A Girl’s Best Friend - blog tour

BLOG TOUR

Welcome to your new cottage in the country - complete with grumpy vet, village gossip and a very muddy dog . . .

City girl Ella wants to take refuge in the country, lick her wounds and work out what she's going to do with the rest of her life. She certainly doesn't want to have a four-legged house guest or anything to do with village life. Unfortunately, the inhabitants of Wilsgrave have other ideas.

Settling in to her godmother's house for a few months of R&R, Ella finds herself the reluctant babysitter of a badly behaved Labrador - and her plans of staying mainly indoors scuppered. But as she's forced into wellies and into the village's way of doing things, Ella meets people who make her think again about what she really wants out of life and love, starting with her new furry best friend . . .

A gorgeously romantic tale set in an idyllic countryside village, from the author of ebook bestseller Covent Garden in the Snow. Perfect for fans of Trisha Ashley and Katie Fforde.

What everyone's saying about A Girl's Best Friend:

'I loved this book! Thank you so much to Jules Wake for yet another brilliant story' NetGalley Reviewer

'Enjoyable and charming, and perfect for anyone who needs a quick escape to the country' Amazon Reviewer

'It seems Wake can write the perfect Summer, Christmas and now, Springtime books . . . light-hearted, warm and witty - it made me just want to stick my own wellies on, get outside for a walk and appreciate the outdoor life!' NetGalley Reviewer

'Packed full of lovely characters, wagging tails, and self re-discovery' Amazon Reviewer

'I was hooked from the first page and I loved it so much that I struggled to put it down! . . . Funny, heartwarming and lighthearted . . . a joy to read' NetGalley Reviewer

BUY LINK

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Girls-Best-Friend-feel-good-countryside-ebook/dp/B076PGQDG1

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jules Wake's earliest known declaration that she planned to be a writer came at the age of ten. Along the way she was diverted by the glamorous world of PR and worked on many luxury brands, taking journalists on press trips to awful places like Turin, Milan, Geneva, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam and occasionally losing the odd member of the press in an airport. It gave her the opportunity to eat amazing food, drink free alcohol as well as providing opportunities to hone her writing skills on press releases and to research European cities for her books.

Eventually the voices in her head persuaded her it was time to sit down and write the novel she'd always talked about. Her debut novel, Talk to Me in 2014, was quickly followed by the bestselling From Italy With Love, published by HarperImpulse, which reached the top ten in the Amazon Kindle charts. Since then she has had seven further novels published.

Jules' book Covent Garden in the Snow was a Kindle Top 2 bestseller and her latest book A Girl's Best Friend will be published by Sphere in September. She also writes cosy romantic fiction as Julie Caplin and her next book in the Romantic Getaway's series, The Little Paris Patisserie, will be published by HarperImpulse in September. 

Follow on twitter @juleswake. Or visit her on www.juleswake.co.uk

GUEST POST

It was New Year’s Day when out of the blue my husband announced, to the great joy of my children, that this was the year of Project Dog.

Our forays into pet ownership with the children; two rabbits with Houdini tendencies, despite reinforcing their run with industrial strength chicken wire, and Chinese hamsters, one of which had a psychopathic bent, had not been a roaring success. And despite adamant promises of we’ll clean out the cages, feed them, look after them … guess which mug ended up doing all the work.

However, I came up with a cunning plan and suggested we went for a trial run and dog sat for some friends.  This, I thought, would show husband and children just what was involved in looking after a dog.  Luckily, I knew someone with a very well-behaved black lab — he came when he was called whenever we went out for a walk, which seemed a pretty good start to me.

All was arranged and the very handsome Ash arrived while his owners went off for a week’s skiing. And the fun began.  On night one, I’d just dropped off to sleep when he started the Hound of the Baskervilles impression. The only way to curtail his howls of woe was to sleep on the sofa next to his bed.  

Despite the initial lack of sleep, there were lots of pluses. Walks in the wet, winter countryside, exploring places that some how we’d just never got around to doing before.  Cleaning up after a muddy dog, a daily hoover and floor clean quickly became routine (although definitely my routine).

There were also a few episodes, like when we took him with us to friends for Sunday lunch and he polished off the roast when no one was looking, it didn’t go down so well especially when to add insult, he was sick in the car on the way back. And who knew that labs like butter, whole packets complete with foil wrapper?

Despite these little mishaps, my plan backfired spectacularly as over the course of the week, we fell in love with Ash and I learned that having a dog adds a completely different and rather special dynamic to family life.  Unfortunately we also realised that being a responsible dog owner means that you have to give them the time and commitment they deserve. Reluctantly we came to the conclusion that it wouldn’t be fair to have a dog at this point of our lives.

However, the experience did inspire the story of A Girl’s Best Friend, which is set in the beautiful Chiltern Hills where I live and features many misadventures dog owners will be familiar with, as well as that special bond that develops between a dog and its owner.  It was a joy to write and I hope it will be a delight to read.