After The Sun
Release Date: 28th May 2018
Series: Coming Back to Cornwall #2 (can be read as a standalone)
Genre: Contemporary Romance
When things seem too good to be true, they usually are.
Alice is finding her feet managing the
Sail Loft Hotel when Sam is presented with an offer he can’t refuse. The bad
news is, if he says yes, he will have to leave Cornwall.
Sam’s visits home see him split in his
loyalties between his daughter Sophie, and spending time with Alice. Sophie’s
mother, Kate, seems to be doing her best to make things difficult.
Meanwhile, Alice’s friend Julie is also
facing a long-distance relationship as her new partner, and Sam’s best friend,
Luke, is working in London. With no children to think of, and plenty of
disposable income (on Luke’s part at least), life should be more simple but
Julie has yet to find a long-term job and Luke is still getting over the recent
death of his mother.
Can these fledgling relationships pass
the long-distance test, and can Julie and Alice make life in Cornwall work for
them now that the summer sun has gone?
EXTRACT
“Oh.” I feel
like my stomach has dropped to the floor. I try to look happy. “But that is
brilliant, isn’t it? It’s an amazing opportunity, it’s perfect for you.”
“Alice,” Sam
says quietly and I look at him. “It’s not perfect, is it? Because it would mean
being away from you.”
He’s been
offered sponsorship through university, including a year’s practical experience
partway through the course, and guaranteed employment afterwards. His exam results
were some of the best in the country for his chosen course, Applied Marine
Biology, and he’s actually been head-hunted by a brilliant conservation
society. It’s more wonderful news, on top of everything else. Only the course
they want him to do isn’t at Plymouth, it’s at Bangor, in North Wales.
414 miles away
via the quickest route (seven hours, ten minutes). 389 miles via the A30 (seven
hours, thirty-two minutes), five changes on the train (eight hours, fifty-eight
minutes).
“You have to
do it,” I say, “you have to. It’s too good an opportunity to turn down.”
I am saying
the right words but I am willing him to say no, he won’t, he doesn’t want to.
We have been apart for ten years, and back together again for a matter of
weeks. I can’t bear the thought that we will be separated again. But I know
that this decision needs to be his. He looks at me, his blue eyes serious and
holding my gaze. I look away first, scared that I might cry.
“I don’t
know,” he says. “I don’t know.”
“Number
fifty-three!” The lady behind the counter calls out cheerfully.
“This is us,”
I say, “I’ll go and get it.” I am grateful for the opportunity to break this
moment. “Do you want any sauce?” I ask, trying to match the cafe lady’s tone.
“Alice…” Sam says
but I am on my feet, walking towards the counter with a smile on my face while
inside my heart is breaking. I know that he has to go.
BUY LINKS
AMAZON UK - https://goo.gl/neeV9A
AMAZON US - https://goo.gl/9YkSC8
Katharine E. Smith is a writer, editor and publisher. An avid
reader of contemporary writers such as Kate Atkinson, David Nicholls and Anne
Tyler, Katharine’s aim is to write books she would like to read herself. She
has three novels to her name, and one non-fiction guide, written with fellow
indie authors in mind.
Katharine runs Heddon Publishing from her home in Shropshire, which
she shares with her husband and their two children.
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