I’m introducing a new author to the blog this week – Patricia Williams. Her debut novel The Search for Happiness, a wartime romantic saga was published on 23 April 2025.
Patricia told me that the main character of The Search for Happiness is a young woman of twenty called Beth Daly who is in love with Simon Rees. Her mother Maud however has a marriage to another man John Dawson an unsavoury character in mind for her daughter.
Here is a short extract to whet your appetite …
‘I see our parents are planning our wedding.’ A man’s voice made her jump.
‘John!’ She turned to see the gaunt face too close to her own, her heartbeat increasing with tension and fear. Why had she left the room and the safety of her parents?
‘There will be no wedding for me,’ she spluttered, moving back, the smell of tobacco and beer on his breath, making her feel sick. ‘I intend to enjoy my life first. Once I’m twenty- one I’ll be free to marry whom I choose, not the one that my mother demands!’
She clenched her fists, determined that there was no way she would marry the man in front of her, and turned away, how she disliked him, with his greasy hair too long and his small eyes reminding her of his mother. Abruptly, he hauled her away from the hall doors into the shadows away from the party within.
‘Let’s have some fun to change your mind.’ Pushing her against the wall, he kissed her, shoving his tongue into her mouth and making her retch. She struggled as he dragged aside her jumper, squeezing her breast and making her cry out in pain, and with his other hand he fumbled with his trousers forcing her legs apart. With all her strength, pushing him away, punching him on the nose, there was a satisfying crack. Beth froze as he fell against the fence onto the snow, his trousers around his ankles unable to move.
About Patricia Williams
My name is Patricia Williams, I live in Cardiff with my husband. I have spent my working life as a nurse and then a nurse lecturer at Cardiff University. I had intended to write a reference book on Reflective Practice following my Thesis in that subject. However, my creative juices took me on a different path towards fiction and Romance particularly during the second world war. It wasn’t until I retired that I was able to fulfil my dream to turn away from academic writing to storytelling based on my love of reading. I became a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and joined the local Cariad Chapter of the RNA. I have written several books (Not published yet) as well as The Search for Happiness, hopefully as part of a trilogy. I have benefited from the RNA New Writers Scheme and several writing friends from the chapter providing beta reading support.
About The Search for Happiness
It’s December 1938 when Beth Daly rejects a sexual attack at a dance by the man her mother wants her to marry. Little does she know that as a result he will take his revenge in the bank in Conwy North Wales where they both work. Beth has no choice but to leave the bank to become a part of the Women’s Land Army
She has loved her brother’s friend Simon Rees, since childhood. As the years pass this love has developed into something more, loving him even more. She has to hide this love from her mother who insists that she have nothing to do with Simon. Her mother vows that Beth will marry the man she has chosen for her daughter.
With the Second World War erupting in 1939, Simon enlists in the RAF and asks her to be his wife. He must wait until she turns twenty one in December and does not need her mother’s permission.
Feeling safe on the farm she does not realise that there is someone watching her.
When at a Christmas dance with the Land Army, Beth is attacked and abducted away from the village hall.
Will Simon rescue her in time and will she have to choose between Simon and her mother?
Buying Links:
A Wartime Romantic Saga set in North Wales Link here
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Published by Choc Lit an imprint of Joffe Books
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Sounds my type of book…have just downloaded it! 😊
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