Well, it's the start of another week, and it hasn't begun too badly for me, although there's time for that to change yet, it's only Monday... you see, there's a prime example of my "glass half empty" attitude! Anyway, it hasn't begun too badly because I woke up today to a lovely surprise, another fantastic review of my epic, sexy contemporary romance No Matter What. Want to know what it said? Well, you can check it out here - No Matter What - latest review. The book's not doing too shabbily on Goodreads either - No Matter What on Goodreads.
But I'm not here to talk about No Matter What. No, I'm here to talk about another of my books, the book I'm now officially calling my "marmite" book, ie: people seem to either love it or hate it! It's the book that's gained the most diverse of comments and reviews; the book that's given me the most to think about because, a while back, when I went through a spate of getting less-than-sparkling reviews for this book that seemed to come one after the other, I honestly thought about pulling it off the market altogether. A case of throwing my pens out of the pencil case, if you like. But then, just as quickly as the dodgy reviews appeared, I got a spate of really great ones, people telling me how much they'd loved the book; people who "got" the story and clicked with the characters. People who enjoyed the edgier, sexier side of romance that this book explores.
Because this book is definitely not one for everyone. It's romance, yes, but if it's a nice Middle-England romance you're looking for then you're going to be bitterly disappointed, because Joanna Trollope it certainly ain't! So I know that there are going to be a fair few people who read this book and just don't take to the story or the characters, but it still hurts just a teensy bit when someone says something negative about it, or when, as what happened on Saturday morning, someone returns your book! Now, I have no idea what made someone want to return a $0.99 book, and it's their absolute right to do so, if they honestly thought it was that bad but, as much as you try not to dwell on these things, wondering just why somebody wanted to return the book kept me rather pre-occupied round Tesco's on Saturday, so much so that I forgot the beansprouts, so that's an unscheduled trip to the Co-Op I've got to make tomorrow otherwise the stir-fry suffers!
But, as someone who's more than learned this lesson, I know that you really cannot please all of the people all of the time, it's impossible. My husband told me that I've just got to toughen up, so toughen up I have. Sort of. And anyway, if I want to drag out the positive side of this and look at this another way, despite the fact that this book has got the most diverse ratings and reviews out of all of my books (1 - 5 stars - with the most dodgy reviews and ratings coming from US readers - don't ask me why!) doesn't that somehow make it all the more interesting? Isn't this book proof, there in black and white, that a book that can bring out so many different opinions... well, that just might - might - make others more intrigued to find out more for themselves. Mightn't it?
The thing is, if you want an edgy, sexy love story that doesn't always stick to the norm, then you might just like See You At The Show, but if you don't want to read about wild female rock roadies and sexy rock stars, and a love trianlge that might just surprise you - not to mention a handful of ranuchy sex scenes - then it's probably wise to steer clear.
But I'll always remember what one person told me (somebody who eventually read the book and loved it!) - she told me that it isn't a case of everybody liking the book, it's about the right people connecting with the story. And she was so right about that!
So, if you want to find out why some people have given it just the 1 star whilst others have raved about it and given it the full 5, read a small excerpt from the book here, and make your own mind up...
“Is that out of your system
now then?” Johnny asked as Stevie threw herself down opposite him. She
ignored him. “What Mark Cassidy
wants, Mark Cassidy gets, huh?”
She
looked at him. He was staring out of the bus window as it sped along the
motorway, his mood
resembling something close to
petulant. Or maybe he really was just tired, after all, wasn’t
everybody?
“That’s
not the way it works, Johnny, and you know that.”
He turned
to look at her. “Have you ever been in love, Stevie?”
“Where
the hell did that come from?”
He’d
never once asked her anything like that before. It was a subject neither
of them had ever felt the need
to talk about and God knows why he
was bringing it up now.
“Have you?”
Johnny
watched her reaction closely. Something had changed in her eyes when he’d
asked that question,
but whether it had anything to do
with Mark he couldn’t quite work out.
“No. No, I haven’t been in love.” A lie. ”Can we change the
subject now?”
She
leaned over to grab a cigarette from the box lying on the table in front of a
now sleeping Jack.
“Not even
with Mark?”
She lit
the cigarette, leaning back in her seat, forgetting that Ava was still in the
vicinity. She suddenly just
really needed one.
“I’m not
in love with Mark. I’ve never been in love with Mark.” She looked
at him, pushing a hand
through her hair and away from her
face. “Is this going anywhere, Johnny?”
He shook
his head. “Maybe I just don’t understand you two as much as I thought I
did.”
“What
the...Johnny? Where are you going?”
“To grab
some sleep before we get there. I’m shattered.”
Stevie
watched him make his way to the bunks, throwing Mark a strange look as he
arrived back out front.
“What’s
up with him?” Mark asked, slipping
into the seat next to Stevie.
“Beats
me.” She smiled at him as he leaned in for a quick, hard kiss. “You
feeling a bit calmer now?”
“When am
I ever anything else?” he grinned, pulling her against him and going in for
another kiss. “But
yeah, I’m feeling a lot
calmer. However, if you’re offering to make me feel just that little bit
more relaxed...”
She
laughed, laying her legs over his as he ran his fingers up and down them,
creeping up the bottom of her
denim shorts as their mouths met
again in a slower, deeper kiss.
“You know
what,” she said, gently stroking the back of his neck as they continued to
kiss. “I reckon we
could both do with getting our
heads down for a bit.”
“A
bit of what though?” Jack smirked, waking up and stretching out.
“Sleep,
Jack. Unlike you lot, when we get to the stadium me and the guys have got
shitloads to do. You
just bugger off to your hotel,
smoke joints and demand crates of lager while we’re working our arses off
setting everything up. You
might be getting the day off today but the rest of us have got to start sorting
things
out for tomorrow.”
“Is that
what we do?” Jack said, winking at her. “Smoke joints and drink lager?”
“Pretty
much, yeah,” Mark laughed.
“Jesus,
why do I bother?” Stevie sighed, swinging her legs off of Marks and
straightening her t-shirt.
“Hang
on. Weren’t we going for a lie down?” Mark asked, grabbing Jack’s
cigarettes before he put them back in his pocket, taking out two, putting one
behind his ear.
“I’m not
in the mood anymore.”
“I
thought you were always in the mood?” Jack said, standing up and leaning back
against the side of the
table.
“Can you
tell him to piss off, Mark? He’s really starting to wind me up today.”
Jack
whistled, leaning forward to ruffle Stevie’s hair. She slapped his hands
away, kneeling up on her seat
to get a better aim at him.
“Ok,
kids, can we just try and play nicely now.” Dave Deacon emerged from the
back of the bus, throwing
the video camera at Mark.
“And I think this belongs to you, or I’m assuming it does seeing as you appear
to
be starring in whatever’s on
there.” He looked at Stevie as he walked past but she ignored him.
He was really
starting to annoy her too.
“And make sure that doesn’t get into the wrong hands. The last thing we
fucking
need is a sex tape scandal in the
middle of a tour.”
“Oh,
yeah!” Jack grinned, snatching the camera from Mark. “New footage!”
“Hey,
hang on, give that here, Jack!”
“Mark,
it’s ok. It’s nothing he hasn’t seen before. If it keeps his tiny
mind occupied for half an hour it’ll be
worth it.” She pushed Mark
up out of his seat, taking his hand. “Come on. Let’s go get that
lie down. I need
to get out of here.” She
looked back at Jack, throwing him a sarcastic smile. “Oh, and enjoy the
show,
Warner. But you watch that
right hand of yours. I know you get off on watching me fuck but don’t
work it too
hard, ok? You’re gonna need
it tomorrow.”
“Funny
girl.”
She gave
him the finger.
“Yeah,
ladylike, Stevie. Very ladylike.”
“There’s
nothing ladylike about me, Jack. And your front man’s about to find out
just how unladylike I can
really be.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Daniel
never tired of walking into the House of Commons. The grandeur and sheer
scale of the building
made it a place he never tired of
coming to. As a student he’d dreamed of one day walking in here as
a
Member of Parliament, and now that
part of his dream had been realised he was just waiting for the next
stage
to take shape.
Andrew
Mitchell still hadn’t yet tendered a formal resignation from his post as party
leader, but the rumours
were getting stronger every day
that it was nothing more than a formality. It was going to happen.
It was just a
matter of waiting. Something
Daniel was quite willing to do.
He walked
along the corridor on his way to his office, smiling and saying hello to people
he knew - fellow
MP’s, colleagues he worked closely
with, and even those he didn’t. He was a very approachable man,
much
liked and greatly admired.
Which is why he already had the backing he needed to run for the
leadership. As
soon as Andrew Mitchell stepped
down.
He walked
into the annexe to his office, smiling at Amy, his secretary.
“Good
morning, Mr. Madison. Would you like your coffee now? I’ve put your
newspapers on your desk
and left some messages by the
telephone. Some of them may be fairly urgent. Here’s your post.”
He took
the pile of envelopes from her and smiled again. “Thank you, Amy.
I’d love a coffee now, if it’s
no trouble.”
“None at
all.” She got up from behind her large and extremely tidy desk and went
over to the small
kitchenette in the corner of the
room. “Did you have a good break?”
He sat on
the edge of her desk, putting his briefcase down on the floor.
“I had a
wonderful few days thank you, Amy. It was nice to be home for a
while. Very restful.”
He
started opening some of the letters Amy had given him.
“And Mrs.
Madison? How is she after her holiday?”
“She had
a lovely time. Tuscany
was a joy to visit, as usual. It’s done her the power of good.”
Amy
smiled, handing him his coffee. She’d worked for Daniel Madison for over
two years now and he was
simply the nicest, kindest person
she’d ever worked for. He was talkative, friendly and never spoke down
to
her. She was very lucky, and
she knew that.
“Would
you like me to make any calls for you?” Amy asked. ”I can go through your
e-mails if you like;
see if there’s anything that needs
attending to.”
“That
would be extremely helpful, Amy, thank you,” Daniel smiled, picking up
his case and entering his
office, closing the door behind
him.
He put
his case down on the desk and walked over to the window, putting his hands in
his pockets as he
looked out at the view.
There was no place he’d rather be right now except, maybe, at home with
Samantha.
He was more than aware that his
wife would prefer him to spend more time with her, and that she also knew
this next stage of his career was
only going to take him away from her even more, but it was what he needed
to
do, and she knew that
too. But she’d never stop him; she’d never stand in his way because she
really was
the perfect wife. He was a
very lucky man.
The sound
of the telephone ringing made him turn around and he walked back over to his
desk, pressing
the intercom, Amy’s voice coming
loud and clear over the speaker.
“It’s Mr.
Gordon on line three, Mr. Madison.”
“Thank
you, Amy. Put him straight through.”
Angus
Gordon was a fellow MP and a very close friend of Daniel’s. Thick set,
grey-haired and in his
mid-50’s, with a gentle Scottish
accent owed very much to his Outer Hebridian heritage, he was
masterminding
Daniel’s forthcoming leadership
campaign. He was a master of spin, and he knew more than anyone how
capable Daniel was of not only
winning the Leadership Election, but of also winning the General
Election.
He was the kind of person Daniel
needed by his side as things moved forward, and Daniel was very much
aware of that.
“Angus,
how are you?”
“Have you
got the TV on, Daniel?” Angus’s voice was more than a little excited, and
Daniel knew that he never got excited without good reason.
“No...”
“Then
switch it onto a news channel now, quickly!”
Daniel
reached out and picked up the remote control that lay next to his laptop,
pointing it at the large flat
screen TV on the wall. It
leapt into life, already tuned to the rolling news channel he very rarely
switched off.
“Are you
watching?” Angus asked.
“Yes. I’m watching it now.” Daniel sat down on the edge of his
desk, watching as Andrew Mitchell stood
outside his West
London home in front of a sea of photographers and journalists,
announcing the one thing
Daniel Madison had waited months
to hear. That he was officially resigning as Leader of the Opposition
with
immediate effect. He hoped
the job of finding his replacement would be a quick affair and that his
party
would be up and running with a new
leader sooner rather than later, ready to head forward into the much
anticipated General Election.
“It’s
going to be a quick campaign, Daniel,” Angus said as Daniel continued to watch
Andrew Mitchell give
his final speech. “So, are
we ready to move fast with this?”
“Yes. Yes, we are. Angus, how many other candidates are we looking
at here?”
“Could be
up to five I reckon. But we’ve got the strongest chance, Daniel; we’ve
got the most support.
We’ll have the signatures and the
backing we need before the week’s out. And you’ll walk any of the
hustings,
I have no doubt about that.”
Daniel
could feel his stomach turning with an excitement he hadn’t felt in a long
time. This was it. It was
really happening. He
couldn’t think of anything he wanted more than this. It was the beginning
of his ultimate
dream, his goal, his life’s ambition.
And it was starting to happen right now.
Angus’s
voice broke into his thoughts. “So, we can announce you’re throwing your
hat into the ring for the
leadership this afternoon then?”
Daniel
stood up and went back over to the window, glancing out across the River Thames
and the view he
never tired of.
“Yes. We can definitely announce that Angus. Let’s get the ball
rolling as soon as possible.”
“Good
man. We’re going to do this, Daniel. You’ve got it in the bag, I’m
certain of it.”
“I hope
you’re right.”
“Nobody
else comes close. We’ll talk over lunch, ok? Is 1.30 alright for
you?”
“That’s
fine. I’ll see you then, Angus, and thanks.”
Daniel
hung up the ‘phone and turned round as Amy walked into the office carrying
another pile of post.
“Is
everything ok, Mr. Madison?”
A smile
slowly spread across Daniel’s handsome face and she couldn’t help smiling too.
“Everything’s fine, Amy. Everything’s more than fine. Andrew
Mitchell’s finally resigned! He’s done it,
and you know what that means don’t
you?”
She
couldn’t help laughing. His excitement was almost contagious. “I
think I do, yes.”
He walked
over to Amy, catching her in an unexpected, uncharacteristic, but not entirely
unwanted hug.
“It means
you could be looking at the new Leader of the Opposition, Amy. And maybe,
just maybe, one
day, the Prime Minister himself!”
“You
deserve this, Mr. Madison. You really do.”
Daniel
let go of her, running back round behind his desk and sitting down, switching
on his computer.
“Can you
cancel any appointments I’ve got for this morning? And I’m going to have
a few letters for you
to send out in an hour or so, is
that alright?”
She
nodded, placing the post down on his desk and picking up an empty coffee
cup. He was already
typing away, concentrating
hard. He had a lot to do and he wanted to get started as soon as
possible.
“I’ll
sort everything out, Mr. Madison. Don’t worry.”
He looked
up and smiled. “Thank you, Amy.” He looked at his watch.
9.35. Samantha was due to
attend a parish council meeting
this morning to discuss some charity functions, but she’d told him she
wouldn’t
be leaving until at least
10am. If he called her now he could catch her before she left, because he
really needed
to talk to her. For all
Daniel was an ambitious and driven man, throughout it all, every step of the
way,
Samantha had been by his
side. She’d helped him by just being there and supporting him. She
was his
beautiful wife and he loved her
and he just wanted to tell her that. He needed her to know how much
she
meant to him because he didn’t
know if he could do what he was about to do if she wasn’t around. He
only
hoped he never had to find out.
© Michelle Betham 2011
If this has made
anyone in the least bit intrigued to find out more, the full book can be downloaded over on Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Okay, now, I'd
better get back to my latest book - which is so far away from See You At The
Show, I have to say - because
I'm in the middle of a major re-write and my head hurts already, and I need
coffee... Have a great Monday!