The Big Little Festival

The Big Little Festival 

Love happens when you least expect it…

Jodi is panicking. It’s only weeks until her little village in Devon holds its first ever festival and everything is falling apart.

Desperate to avoid disaster, she brings in notorious party planner Christian to save the day. Although she wasn’t prepared for just how gorgeous he would be!

Men are off the cards for Jody and surely Christian is the last man she would ever date? But with tensions rising – along with the bunting and home-made scones – she’s about to find out…

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One of the parts I loved most about writing Christian’s character was watching him transform from a man used to giving orders without having them questioned, to a man who had to learn to work in collaboration with others, to a man who had to learn how to let people in, and to trust them – even when they didn’t always make it easy for him…

Christian nodded his thanks and spooned the sugar into the coffee, hoping the women across from him, still snickering away, wouldn’t notice the trembling of the spoon, or the small granules of sugar that fell onto the table.

‘So, how is this going to work then?’ he asked. ‘Will I make suggestions and you poo-poo them?
Will you make suggestions and expect me to action them?
Am I to be your lackey?’

‘Ooooh, I’ve always wanted a lackey.’ Mrs Harper clapped her hands in delight. ‘Yes, I’m very happy with that idea of yours. Excellent idea. You do as we say. I could live with that.’

‘Now, now, Shirley.’ Mrs Hunter shook her head in mock despair. ‘Give the poor lad a break. He’s here to help us and he must have connections. Why don’t we let him find the musical acts and we can go about telling the Rotary girls what we need for the baking stall. We’ve got the Welly-wanging sorted; Jody had that well in hand. So that should be it. We’re done.’

Christian gripped the coffee cup with both hands, brought it to his lips and sipped, holding the rich and surprisingly delicious liquid in his mouth. Who knew a tiny town could do a better cup of coffee than any he’d had in the city? He swallowed and tried to process what he’d just been told. Did they think a baking stand, some Wellington throwing and a bit of music was all a festival needed?
It needed more. Much more.

But it wasn’t going to work if he didn’t have a team he could trust working with him. Mrs Harper and Mrs Hunter were loose cannons. They’d likely jeopardise plans rather than bring them to fruition. But Jody? There was something about her he felt he could trust. She was determined, yet centred. Solid. She’d make the perfect second-in-command.   But she’d quit.   Shit.

He took another sip of the brain-focusing liquid. No, he wasn’t letting these two women smash the career he’d spent his life building into smithereens. He’d left London with his tail between his legs; there was no way he was going back to face the music of his great mistake without a success under his belt.
He was going to make this work.

‘Ladies.’ The word came out with a squeak. Hardly the show of strength he’d hoped for. Still, it had caught their attention. He cleared his throat and tried again. ‘Ladies, I appreciate how hard you’ve worked on this festival. I can see how passionate about it you are. But to be honest, it’s not enough. A festival needs to be fun, it needs excitement, amusement, it needs to be something people talk about all year round as they wait for it to come around again. What you’ve planned is a start. But it’s not an end. No. We’re going to have to work together to make this bigger. To make it better than any other festival in the area. A festival people from other counties come to visit. We’re going to make this festival the biggest little festival in England. Are you with me?’

Author Bio:

At the age of five Kellie Hailes declared she was going write books when she grew up. It took a while for her to get there, with a career as a radio copywriter, freelance copywriter and web writer filling the dream-hole, until now. Kellie lives on an island-that’s-not-really-an-island in New Zealand with her patient husband, funny little human and neurotic cat. When the characters in her head aren’t dictating their story to her, she can be found taking short walks, eating good cheese and hankering for her next coffee fix.

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Twitter:  @KellieHailes

 What could be more fun than a festival to commemorate a HUGE event in the town's history - the town being Rabbits Leap (with no apostrophe) and the event, a passel of wild rabbits being run out of town by loud, BAD music! Who is up to celebrating with a round of Welly-wanging? 

A light hearted warm romantic read sure to make you smile.

As if single mom Jody doesn't have her hands full raising twin 9 year old boys, she wants to give back to her community so heads up the "committee" organizing the Big Little festival. Not that they can afford to (when in fact they can't afford NOT to) Jody hires a fancy event planner to take control of the festival, although giving up control is not easy for Jody.
The town and its people are unlike any Christian has encountered before. He feels like time in Rabbits Leap stalled in the early 1950s. But he has a secret and needs this festival to be more than successful.

I was already hooked before the end of chapter one but Kellie Hailes threw in cotton floss and a psychic!

Jody and Christian must work closely together to pull off organizing a festival in only three weeks.
Although each is attracted to the other from the start, past experiences have closed off their hearts to getting close to someone new. Can the main couple survive their feelings, keep their secrets and raise enough money to fix the town pool?
Having an American English ear I am delighted with the phrasing as well as the small town appeal. This is a fast paced novel, sweet but not sickeningly so. The characters are wonderful and full of life. I wish it didn't end!