Author Spotlight: Trish Morey Takes Us to Cornwall!
We have 2 winners! Congratulations, Margie and Leigh Ann, you are Trish’s giveaway recipients! Trish will be in touch with you regarding your prizes! Thanks for coming out to play with us!
What fun it is to introduce y’all to a new-to-me author! Today’s spotlight is on Trish Morey, a fellow Tule Publishing writer, whose newest book, The Perfectly Simple Complicated Life of Maggie Halloran, released on March 9. I’m so excited to have discovered Trish and this delightful rom-com. I can’t wait to dive into the rest of her books!
USA Today Bestselling Author, Trish Morey is four times nominated and two times winner of RWAustralia’s Romantic Book of the Year Award (the RuBY) and a 2012 RWA RITA nominee. With 40+ published titles to her credit, Trish’s books have sold in excess of eight million copies in more than 25 languages in 40 countries worldwide. A qualified Chartered Accountant by trade, Trish was employed as financial manager at a major business school prior to her first sale. Trish lives with her husband, four daughters, and assorted menagerie in the beautiful Adelaide Hills.
Trish’s latest women’s fiction, The Perfectly Simple Complicated Life of Maggie Halloran, is a fun romantic comedy set in St Ives, Cornwall.
Trish, take it away…
Why St Ives?
If you’ve seen the posts over on Tule Book Club, you’ll know the gobsmackingly gorgeous Cornish town of St Ives provides the setting for The Perfectly Simple Complicated Life of Maggie Halloran. Maggie lives there in a renovated fisherman’s cottage on Baiiley’s Lane in the Downalong (as in the down along the harbour) part of the town. But why St Ives? And what is this Aussie author doing setting a story in this far-flung part of the world?
Quite simply it’s because I love Cornwall. (There’s a family connection there, too, but that story will take waaaay too long to go into now!) I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to and explore Cornwall three times now (it should have been four, but I’ll just say 2020 and a certain virus intervened…) and it never gets old. It’s magical, mystical and more picturesque that any place has a right to be – if you’ve been there, you’ll know exactly what I mean. As for St Ives, if you’ve never been there, let me convince you that it was the perfect place for Maggie’s perfectly simple life to get suddenly complicated. Let me share with you a few things I love about St Ives.
The cod and chips! OMG, so good. The pieces of cod are so thick, the batter so crispy, the chips amazing. There are plenty of fish shops in St Ives, but I couldn’t resist a shot of the Albatross Fish & Chip shop. I love the ice cream cone sign hanging off the wall. (Just don’t try to eat your fish and chips outside without protection or the notorious gulls will dive over your shoulder and steal your lunch.)
The harbour. Goodness, when the tide goes out, it goes waaaaay out. Check out the people scouring the sand for any trinkets/treasure left behind.
The beaches. We don’t often think of beaches in the UK being any good and filled with stones (well, I’m an Aussie with the best beaches in the world, so how can I help but feel that?) but hey, in Cornwall the beaches are truly fantastic. Lots of white sand bays, loads of surf for the (brave, at least in my mind) surfers.
St Ives was the perfect setting for Maggie, and The Perfectly Simple Complicated Life of Maggie Halloran.
GIVEAWAY! Of course, it’s not the only amazing setting in the world. What setting is your favourite, or where would you like to see a book set? I have two $15 Amazon gift cards up for grabs, so I can’t wait to hear your suggestions! We’ll draw a winner on Friday morning.
Big thanks so much to Nan for hosting me!
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The Perfectly Simple Complicated Life of Maggie Halloran
Maggie Halloran’s life is finally perfect.
For recently retired Maggie Halloran, life in her renovated two-bedroom St. Ives fisherman’s cottage is picture perfect. With her daughter in London and her mother in Penzance, Maggie is free to enjoy the odd sleepover with her boyfriend, Nigel, visit galleries, or do her beloved sudoku.
When Maggie’s reserved mother falls giddily in love, Maggie takes it in stride. At the wedding, Maggie’s daughter, Alice, announces she’s pregnant and needs somewhere to live. Oh, and she has a new puppy, too…
Alice and Maggie have never been close, and Nigel’s allergic to dogs, but blood is thicker than your average Saturday night sleepover. Suddenly Maggie’s humoring her demanding daughter, fielding visits from her nostalgic ex-husband, and accommodating Alice’s baby daddy. And then Maggie’s mother arrives on the doorstep in tears, suitcase in hand, because she’s left her new husband. The only one keeping Maggie sane is Mitch, the builder converting the loft into another bedroom.
Maggie’s three-level terrace is now home to three generations—soon to be four—and her perfectly quiet, drama-free life is gone. The question is…does she want it back?
19 Comments
Roseann McGrath Brooks
Well, in October, I visited Antelope Canyon in Arizona, and it was the most beautiful place I’d ever seen. (It’s a slot canyon, so you go “inside.”) I can’t see a romance being set there, but maybe one of the wider U.S. canyons would work! Trish, you’re story sounds perfect, especially for those of us who thought life would quiet down as we aged. Wrong!
Trish Morey
Oh, my daughter and partner visited Antelope Canyon while visiting the US. Their photos are fabulous, what an amazing place! Thanks Roseann, you’re right about things not necessarily quieting down as we age!
Kimberly
Looking forward to reading this and learning more about Cornwall. I love the history of places in books. I would like to read a story in Greece.
Trish Morey
Ooh, Kimberley, I adore Greece! There may be a hint of Santorini in the next book in the series, The Remarkable Rise of Amanda Appleby. Greece is fabulous, but then so too is Cornwall. So many gorgeous places in the world in which to set books!
Best
Trish
flchen1
How lovely, Trish! I’ve never visited there, but it sounds quite charming! I would love to read more stories set in Asian countries, like China and Vietnam and India, and so on. One of the fun things about reading is the chance to armchair travel, and it would be amazing to see other parts of the world this way too!
Trish Morey
Hi FLCHEN!1, Cornwall is totally charming, you are right. And I love stories set in places I haven’t been, like many Asian countries (I’ve been to Hong Kong and Sumatra, but that’s about it) and India. You are so right, armchair travel is the best!
Best
Trish
Latesha Ballard
Looking forward to reading this story. I think I would like to see a story set in Bermuda.
Patty Fontenot Duplechin
What a lovely place to visit
Trish Morey
Hi Patty, not sure if you’re talking about Cornwall or Bermuda, but I so agree!:)
Best
Trish
Trish Morey
Hi Latesha, I haven’t been to Bermuda. I think I need to add it to my bucket list – and then maybe I can set a book there:))
Best
Trish
Margie Senechal
I love books set on the beach and this one looks wonderful. Heading to purchase now! Happy sales to you!
Trish Morey
Hi Margie, thanks for dropping by! Thanks for your kind words and for your purchase. I live near the beach, so I so agree with your sentiments!
Best wishes,
Trish
Leigh Ann Edwards Knowles
I would really like to go to Cornwall. It looks beautiful and I love the Celtic history.
One branch of my family was from Cornwall.
The photos always look really beautiful. My husband is originally from near Manchester, so I’ve been to northern England a few times but not the south. I have a full itinerary that would take a month or two and cost a lot, but I’m hoping one day!
Ireland is also one of my favourite places and one day I’d like to make it to Australia, too.
Trish Morey
Oh gosh, I’ve just noticed that I’m a funny purple thing with rabbit ears – too funny! Hahaha, could almost be a photograph.
Thanks Leigh Ann, Cornwall is indeed beautiful and full of history – so much history, you really must get there by hook or by crook. And snap, my father’s great times 4 or so grandfather travelled out from Cornwall as a 19 year old together with his 18 year old bride and infant child to work in South Australia’s new found copper mines. What a huge and no doubt terrifying at times adventure. We also have family on my mother’s side – they’re up near Chester. Maybe we’re related? That would be too funny.
Best,
Trish
Liz Flaherty
I’d love to go to Cornwall, and I love the title of this book! I’m going to follow Janine’s recommendation.
Trish Morey
Hi Liz, isn’t the title fabulous! And it so neatly sums up Maggie’s perfectly simple complicated life:)) Tule comes up with the best titles and covers. And thank you if you follow Janine’s recommendation, much appreciated!
Best wishes,
Trish
Janine
I loved this book. I like books that are set in places I always wanted to visit. Beach towns are some of my favorites.
Trish Morey
Aww, thanks so much Janine, it means the world. And I’m so with you about beach towns. We’re lucky enough to live near the beach now (we used to live in the gorgeous Adelaide hills) and it’s magic to see the water outside your window and dip a toe (or more:) in the shallows every now and then. Beach towns make for great settings.
Best regards,
Trish
Janine
You’re welcome. My dream is to live near a beach.