Review & Giveaway: Dangerous Waters by Anne Allen

Goodreads Synopsis

Mystery, loss and love on the island of Guernsey.

'Oh my God, what's happening to me? After all this time, please, not again!'
Jeanne Le Page, gripped by fear and panic, struggles to breathe as the ferry arrives in Guernsey, the island she had fled 15 years before, traumatised by a family tragedy.Now she has to return after her grandmother's death. Jeanne has inherited her cottage and she plans to sell it before returning to the UK. Unhappy after the recent end of a long-term relationship, she has no desire to pick up her old life on the island.
Suffering traumatic amnesia after being involved in the accident that killed her family, Jeanne has experienced nightmares for years. The return to Guernsey triggers frightening flashbacks and she undergoes hypnosis to recover her memory, reliving the tragedy as the ghosts continue to haunt her. But someone on the island does not want her to remember, and she faces danger from an unexpected source . . . 

What can I say apart from great reading! While this book isn’t the type of genre I have read of late, it was a refreshingly good old romance. Throw in a bit of drama, mystery and heartbreak along the way and Anne has successfully glued me to the pages.

The main character Jeanne, finds herself back where her life first fell apart, and she does not like it one bit. During the course of this lovely tale, she comes to find she is a lot stronger than she thought. She discovers a lot of new things about herself and her past and uncovers some deeply hidden family secrets.

 

I loved Anne’s flow of writing, her romantic storyline and well presented characters. While I found Dangerous Waters a little slow in places, it was worth the time spent for a truly heart warming story with its fair share of highs and lows.

3 and a half chocolate kiss stars!4 Stars for Amazon/Goodreads etc!

Purchase Links:

Amazon US / Amazon UK

Stalker Links:

Website  / twitter @AnneAllen21

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I live in Devon, by my beloved sea. I have three children and my daughter and two grandchildren live nearby. I was born in Rugby, to an English mother and Welsh father. As a result I spent many summers with my Welsh grandparents in Anglesey and learnt to love the sea.  My restless spirit has meant a number of moves which included living in Spain for a couple of years. The longest stay was in Guernsey for nearly fourteen years after I fell in love with the island and the people. I contrived to leave one son behind to ensure a valid reason for frequent returns!

By profession I’m a psychotherapist but have long had creative ‘itches’, learning to mosaic, paint furniture, interior design and sculpt. At the back of my mind the itch to write was always present but seemed too time-consuming for a single mum with a need to earn a living. Now the nest is empty there’s more time to write and a second novel is gestating, but novels take a lot longer than children to be born!

It's a very small world Anne. Whilst I now live in Australia, I lived in Devon for 12 years, and miss it dearly. (Bex) What inspired you to write your first book?

Well, I’ve always been an avid reader and enjoyed English at school and writing essays for my degree but the ‘push’ came about 6 years ago when I entered a national (UK) writing competition in Prima magazine. It was for a 500 word true-life story and I won! I was toying with a book idea and this gave me the confidence to sit down and write ‘properly’.  I’d just finished reading a novel about a small French island which reminded me of Guernsey. An idea formed in my mind about a house with secrets and a heroine with a tragic past and it evolved from there! Writing is not yet a new career but I’d love it to be.

How did you come up with the title Dangerous Waters?

Well, the story centres around a tragedy which took place at sea and also Jeanne, the central character, finds herself in ‘dangerous waters’ with regard to finding a new love. Case closed!:)

How are you the same/different from your main character?

I certainly feel that Jeanne and I have a lot in common! We’ve both experienced loss in our lives which impacted on us for years. I could see her as my younger self but her ‘history’ is very different to mine. I was born in England and went to live in Guernsey as an adult whereas the opposite is true for Jeanne. She’s a writer but has made a career of it whereas I . . . . well, that remains to be seen! I also recognise similar personality traits but I’m not saying which!

Hmmm... you'll have me thinking about those traits now! How long does it take you to write a book?

I wrote the first draft in about six months but it’s taken six years to get it published. Along the way I’ve completed many re-writes and edits, particularly after receiving professional critiques, which were extremely helpful. They did make me realise how much I had to learn about writing a book!

What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

I’m not an early bird so settle down to write mid- morning and can, if the muse is happily in residence, to write for several hours, only stopping to eat. As I’m not working to a deadline, it can be easy to walk away for a while – even days or weeks- so it does mean I’m not a prolific writer like some.

How do you market your book?

Although I self-published, I used a British publisher called Matador who offer a marketing scheme for their authors. This has helped with getting the word out in the UK with reference to the paperback but I’ve had to publicise my ebook version myself. I belatedly joined twitter which has to be the prime networking site for any author. Through twitter and surfing the net, I’ve found a number of bloggers – like Bex! – who are happy to promote authors. It’s important to focus on increasing one’s profile and then, hopefully, the book will sell! We’re all just small minnows in such a big ocean of writers it’s not easy to be noticed.

Well as always, we'll see what we can do! We love supporting our authors. 

What I really noticed immediately was your cover, call me fickle but I do notice such things. Plus I really like it! Who designed the cover?

A lovely professional designer, Claire – www.clairesiggery.co.uk – who was recommended to me by my son. I love the result!

What book are you reading now?

False Impressions by Sandra Nikolai, a new indie author I met through twitter! Looks like  a great read!

We'll be sure to check her out! Our final question: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

Thank you for taking the gamble of reading a book by an unknown author! I can only hope that you enjoy reading Dangerous Waters as much as I enjoyed writing it.

 

Anne has kindly donated an ebook to one of our followers. All you need to do is fill in the rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway