Boomerville at Ballymegille

Purchase Links
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Boomerville-Ballymegille-Feel-good-heartwarming-perfect-ebook/dp/B08GTZD7GG  

US - https://www.amazon.com/Boomerville-Ballymegille-Feel-good-heartwarming-perfect-ebook/dp/B08GTZD7GG

Excerpt
Happy reading everyone, with love, Caroline xx

 Hattie, the hotel manager, is decorating a run-down cottage in preparation for some unexpected guests who will shortly be arriving for the grand opening party at Boomerville Manor…

 At the end of the garden, Hattie was preoccupied and didn’t hear Finbar as he approached the cottage. She wasn’t expecting visitors and as her brain wrestled with the tasks in hand, she was unaware that he’d made his way down the uneven path to the open door.

  Hattie stood in what once had been a parlour and admired her handywork. The room had been swept clean, with windows washed and surfaces dusted. Devoid of furniture, the linoleum floor was cracked in places and curled away from the edge of an old tiled fireplace. An iron latch held the windows together as trees brushed against glass as thick as a beer bottle. Like the stone walls, the windows, though old, were made to last.

  Hot and dusty, Hattie had knotted a scarf around her head and damp curls poked out, clinging to her forehead. She looked around and nodded; it was the last room in the cottage to have her broom and mop treatment and she was satisfied with her efforts. In the kitchen she placed her cleaning materials next to an old stone sink and, running water from a creaking tap, she washed her hands and face, lifting the skirt of a grubby apron to dry her skin. She removed the apron, glanced at her watch and tutted, knowing that she needed to get back to the manor. Jo would be wondering where she’d got to and would no doubt be having kittens, as her nerves built for the evening ahead.

  It was time for a pick-me-up and Hattie closed the kitchen door to step into the hallway.

  ‘What’s a pretty girl like you doing in an old place like this?’

  ‘Jesus, Finbar!’ Hattie gripped her chest and staggered back. ‘What in the devil’s name are you doing standing there and scaring the living daylights out of me?’

  Finbar appeared from the shadow of the doorway. As he moved forward, he held out his hands. ‘I’ve been sent as a search party and here you are.’

  Hattie knocked his hands away and was angry as she stormed past. ‘I’m not lost and I don’t need anyone to come looking for me.’

  Curious to see what Hattie was up to, Finbar stuck his head around the parlour doorway. ‘What would you be doing in here?’ He sniffed as a strong aroma of cleaning products wafting through the room. ‘This place hasn’t been lived in for years.’

  ‘None of your damned business,’ Hattie snapped. ‘Now come away and we’ll go back to the manor.’

  They left the cottage and as they stepped into the sunshine, Finbar tapped his nose.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘You may be acting the maggot but whatever your secret is, you can rest assured that it’s safe with me.’

  ‘Aye, well that’s as may be, but you mustn’t tell Jo where I was.’

  As they walked side by side through the garden, Finbar began to whistle.

  Digging about in her pocket, Hattie found her mobile phone and stared at the screen. She’d had a message from Alf that the Cumbria party had managed an early start and were making their way by road from Marland to Holyhead, then a ferry across the Irish Sea, to arrive in Dublin before heading south via Cork to Kindale. Alf reckoned that the journey would take about ten hours, plus stops. Hattie calculated that by late evening, the manor would have many more unexpected guests to accommodate.

  Jo, the owner, was going to have a fit.

  Oh well, Hattie thought, replacing her phone, there was no point in enlightening her friend until she had to.

* * *

Read more in… 

Boomerville at Ballmegille

About the author:
Best-selling author of women’s fiction, Caroline James has owned and run businesses encompassing all aspects of the hospitality industry, a subject that often features in her novels. She is based in the UK but has a great fondness for travel and escapes whenever she can.

A public speaker, which includes talks and lectures on cruise ships world-wide, Caroline is also a consultant and food writer. She is a member of the Romantic Novelist’s Association, the Society of Women’s Writer’s & Journalists and the Society of Authors and writes articles and short stories, contributing to many publications. Caroline also runs writing workshops.

In her spare time, Caroline can be found walking up a mountain with her two Westie dogs, sipping raspberry gin or relaxing with her head in a book and hand in a box of chocolates.

Books by Caroline James:
Hattie Goes to Hollywood

The Best Boomerville Hotel

Coffee Tea the Gypsy & Me

Coffee Tea the Chef & Me

Coffee Tea the Caribbean & Me

Jungle Rock

Contact:
www.carolinejamesauthor.co.uk

Twitter: @CarolineJames12

Facebook: Caroline James Author

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