Blog tour and giveaway – Follow Me Follow You by Laura E James

I’m delighted today to be the first stop on the blog tour for a book I thoroughly enjoyed – Follow Me Follow You by Laura E James, published in paperback by Choc Lit on 5th September.

You save me and I’ll save you…

Victoria Noble has pulled the plug on romance. As director of the number one social networking site, EweSpeak, and single mother to four-year-old Seth, she wrestles with the work-life balance.

Enter Chris Frampton, Hollywood action hero and Victoria’s first love. His return from LA has sparked a powder keg of media attention, and with secrets threatening to fuel the fire, he’s desperate to escape.

But finding a way forward is never simple. Although his connection with Victoria is as strong as when he was nineteen, has he been adrift too long to know how to move on?

With the risk of them breaking, will either #follow their heart?

There are times when you find yourself part of a blog tour for a book that hasn’t really won your heart. But I should know by now that a good read – and a gorgeous hero – is guaranteed in any book published by Choc Lit, and I really enjoyed this lovely book by Laura E James.

The Ewespeak concept is really, really clever – kind of Twitter, with sheep and flocks – and each chapter is headed by a “bleat” that moves on the story. The central story sees Victoria walking away from her high-powered life, running the Ewespeak corporation, to try and mend her relationship with four year old Seth. Because of her commitments and a lot of personal baggage Victoria carries, he’s far more attached to nanny Carys than he is to her – there’s real pain when you see him unable to call her “mum”, and shouting that he hates her. Against a backdrop of Dorset’s Chesil Beach, Victoria re-encounters Chris, her first love: he’s had a career a film action hero, but has returned to Dorset to rebuild the lives of himself and his young teenage son after a personal tragedy.

This is a beautiful romantic read, very emotionally affecting, but it also addresses some real issues around family relationships and recovery. It also has the best cast of supporting characters I’ve come across in a while – including the two children, Victoria’s dad and his wonderful girlfriend Olivia, the straight-talking Annabel who steps into the breach at Ewespeak, and the horrendous boo-hiss villain who tries to destroy everything.

I loved it – a cleverly created world, a beautiful love story, and enough dark and light to make it a really original read. Do give it a try – and as the giveaway on this tour is a paperback copy of the book, you might be able to win one by entering via the Rafflecopter below.
a Rafflecopter giveaway (My thanks to JB Johnston at Brook Cottage Books for organising the tour and for all her support: my copy of the book was my own, and my review wasn’t influenced by being part of the tour. )

Laura E James is married and has two children. She lives in Dorset, but spent her formative years in Watford, a brief train ride away from the bright lights of London. Here she indulged her love of live music, and, following a spectacular Stevie Nicks gig, decided to take up singing, a passion that scored her second place in a national competition.

Laura is a graduate of the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s New Writers’ Scheme, a member of her local writing group, Off The Cuff, and an editor of the popular Romaniacs blog.

Laura was runner-up twice in the Choc Lit Short Story competitions. Her story Bitter Sweet appears in the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Anthology. Truth or Dare?, Laura’s debut novel, was shortlisted for the Festival of Romantic Fiction Best Romantic eBook 2013 and the 2014 Joan Hessayon New Writers’ Award. Follow Me Follow You is Laura’s first Choc Lit novel published in paperback.

She has an excellent website, a Facebook page, and can also be followed on Twitter. There’s also a lovely trailer for the book on YouTube.