Today I’m delighted to feature author Suzanne Snow, who writes contemporary, romantic, uplifting fiction with a strong sense of setting and community connecting the lives of her characters. Her latest book A Country Village Christmas was one of my fabulous festive reads last year and I’ll definitely be going back to read it’s predecessors.

Suzanne used to work in financial services and retrained as a horticulturist to plant redesigned gardens. When she’s not writing or spending time with her family, she can usually be found in a garden or looking to the landscape around her for inspiration.

Suzanne’s first novel in the Thorndale series, The Cottage of New Beginnings, was a contender for the 2021 RNA Joan Hessayon Award and she is currently writing the Love in the Lakes series for Canelo. Suzanne is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and the Society of Authors.

Over to Suzanne:

Which five pieces of music/songs would you include in the soundtrack to your life and why?

Suspicious Minds by Elvis Presley, as he’s one of the artists I remember being played at home as a child. So hard to narrow the choice to only one track and I’m going with this one just because it’s classic Elvis and so great to sing along to.

---

Last Christmas by Wham. I was (am) a huge fan and bought everything they released even if I hadn’t yet heard it played. This is such an iconic song with a great video, and it takes me straight back to when I first heard it.

---

Georgia Rain by Joshua Kadison. His Painted Desert Serenade is my favourite album and I still play it regularly. I love the cover and the sense that he’s just singing from the heart with a piano and a guitar, maybe on a beach.

---

Blinded By Your Grace by Stormzy. I love that it’s the story of his faith and it’s the first track on my expanding playlist. One of my favourite songs of the past few years.

---

Slow Down Summer by Thomas Rhett. His music is something I’ve come to really love as he’s another artist who writes and sings from the heart, and this new track is currently top of my playlist for Book 6. The book is about a second chance at first love, and this is perfect for inspiration.

---

What five things (apart from family and friends) would you find it hard to live without.

Books, because I’ve always been a reader and have one close at hand wherever I am. I love the ability to disappear into a different world for a time, especially when I’m reading historical crime fiction.

Music. I love lots of different genres and artists, and always create a playlist for every book I write. Time to think is so important in writing, and music helps me plan a new book from the beginning through to writing the end.

My ear buds so I can listen to music wherever I am! My family are used to me having the buds in when I’m writing or just doing chores, and not always hearing them.

A good waterproof coat and boots so I can go out in any weather. I love a woolly hat; I think that comes from my mum.

Plants. Working in garden design with clients and seeing the difference a beautiful garden can make, whatever its size, was very inspirational.

Give five pieces of advice to your younger self?

Try harder at school

Don’t ever stop writing, progress takes time.

Be more patient.

Don’t worry about the things you can’t change or control.

Be thankful for every opportunity and remember writing is a joy.

Tell us five things that most people don’t know about you

I rode in dressage competitions with a fabulous Connemara gelding who’s been part of my life for thirty years.

I went to agricultural college in my forties to study horticulture and gained two qualifications. Revision was not as much fun as learning and making new friends.

One of my favourite things to do is going on road trips for research that take me to places I’ve never seen.

I worked on a gold-medal winning show garden and a clip of our team ended up on the local news.

I’m not a huge fan of board games and I can’t stand charades. I don’t mind a quiz and I love jigsaws.

Tell us five things you’d still like to do or achieve.

Go to Montana on a ranch holiday.

Try wild swimming, but I keep finding reasons not to!

I’d love to ride a fell pony around the old packhorse routes in Cumbria.

See one of my books made into a movie or TV series (like lots of other authors!)

To keep on writing.

Many thanks for joining me today Suzanne, it was great to learn more about you, especially as you’re a ‘new to me’ author. Having listened to Slow Down Summer I’ve got high hopes for book 6! I know several authors add details of their playlist in their books, might that be an option for you? As someone who also isn’t keen on board games (especially Monopoly!) and also can’t stand charades I can empathise with you. I’m much happier with a book or a jigsaw. I love that you went to college in your forties, I’m a firm believer in not letting age be a barrier to doing what you want to do (if you can). With that in mind, I hope you get to achieve your dreams. If the film happens can I help with casting Tom in A Country Village Christmas!

Suzanne’s Books

(NB This post features Affiliate links from which I earn a small commission on qualifying purchases)

A Country Village Christmas

Can the magic of Christmas and the community of Thorndale bring two lost souls together in love?

Olivia doesn’t have time for Christmas or for romance – she’s got a demanding career and has been burned before when it comes to love. This year, she’s spending the festive season in her dad’s old house, packing it up now that he’s moved out. Her dad failed to mention she wouldn’t be spending her time there alone…

The last thing Olivia expects is for her surprise guest to be the very man who literally ran from her after an evening of mutual flirtation. But Tom has nowhere else to go and Olivia is determined to forget the disappointment she felt at his abandonment and instead help him find his way again.

As heavy snow keeps them inside the cottage, will their enforced confinement spark romance once again – or will it push them further apart?

---

A Summer of Second Chances

Sparks and tempers fly when Ben comes to stay in Daisy’s holiday cottage

Daisy likes routine. She goes to work, makes dinner for her son, then loses herself for an hour or two in her sewing. She’s not looking for change, until Ben crashes – literally – into her life.

Ben is training for a triathlon, working himself to the limit in an attempt to forget a recent trauma. Daisy wants to help, but even as they draw closer with every week that passes, he pushes her away whenever things threaten to get serious.

Can Ben open himself up to love again? And with Daisy’s life in the Yorkshire Dales and Ben’s in New York, can they have a future together even if he does?

---

The Garden of Little Rose

For love to grow, Flora will have to first dig up the past.

At a hen party on the remote Scottish island of Alana, Flora is dared to ask a handsome stranger to be her plus-one for the wedding. When the gorgeous Mac accepts her invite, she assumes he’s joking and thinks nothing more of it… Until he turns up at the church on the wedding day.

But Mac has an agenda. He wants to hire her skills as a horticulturist to restore the gardens at Róisín House, his home back on Alana. Flora knows she should refuse – Mac has ‘heartbreaker’ written all over him – but she can’t resist uncovering the tragic truth behind the garden at Róisín.

---

The Cottage of New Beginnings

One crumbling cottage. One broken heart. A chance to start over?

When Annie returns to Thorndale, the village where she spent much of her childhood, she’s looking for a new start. All she wants to do is fix up the cottage her godmother left her, and fix up her broken heart.

When she clashes with local hero, Jon, Annie can’t help but wonder if coming back to Thorndale was a mistake. The village has clearly changed and the last thing she needs is more drama. But avoiding the distractingly handsome Jon is proving impossible, especially when Thorndale seems to be conspiring to throw them together…

Annie is looking for a fresh start with zero romance – but what if the only way to learn to trust again is to take a risk on love?

---