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| Clare Revell |
It's always such a treat to welcome Clare Revell to the blog! She's a wonderful author and friend and her latest release, Welsh Wildfire is part of Pelican Book Group's popular Passport to Romance series. I couldn't wait to tell you more about it, and share my review!
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To start things off, let's meet Clare Revell:
Clare is a British
author. She lives in a small town in England with her husband, whom she married
in 1992, and her three children. Writing from a early childhood and encouraged
by her teachers, she graduated from rewriting fairy stories through fanfiction
to using her own original characters and enjoys writing an eclectic mix of
romance, crime fiction and children's stories. When she's not writing, she can
be found reading, crocheting or doing the many piles of laundry the occupants
of her house manage to make.
Her books are based
in the UK, with a couple of exceptions, thus, although the spelling may be
American, the books contain British language and terminology. The first draft of every novel
is hand written. She has been a Christian for more than half her life.
She goes to Carey Baptist where she is one of four registrars.
Clare can be found at:
http://www.revell124.plus.com/clarerevell/
https://www.facebook.com/ClareRevellAuthor
https://twitter.com/ClareRevell
http://telscha.blogspot.co.uk/
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Welsh Wildfire Blurb:
Pastor Josh Wilson is running from his
past and from God. He takes a construction job and volunteers as a retained
firefighter in hopes that the small Welsh town of Betws-y-Coed will be a refuge
and hiding place...but God has other plans. GP Jess Thomas fights the instant
attraction when an injured construction worker comes into her surgery. A native
Scot with a U.S. passport is a mystery, but there is something else about the man
that keeps drawing her to him. As summer heats up, and the wildfires draw
closer, can Josh overcome the past and move on? Or will he lose everything
before his new life has begun?
~~~~~
Welsh Wildfire Teaser:
Quaint
wasn’t the word to describe the small Welsh villages Josh passed as he drove in
the heat of the day. Tiny was a better word, and if this were the main road
that—combined with the lack of air conditioning in his rental car—was almost
enough to make him turn around, head back to the airport, and catch the first
plane he could find to Oklahoma City.
Almost—but
not quite. Because anywhere in the United States was the last place he wanted
to be right now. He didn’t need comfort. He didn’t need caring family. He
needed to be alone. And Wales, with its odd and unpronounceable towns, seemed a
good place to find solitude.
Josh
drove around yet another bend in the road, desperately hoping he wasn’t going
to meet an oncoming tractor. The last encounter had been scary enough, and he’d
been fortunate to find a passing zone just in time to avoid embedding his
rental car in the hedgerow.
He
glared at the GPS app on his phone. Did the thing even know where Betws-y-Coed
was? All the sign posts were in Welsh, with what he sincerely hoped was the
correct English translation underneath, and according to the map on the front
seat, the town was somewhere along the A5, on the edge of Snowdonia National
Park. He intended to climb Mount Snowdon whilst he was here. It was the highest
mountain in Wales and the third highest in the UK. His self-imposed exile had
to have some perks.
The
countryside was a far cry from the huge city he left twenty hours ago. He’d
somehow managed to find a job in Wales before he left the US—assuming he ever
made the meeting on time. He’d done a telephone interview, but his prospective
boss, the governor of the local firehouse, wanted to meet him face to face
before he signed the contract.
He
would be a retained or volunteer firefighter, not a full-time one, but that
didn’t matter. The job was the same whether he was stuck in a firehouse for the
duration of his shift, or on the other end of a pager— and he’d only ever been
a retained firefighter, doing it along with his day job. That had been enough
of a battle with his employers and his father, but one that he’d won. His
father had since said how proud he was of him serving in that capacity. And
this was just a temporary position to cover a leave of absence—only six weeks.
But that suited him fine. While he needed solitude, he also wanted to keep busy
and this job would help him do that. Too much time on his hands would lead to
him thinking, and that wouldn’t be a good thing. Maybe after six weeks here,
he’d know what direction he wanted to take the rest of his life.
Finally,
Josh drove past the town boundary and followed the signs that read canol y
drefor or town center. He pulled into the first parking lot he found and
assumed by the lack of meters that he didn’t have to pay. Just as well as he
didn’t have change. The ATM at the airport had only given him bills. And no meter
reader or parking attendant was ever going to believe the line he had to go and
buy a paper to get change.
Josh
eased his long frame from the car and rolled his shoulders in the sunshine.
Birds sang in the trees, a cool breeze ruffled his hair, and he closed his
eyes, taking in the fresh air. No city smog here. Just clean, fresh mountain
air.
He
pulled the backpack containing all his paperwork from the car and locked it.
Sliding the keys into his pocket, he consulted the map in his other hand. The firehouse
should be just off the High Street, wherever that was. He began walking. Maybe
there’d be a coffee shop somewhere. Thirsty didn’t even begin to describe how
he felt. Josh turned a corner. Ahead a building was covered in scaffolding. The
signs read Morgan Construction. It could almost be a total rebuild they were
undertaking.
Josh
allowed himself a small smile. He hadn’t done construction in years. He paused,
admiring the stone work along the top of the bricks. He nodded to a guy in a
hard hat. “Nice work.”
The
man studied him. “Thank you. You know about this stuff?”
“Aye.”
As usual, Josh managed to speak in a combination of Scottish and American, a
throwback to his mixed heritage—although his Scots accent only came out when he
was tired, stressed, or having trouble keeping his emotions in check.
MARIANNE'S REVIEW
Clare’s books are always
spine-tingling, always romantic, and always satisfying. I’m in awe of her
imagination and her talent for bringing those imaginings to life in the pages
of her books. Welsh Wildfire does not disappoint. There’s the intriguing ‘man
on the run,’ and the compelling (and worthy) heroine who steals his heart
amidst danger, developing emotion, and a setting that I now cannot wait to see
and experience for myself made this a late-into-the-night type of read. Kudos,
Clare!
Check it out - here's where you can find it:
Amazon Barnes & Noble Christian Book.Com Pelican Book Group
Happy reading, friends!!
