#Guestpost: Welcoming Abi’s Neighbour author, Jenny Kane @JennyKaneAuthor @AccentPress

I’ve been wanting to welcome author Jenny Kane to Being Anne for such a long time – and at long last, she’s here with me. Let me hand over to Jenny so she can tell you why – and to share a Cornish coincidence…

I’m delighted to be here on Being Anne today to talk about my brand new novel release, Abi’s Neighbour.

A follow on story to my bestselling novel, Abi’s House, Abi’s Neighbour takes you on an adventure of friendship, romance and cream teas in the Penwith region of Cornwall.

Abi Carter has finally found happiness. Living in her perfect tin miner’s cottage, she has good friends and a gorgeous boyfriend, Max. Life is good. But all that’s about to change when a new neighbour moves in next door.

Cassandra Henley-Pinkerton represents everything Abi thought she’d escaped when she left London. Obnoxious and stuck-up, Cassandra hates living in Cornwall. Worst of all, it looks like she has her sights set on Max.

But Cassandra has problems of her own. Not only is her wealthy married lawyer putting off joining her in their Cornish love nest, but now someone seems intent on sabotaging her business.

Will Cassandra mellow enough to turn to Abi for help – or are they destined never to get along?

Complete with sun, sea and a gorgeous Cornwall setting, Abi’s Neighbour is the PERFECT summer escape.

I was inspired to set Abi Carter’s new life (which begins in Abi’s House), in the Sennen Cove/Penzance area of Cornwall for two main reasons.

The first is that my father is Cornish. Consequently, I spent every childhood holiday in and around his home town of Penzance, and so I know the area very well indeed. From a tin mining family, my Grandad followed in his father’s footsteps until after the war, when he began a butcher. My Nan, also from a mining family, ran a lodging and guest house in Penzance.

The second reason I sent Abi to Penwith is that – having learnt of a series of coincidences that link my family to the very tip of Cornwall– I wanted to add another one!

Fifty years ago this year, on the 28th April, my parents met in the tiny harbour village of Mousehole, Cornwall. My mum was there on a geography field trip as part of a teacher training course she taking in Cheltenham, and my dad was there because he and his workmates liked the pub.

Eighteen years ago this year, on the 28th April- exactly fifty years later – my eldest child was born.

OK- so that is a coincidence; but there isn’t too much Cornish about it.

That is, until you add this into the equation.

Seventy-one years ago my mum’s parents were on their honeymoon. In Penzance. They stayed in a guest house on a street called Alma Place. Two doors away there was another guest house. Now that guest house was the very one I mentioned above; run by my Nan. Which means that my two year old father was running around in the guest house gardens, with only one house dividing him from where his future in laws were having their honeymoon.

You can see why then, that when I decided to write a story about a young widow escaping from a life she hated, I should give her a new start somewhere which held happy childhood reminisces for her. It just so happens that Abi Carter’s childhood memories are mine too.

The house she dreams of finding in Abi’s House, is a house I fell in love with as a child.

The places Abi and her friend Beth eat fish and chips, the beach she has ice creams on, the walks she goes on – even the dog Abi encounters – they are all as real to me as the keyboard on which I’m typing this blog.

No such thing as coincidence? Cornwall doesn’t seem to agree!

If you’d like to buy Abi’s Neighbour (which can be read as a standalone novel or after Abi’s House), then you can buy it from all good bookshops and online retailers.

Amazon UK | Amazon.com

Thank you Jenny – what a great story! 

About the author

Jenny Kane is the author of the full length romance novels Abi’s Neighbour, (Accent Press, 2017), Another Glass of Champagne (Accent Press, 2016), Abi’s House (Accent Press, 2015), the contemporary romance/medieval crime time slip novel Romancing Robin Hood (Accent Press, 2014), the best selling contemporary romance novel Another Cup of Coffee (Accent Press, 2013), and its novella length sequels Another Cup of Christmas (Accent Press, 2013), Christmas in the Cotswolds (Accent, 2014), and Christmas at the Castle (Accent Press, 2015).

Keep your eye on Jenny’s blog for more details: you’ll find buying links for all Jenny’s books on her Amazon author page.

Jenny also writes erotica as Kay Jaybee and historical crime as Jennifer Ash.

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