Karen King tells us about The Cornish Hotel by the Sea

I'm delighted to welcome back onto my blog, author and good friend, Karen King. Karen's brand new romance The Cornish Hotel by the Sea, published by Accent Press has just been released. This is Karen's second chicklit for Accent Press, her first, I Do?...Or Do I? Was published last year, and she has yet another romance in the pipeline.

Accent have also republished her earlier romance novels, The Millionaire Plan and Never Say Forever. She has also written several short stories for women's magazines and has had around 120 children's books published!

Prolific writer Karen, is a member of The Romantic Novelists Association and the Society of Women Writers and Journalists. She's also a tutor for The Writers Bureau. Being so busy with her writing and helping others improve their writing skills, she doesn't get a lot of free time. But when she does get chance to relax she enjoys travelling, watching the 'soaps' and reading.

“Give me a box of chocolates and a good book and I'm in heaven,” says Karen.

I've read all of Karen's YA books and romances, which I've loved. And I'm currently reading her latest novel, The Cornish Hotel by the Sea and enjoying it very much.

It's about Ellie Truman who's widowed mum is struggling to keep Gwel Teg, the family hotel in Cornwall, afloat. Ellie is determined to do everything in her power to help her, even if that means moving back to the sleepy Cornish village she fled from broken-hearted a few years before. However, things go wrong from the start, and she's grateful for the help from hunky guest, Reece Mitchell. But Reece has ulterior motives for being so helpful.

What I love about this book is the perfectly created setting. You really get a feel for being in a sleepy Cornish village on the coast. I asked Karen if there was a particular beach that had inspired her in this story. Here's what Karen said.

“I know Cornwall really well as I holidayed down there for many years and l lived in a bungalow ten minutes from the beach in Hayle for almost a decade. Memories kept flooding back as I wrote it. There wasn’t one particular beach that the story is based on, but the gorgeous beaches in St Ives were definitely the main inspiration.”

Much of the action takes place in the hotel. I asked Karen if that caused any difficulties.



“Well I’ve stopped in quite a few hotels so I didn’t have to research that but a key event in the story was a leak from an upstairs bathroom that came through the ceiling and flooded the room below. So I had to research how to plaster a ceiling, how long it would take to dry out, etc – and it took far longer than I wanted it to so I then had to tweak the story a little.”

I know it's been a busy year for Karen, I asked her to recap on what's been going on in her life book-wise.

“It has been very busy. My YA Perfect Summer was republished by Accent Press in May so I had a book launch for that and for my romance novel I do?...or do I? which was published last year by Accent. In fact it was three book launches, and all with you Ann when your crime novel Kill or Die was published! Also, I’ve been busy visiting schools, writing my third novel for Accent which will be out next year, and writing short stories. I’ve recently had a story published by My Weekly, and am due to have one published in Yours magazine in August.”

I wondered what she was working on now? Any more books in the pipeline, Karen?

“Yes, as mentioned earlier, I’ve just finished my third book for Accent which will be published next summer. I’ve got a few more projects on the go, a YA, an emotional drama and another romance, as well as a couple of short stories. Not to mention a notebook of ideas I want to write up when I can find the time…”

Read more on Karen's blog tour....

Good luck with all these ventures, Karen. And here's a short extract from The Cornish Hotel by the Sea.

"Excuse me."

The man’s voice made her jolt. Ellie tore her eyes away from the figures on the computer screen and looked up, straight into a pair of deep grey eyes set in a ruggedly handsome face topped by chocolate-brown hair. Very nice.

It took her a few seconds to realise that it was Merc Guy, now wearing a black tee shirt and jeans, and to notice the angry set of his jaw and the frown lines in the middle of his thick eyebrows. He was staying here then. Great. An unhappy customer was all she needed.

She just hoped he didn’t recognise her from this afternoon when he was blasting his horn at her. Thank goodness she’d been wearing sunglasses. She fixed a pleasant smile on her face. "Can I help you?"

"The shower isn’t working in my room and I have an important business meeting in less than an hour,” he informed her curtly. "So will you either arrange for it to be fixed immediately or provide me with the use of a shower in another room?”

Great. Problems already.

“Did you hear what I said? I haven’t time to waste. I have an important meeting to go to.”


The man’s abrupt tone annoyed her but she kept calm. “Of course, Mr...er..." she glanced at the hotel register for the man`s name.

"Mitchell." He supplied. "Reece Mitchell. I arrived earlier today. And I’m in a hurry.”

Yes, I got that. A quick glance at the register told her that Reece Mitchell was in Room 12. Luckily the room next to him was empty and there was a connecting door between the rooms. Problem solved.

“I do apologise, Mr Mitchell. I’ll get it sorted for you today. Meanwhile, please use the shower in the room next to you. It’s vacant at the moment and you can access it through a connecting door.”

She reached for the key and handed it to him. “I’m very sorry for the inconvenience. Would you mind popping the key back on your way out?”

He didn’t look too pleased. “Well, I guess it will have to do. I must say this hotel isn’t what I’d expected. I’m surprised you do any business at all.” He almost snatched the key out of her hand.

She swallowed the angry retort that sprung to her mouth reminding herself of Mum’s mantra that the customer was always right. And if they weren’t you didn’t tell them so. She watched, fuming, as Reece Mitchell stormed off.

What an arrogant man!


Thank you for being on my blog, Karen.

Here's the buy links for The Cornish Hotel by the Sea by Karen King.

Buy Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cornish-Hotel-Sea-Cornwall-perfect-ebook/dp/B072275N5V/

Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-cornish-hotel-by-the-sea/karen-king/9781786150714

W.H.Smiths: https://www.whsmith.co.uk/products/the-cornish-hotel-by-the-sea/9781786150714

Author links:
Website: http://www.karenking.net/
Twitter: @karen_king Karen King Romance Author
Facebook: Karen King
Facebook: Karen King Young Adult Books
Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/karenkingauthor/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karenkingauthor/?hl=en

Top stories at the Evesham Festival of Words.

Earlier this year I was again asked to judge the junior category in the Evesham Festival of Words short story competition, which I was very happy to do. I really enjoyed reading all the stories, and choosing those to be short-listed and winners in both the 8-11s and 12-15s categories. I'm so often impressed with the talent and creative skills of our younger writers, and there were some really excellent stories with all kinds of twists and turns.

In the older category, the prize went to Charvi Jain for Boundless, a story filled with emotion which was a real joy to read. It was written with such care and attention and swept you along with the anguish of the main character – a young mother, trying to cope with a toddler when she is only a child herself. There was some beautiful descriptive narrative and not a single superfluous word to be found.

In the 8-11 category, the young writer, 11 year old Iona Mandal clearly has a great future ahead of her. Her story was Anne Frank Reborn. It wasn't just the way it was written with beautiful phrasing but this young writer had taken to heart the story of Anne Frank, and then taken it a step further, through her death and on to her re-birth. Iona also considered the fact that things rarely change, people fail to learn and prejudice continues.

I just had to admire an 11 year old's understanding and ability to articulate their own thoughts and feelings through their writing. So it was a really special moment to meet up with Iona at the presentation ceremony at Evesham Town Hall on Friday. She received her award from the Festival's special guest, TV presenter, chef and novelist Prue Leith. Afterwards I chatted to Iona and her proud parents and asked her what had inspired her to write this story.

Iona who is in Year 6 at King David Primary School, Birmingham said: “My school is a Jewish school even though I'm not Jewish. We learn about the holocaust as it's a very important part of Jewish history. It was through the lessons, school trips to places such as the Holocaust Memorial Centre in Nottingham, and having a survivor of the holocaust come to talk at our school, that I was inspired to write it – as well as my own experiences.”

Iona is no stranger to winning writing and poetry competitions. Her first win was when only eight when she won the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation competition with a poem about poaching. Since then she's won the Ted Hughes Poetry Award and recently she came tops in the Wicked Young Writers competition. She also took first in The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, winning herself a trip to the House of Lords.

“I've entered that twice. The first time I came second, and the second time I came first,” said Iona who has her heart set on being a cardiothoracic surgeon when she grows up – but continuing with her writing in her spare time. “If I have any spare time,” she added with a laugh.

I asked Iona if she has any advice for young writers. She had this to say: “Even if you don't win anything it is good to have a go for the experience and the fun – and it is a great hobby to get into. When you write you should dip your pen in your soul.”

Here's a short extract of Anne Frank – Reborn by Iona Mandal.

3rd September, 1944; Auschwitz: There was no moon or a star in the sky that night. To the whistle of the last train and barking of unfriendly dogs, I arrived. In the dead of night, in a carriage, Star of David pinned on my coat. The ground stood cold at almost freezing point. I could see tall lamp posts and fences with barbed wires - distanced by uniformly separated watch towers, manned by sentinels. The railway lines running aimlessly were meshed with broken flints. The smoke from the last carriage had settled by now. As black boughs of stark trees creaked in the ghastly wind, soldiers with blinding flash lights shouted, ripping the eerie silence.
There was no room for confusion. Everyone seemed in haste. It was now time for roll call to separate the men, women and children.The young and old were segregated in different lines. Dad went away with able bodied men, pushed by a soldier wearing a weird symbol stitched on his sleeve - black, circled by white, bordered on red cloth. Oh! How much I hated it! Reminded me of a creepy spider with four legs!

Your can read the rest of Iona's story and all the short listed and winning entries in a new anthology entitled: Short Stories (2) Best Stories from 2017. Available from the Evesham Festival of Words website: https://eveshamfestivalofwords.org/ also available from the Almonry Evesham. http://www.almonryevesham.org/