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His Last Christmas Gift by Debra Borchert #Review

    His Last Christmas Gift by Debra Borchert will take you to a different country and season. It was published by Le Vin Press on 1st November 2025. Widowed, fired, and 50, Claire is one hot mess. This later in life romance hits like a snowball packed with grief and hope and mystery and the kind of second-chance that says, “I didn’t think I’d ever feel this again, and now I’m terrified, but… Hi.” Romance that’s frost melting off a windowpane. It’s “I forgot my heart could do this.” It’s love doesn’t have an expiration date. Twinkly lights, mulled wine and flaming crêpes so immerse you in Christmas markets—you’ll book a flight to France before the fares go up. A book club fiction favourite, Claire’s journey of self-discovery is perfect for fans of women’s fiction and stories about strong women over 50 navigating reinvention with inspiration, humour, with a delicious frosting of romance. “Give yourself the gift of a lush, romantic, French adventure and be swept away ...

The Little Kiosk by the Sea by Jennifer Bohnet **Weekend Blitz & Giveaway **

    I am thrilled to be taking part in my very first weekend blitz to celebrate the publication of The Little Kiosk by the Sea by Jennifer Bohnet. Jennifer has kindly written an exclusive guest post for Books, Life and Everything on the subject of writer's block. I am so pleased about this as I always enjoy sharing an author's thoughts on writing with you. 

    At the end of the post are details on how to enter the Giveaway to win a copy of the book, but first, here's a little bit more about the book.

One summer they'll never forget... 

Meet Sabine, desperately fighting to save her little kiosk from closure whilst turning down her friend Owen's proposals, time and time again.

Cue Harriet, returning to Dartmouth after thirty years, haunted by the scandal that drove her away and shocked by a legacy that threatens her relationship with her journalist daughter. 

Enter Rachel. the mysterious newcomer who has an unexpected chemistyry with a local widower, and who sets in motion a chain of events she could never have predicted...

One thing's for sure, as the autumn tide turns, there'll  be more than one secret laid bare! 



  Welcome, Jennifer! Over to you!

WRITER’S BLOCK?


Writer’s Block - real or imagined? Some writers admit to suffering, others poo-poo the whole idea, saying it’s self-indulgent nonsense. Personally I find my muse does go awol occasionally, when I’m tired or life has conspired against me. But waiting patiently for it and inspiration to return is a no-no when there are bills to be paid, so there needs to be some sort of plan in place to keep my muse, and me, tethered to the desk.

I’ve always been a pantster rather than a plotter with my writing. A character, a setting, a title, will float into my head and away I go to see where it leads me because that’s the exciting thing about writing for me: the unknown journey. To map out a story chapter by chapter, to know the beginning, the middle and the end, kills the whole thing for me before I’ve even begun. It’s why I can never write a synopsis before I’ve written the book. But, for my last two books Rosie’s Little Cafe On The Riviera and The Little Kiosk By The Sea I did have a sort of plan. Both books have story lines involving different characters whose stories twist together and keeping them separate but flowing was difficult. So every evening I’d jot down the barest outline of the next scene: a phrase, whose pov, and an incident. The next morning I’d read through and edit the previous days work and then those few extra words would give me a kickstart into the day’s writing.

A couple of years ago I read David Morrell’s Lessons From a Lifetime of Writing - highly recommended for all sorts of reasons, not least because it is inspiring.

Aside from writer’s block there is something else that stops me writing. Procrastination - linked to social media. It’s the devil! Just a quick look at a favourite blog, an interesting e-mail to answer, tweeting, a writer’s group to keep in touch with, and that’s before factoring in the promo that authors need to do these days. It’s all too easy to spend the morning doing essential networking and not writing at all!

And these days, my keyboard seems to have acquired its own block!


 I must say, thanks so much for letting us in on your thoughts on what stops you writing- I'm sure there are several things here which will ring a bell with everyone- love your writing companion!

About the writer in her own words

I'm English but I've lived in France for the past 17 years. After 11 years down on the Cote d'Azur where Richard my husband was a guardian for a villa, we moved from the Mediterranean coast to a small quirky cottage in Finistere, Brittany. A bit of a culture shock to say the least! When I'm not writing I love reading, cooking and having friends around for lunch - lunches that follow the French tradition of lasting for several hours. The Little Kiosk By The Sea is set in my absolute favourite place in England, Dartmouth South Devon, where we lived for several years before moving to France.  

You can connect with Jennifer at herWebsite,|   FacebookTwitter

The giveaway is UK and EUROPE only and the prize is a paperback copy of The Little Kiosk by the Sea and Rosie's Little Cafe on the Riviera. 

There is one winner - good luck!

To enter, follow the link below


a Rafflecopter giveaway

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