humour, Girlfriend, Interrupted is a fabulous British comedy with a spirited and relatable heroine at its heart.
Women Behaving Badly, Frances Garrood
Three very different women are all stuck with impossible romances: Alice has an irresponsible ex and a noncommittal lover; Mavis is having an affair with a father of two; and Gabs is a high-class escort who has fallen in love with someone she can never be with. In the eyes of the Catholic church, all three women have gone astray. But their priest, Father Cuthbert, is determined to reform them. As Alice, Mavis and Gabs form an unlikely friendship, each begin to question what is most important to them – and it soon becomes apparent that the lively trio can’t be ‘cured’ that easily…
Original, uplifting and fabulously witty, Women Behaving Badly is a moving tale of heartache, self-love and the warmth and power of female friendship.
Another You, Jane Cable
Following the breakdown of her marriage, Marie is still learning to heal. But as the head chef of The Smugglers – the pub co-owned by her ex-husband – she finds herself constantly stretched and plagued by headaches. With local celebrations planned for the 60th anniversary of D-Day, Marie expects to be busier than ever – but she could never have prepared for the changes that are about to hit. Paxton, a charming American soldier, seems to be just what Marie is looking for: a bit of light-hearted fun. But as they grow closer, she begins to wonder if he is all that he seems…
Drawing on World War II history as well as the horrors of modern combat, Another You is a sweeping story of trauma, courage, and self-reclamation.
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On Saturday we had our semi-annual author meet-up in London, where we had a chance to catch up with our wonderful writers over drinks and nibbles, as well as finding out what their next big projects are. Here is a taster of what’s to come:
Simon Michael, Natalie Linh Bolderston and Elizabeth Bailey
Elizabeth Bailey has more dazzling Regency romances and murder mysteries in the pipeline with new Brides By Chance and Lady Fan novels coming our way.
Graham Brack has handed in the final instalment of his thrilling Josef Slonský Investigation series, and will be launching a new historical crime series next year.
We are currently working on Jane Cable’s second compelling romance novel, Winter Skies, and she is already drafting her third.
Michael Fowler’s gripping crime thriller series, the DS Hunter Kerr Investigations, is being launched this month.
Anthony Galvin is working on exciting new thrillers under the pen name of Dean Carson, which we will be publishing soon.
Anthony Galvin and Michael Fowler
Charlie Garratt is drafting book three in his intriguing historical mystery series, the Inspector James Given Investigations.
The captivating fourth instalment of Valerie Holmes’ sweeping Regency adventure series, The Yorkshire Saga, will be coming out soon.
Two members of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, Natalie Kleinmann and Ros Rendle, have recently signed with us and will be bringing out brilliant new books next year.
A brand-new book in Simon Michael’s atmospheric historical crime series, the Charles Holborne Legal Thrillers, is going up on pre-order this month and he has an idea in mind for the next one.
We will soon be publishing book five in Linda Stratmann’s absorbing Victorian detective series, the Mina Scarletti Mysteries, and she has started work on book six.
Deborah Swift’s powerful new wartime romance, The Occupation, will be out by the end of this year.
Thank you to all of the authors who were able to attend, and we hope to see everyone again to celebrate our second anniversary in March!
The Sapere Books team
Image credit: a big thank you to Gary Stratmann for his photographs.
