I'm delighted to be taking part in the blog tour for Joseph Barnaby by Susan Roebuck and sharing an extract from the book today. There is also a great giveaway to enter but first of all let's take a look at the description...
Stand by your beliefs – even if it means going to the end of the Earth
By standing up for his principles to save the life of a
prize racehorse, farrier Joseph Barnaby loses everything. Now, a personal
vendetta has become too deep to fight and he escapes to the island of Madeira
where he finds work on a small farm at the foot of a cliff, only accessible by
boat. The balmy climate and never-ending supply of exotic
fruit, vegetables and honey make it sound like paradise but, for Joseph, it’s the
ideal place to hide from the world. Can the inhabitants of Quinta
da Esperança, who have more grit in them than the pebbled beach that fronts
the property, help Joseph find his self-worth again? And can he escape the
danger that draws ever nearer?
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Sofia, one of the protagonists, is at home on the farm that she shares with her uncle and aunt.
She hasn’t met Joseph Barnaby yet.
Inside the cool farmhouse she
drank a glassful of fresh lemonade. The place smelled as if her aunt was making
tomato rice for dinner. She peeked at a row of small fish sitting on a plate,
ready to be grilled. Just as she thought: chicharros.
Her uncle had been fishing off the jetty again. He knew she liked them better
than sardines.
Her aunt came in to check the
rice pot. The new man came just in time
for the grape harvest, her aunt signed, gesturing with her head towards the
main vineyard, where, presumably, she knew the said man was working. We’ll be busy. Can you lay the table for
four? And your uncle picked some lovely mangoes this morning which he took with
the vegetables to town. I kept a couple for dinner.
On the patio Sofia laid the old
wooden table, covered with its washable plastic cloth. Her aunt came out and
joined her, bending to weed her clay pots of orchids and geraniums dotted
around the doorstep on the cobbles.
Is
he having meals with us?
Sofia asked, knowing he would, because the previous farm-hand always did.
Her aunt nodded, picking dead
flowers off a burgundy-red bougainvillea that crept up one wall of the
farmhouse.
Sofia took the fragrant golden
mangoes into the cool interior. Hopefully this farm-hand would be more honest
than the previous one, who secretly set off at night in the boat loaded with
her uncle’s vegetables, bananas, figs, sweet potatoes and passion fruit, all of
which he apparently sold to a different restaurant further down the coast. She
still thought Tio Fernando should’ve
got the law on the man instead of just sacking him. Tio said as soon as word got out that the guy was a thief there’d
be no work for him anywhere, probably not even as far as Funchal. Lord, he’d
end up having to leave Madeira Island altogether.
The
new man’s English,
her aunt signed, and then held out a bowlful of shiny black-shelled limpets. He’s been on the rocks this afternoon,
prising these off. Beauties. She poked them with her finger. Surprised he knows what they are, being
foreign.
“Very good,” Sofia mouthed back
before signing, As long as he leaves my
hives alone. Foreign, is he?
Yes.
His name’s… Her
aunt put the bowl down by the ceramic sink and pulled out a piece of paper from
her apron pocket. She showed it to Sofia, who read the words Joseph Barnaby.
I was born and educated in the UK (I am British!) but
now live in Portugal. I've been an English teacher for many years with the
British Council and also the Portuguese civil service where I developed
e-learning courses.
My first love is, of course, my husband, my
second writing, and my third painting. And now I have time to be able to
indulge in all three.
My debut novel, "Perfect Score" was
published by Mundania Press on Sept 21, 2010 and the paperback launched on May
11 2011. It was a finalist in the 2012 EPIC e-book Awards in the Mainstream
Category.
My second novel is a dark thriller/fantasy
called "Hewhay Hall". It won an EPPIE award in the 2013 EPIC
(Electronic Publishing Industry Coalition) e-Book Awards in the Horror
Category.
Next comes "Rising Tide", published in
2015. Set in Portugal, published by Mundania Press. It is set in a tiny fishing
village that the world, and most of Portugal, has forgotten. Read about the
wonders of the ocean and see if Piper from Norfolk UK and Leo from Alaska, USA,
can find what they're searching for in the little village of Luminosa.
"Forest Dancer" was published on 20th
February 2018 by CrookedCat Books. This is novel number 2 set in Portugal but
this time in the forests outside Lisbon, Portugal. Instead of the sea (as in
Rising Tide), now find out about the wonders of the forest and whether
classical ballerina, Flora, can find what she's searching for in the small
village of Aurora.
On 5th October 2018 CrookedCat Books
published my newest novel, "Joseph Barnaby", another romance/suspense
which is set on the island of Madeira.
Social Media Links
Blog and Website: http://www.susanroebuck.com
General Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SuRoebuck
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SusanRoebuckauthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sueroebuck
Amazon page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Susan-Roebuck/e/B0050B2O3U/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1526385163&sr=8-1
Giveaway
Win
1. 1st prize an Amazon book token (£10) ,
2. 2nd prize - 2 x signed paperbacks of Joseph
Barnaby
3. 3rd prize - 2 x ebooks of Joseph Barnaby
*Terms and Conditions
Worldwide entries welcome. Please
enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at
random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter
and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right
to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.
Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this
purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of
the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used
only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time I will delete the
data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
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Why not follow along with the tour, see below...
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