My Favourite Holiday by Marie Laval

It is lovely to welcome Marie Laval back to my blog to talk about her recent holiday. Marie’s fantastic Saintclair Family novels have just been issued as a trilogy boxset by her publisher Choc Lit / Joffe Books and I have given details of this at the end of the post. But first over to Marie to talk about her wonderful sounding holiday and I defy any of you not to want cake after seeing Marie’s photograph …

Thank you very much Morton for welcoming me on your blog once again, this time to talk about my favourite holiday. It’s difficult to pick just one as I’ve been fortunate to enjoy many lovely holidays over the years. When my children were little, we used to go to Lyme Regis and the Lake District – two places that will always have a special place in my heart. More recently, I have ventured abroad on city breaks to Copenhagen, Prague and Stockholm and it’s been magical to discover towns I had only dreamt of before. 

My last holiday however has been absolutely wonderful. I’ve just returned from the Bourbonnais region of France where I was visiting my sister. I hadn’t seen her for two years and it was amazing to be together again and share long walks, visits to picturesque chateaux and villages, not to mention encounters with deer, donkeys and buzzards and various other wildlife, and with my sister’s eccentric English neighbour (more about him below). Unfortunately we also had a short but very scary thunderstorm which brought down roofs, trees and telephone lines.

I can hardly fit in my jeans after all the delicious food and drinks I enjoyed – cakes, cheeses and Merguez (a type of spicy sausage) to name but a few, and chilled rosé wine and occasional glass of bubbly. I may have overindulged a bit but it was after all my 60^th birthday!

My sister and her friend live in a small house which used to feature a sheep-pen and a very steep ladder to access a dormouse-infested attic. They worked very hard over the years to renovate the house and it’s now much more comfortable and very pretty with its blue shutters and garden filled with flowers. Furry visitors still occasionally scuttle between your feet as you enjoy a cup of coffee on the terrace, but ‘C’est la campagne!’ as my sister says. The house is indeed in the middle of nowhere, with only farms and endless fields of corn or sunflowers and narrow roads lined with blackberry bushes…

And then there’s Robin’s ramshackle house and allotment across the lane.

Robin is an elderly Englishman who lives amongst his goats, rabbits and poultry, i.e. hens, cockerels and partridges. He usually sleeps outside on his balcony or in a hammock in the allotment. I had met him briefly during previous visits, but this was the first time I actually talked to him after he asked to ‘borrow’ my son to build a wooden gate and clear tree branches after the storm. How fascinating and inspiring it was to learn about his life journey… After being a builder, musician and chauffeur to millionaires, he moved to France to be self-sufficient and live in harmony with nature. 

Isn’t that what a great holiday is all about? Having a break from the routine, spending time with loved ones, discovering new places and meeting people. My holiday in France certainly was all that, and more, and I can’t wait to go back.

About Marie Laval

Originally from Lyon in France, Marie has lived in the Rossendale Valley in Lancashire for the past few years. She writes both historical and contemporary romance. Her contemporary romance novels include best selling contemporary romantic suspense novels LITTLE PINK TAXI and ESCAPE TO THE LITTLE CHATEAU, which was shortlisted for the 2021 RNA Jackie Collins Romantic Suspense Awards. All five contemporary romances now feature in a box set ESCAPE INTO ROMANCE. Her three historical romances have been re-published in THE SAINTCLAIR FAMILY TRILOGY. Marie also contributes to the best selling MISS MOONSHINE anthologies together with eight author friends from Authors on the Edge.

Marie’s Facebook Author page can be found here.

About The Saintclair Family Trilogy

Embark on a journey from the scorching sands of the desert to the storms of the Scottish Highlands in these three unforgettable historical romances that will stay with you long after the final page.

BOOK 1: ANGEL OF THE LOST TREASURE
Devon, 1816. When young widow Marie-Ange Norton is summoned to France to claim a mysterious inheritance from the enigmatic Monsieur Malleval, she has no choice but to accept the invitation. Her escort, the wounded and wary Capitaine Hugo Saintclair, makes no secret of his reluctance to accompany her. But at the remote château of Beauregard, Marie-Ange is unsettled by Malleval’s fixation on her family’s past — and soon realises she is more prisoner than guest. With danger closing in, Hugo may be her only ally. Now Marie-Ange must decide if she can trust the man who could shatter her heart — or if love is the only hope left to save her.

BOOK 2: QUEEN OF THE DESERT
Algiers, 1845. When Harriet Montague’s beloved father is kidnapped during an expedition to uncover a lost tomb, she must seek aid from the last man she can trust — Lucas Saintclair, notorious rogue and outcast. In exchange for a fabled pirate map, Lucas agrees to help track her father across the unforgiving Sahara. But as secrets surface and danger closes in beneath the blazing desert skies, their uneasy alliance begins to burn with a desire neither can deny . . .

BOOK 3: CAPTURED BY SCOTTISH LORD
Cape Wrath, Scotland, 1847. When fiery Rose Saintclair travels from Algiers to meet her new husband, a storm strands her at the remote Scottish estate of his sworn enemy — the dark and brooding Lord Bruce McGunn. Trapped by a snowstorm, Rose refuses to be intimidated by the Highland brute, who is as unforgiving as the land he rules over. But as secrets unravel, Rose realises her husband may not be the man she thought he was. Passion soon flares in the most unexpected place, but can love bloom where hatred once reigned — or will history repeat its darkest betrayals?

Buying Link : https://www.amazon.co.uk/SAINTCLAIR-FAMILY-TRILOGY-spellbinding-historical-ebook/dp/B0FFBLPQ7C/ref

Also by Marie Laval

Buying Link : https://www.amazon.co.uk/Escape-into-Romance-Box-Set-ebook/dp/B0CLKZ27MQ/ref

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Summer at Lucerne Lodge

A New Arrival in Borteen Bay

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Published by Choc Lit an imprint of Joffe Books