Book Extract: Second Chances at the Log Fire Cabin by Catherine Ferguson

The blog tour train rolls in today for Second Chances at the Log Fire Cabin by Catherine Ferguson. 

It’s time to cosy up this winter…

When Roxy proposes to her boyfriend Mac in a moment of madness on live TV, she’s mortified when he rejects her. To escape the embarrassment, she takes a job working as cookery assistant at a Christmas house party at the idyllic Log Fire Cabin. Roxy hopes the new job will take her mind off Mac, because to her eternal annoyance, she hasn’t been able to stop thinking about him…

But when Mac turns up at the cabin in unexpected circumstances, things begin to go awry. Can Roxy heal her own heart this Christmas? Or is someone waiting in the wings to help her…?

Catherine and Avon have shared an extract from the book below. Let me know what you think in the comments. 

***** start of extract*****

If I don’t find work soon, I might have to move back in with Mum and Dad. As much as I love them, the idea of returning to the little backwater town on the south coast, where I grew up, and sleeping in my old single bed is not an appealing thought. I’d be miles from all my friends in Surrey.

And miles from Jackson . . .

A log shifts in the grate and makes me start. I stare into the flames, lulled by the seasonal cheer of the blaze and the thought that it will soon be Christmas. Whatever happens on the jobs front, I’ll still be spending the festive season with Jackson. It will be our very first Christmas together!

It’s so snug in the room, I feel myself starting to drift off . . .

I can’t breathe. I feel like I’m choking.

My heart is thundering as panic flares inside me. The hands of a faceless stranger are squeezing my throat and pressing on my face, blocking my airways. Slowly suffocating me.

I’m desperate to escape from the room but the door is locked. Pulling on the handle, I try to call out for help, but no sound emerges. Grasping to pull the obstruction away from my face, I find to my horror that there’s nothing there. The so-called hands choking me are invisible.

I’m going to die . . .

Someone is calling my name. At first it sounds far away in the distance but it’s getting closer.

‘Roxy? Wake up. You’re having a nightmare.’

***** end of extract*****

About Catherine: 

Catherine Ferguson burst onto the writing scene at the age of nine, anonymously penning a weekly magazine for her five-year-old brother (mysteriously titled the ‘Willy’ comic) and fooling him completely by posting it through the letterbox every Thursday.

Catherine’s continuing love of writing saw her study English at Dundee University and spend her twenties writing for various teenage magazines, including Jackie and Blue Jeans, and meeting pop stars. Then she got serious and worked as a sub-editor at the Dundee Courier before moving to Surrey and setting up an organic veg box delivery business.

Her first novel, Humbugs and Heartstrings,  was very loosely based on Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and was the launch title for Avon’s brand new imprint, Maze. Second Chances at the Log Fire Cabin is due to be released by Avon on 1st November 2018. Click to view on Amazon UK. 

Say hi to Catherine on Twitter – https://twitter.com/_cathferguson

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Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.