Christmas at the Contraband Café

About the Book

Title: Christmas at the Contraband Café

Author: Liberty Bell

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Chloe Charlesworth has had the week from hell. Not only did she have her dream job as a fashion journalist, snatched away from her, then her aunt breaks her leg. So, Chloe leaves London on a mercy dash to Rum Cove in North Yorkshire to help run her aunt's businesses, the Contraband Café and trekking centre. Chloe imagines she will be simply popping in to check that her aunt has the right help, but when she accidentally poisons her aunt's horses and argues with the local vet, she feels obligated to help out with the numerous Rum Cove's Christmas events, which all centre around the Contraband Café. But, Chloe is desperate to get back to London, move in with her boyfriend, Marcus, and find another journalist's job, the only trouble being that he doesn't seem too keen on the idea.
Rum Cove, an old fishing village, is undeniably beautiful and the locals very friendly, except for the local vet Luke, who is appallingly rude and arrogant. Thankfully Marcus decides to visit and Chloe soon realises that she has some serious decisions to make. A sparkling, Christmas romance.

Author Bio

Liberty Bell is a social worker and teacher. She lives in Lincolnshire with her partner, children and assorted pets. Liberty love reading, writing and walking in beautiful countryside. She also likes baking, eating, more eating, especially chocolate and more than the occasional glass of wine or sloe gin. Liberty has written two other romantic novels; Scotch on the Loch and A Scottish Retreat. Both are available on Amazon.

Scarlett Brodie is a psychologist and lives with her partner and children in rural Derbyshire. She enjoys reading, painting and has an interest in children’s education. She has previously written several children’s books and met Liberty on a writing course where they decided to team up together to write Christmas at The Contraband Café. Scarlett has also written the evocative Friends Reunited, which is also available on Amazon.

All our books are available on www.mycupofteapress.co.uk and Amazon.

Our twitter links are @libertybelli and @suzicress123 for Scarlett Brodie

Links

Get your copy from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Contraband-Cafe-Year-Cove-Winter-ebook/dp/B01LX2ZS4T/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478700774&sr=8-1&keywords=christmas+contraband+cafe

Book Excerpt

Lottie stared at the bucket that Chloe had deposited on the floor, her eyes narrowing. She studied the meagre contents that the horses had left.

‘Christ, you haven’t fed them that, have you? Dry sugar beet?’ Lottie grabbed a handful of the stuff and sniffed it ominously, her eyes shifting to Chloe.

‘Erm. Yes, it was in the feed room and the sack had a scoop in it so I filled up a bucket and fed them all a bit of it over the door…’ Lottie pulled off her hat in anguish revealing lovely long dark hair. She should really not keep her crowning glory covered, thought Chloe. ‘They were starving and you were late…’

‘What? Bloody hell.’ Lottie scowled. ‘That stuff is supposed to be soaked overnight not given to them dry. Don’t you know anything?’

Chloe took in Lottie’s expression which had lost all its warmth suddenly. Her blue eyes were scornful. Chloe sighed. She was only trying to help.

‘Well how was I supposed to know? The bag was open so I naturally assumed…’

Lottie shook her head impatiently as she dug out her mobile from her pocket. ‘That stuff can swell in their stomach and even kill them in the dry state. Luckily for you, my brother is a vet so I can pull a few strings and get him here quickly. You need to encourage the horses to drink as much as possible to lessen the effects.’ Lottie pointed to a pile of black buckets. ‘I suppose you know how to fill up a water bucket? Well, you’d better get to it.’

Chloe’s heart turned over. She turned on the tap and as the water gushed out, she heard snatches of Lottie’s conversation with her brother. Phrases like ‘knows nothing about horses’, ‘bloody idiot’ and ‘won’t be a bit of help whilst Fen’s laid up’, ‘great see you in a min’, floated over her. Anger turned to anguish. God, she was such an imbecile. Not only had she messed up her one shot at a dream job in fashion, now she had quite possibly and unwittingly caused the death of ten horses by her foolishness, and all of that before breakfast. Could this day possibly get any worse?