It's a book blast and there are prizes to be won. I'm featuring Prosecco Christmas by Sylvia Ashby. Looks like a real treat! What's up for grabs, prize-wise? You could win a pair of Prosecco funny socks.
How cool is that? Want more chances to win these toasty socks? Then follow the tour. You can do that here: https://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2017/11/book-blast-prosecco-christmas-by-sylvia.html
NOTE: This book is currently $0.99 on kindle (or free on Kindle Unlimited).
PROSECCO CHRISTMAS
by Sylvia Ashby
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Family
is where life begins.
And
what better time to spend with your family than Christmas week?
Ashley
and Giacomo go to Upper Swainswick, a postcard village ten minutes’ drive from
Bath, to stay with Ashley’s mum and stepdad. It’s their last visit before the
arrival of their first child.
But
babies have a habit of being unpredictable.
So
when Ashley goes into labour on Christmas Eve, three weeks ahead of schedule,
it takes everyone by surprise.
She’s
not ready! Her perfect Birth Plan is packed away in her hospital bag two
hundred miles away, she has no going home outfit, and she has a live event
planned for New Year’s Eve for her YouTube channel, The Sinking Chef. People
have been signing up for it for weeks. She can’t possibly disappoint them on
the last day of the year. What is she to do?
The
tinsel gets even more tangled when Giacomo’s parents decide to fly from Italy
to meet their first grandchild. Hotels are fully booked, so everyone has to
stay under the same roof.
Would
eleven people in the house, not counting the baby, turn out to be simply too
much for Ashley?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now for An Excerpt:
We’re sitting around the low living room table about to
begin a game of Best of British.
‘Right,’ Mum says. ‘Does everyone have a drink?’
Orna, Clara and Vittorio are drinking Prosecco. I raise my
cup of tea. Thomas and Philip ignore her. They wanted to have the rest of the
Coca Cola in the fridge, but Mum put her foot down. Also, they think Best of
British is a dumb game. They wanted to play Cards Against Humanity, but Orna
vetoed them. And now they are in a funk.
‘The question that we’re asking today is what makes British
people so British?’ Orna reads aloud the back of the game box.
‘Let see,’ Mum opens the box and tips out the contents.
There is a board, which she unfolds. The playing pieces are different colours
and each of us has to choose one.
‘I’ll be blue,’ says Philip.
‘No, I’ll be blue!’ Thomas snatches the pieces before Philip
can get to it.
‘I said it first!’
‘You can have green!’
‘Muuum! Tell him,’ Philip shrieks.
‘Boys, if you don’t behave there will be no desserts at
dinner.’ Mum’s voice is assertive, but her eyes are pleading with them.
‘Tom always gets whatever he wants,’ Philip whines, but Mum
stares him down and he settles for green.
Mum throws a shaky smile at Orna, who returns the smile
without showing her teeth, then has the tiniest sip of Prosecco and rolls her
eyes.
My blood boils in indignation on Mum’s behalf. How dare she
treat Mum like that when she’s never had children. She has no idea what it’s
like. I open my mouth to say something, then close it. What’s the point? She’s
just a horrible woman. And I don’t want to spoil everybody else’s fun.
We each select a piece in silence and put them on the start
space on the board.
‘Right, I’ll read out the rules, shall I?’ Mum grips the
string of pearls hanging down her neck. She looks quite stressed. I wish she
wouldn’t mind Orna.
She carries on.
‘“The Question Master picks up the first Question Card from
the box,” I’ll be the Question Master,’ she says before Orna can jump in. ‘“The
Question Master picks up the first Question Card from the box, making sure the
answers are concealed from all the players on both teams. If it is a Picture
Card, the picture is shown to all the players on both teams. If it is a Themed
Card, the theme is read out to all the players on both teams. If a question is
answered incorrectly then the Question Master can put the same question to the
next player for a bonus move. If they answer correctly they move their own
piece onto the next space on the board that matches the colour of the
question.”’
Mum releases her string of pearls and makes them rattle.
‘Is everything clear?’ Mum looks around for a second time.
‘OK, then the youngest player goes first.’
Philip perks up. He picks up a card and hands it to her.
‘Who were Randolph, Diana, Sarah, Mary and Marigold?’ Mum
looks at the answer perplexed. ‘Oh. This is rather hard. Perhaps you can choose
another card, Phil. Something with a picture on it.’
‘This is not how you play a game!’ Orna pushes her ample
bosom forward. ‘Rules are rules. They are meant to be followed by everyone. How
will he learn to follow the rules if he’s always given leeway?’
‘He’s not always given leeway!’ Mum protests. ‘It’s just
that… this question is rather out of his “era”.’
‘What do you mean out of his “era”? Since when has knowledge
had an “era”? It’s not only current affairs that are important, you know?’ Orna
clicks her tongue.
‘I didn’t say that, but he can’t be expected to know
everything. He’s only twelve.’
‘Than you offer the question to the person who’s next in
turn! When that person answers, he’ll learn.’
Mum rolls her eyes but complies.
Next in turn is Thomas.
‘Thomas, who were Randolph, Diana, Sarah, Mary and
Marigold?’ Mum reads the question again.
‘I don’t know.’ Thomas grumbles. ‘This is a stupid game.
Cards Against Humanity is much better.’
‘Yes, but we’re not playing Cards Against Humanity,’ Mum
snaps at him. ‘We’re playing Best of British, OK?’
Her veneer is cracking. I see Philip throwing a warning
glance in his brother’s direction but Thomas ignores him.
Next in turn is Orna.
‘Orna, who were Randolph, Diana, Sarah, Mary and Marigold?’
Mum reads the question for the third time.
‘They are all character from Downton Abbey!’ Orna says
victoriously.
‘I’m afraid not, Orna.’ Mum’s mouth twitches. ‘They were
Churchill’s children.’
Thomas starts laughing and Mum shoots him a warning frown.
‘Oh,’ Orna’s face turns puce. ‘Very well, then. Carry on.’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About the Author:
Sylvia
Ashby is fond of the written word: books, blog posts, recipes, even an
explanation to the HM Revenue & Customs as to why she thinks skirts should
be exempt from VAT - she's written it all!
She
likes travelling and has lived all over Europe - London, Brussels, Amsterdam
and Sofia, Bulgaria. Currently, she lives in Leuven, Belgium with her husband,
daughter, son and a sparrow called Jack, who comes occasionally to peck the
seeds she leaves for him on top of the garden shed.
Blog
www.sylvia-ashby.com
Twitter
https://twitter.com/bysylvia_a
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/sylviaashbywriter/
Amazon
author page https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sylvia-Ashby/e/B00DK8M2NM/
https://www.amazon.com/Prosecco-Christmas-Pot-Love-Book-ebook/dp/B076X7VTVK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1510332210&sr=8-1&keywords=prosecco+christmas+sylvia+ashby
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1 comment:
Thanks for hosting!
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